Suffused with dread and paranoia, this Fritz Lang adaptation of a novel by Graham Greene (The Third Man) is a plunge into the eerie shadows of a world turned upside down by war. En route to London after being released from a mental institution, Stephen Neale (The Lost Weekend’s Ray Milland) stops at a seemingly innocent village fair, after which he finds himself caught in the web of a sinister underworld with possible Nazi connections. Lang was among the most illustrious of the European émigré filmmakers working in Hollywood during World War II, and Ministry of Fear is one of his finest American productions, an unpredictable thriller with style to spare.

***

Lang had himself wanted to purchase the film rights for Ministry of Fear, as a long time admirer of Grahame Greene. As it turned out Paramount trumped him but asked him to direct from a screenplay adaptation by Seton Miller. As a consequence Lang continued to play down the value of this movie to whoever would listen. But it is in fact something of a "missing in action" gem. Nowhere does Lang so wonderfully set up a linear and compulsive atmosphere of unnerving paranoia in the opening sequences, save perhaps for the incredible opening of Testament of Dr Mabuse. And the movie forces the viewer to constantly take on Milland's POV in comprehending the succession of action and mistrust which advance the narrative. Although Lang may have been right about the casting of, say Marjorie Reynolds and Carl Hilfe as the German couple, these characters are more than amply compensated for by splendid bits from Allan Napier and Hillary Brooke as the "Mentalist". And Milland is perfect.

In odd ways the movie is like a variation of some aspects of Woman in the Window, released earlier the same year but made later. The theme of the Doppelganger (Edward G Robinson) which is played out in that picture as a literal examination of how a man might kill, is here supplanted by a man who has already killed but is - in typically Langian style - taken through even more ambiguities of guilt at the behest of narratively enforced espionage and war elements. In some ways both movies are perhaps Lang's most Hitchcockian, while still being pure Lang.

Ministry is also graced by the archetypal Langian villain in the form of Dan Duryea, wielding giant clothing shears in one critical scene.

For all Lang's dismissals Ministry is a highly worthy subject for much further study.

David Hare

Optimum

Region 2 - PAL

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Trailer

DVD Release Date: September 3rd, 2007
Transparent Keep Case

Release Information:
Studio: Criterion

Aspect Ratio:
Original aspect Ratio 1.33:1

Edition Details:

• New interview with Fritz Lang scholar Joe McElhaney (17:10)
• Trailer (2:06)
• PLUS: An essay by critic Glenn Kenny

Blu-ray Release Date: March 12th, 2013
Transparent Blu-ray Case
Chapters: 20