M (1933)

User Review

• 

  Barneyonmovies

  9 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: Fritz Lang's 'M,' is widely regarded as the blueprint for serial killer movies everywhere, and yet most of all it's a portrait of societal panic and the potential abandonment of our values and norms when faced with great fear. Yes, whilst there are a few masterfully-constructed, horrifying scenes in which we watch the titular psychopath attempt to kidnap young children, the majority of the run-time follows the public panic and the Police and crime lords' attempts to find M and bring him to justice. What that justice means and to what extent you can go to to find him is of course the question, and there we witness attacks on innocent suspects and calls for his death.
  
  When he finally is captured it's one of the best scenes in all of cinema - a trial for someone we've grown to fear and hate along with the public throughout the film being given a fair hearing to discuss whether he deserves to die for his actions or not. It's fascinating, highly thought-provoking and engaging stuff, and it only works because on the one hand Lang has done such a good job of realising the public feeling towards the man, and on the other hand because Peter Lorre gives such a masterful performance which dares to lend some humanity to the titular child-murderer.
  
  But on top of that what also makes you empathise with the calls for his death is just how horrifying the scenes involving his kidnappings are, and how masterfully Lang builds the suspense throughout. He relies brilliantly on visual artistry to unravel everything; there's the shot a rolling ball and a lonely balloon dancing in a pylon powerfully signifying the murder at the start of the film, there's the brilliant cutting between the mother's simple actions preparing dinner and the death of her child, and there's the sequence in which the beggars attempt to bring him in as he wanders the streets where we literally see numerous shadows catching up with him. It's masterful cinema, and it's of course all done without music - something that in places makes the drama speak far more powerfully than it otherwise would.
  
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: For a film with such a handle on its cinematic craft, it's odd that there are so many moments where we have to literally read text on the screen to get information about the plot. That and the overly-explicit montage scene where the Police officer reads the report may be small niggles, but they're things that hinder a film which moves forward in a way that's almost completely perfect otherwise.
  
  VERDICT: A masterfully-executed thriller about societal panic and our willingness for justice in the face of great evil, Fritz Lang's 'M,' is one of cinema's great masterpieces, and it should be seen by all.

  Like?

  0 member like this review.