Intro from the Editor:
I didn’t so much assign this movie to David as text him and Josh rapturously about it: Holy shit have you guys seen M? It’s amazing. I’d wanted to see M for a long time. I knew its plot: criminal underbelly begins hunt for a child-killer. I knew its marquee performance: Peter Lorre, the 1940s go-to queer/pan-ethnic guy (and maybe the most imitated celebrity on Loony Toons), as said child killer. How could you not get excited for that?
M is exciting, for all these reasons. It’s an essential precursor not just to film noir but to every police procedural saturating network and basic cable. But mostly, M is terrifying. Especially if you keep in mind that Hitler rose to power in Germany not two years after the film’s release. In fact, director Fritz Lang, who was part Jewish himself, fled Germany for the US almost immediately after the premiere, and Lorre followed not far behind.
M’s thesis is fairly simple: fear leads to fascism. Suspicion drives the frightened masses of this movie’s chiaroscuro Berlin to nearly tear each other apart. And it’s easy to cheer for the criminal underbelly for most of the proceedings. They might be crooks, but they’re not as bad as a murderer of children. Right?
Because this is how we go about our own days: we scan headlines about child killers and dictators and the awful things people do to other people and tell ourselves, “I’m not as bad as that guy.” We do this because it’s easier than carrying around the worst things we’ve done with us every day. Getting up in the morning is so much simpler when we forget that we human beings are capable of anything: wonders, yes, but also terrors.
In this batshit crazy election year, M is as relevant as it’s always been. It reminds us that we are better when we do not bow to mob rule, that we should seek to understand evil—not to excuse it, but to understand it—before we snuff it out completely. Because there are monsters everywhere, in 1931 Germany and in 2016 America. Some prowl our streets, yes, but some patrol them. Some lead our churches or our schools. Most run for office. You only need to turn on your screen of choice to see about ten of them in a row.
But when that screen goes black, and for a second you see just yourself staring back at it, look carefully.
You just might catch a monster there too.
Rich man’s American Psycho: M is an amazing thriller film about a psycho killer. I love this film, it’s immediately become one of my favorite films. Go watch this movie now. Seriously.
★★★★★
Holy shit, how have I not seen this movie yet?! It’s freaking fantastic. Fritz Lang’s M is a thriller film about a child murderer in Germany. First the turn-offs: it was filmed in 1931, it’s black & white, it’s in German with subtitles. For the love of god, don’t let this stop you. This film holds up amazingly well. When I watch most films from the 30’s, I start out by trying to put myself in the mindset of a moviegoer back then. Sound is just starting to come to film. Electric lights are all the rage. World War I was just called the Great War because we hadn’t gotten the kickass sequel yet. So, in preparation for watching this film, I’m trying to get myself in this mindset. Then the film starts and I’m blown away. The film has a scenes where the camera moves in 3 dimensions, past characters. There are long takes, fade cuts, the filmmaker uses silence and sudden noise to increase suspense. It shoots characters in mirrors and reflections in glass. It’s crazy how good this film is.
Ok, ok, I know what you’re thinking, David must have gotten carried away. I’ve seen other old movies. City Lights came out in ‘31, and it’s a sweet love story, but it’s silent and the acting is pretty stiff, so I prefer Love Actually. Duck Soup came out in ‘33 and while I’m sure scenes like this one had my grandmother rolling in the aisles, it doesn’t make me laugh out loud like classic Sandler. There’s no way that M is actually better than American Psycho. Wrong! Peter Lorre plays the murderer in this film, and he acts his balls off. He’s subtle when he’s agitated, showing that he’s nervous, but not overacting like he’s trying to play to the last row in a play. When he breaks down, he tears the roof off this sucker, but it’s not hokey, you believe that he’s really having a breakdown. The supporting cast nails it too. They all feel like real characters. And the plot they all support feels as genuine today as it did then. When tragedy strikes, humans are still human whether it’s 1931 or 2016. They still give in to mob mentality and act irrationally. They lash out and allow their actions to be driven by fear and anger, and this film showcases this part of society perfectly.
I have to go back to the cinematography. When I started watching this film, it really caught me off guard. In the opening scene, a mother is waiting for her daughter to return home from school. The scene is intercut between the mother cooking dinner, gradually becoming more and more nervous, and scenes showing the murderer walking through the city with the daughter. As the mother gets more nervous, she glances at the clock, checks the hallway, looks at the window, but she never mugs for the camera and yells, “Where could my daughter be??!!”. The growing tension is shot skillfully. As the suspense builds, there are still shots showing the empty apartment stairwell, the empty chair where the daughter should be sitting. Then we see the daughter’s balloon blowing away, her ball is abandoned on the ground. The score is quiet and the audience is allowed to fill in the blanks, then we cut to newsboys in the street selling the newest story of grisly death. Go watch for yourself! In fact, watch the whole movie, it’s probably in the public domain by now.
DAMN! I’m excited just trying to recount this opening scene, and the rest of the movie is just like this! There are no throwaway scenes where a drunk falls down so everyone can laugh. There’s no cute dog. This was a solid suspenseful thriller, that I really, really enjoyed. Please, please go watch it. It cost like $8 to buy a copy on Amazon. I know that because there’s a copy shipping to my house right now.
M is available to stream on Hulu. It’s also in the link above. Plus, it’s probably at a library. Or buy it and add it to your DVD collection, it’s well worth $8.
Next week I wish I could assign Josh M, but that might be too much awesome for one blog. Instead, I’m assigning him Defending Your Life, which is not as good as M, but it does have Meryl Streep, which starts with an M.
cinemateur 