The Spiders - Episode 2: The Diamond Ship

Well, well... Here's part two of Lang's trivial adventure hokum and as it is evident from the start that it's even weaker than its predecessor, one's glad that this Feuillade wannabe wasn't fully realized.

The succession of hair-raising stunts and long dull sequences of hollow travesty is almost hypnotic in its banality. But even as pure entertainment, the pic's a misfire.

But no worries: Just a few years later, Lang would strike cinematic gold one movie after another. (He could never fully shake off the pulp roots of this early work, though.)

3 out of 10 Buddha diamonds

This episode is a worthy continuation in the series. As in the first part there is a lot of action. The search is on for the Buddha shaped diamond. This is the sort of film that inspired Raiders of the Lost Ark.

This "Spiders" sequel, "The Diamond Ship", is just as ridiculous and sensational as the series's first part. The rich adventurer continues in his pursuit of the criminal gang, the Spiders, who are after a diamond that's linked with Asian independence, leading the protagonist into a world of espionage, kidnapping and to a subterranean Chinatown.

Fritz Lang continues to copy other filmmakers, including Louis Feuillade. An early scene in this film is, I think, evident of Fritz Lang's poor direction at this early point in his career: the overhead shot of a bank robbery, with no ceiling, was done better by Maurice Tourneur in "Alias Jimmy Valentine" (1915). With Tourneur, it was an innovative, well-photographed scene, but with Lang, it's derivative and poorly done. It's the same with the rest of this two-part series; there's some technical skill, but it's all inferior duplication of other films and serials. Lang would become a great director, but that didn't begin here. And, German silent cinema would be one of the greatest periods in film history, but "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1920) is still the beginning of that. "The Spiders" is merely what everyone else had already been doing... often better.

Die Spinnen 2.Teil:Das Brillantenschiff/Spiders part 2:The Diamond Ship(1920) is an entertaining sequel with much intrigue, suspense, and cliff hangers. I enjoyed this movie more than Part One because of the climatic confrontation between the hero of the film and Lio Sha. Lio Sha is a villain much like the famous Irma Vep of Les Vampires. Fritz Lang was still developing his style when he directed Spider Part(1920) so the genius of Lang is not evident yet. Another film that is a collector's item for fans of Fritz Lang and old silent pictures. Precusor to the director's Dr. Mabuse films and his World War 2 themed features.

This is the second part of a planned quartet of films, which renowned director Fritz Lang chose to make in preference to the better-known Cabinet of Dr Caligari. Since his first two films are lost, these adventure flicks (which he also wrote) are the earliest glimpses we can see of his budding style. Please refer also to my comment on part one of The Spiders for more information and analysis.

The first part of The Spiders had a plot that was flimsy and flexible enough to make any excuse for the next action set piece. Part two slows things down to a more realistic pace, and yet the plot is equally thin and literally holey. Whereas part one more or less continuously followed the exploits of hero Kay Hoog, part two is filled with digressions and minor characters, and is occasionally hard to follow. There are also some inexplicable gaps where a title card replaces action – for example when Hoog is captured in the underground city, we are told this rather than shown it. Missing footage perhaps, although there is nothing to suggest this is the case. As in part one, there is a great variety of locations, and Lang's imagination is constantly throwing up new ideas, but unlike the first part the action sequences are few and far between.

Turning now from story to technical style, part two is largely set in interiors, which is all the better for Lang to get the angles right. You can see evidence of that angular, impersonal approach to shot composition that is there in all his pictures, even the B-movies he made in the 50s. Often, the arrangements appear to be simply for aesthetic taste, but here and there is method and meaning to it. Lang likes to show off the height or depth of an interior set, making his characters appear small. In many scenes the environment seems to be hemming the actors in and dictating their movements. Towards the end he shows the spider gang in small rooms with not much space between the camera and the back wall, emphasising their trapped position.

But Lang's growing confidence with space is not enough to save The Diamond Ship. The first picture, in spite of its flaws, had a certain charm in its innocent and pure adventure. The sequel has all of the flaws and none of the charm.