Film Review: Ministry of Fear
Ministry of Fear (Fritz Lang, 1944)
This film adaptation of a Graham Greene novel begins with the main character celebrating his return to the real world after having been instituted in a mental asylum for two years. He goes to a 'carnival' where he wins a box of cake after having closely guessed the weight of it. The cake, however, is intended to be won by a Nazi agent. So, what's in the cake? I will not reveal it here. But, whatever is that thing inside the cake is the cause of all his troubles; he becomes tangled in a complicated web of espionage involving the Nazi.
The film is decent. It's supposed to be in the league of early Hitchcock films. Well, I got that same feeling as when I saw any Hitchcock films of this genre. In my opinion, however, the film adaptation would be better had Hitchcock made it. It's a good thing that the film is in black-and-white.
Rating: 3.50/4.0
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