The villain is more central than the hero

Significantly, the villain, Haghi (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) — is more central and prominent than the hero (Willy Fritsch), who’s identified in the credits only as “No. 326”. It is Haghi, after all, who is the first and last character of any importance that we see in the film. Architecturally, he’s the principal support of Lang’s house of fiction, holding up the entire structure, because every narrative path leads either up to him or away from him (...). In this respect, he clearly functions as Lang’s surrogate — an all-knowing puppetmaster who not only creates and animates the plot but also ultimately terminates it when he finds himself cornered in the final sequence. Disguised as an onstage clown, he shoots himself in the head as part of his act, soliciting a round of applause from the onscreen audience and thereby ending the film itself as the curtain falls. (The fact that Klein-Rogge was the first husband of Lang’s wife and co-writer Thea von Harbou only enhances his role as Lang’s doppelgänger.)

Jonathan Rosenbaum.