M - Criterion Collection

Rating:
Summary: Criterion DVD: excellent sound, but far from perfect picture
Review: I own a beamer and normally see quite well how a film was transfered. Here, the picture isnt clear, you can't distinguish faces far off, cannot even read the newspaper-article, though I am certain you can on the source that was used for the transfer. I certainly hoped for better stuff, and now will have to to tape the film from an emission on TV and dub the sound or something similar. A disappointing transfer indeed!

Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking and surprisingly contemporary.
Review: Fritz Lang's first sound picture, M, is a masterpiece. It is curiously contemporary in its design, and delivers its plot with an unflinching maturity that most modern filmmakers cannot muster.

It tells the story of a child killer and the ramifications of his crimes. The city lives under a cloud of fear. The police are clueless, so the criminal underworld - also disgusted by these hideous crimes - decide to clean up the streets for themselves.

The story is entirely believable, and raises concerns that are timeless and global.

Peter Lorre is perfectly cast. His childlike mannerisms, pudgy face and bog-eyes are somehow fitting in a man who finds himself so fatefully drawn to children. And he gives the finest performance of an outstanding career.

The direction is, of course, masterly. Check out the wonderful moment near the beginning where a little girl plays with a ball against a wall, with the Wanted poster behind her, and Lorre's behatted silhouette appears on the poster. It is still chilling.

There's also a very fine shot where the camera goes through a window, which was imitated by Orson Welles, (with much better technology at his disposal) in Citizen Kane.

M has really barely dated. There are a few moments where the acting is a touch too "silent-era", but it doesn't detract from the film's overall effect.

The most inspiring thing is the film's balance. Although it makes it very clear that the murderer's crimes are unacceptable and disgusting, it does not monster him. It presents him as a pathetic, troubled individual. It asks the question: crime or sickness?

Incidentally, considering the film was made in 1931, the picture looks very good on DVD. It is a good way to preserve genius.

This is a must for anyone who likes thoughtful movie making from whatever era, and provides a masterclass for anyone seriously interested in direction.

Rating:
Summary: Petter Lore is amazing!
Review: M - Criterion Collection DVD~ Peter Lorre, can easily be said to be one of the most demented movies ever made. Fritz Lang's story about a ruthless pedophile (played by Peter Lorre) is harrowing even today. What makes this movie so disturbing is not that one can see the attacks, but one has to use ones imagination when the attacks occur; and this ultimately makes these attacks on the innocent children even more diabolical. Peter Lorre is simply astounding in his depiction of the child killer/pedophile that he has been able to be immersed in the character. I would definitely recommend this movie, i.e., M - Criterion Collection DVD~ Peter Lorre, to anyone whom likes intelligent, yet very disturbing movies!

Rating:
Summary: Haunting and unforgettable masterpiece.
Review: When sound was first introduced into film, the natural response from filmmakers was to use it as much as they possibly could. For Fritz Lang, however, it was to be used sparingly, more like punctuation then narrative. The story of 'M' should be familiar to those who have seen Spike Lee's magnificant 'Summer Of Sam'. There's a killer on the streets, kidnapping and slaying young children, and the police and the underworld of criminals have both set their sights on him. The film doesn't really concern itself with the killer, although he does have a few striking scenes (especially at the film's end where he pitifully tries to plead his case before the kangeroo court of criminals before him) but more so with the dividing line between criminals and police. Both want the killer caught for different reasons. The police want him to end the murders, the crooks want him caught so the cops will ease off their nightly patrols. The film makes these comparisons strikingly clear. It is a powerful film about desperation and fear, justice and innocence. Peter Lorre is remarkable in the role of the killer, his bug-eyed face twisting and contorting with considerable creepiness. His ending monologue is one of the greatest moments in the history of film. Fritz Lang's direction is near-perfect and again his use of sound is breathtaking. The shrill whistling of a tune has never been so frightening before. For all those interested in seeing just how great a film can be, this is one of those must-have films in your collection.

Rating:
Summary: M-The Debut of the Serial Killer on Film
Review: This is an astounding film. Peter Lorre gives a hauntingly brilliant performance as the twisted, yet sympathetic serial killer loosely based on real-life serial killers of the time (Fritz Haarman & Peter Kurten). A serial killer is on the loose preying on little children. The police can't figure out who it is. The criminals who are sickened by the news decide to band together to track down the killer. Fritz lang does a brilliant job conveying the sheer terror that gripped the town as a monster roams the streets killing innocent children. A classic that deserves mentioning as one of the greatest achievements in cinema history.

Rating:
Summary: Become The Murderer
Review: This is probably one of the best films depicting a serial killer that I have ever come across. The movie plot is pretty absurd with the whole of the self-rightous "underground" world of criminals uniting to catch the kindermorder who thretens to blacken their reputation! The Nazi propaganda is typically moronic, but that can safely be ignored to get to the climax where Lorre is being "tried" by the gangsters and gangland killers who think they are so much superior to them and he launched into his tirade. The killer is not an evil man, but one driven by an insane urge to kill, regardless of the consequences. Unlike the rest of the criminals who prosecute him, he does not do what he does for gain, but because his very nature, a drive that is alien even to him, forces him to obey. The sheer power of Lorre's perfromance, especially in the prosecution scene, blasts most other movies out of the water. There are few scenes as intense and revealing as this one. As a member of the progeny of UFA's expressionist classics, the movie is visually quite stunning and of course, highly artifical in its plot and acting, but this in no way takes away from its dramatic power. I wonder how it would have turned out had Lang not been under the Nazi censors wh forced hom to fell for his life a few years later?

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Summary: A peek into Hitler's Germany...
Review: I had heard "M" spoken of for many years as a masterpiece of German Expressionism, as an early psychological thriller, as the first portrait of a serial killer. For these & other reasons, I had been interested in seeing it for a long time. Now that I have, I feel it is an important movie, but for reasons totally ignored by most film buffs: it is an amazing document of early Hitler Germany, made in the very first years of his taking power. As a time capsule of German values & beliefs it couldn't be more revealing!

As "M" opens, we see some extremely dispirited looking children playing a singing game. In every scene of the movie that features a child, the children seem sedated, little zombies. Was this typical of German children of the period? Were they so benumbed by the economic disasters their parents endured that they had ceased to show any personality whatsoever? Or is this an example of the grinding propaganda they encountered in all aspects of their daily routine?

The "Who is the Murderer?" posters Fritz Lang depicts posted in the town feature the following text: "It is every mother's highest duty to guard her child at all times." Whew!! Somehow I can't imagine an Wanted poster in the US of 1931 preaching quite so blatantly! The police are shown to be fat & lazy, the criminal underworld organized into unions, & at all turns, the ugly apparatus of a police-state are exhibited. For instance, in one scene, the police decide to raid a "known underworld hang-out". The people drinking there are herded together, run thru the gauntlet individually & anyone who doesn't have full paperwork on them is arrested.

Also on display in 3 scenes are examples of mob behavior, anonymous people gaining strength in numbers to gang up on an individual (whether guilty or innocent).

The most disturbing subtext runs thruout the entire film. A whole city is in an uproar over the murders of 8 children. Yet within a decade these same people would be accomplices in the murders of millions of children.

Yes, Fritz Lang's "M" is a classic, but not for any of the reasons usually given. If you have any knowledge of 20th Century German history, you will find it a fascinating time capsule & a filmic explanation for the rise of the Nazi's. It is chilling & very disturbing to watch.

Rating:
Summary: Lang's dark and terrifying tale of the Berlin underworld
Review: Director Fritz Lang's bleak, intense criminal masterpiece "M" is one of the cinema's most important and interesting works...and should be a real "must see" for any fan of foreign cinema.

Peter Lorre in his acting debut plays a sinister, cold blooded child murderer prowling the shadowy and darkened streets of Berlin looking for victims to slake his violent desires. Loosely based around the true tale of German mass murderer, Fritz Haarman, who preyed on young males in the early twenties, before losing his head to the guillotine !! ....Lang's subject matter was very controversial on several levels and Lang's film is a jarring ride through a world of suspense and terror that ultimately finds the predator becoming the prey. Lorre eludes the frustrated Berlin police force, but finds that his criminal peers can no longer tolerate his barbarity and so they set about judging this outcast member of their community in their own fashion.

Lang truly was a magnificent director and this dark, atmospheric cauldron of intense performances is one of Germany's finest films. A movie not easily forgotten and one bound to evoke spirited conversation amongst viewers of this great work.

A genuine masterpiece of the cinema.....10 stars !!

Rating:
Summary: A classic every film lover should see
Review: "M" has everything you could hope in a great film. The acting by Peter Lorre, Gustaf Gründgens, Otto Wernicke, and the rest of the cast all perfectly convey the different personalities in this complex story. The use of black & white and shadows is very moody and haunting. The use of sound is very important since it will tell you things the camera isn't showing. The camera work itself is amazing. I especially love the long shot in the beginning of the scene of the beggars are signing up to watch the streets where the camera moves back and forth, up and into a room through a window without a cut.

"M" offers so much for the viewer -- thrills, suspense, humor, terror! I enjoy it more and more with every repeated viewing. Fritz Lang does more than just give ideas on insane criminals. He compares and contrasts the police and the underworld criminal systems. You learn about the "state-of-the-art " systems of that time. And the last words harken a most important message that unfortunately is still true today. Also, if you look deeper, you can even sense Lang's anti-Nazi sentiments.

It's a Criterion Collection DVD, so I had high expectations. I was disappointed with a lack of extras, but I happily noticed scenes that weren't on my VHS version. The picture was mostly clear with white lines rarely popping up. There were long passages of no sound at times, but it's possible it's supposed to be like that. (I no longer have my VHS version to compare.) The subtitles were clear and easy to read. There's interesting details on the film in the liner notes. And not like this would influence anyone's buying decisions, but I also loved the design on the case and the disc.

Rating:
Summary: Historic document of the decadent Berlin,
Review: Some film historics consider it the best film maybe ever done in Germany. Watch the old an decadent Berlin (rare like in "Emil and the detectives"). It will never be the same city again later. Peter Lorre and Gustav Gründgens as Lang are genious. Fritz Lang has the sensibility of feeling the dark and light both; like the german forests 5000 years ago: combining his understanding for dark pleasures as his love for any human on earth.