Destiny Express

Fictionalized account of the life of Fritz Lang, the German motion picture director

In the late winter of 1933, German director Fritz Lang ( M ; Metropolis ) prepares to release a new movie. He is troubled by the disintegration of his marriage to screenwriter Thea von Harbou and by ominous Nazi policies that are driving many Jews and leftists to flee. (Lang bumps into Helene and "Bert" Brecht as they entrain for Prague.) Lang pines for Thea (involved with a young American), tries to lose himself in work and fights the studio's cancellation of his movie's release. When Goebbels asks him to head "a new program for the cinema," the director must decide whether he will leave Germany. Scriptwriter and journalist Rodman adapts expressionist film techniques--crosscutting, minute observation, symbolism, the enhancement of mood by the play of light and shadow--to nice effect. Movie buffs will also enjoy the insider references in this quirky but compelling novel.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Berlin, early 1933: the Nazi regime is about to begin, and Jews, radicals, and other undesirables are leaving the city. But famed film director Fritz Lang is less concerned with politics than with the unraveling of his marriage and the imminent release of his new film. He has reason to be anxious about both, especially the movie, since he knows Dr. Goebbels dislikes its ending. Screenwriter Rodman's novel, while interesting in its details of German movie making, lacks tension (we know Lang will wind up in Hollywood) and fails to sufficiently integrate the dissolution of Lang's marriage with the background of Nazism. The poisoning of private lives by the Nazi menace is much better realized in Len Deighton's Winter ( LJ 1/88) or Arthur Solmssen's A Princess in Berlin (LJ 10/1/80). Passable.
- Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.