In Destiny, everything with Death, a character who is one of the most striking and ominous figures in silent cinema (certainly from Germany which is saying a lot) as portrayed by Bernhard Goetze, and the woman (Lili Dagover, who I didn't realize until looking her up that she played other characters here) who is trying to save her man from Death's grasp in the opening 25 and closing 15 minutes, and how Death creates his gloomy but visually appealing enclave (all those candles and the space that's created, damn) which is closed off by a wall in town and how this woman goes through her own struggle to overcome him, is outstanding. The three "Stories" for the three candles - each representing someone that will die unless she does something to stop them, thus saving her man's life - not so much.
Never is the direction ever poor or lacking, but I wasn't engaged in those stories how I was hoping for. They're all relatively brief, and while clearly Lang's aim is to make this a sort of fable or series of myths (remember he also did the Nibelungen films), you have little time to invest in any of these characters - all that's there is to find them, all of the people in worlds of royalty whether it's in the middle east, Europe or Asia, kind of interesting to look at. I can definitely see why this inspired Bunuel to become a filmmaker, but compared to work like Dr. Mabuse and Metropolis, it doesn't hold up quite as well (needless to say I'm sure it would still hold up over like a thousand other silent films, it's just a personal preference with regard to Lang's silent features).
And yeah, as others have noted, it's kinda racist with the imagery in these stories, though mostly with the Asian 'Verse' section. In a way that doesn't bother me so much as it is Lang's preference for style over substance. Again, when the style is so intense and spectacular at times - all those dissolves and moments, like the carpet "flying up" into the air - it may be hard to complain. I think the expectation for practically all of Lang's films to be masterpieces may have worked against me in loving it, but suffice to say if you're looking for only the visuals you'll certainly get a lot out of it, and those first, second and sixth verses are potent. If the whole film had been involved with the young woman, young man and Death in the town, I would've loved it.
Never is the direction ever poor or lacking, but I wasn't engaged in those stories how I was hoping for. They're all relatively brief, and while clearly Lang's aim is to make this a sort of fable or series of myths (remember he also did the Nibelungen films), you have little time to invest in any of these characters - all that's there is to find them, all of the people in worlds of royalty whether it's in the middle east, Europe or Asia, kind of interesting to look at. I can definitely see why this inspired Bunuel to become a filmmaker, but compared to work like Dr. Mabuse and Metropolis, it doesn't hold up quite as well (needless to say I'm sure it would still hold up over like a thousand other silent films, it's just a personal preference with regard to Lang's silent features).
And yeah, as others have noted, it's kinda racist with the imagery in these stories, though mostly with the Asian 'Verse' section. In a way that doesn't bother me so much as it is Lang's preference for style over substance. Again, when the style is so intense and spectacular at times - all those dissolves and moments, like the carpet "flying up" into the air - it may be hard to complain. I think the expectation for practically all of Lang's films to be masterpieces may have worked against me in loving it, but suffice to say if you're looking for only the visuals you'll certainly get a lot out of it, and those first, second and sixth verses are potent. If the whole film had been involved with the young woman, young man and Death in the town, I would've loved it.