M (1931) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1998 Ted Prigge
Director: Fritz Lang Writers: Paul Falkenberg, Adolf Jansen, Fritz Lang, Karl Vash, and Thea von Harbou Starring: Peter Lorre, Gustaf Gründgens, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Theo Lingen, Otto Wernicke, Frank Stein, Theodor Loos, Georg John
Fritz Lang's "M" is one of the great philosophical films, primarily because its anger and message are not bogged down in pretentious overtones with crush the story of the film, rendering it almost unwatchable a second time. It's a film where the meanings and anger of the film are not fully comprehended in one single showing because it raises so many questions about crime, punsihment, and authority. But what's really amazing is how it's first and foremost a gripping story about a murderer and the pursuit of him, and then its philosophical. What a concept.
"M" is all about a man named Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre, in the role that made him internationally famous) who is an infamous child killer who the police have been after for months, as his acts have been serial. The first 10 minutes of the film introduces him as the public sees him: he woos a little girl on her way home from school with candy and balloons, and then we see an intensely creepy montage of the girl's ball rolling in the grass, and the balloon he bought for her stuck in electric wires. This whole segment is intercutted with the girl's mom waiting at home for her to arrive, and growing more and more worried as the time passes. And we get the saddening, scary shot of the woman's cry for her daughter being echoed in an empty room.
The film immeadiatly launches into a kind of documentary on what the police are doing to track him down, including night raids on criminal spots where they think the killer may be, and propaganda for kids to learn not to talk to any strangers. The public is furious that the police haven't caught him, and some even begin doing their own investigated work, albeit less successful or deft as the police. There's a scene towards the end that perfectly sums up what this film is about: an old man is seen innocently talking to a child, and before he knows it, a mob of people have formed around him, and begin attacking him, saying that he's the infamous murderer. Of course, the man isn't the murderer, but it shows what people become when they are angry and want to take their vengeance out on someone without proof.
We also discover that the other really pissed off people in this matter are the local mafiasos, who meet to discuss how they too will try and track them down. In one of the best parallel action sequences I've ever seen, Lang shows the mafiasos discussing their plans as well as the police's plans, and both seem eerily similar (even though they're marginally different). And soon the criminal underground, the police, and the general public all seem to be the same.
The film also shows us Hans, who, in one brief shot, looks at himself in the mirror and makes a nasty face like the monster the people believe him to be. The opening scenes of him show him as such, as we see him primarily in shadow, and eerily whistling Grief's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" over and over again until it becomes his signature tune. The fact is we never really see him up close, only in the form of shadows, and when we do, he's not this monster he's made out to be. It would be cheap if he was such a monster, but the film shows Hans to be a man with a really sick impulse, one that he cannot control, and one that is driving him insane. Peter Lorre's portrayal of Hans is not as a horrible creature, but as a frightened human being.
The one scene that perfectly sums up who Hans really is and how he feels to be himself is a pivotal scene where a man has discovered that he's the killer and tries to place a marker on his back so that he can be found more easily. So the man sketches an "M" on his hand, trips into Hans as he walks by him, and places the "M" on his back shoulder. A couple seconds later, Hans looks back into a mirror behind him and notices the "M." His entire face looses color and from this point on the film becomes a merciless rush of fear and paranoia.
Hans has very little time in the film, but in one final scene, he is captured and brought before a council of citizens and criminals (no police) who have gone out of their way to get him for themselves and before the police do. There, he's placed on trial with the mafia don as the prosecuting attorney, and a defense counsel man who basically says there's not much he can do for him. Here, a frightened Hans looks death right in the face of all the people who hate him, and tries to desperately plea for his life. "I cannot help what I do!" he shouts out, but the people can't get out of their mind what they see when they read the headlines, announcing that he's killed another child.
"M" is angry about so many things in society, namely the way that people refuse to see past what they hear about, and the way that people decide other peoples' fates. The trial scene is quickly exposed as a simple form of revenge by a bunch of pissed off people, as well as some who are also hypocrites. How ironic is it for a criminal who has killed dozens of people in his life to sentence a man to death for murder? And who is to say that another man must die because of what he has done and for what he is?
Hans is seen as a murderer, but no one appears to want to help this man. They just want to kill him. Society often wants to easily rid themselves of people who don't fit in with them, who cause a roucous in the waves of society, and that's what this film is about. People refuse to look underneath Hans and see a man who needs psychiatric help; they just see a man who has killed a bunch of kids. They block out Hans' desperate cries for help, and refuse to understand him. This film asks us to understand people who commit crimes against society, for after all they are human beings.
"M" was restored last year after being released on video in a murky, screwed-up version filled with bad sub-titles and unwatchable scenes. This new version really clears things up and allows us to see what Lang wanted us to see. The film was a major innovative film when it came out, as it was one of the first "talkies," and uses its sound so carefully and effectively that its a wonder that anyone was able to be impressed with it by viewing the older version.
When Fritz Lang made this, he was speaking out about his homeland, Germany, and the atrocities they were having at the time (as well as in the time when he made "Metropolis"). But this film actually goes beyond that. It's a universal story because things like this still happen today, when one person is seen as the one to die for everyone's anger. Hans Beckert was based on a real person, but this person is a regular in history, and this film doesn't intend to make him out to be a monster, but really a person who just has some really major problems.
What's amazing about Fritz Lang's storytelling is how he doesn't let his message become overbearing or pretentious. "M" is an intensely watchable film, one that holds the audience's attention, and in the process, stirs them up, and makes them think about what is occurring. A lesser director would have made this a blatant satire, but Lang lets the story tell itself and the meaning to come out through it, much like he did with "Metropolis." Lang is angry, but he's also doesn't to be condescending about it.
MY RATING (out of 4): ****
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