Fritz Lang’s cinema of interruption and the narrative of modernity

A pair of anonymous hands draws photographs of various male faces from a deck, one by one. A fade and superimposition lead to a man (played by Rudolf Klein-Rogge) shuffling the same photos – the faces soon to be revealed as masks – from which he will choose an identity for his next escapade. We remain throughout the sequence in a world of intrigue, awaiting clarification. Following an exchange with a man named Spoerri, with whom he trades threats, the character pulls out a pocket watch, and the film cuts to an approaching train. Another cut takes us into a train compartment with a man who holds a document of some kind. He shares the carriage with another man who seems to be sleeping.