The Image of Dorian Gray in the Yellow Press

Dr. Mabuse (Delphine Seyrig), the president of a multinational press conglomerate, has an unscrupulous plan for the company’s business expansion: to create and control a human being. “Dorian Gray: young, wealthy, handsome. We shall construct him, corrupt him, and destroy him.” Roswitha Mueller wrote, “Ottinger’s ironic references to the world of [Fritz Lang’s] Dr. Mabuse align past with modern apprehensions about the function of the media, at the same time as they call into question the myth of total manipulation.” This is the last film in Ottinger’s Berlin trilogy, following Ticket of No Return and Freak Orlando.