Review of You Only Live Once (1937) by Cyrus B — 13 May 2008

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YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE.

You Only Live Once(Details here), directed by the hugely talented Fritz Lang, is enough to intrigue any fan of cinema. This film promises to offer a unique perspective and doesn't fail to deliver.

The narrative focuses around Edward Taylor(Henry Fonda), who is a three times convicted felon, who has just been released but can't survive in the outside world due to people's prejudice, only his newly wed wife believes in him enough. Shortly after being fired from his job, he is framed for a bank robbery that results in six deaths, and is condemned to death, but the story doesn't end there, as the criminal label he's been given starts to become true.

Obviously this film is dated, being almost seventy years old, the state of affairs were very much different, and so elements of the film seem foreign to contemporary viewers. The acting represents the attitudes of the time, which further alienates the audience, however the purpose and feelings of the characters is still very much clear to see.

The high standard of cinematography that is expected with a Fritz Lang film, is met quite regularly through this film, but not consistently. There are several highly memorable shots, and Lang manages to portray his noiristic vision on the screen with a great show of ability, although there are a great deal of unimpressive cinematic moments. Whilst there manage to be some powerful sequences and fantastic shots, incorporating lighting and framing in the best possible ways, they are too few and far between.

Nevertheless, Fritz Lang pays a greater attention to sound than most directors of his time, not as big a part of the movie as sound was in M, the adjusting of volume, pitch and the selection of music, or lack of in some instances, makes for a gripping sounds cape to the film.

Editing within this film is a grave disappointment, as Lang had set such high standards for himself with Metropolis, that the editing within You Only Live Once comes across as massively unimaginative and inferior.

The unique part of this movie is the flipped perspective, we get to see how a reformed character is unable to live due to the prejudices of the supposed 'good' citizens. This brings about a nice social commentary on people's inability to trust and forgive, and the essence of scepticism that had infected people in the pre-war times of the late thirties.

This movie is quite engaging, and generates some interesting subject matter, with the occasional moment of cinematic brilliance, it becomes very watchable. However a large amount of unimaginative filmmaking in places, along with a heavily dated feel and regular sections of bad pacing, this is a far cry from Lang's finer works. I wouldn't recommend this film too highly, but it isn't without it's moments, and still outshines the masses of studio productions churned out in that era. All in all, an above average film, but nothing spectacular.