Fritz on Fridays: Liliom
[Lang] might have been the only filmmaker capable of showing us that he is lying, reminding us that he is a liar and still twisting the story to such a degree that we believe the very same fabrication.
On the first Friday of every month, this column by critic Joshua Polanski will feature a short review or essay on a film directed by Fritz Lang (1890-1976), the great Austrian “Master of Darkness.” Occasionally (but not too occasionally), Fritz on Fridays will also feature interviews and conversations with relevant critics, scholars and filmmakers about Lang’s influence and filmography.
Fritz Lang was one of the first directors to make great films in three or more languages. Plenty have done it in two, but the list to do it in three is much shorter: Andrei Tarkovsky, Jean-Luc Godard, Danis Tanović and, depending on the quality evaluation of specific titles, Hirokazu Kore-eda and Michael Haneke (though the greatness here might be up for debate). Peers of Lang that come to mind that also directed in more than two languages include Max Ophüls and Douglas Sirk, both of whom fled Nazi Germany as did Lang. But as far as I can tell, Lang and Lang alone left behind masterpieces in three languages: German, English and French. Unless the French version of The Testament of Dr. Mabuse counts, he only made one film in French — 1934’s Liliom. But one was all he needed.
Liliom is a hard film to find in 2026. Despite being Lang’s favorite of his own films, it is surprisingly underviewed by even the most ardent Langians. Based on a 1909 Hungarian play by Ferenc Molnár, at least one of the versions I found on FAST streaming platforms claiming to be Lang’s 1934 film was actually Frank Borzage’s 1930 pre-Code film of the same name (and based on the same play) — an easy-to-spot, though egregious, error given the half-hour disparity in runtimes. The only Lang titles less watched by Letterboxd users are the for-hire war picture American Guerrilla in the Philippines, incomplete titles like The Wandering Image and Four Around the Woman, the butchered remix Journey to the Lost City, the aforementioned French edition of The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (new to Letterboxd, I believe), and lost films Halbblut and Master of Love. If one requires both English subtitles and resolution better than 480p, Lang’s Liliom would be even more difficult to find online.
Charles Boyer plays Liliom, a carousel barker at the incredibly named Hippo-Palace, which is operated by Madame Muscat (Maximilienne). Liliom’s job seems to be attracting riders to the carousel and dealing with any fights at the carnival. He is something of an edgier cut of Chaplin’s Little Tramp, complete with a similar youthful outfit and sharp haircut. This might partly explain why he grabs the attention of both his boss and carousel rider Julie (Madeleine Ozeray). He chooses the younger and feisty Julie, gets fired and lives a life in poverty. When Julie gets pregnant, Liliom gravitates toward a life of crime to put bread on the table, and when a robbery goes wrong, he kills himself and winds up facing divine judgement in a supernatural purgatory before two men in suits that call themselves God’s Police.
Continue reading at Midwest Film Journal.