Der Mann, der zweimal lebte (1966)

Der Mann, der zweimal lebte: Directed by John Frankenheimer. With Frank Campanella, John Randolph, Frances Reid, Barbara Werle. An unhappy middle-aged banker agrees to a procedure that will fake his death and give him a completely new look and identity – one that comes with its own price.

“u0026quot;Secondsu0026quot; is a fascinating and engrossing realistic fantasy tale that deals with the question of the identity and above all, the exploration of madness symbolized by the search of material happiness and the search of eternal youth which leads to the most claustrophobic fate. u0026quot;Please be yourself !u0026quot; can be the warning of this film. The innovative and the post-expressionist cinematography of James Wong Howe (the use of the 9.7 mm fish-eye lens, extreme chiaroscuro, tilted low angle shots, hand-held camera shots) combined with the stylish graphic work of Saul Bass and a cold, taut and harsh music of Jerry Goldsmith makes it like a Faustian tragedy with a Kafkaesque approach. The whole film is about distortion. The twisted vision of the main character trapped in his own nightmarish world, full of u0026quot;re-bornsu0026quot; and u0026quot;employeesu0026quot;. But the real nightmare is the dreary routine of his existence. For instance, the scene of the train when Arthur Hamilton is reading his newspaper and feels suddenly sick with his life. We see very short shots of the train window and his sad face. The more oppressive scenes are silent just extreme close-ups of faces. Perhaps, the best film directed by John Frankenheimer and the best paranoiac film ever created. u0026quot;Classicu0026quot; is a weak word to define this masterpiece of modern terror. u0026quot;Secondsu0026quot; is the last film of the John Frankenheimeru0026#39;s paranoiac trilogy, without forgetting : u0026quot;The Manchurian Candidateu0026quot; and u0026quot;Seven days in mayu0026quot;.”