It’s A Wonderful List Kicks Off With A Review Of M (1931)

6th January 2016

It’s A Wonderful List..

Some good friends recently handed me a bundle of DVDs they had inherited from a loved one who sadly passed away. I feel it’s my duty over the coming months to honour the gentleman’s impeccable taste in motion pictures by watching, reviewing and donating them to a charitable cause.

Review: M (1931)

Berlin, 1931, a child murderer is loose and the police crack down on all criminal elements in the city. As these heinous crimes continue, the organized undesirable element of the city decides it’s up to them to ensnare this despicable murderer themselves.

A progressive masterpiece that provides the DNA for most modern Thrillers. From lighting to structure, transitions to camerawork, M unfolds unlike any work of cinema I’ve seen from the same period. A fresh-faced Peter Lorre adds an almost sympathetic air to his sickened child murderer Hans Beckert as the film builds to a crescendo of hysteria, the police and criminal fraternity attempt to apprehend the maniac.

After a spate of serial killings and several high profile murderers put to death across pre-national socialist Germany, M must’ve been a sensational and provocative work from Fritz Lang. Luckily for us, Lang’s first talkie is imbued with the director’s cinematic strengths and outspoken voice. A palm sweating thrill from start to finish, I’ll never hear ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ the same way again.

M (German: M – Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder — M – A City Searches for a Murderer) is a 1931 German drama-thriller film directed by Fritz Lang and starring Peter Lorre. The film was written by Lang and his wife, Thea von Harbou, and was the director’s first sound film.

The film revolves around the actions of a serial killer of children and the manhunt for him, conducted by both the police and the criminal underworld.Now considered a classic, the film was deemed by Fritz Lang to be his finest work.

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