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alexpgpI just finished watching M, directed by Fritz Lang and starring Peter Lorre. The film was one of the early talkies, released in 1931 in Germany, and it's considered one of the seminal films of all time.
The film is short on action and long on dialog. Lang uses "still-life" shots to convey messages, as when early in the film, the camera fixes on an empty lunch plate that belongs to a little girl who is abducted by Hans Beckert, played by Lorre.
NOTE: Spoilers follow.
Basically, the plot centers around how the Berlin underworld (very organized, with ne'er-do-wells arrayed in 'unions', where each member has an id number) mobilizes to catch an elusive serial child murderer. The mobilization comes as the result of both a 'natural' abhorrence of victimizing children in the manner, as well as a desire to have the cops tone down their relentless dragnet for the killer, which is interfering with business.
In one sequence Lang intersperses scenes from two meetings: one, of the police; the other, of criminal leaders. Each meeting is shown considering various ways to attack the problem.
The solutions proposed by "law enforcement" seem to come out of today's headlines: closer inspection of citizen ids and movements, a call for expanded powers to search premises, etc. When one participant suggests to the homicide inspector on the case that the public's help be enlisted, the inspector cynically answers that such help is rarely useful. When his response is questioned, another particpant comes to the inspector's defense.
Ultimately, the cops decide on using old-fashioned legwork, applied to a list of every former mental case who had been deemed sane and released into the world to live in the city.
The bad guys simply decide to enlist the beggar's "union" to keep watch on every square meter of the city, looking for men who befriend small children.
Ultimately, Beckert's habit of whistling some phrases from Peer Gynt tickles the memory of a blind beggar, who in turn sets a young man to trail the whistling Beckert, who has already begun to escort his next victim to a local candy store. Interestingly enough, the police have also found Beckert - or at least his lodgings - as he was apparently on the list of mental patients that the cops had collected in the aftermath of their meeting. Cigarette butts, some splintered wood, and shavings from a red pencil convince the cops that Beckert is their man.
Toward the end, after some adventures, the baddies get hold of Beckert before the latter can return to his room, where the cops are waiting. An abandoned brewery is the venue of a kangaroo court that is convened to "try" and execute the scummy Beckert. Beckert, in turn, pleads for his life, saying he couldn't help himself. His "lawyer" does a fairly good job of arguing the "it's-not-right-to-kill-a-sick-man" side, and things go back and forth for a while (including an emotional "can't-risk-having-him-escape-or-be-set-free" exchange). Eventually, the cops arrive in the nick of time and take custody of Beckert, and we hear no more of him.
I think the problem with many subsequent films that covered the same territory was the fact that they had to say more than was said in M, which was very spare, but very to-the-point. I'll leave the symbolism, etc. to the critics.
This film was definitely worth watching.
Cheers...
The film is short on action and long on dialog. Lang uses "still-life" shots to convey messages, as when early in the film, the camera fixes on an empty lunch plate that belongs to a little girl who is abducted by Hans Beckert, played by Lorre.
NOTE: Spoilers follow.
Basically, the plot centers around how the Berlin underworld (very organized, with ne'er-do-wells arrayed in 'unions', where each member has an id number) mobilizes to catch an elusive serial child murderer. The mobilization comes as the result of both a 'natural' abhorrence of victimizing children in the manner, as well as a desire to have the cops tone down their relentless dragnet for the killer, which is interfering with business.
In one sequence Lang intersperses scenes from two meetings: one, of the police; the other, of criminal leaders. Each meeting is shown considering various ways to attack the problem.
The solutions proposed by "law enforcement" seem to come out of today's headlines: closer inspection of citizen ids and movements, a call for expanded powers to search premises, etc. When one participant suggests to the homicide inspector on the case that the public's help be enlisted, the inspector cynically answers that such help is rarely useful. When his response is questioned, another particpant comes to the inspector's defense.
Ultimately, the cops decide on using old-fashioned legwork, applied to a list of every former mental case who had been deemed sane and released into the world to live in the city.
The bad guys simply decide to enlist the beggar's "union" to keep watch on every square meter of the city, looking for men who befriend small children.
Ultimately, Beckert's habit of whistling some phrases from Peer Gynt tickles the memory of a blind beggar, who in turn sets a young man to trail the whistling Beckert, who has already begun to escort his next victim to a local candy store. Interestingly enough, the police have also found Beckert - or at least his lodgings - as he was apparently on the list of mental patients that the cops had collected in the aftermath of their meeting. Cigarette butts, some splintered wood, and shavings from a red pencil convince the cops that Beckert is their man.
Toward the end, after some adventures, the baddies get hold of Beckert before the latter can return to his room, where the cops are waiting. An abandoned brewery is the venue of a kangaroo court that is convened to "try" and execute the scummy Beckert. Beckert, in turn, pleads for his life, saying he couldn't help himself. His "lawyer" does a fairly good job of arguing the "it's-not-right-to-kill-a-sick-man" side, and things go back and forth for a while (including an emotional "can't-risk-having-him-escape-or-be-set-free" exchange). Eventually, the cops arrive in the nick of time and take custody of Beckert, and we hear no more of him.
I think the problem with many subsequent films that covered the same territory was the fact that they had to say more than was said in M, which was very spare, but very to-the-point. I'll leave the symbolism, etc. to the critics.
This film was definitely worth watching.
Cheers...
