"Fritz Lang was one of the great German film directors of the '20s." "He had to flee in 1933." "First he made a film in Paris and then went on to America,  where he directed a considerable number of important films." "ENCOUNTER WITH FRITZ LANG" "1963." "On the roof of the Villa Malaparte in Capri,  we watched Fritz Lang shoot a scene for his film Ulysses." "But the director of photography,  dressed in white and sitting behind the beautiful American camera, is only an extra." "The real director of photography,  the well-known Raoul Coutard,  sweats under a blanket behind a small handheld camera." "He is shooting the new film directed by Jean-Luc Godard,  Contempt, in which Fritz Lang plays the part of an old German film director." "Fritz Lang's costars are Brigitte Bardot as the wife of a scriptwriter," "Jack Palance as an American producer,  and Jean-Luc Godard, who in turn plays an assistant to Fritz Lang in the film." "Mr. Lang, when you shot your first film 44 years ago,  there was in Germany also something you might call a "new wave. "" "Do you think the way the young French filmmakers work today is completely different from your way of working back then?" "Yes." "I think we believed very much in thorough preparation when shooting our films, whereas today's group of young filmmakers aims more for improvisation." "As to which approach is more valid, that's open for debate." "What makes your films so remarkable for us today is precisely the fact everything in them is so composed and every detail thought out." "What is the most important prerequisite to attain this unity of style?" "First of all, sufficient time, second, sufficient money, and third, thorough and precise preparation." "Scenes from Siegfried 1923-2 4" "For Lotte Eisner, Fritz Lang is the architect among film directors." "Human beings become ornaments in a room accentuated by light and shadow,  a space in which people's lives follow their predestined paths." "Again along these halls,  across these ballrooms,  through these galleries in this building from another era." "This gigantic hotel,  luxurious, baroque, ominous,  with endless halls followed by yet more halls." "Soundless emptiness,  florid with cold, gloomy decoration,  with wainscoting and stucco and sculpted door panels,  with dull, marbled mirrors like stone slabs." "Lang had huge sets built in the studio." "For example, the fog-shrouded enchanted forest that Siegfried crosses on horseback in this scene." "Every tree has its designated place,  every ray of sun its function,  each precisely coordinated with the function of every other element in the scene." "In Lang's films there is no place for accidental elements." "Or if there is,  they were planned by him,  just as fate willed the leaf of a lime tree to play its role in Siegfried's life,  eventually felling the hero who proudly woos Kriemhild in this scene." "Destiny- 1921" "Fritz Lang seems at a bit of a loss among the chaos of the French film crew." "For the first time in his life,  he lets himself be ordered around by a fellow director,  and he is a bit tired from waiting on the swaying boat that serves as location for today's shooting." "For Godard doesn't like to use a soundstage and shoots exclusively on location." "That's funny." "I've heard that before." "It was..." "It was..." "Hey, Heinrich!" "What's up?" " What is it?" " Listen a moment." "Someone is whistling." "Can you hear him?" "There." "He just stopped." "Did you see him, the guy who was whistling?" "Yes, I can still see him." "Heinrich." "He's talking to a little girl and walking her down the street." "Go after him and don't let him go!" "But why?" "The day Elsie Beckmann was killed, a man bought a balloon and he was with a little girl... and he whistled just like that." "Mr. Lang, Mr. Godard says he has learned a lot from your films,  and he expressly wanted you for the part of the great old director in his film." "Do you feel a similar affinity for Mr. Godard's films?" "Definitely." "I like the films of the New Wave very much, especially those of Godard and Truffaut." "Mr. Godard gave the character you play in his film your own name." "Does that mean you're playing yourself?" "Yes." "At least I hope so." "For example, in the film you have a violent argument with the producer." "The producer is upset because what the director has filmed is different from what's in the script." "But Fritz Lang believes that the script is nothing but words,  while the film consists of living images." "My wife's meeting me here." "I'll go see." "The Italians used to say "revolver"" "instead of "checkbook."" "You have made 45 feature films so far." "Have you experienced clashes like that in real life?" "Yes, though perhaps not as extreme as the one in the film." "But, of course, I have met producers in my time who at some point stopped behaving in a civilized manner." "Our conversation was interrupted at this point by a group of tourists,  who had steered their motorboat past the security lines and kept clamoring for Brigitte Bardot." "Producer and director should act in concert." "They're in the same boat and really should be the best of friends." "A real producer can be enormously helpful on a film." "But if, as is very often the case in life, the only thing the producer has in mind is making money, and making money is the last thing the director has in mind, then clashes are inevitable, you know?" "Because both parties are partially right." "Let me tell you something:" "Working on a sound stage or, as in this case, on location, is extremely strenuous." "It's a strain on the nerves, and some sort of conflict is inevitable." "But later that night you make up and forget about it, right?" "Yes." "Thank you very much for the interview, Mr. Lang." "Right." "Perhaps it is the strain on the nerves,  as Fritz Lang called it,  that takes such a toll on creative people involved in filmmaking." "Fritz Lang is one of the few film directors whose career spans more than four decades." "Immediately after the interview was over," "Fritz Lang said good-bye to his colleagues,  and, having finished his acting part,  returned to the US."