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How did Fritz Langâs service in World War I affect his life?
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Fritz Lang
Although it took Fritz Lang some 21 years to make 22 Hollywood films, arguably at least half of them are noirish masterpieces of menace. His time in Hollywood, which began in 1934, followed a directing career in Germany during the 1920s that included several landmark films.
Fritz Langâs service in World War I significantly altered the trajectory of his life and career. After being conscripted into the Austrian army, Lang was wounded four times, an experience that resulted in the loss of vision in his right eye.1
Following these injuries, he spent a year convalescing in a Vienna army hospital. It was during this period of recovery that he first began to experiment with writing screenplays, a shift that eventually led him away from his earlier pursuits in painting and civil engineering and toward a career in cinema. Upon his discharge, he transitioned into acting on the stage before moving to Berlin to write for the film industry, setting the stage for his future as a renowned director.1