Fritz Lang’s first sound film and his penultimate German
movie, M is loosely based on a number
of serial killers in 1920s Germany.
The people of Berlin
are in a state of mob like panic as an unknown man is killing little girls in
the city. Everyone is a suspect and the police are getting nowhere despite
thousands of (conflicting) eye witness testimonies. With unwanted attention
falling on the ‘innocent’ criminal fraternity, local crime bosses take it upon
themselves to capture the killer and use the large homeless and beggar
community as their spies, watching little girls in the hope of discovering the
man behind the attacks.
M is often, and
rightly, considered as one of the first masterpieces of the sound era. Not only
is it a terrific, tense and surprisingly violent film but its use of sound is
up there with the best of the period. Realising that sound could be used for
more than mere dialogue Lang employs it as part of the plot and has sound off
screen along with long periods of silence interrupted by loud noises which
together with a deep and complex score and haunting whistle help to make M one of the best of the early talkies.
The film also features Lang’s famed use of light and shadow and a fantastic
central performance from Peter Lorre.
