M
A simple, haunting musical phrase whistled offscreen tells us that a young girl will be killed. "Who Is the Murderer?" pleads a nearby placard as serial killer Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) closes in on little Elsie Beckmann . . .
In his harrowing masterwork, Fritz Lang merges trenchant social commentary with chilling suspense, creating a panorama of private madness and public hysteria that to this day remains the blueprint for the psychological thriller.
Running Time
110 mins
Year
1931
Kanopy ID
1112965
Filmmakers
Features
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Subjects
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Comments (8)
Mmm-mmm good!
"M" falters during the middle portion of the film and Lang's use of sound is odd and inconsistent, but this remains a fascinating film--as close to a cinematic version of an Otto Dix painting as we're likely to get. That, and the underworld trial that ends the story is a strange fillip.
A brilliant precursor to film noir and psychological thrillers.
NOW THIS IS EPIC
excellent
M is one of those films that never truly leaves you. Lang does so much by showing so little, creating an inescapably eerie tone amplifying the already disturbing subject matter. The austere miss-en-scène renders 1930s Berlin a nightmarish landscape of newly industrialized alienation, the ...Read more
M is one of those films that never truly leaves you. Lang does so much by showing so little, creating an inescapably eerie tone amplifying the already disturbing subject matter. The austere miss-en-scène renders 1930s Berlin a nightmarish landscape of newly industrialized alienation, the perfect backdrop to the madness and hysteria driving the narrative. Perhaps the most memorable sequence is the kangaroo court held by the town against the depraved child-killer. Without notice, the audience's sympathies are turned on their head. The populace appears as bloodthirsty as the serial murderer, begging the question of humanity's true nature.
Read lessyup
Brilliant in its simplicity and darker and more realistic than current films. Also provides an interesting look at a German film made right before the Nazis took over the media.