Julies becomes smitten with Liliom and they begin living together. The problem is that Julie works and takes care of Liliom but he doesn't work, he just takes and is a lazy bastard. Eventually Liliom learns he's about to become a father. So he takes part in a robbery, but it turns out the rich man they tried to rob had a gun! Rather than let himself be arrested he ends up stabbing himself, and his soul is transported to heaven. He sees all these babies with angel wings, and angels playing harps and stuff, space itself (fantasy elements). A heavenly commissioner tells him he's stuck in purgatory unless he goes back to Earth to do one good deed. That's the basic synopsis for the film.
"Liliom was one of the two first French productions by producer Erich Pommer for Fox-Europa and director Fritz Lang's only French film. On the film's release it was protested by the French Catholic clergy and was generally not well received by French film critics or playwright Ferenc Molnár. Despite the reception, the 1934 Liliom was one of Lang's favorites out of all his films." (wiki)
I can see why the film was berated by French Catholic clergy for sure. The depiction of heaven is quite silly and laughable, however it is a product of its time and quite expressionistic, thus a bit unrealistic. More on the plot.
Once Liliom is in purgatory the commissioner asks him why he beat Julie (he was a woman beater folks), Liliom says he doesn't know. Then the commissioner plays a video of him talking to and then slapping Julie. Then he plays the same video, this time showcasing Liliom's thoughts out loud. He realizes he hit Julie a lot because he hated himself for his cruelty and selfishness (he finished the coffee in that video and didn't offer any to Julie until it was all gone, then proceeded to yell at her).
Sixteen years pass in purgatory and Liliom goes down to Earth to meet his daughter. He catches up with her and tells her that he knew her father, and that he was a violent brute. He had a gift for her too, a star that he stole on the way down to Earth from the heavens. His daughter Louise gets upset and throws the star in the gutter. The scale of good and evil gets tipped more towards the evil. This scale has the pyramid and all-seeing eye at the top of it, and the devil begins to inscribe Liliom's name on his tablet. Liliom slaps his daughter's hand out of frustration before he gets lifted back to the heavens.
Lousie goes to her mother and tells her Liliom's slap felt like a kiss. She then asks her if its possible to be beaten but for it not to hurt at all. Her mother says yes and and the two of them embrace with tears in their eyes. The scales of justice then tips towards the heavenly side and Liliom's name is slowly removed from the devil's tablet. Ending screen, FIN.
The film mostly got negative reception. But that didn't stop Fritz Lang from loving the movie. "Despite the film's reception, Liliom was one of Lang's favourite directorial efforts. In 1974, Lang stated that "Liliom, I always liked very much... Today, I almost like Liliom best of all".
I actually liked the movie. It's the second Fritz Lang movie I've seen and I think he did a job directing it. I would say most of all I like the acting style in the movie the most. It had a sincere quality, the qualities of the characters seemed so believable and realistic, these characters could be people in real life with real life problems and lack of solutions.
The fantasy element of it was fun. In this film we find that for people who don't necessarily belong in heaven, there's justice waiting for them, and that's what we find in this film. I liked the special effect of the star that he tried to give to his daughter. And then there was the entire heavenly images and the scale with the devil, which was his friend that wanted to rob this rich man, except that he was in black face, or just covered in black paint wearing no shirt and shrubbery as his pantaloons. Kind of makes you wonder if they were trying to portray the evil side as African, which may or may not be the case.
All that being said, I don't think this is a necessary film to watch or know about, after all, its quite esoteric and expressionistic with its ideas. But I do think that its a good movie and quite an entertaining two hours of cinema. I would recommend this film to film students, directors, and film connoisseurs who haven't seen much of Fritz Lang's work. I highly recommend you see Metropolis from 1924 if you haven't seen it.
Liliom Zadowski: Even in Heaven, there's only justice - nothing but justice!
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