Ministry of Fear

Wonderful noirish crime thriller that keeps the audience guessing and plays on fears and suspicions. The characters could use more depth but it's an acceptable tradeoff for the brisk pace. The biggest problem is the ending, which is abrupt and contains 10 seconds of the most obviously tacked on footage I've ever seen. The cut is completely jarring, the tone and visuals are completely off and a cheesy joke is thrown in for no reason.

Considering the film started off with Milland getting released from a mental asylum I expected more paranoia and madness, but it was (a bit) disappointingly tame. Still, it kept my interest, had some twists and turns, and was a delight to watch on the visual level. Lang's cinematography mesmerizes me. Too bad Reynolds is wretched in her portrayal of an Austrian. And the final scene was completely ill-conceived.

Lang playing at Hitchcock is great, esp as his "wrong man" gets a touch of madness and actual guilt to his character, a signature move from lang. Pardonia seeps the beginning of the film, though as it progresses it fades. The ending rushes at you but i did enjoy the energy of the rooftop shootout. This being my first hollywood Lang film i can't help but notice he appears to have streamlined and softened the dark, moody, mildly unnerving style of his german films.

In many cases it is worth comparing Lang to Hitchock, only to find the most important juxtapositions are where they differ. Hitchcock's wartime thrillers are morally signposted, with unambiguous heroes and villains. Lang's vision is of twisted perspectives and nightmarish logic. With Ministry of Fear, propaganda goes down a very sinister rabbit hole. A not-so-innocent Ray Milland caught up in an uncertain underworld, a dark and expressionist spell that recalls the filmmaker's early masterworks.

The first half of this thriller was taunt, mysterious and exciting, on the same level as Hitchcock. However after the apartment bombing it started to lose focus and intensity. The ending is a bit rushed and somewhat unsatisfying.

A lean, well-shot but somewhat underwhelming spy thriller. Lang of course has a great eye so the film looks great, and there are some memorable scenes involving some odd plot devices (there's a really cool seance scene that feels right out of one of Lang's 20s films), but it just isn't taut or thrilling enough to make a huge impact.

"Wrong man" spy thriller very much in the vein of Hitchcock, or Lang's previous Spione. Calling this noir is a big stretch, but it's a fun little adventure that moves briskly and keeps you guessing. Ray Milland is good, the rest of the cast a little uninspiring but they manage. Pretty lousy score, but some mighty fine camerawork. A couple of minor disappointments: there could be more of a psychological angle, and the coda involves a dumb bit of a comedy. Overall, slight but very enjoyable.

too hurry in its ending.

There are some great moments in this otherwise by-the-numbers espionage thriller making it somewhat memorable.

The beginning had me deeply invested but I thought that it lost momentum as it went on. This doesn't mean that it's bad, by any means. The performances, directing, script, and plot, are all fine, but given who directed it, I just expected more.

It’s unfortunate that Ministry of Fear's closing line is so jarringly comical, delivering a punchline to be ashamed of; but it barely robs the film of anything more than it already lost by shooting at the middle of the road. Overall, it’s enjoyable enough, but undeniably a disappointment. However, if you’re a fan of Greene's novel, of Lang or of the genre, I’d still say it’s worth a look.

Well structured Nazi conspiracy thriller with some very good scenes. The séance scene is fantastic and I wonder how they did some of the lighting for it. Some parts are predictable but others are legitimate surprises as the somewhat (okay, pretty) convoluted plot resolves itself. Acting solid but unspectacular. Entertaining watch, which is no surprise from Lang.

A breezy, well-mannered little thriller.

A good time, love the expressionist flourishes.

Viewed March 24, 2021.

Not Lang's best, but it is still so pretty.

Há 75 estreava em Los Angeles. Pensa numa estória que cairia como uma luva para Hitchcock, Ainda bem que caiu em mãos não menos apropriadas do que a do Lang, diria que em Hitch talvez haveria mais humor, o que não deixa esse filme menos excelente. BlurayRip no MakingOff.

The concept of an innocent man getting mixed up in criminal activity is enlarged here with a wartime theme. The first hour is mostly very good and the pace holds up until the poor ending which could've been something completely different.

Fritz Lang directs a thrilling film. Some slow spots and the climax wasn't handled as well as the build-up, but that doesn't stop Ministry of Fear (1944) from becoming a exciting Nazi spy hunt with cakes and bombs!

81.50

Set against the London Blitz of the winter of 1940-1, this is a visual treat of the highest calibre, but the pacing is uneven, and there should be a lot more tension in some of the scenes.

Great start, rubbish ending. Hard to rate.

Hollywood Lang has never completely convinced me, and Ministry of Fear is no exception. Lacking the sense of invention of his classic silent German films, Ministry of Fear features a rote noir plot that contains little in the way of surprise. Visually it's nothing special either, recycling techniques from his earlier better films to lesser effect. It's a shame as it gets off to a decent start, but the mysterious atmosphere is sidelined in favour of routine plot mechanics.

"But you don't always see what everyone else is seeing." http://illusionpodcast.blogspot.com/2015/06/episode-63-films-noir-of-fritz-lang.html

The medium session with Hillary Brooke is now one of my favorite scenes of all time! Pure, essential Fritz Lang.

watched: 2013, 2016

Lang, bildiği sularda yüzerken, biz sevenlerini yine şaşırtmıyor. Finali, bir miktar oldu bittiye getirilmiş hissi verse de, bütüne bakıldığında baştan sonra usta bir yönetmen tarafından kotarılmış bir noir soslu II. Dünya Savaşı dönemi paranoyası.

It starts out so strange and mysterious, with a series of such weird sequences about a séance and a pretend blind man stealing a cake from the protagonist who won it in a charity fair. The war is a backdrop to this foreboding, ambiguous weirdness. It then evolves into a fairly standard film noir and espionage thriller, which I found disappointing. Everything about it is absurdly unrealistic anyhow, so it might as well have kept away from the clichés and stuck to surreal eccentricity.

Excellent spy thriller with paranoid atmsophere.

Classic

Fun, very well acted suspense thriller

Good--and maybe the best thing about it is the title. (The book is very good too.)