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Fritz Lang was a fine director with an artistic vision that is just genius. This is seen perfectly in pretty much all of his resume, especially in Metropolis and this unforgettable masterpiece, M. The film has a great story that unfolds without feeling too fast or too slow in development with a theme that is still relevant today, and to this day I never thought I would see a film that would make me think that the music of Grieg(Peer Gynt being the murderer's motif in a form of a truly chilling whistle) was scary. When it comes to sound and visuals, M is a triumph. The images expressionistic in their look and tone are incredibly atmospheric including in the brilliantly crafted opening sequence, and the sound is very inspired, yes even in the small details like Lorre clicking open his knife. The script is accomplished and intelligent, Lang's direction is superb and the characters intrigue not just Lorre's very chilling murderer but also Inspector Lohman. While there is a fair bit of suspense and chills, the final shot actually quite touched me in a way. The acting is excellent. While the support playing of the likes of Otto Klemike hits the nail on the head, it is the performance of Peter Lorre that lives long into the memory. Here he parodies the sinister snivelling that often makes him so compelling to watch and while he is very menacing there are times as you delve deeper into his character where you feel pity for him. All in all, an unforgettable masterpiece. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Fritz Lang's second absolute landmark (after the equally brilliant but completely different 'Metropolis') and also his first opportunity to work with the wonders of sound. And boy, did he ever deliver a great piece of work! Like the M (for murderer) is marked on Peter Lorre's coat, the film M (for masterpiece) is branded on cinema history annals for all eternity. Lang's film is a triumph in every possible viewpoint and it covers a lot more genres and elements than just simply the manhunt for a child-molester. *** SPOILERS **** The horrors 'M' handles about is timeless and of all cultures, but yet it'll always remain a taboo subject and for that reason alone Fritz Lang deserves extra praising. In an utterly astonishing way, Peter Lorre portrays Hans Beckert, a child murderer who single-handedly terrorizes four and half million people simply by his uncontrollable urge to kidnap and molest young schoolgirls. The grim and haunting atmosphere is terrifically built up by images of previous Beckert-victims and the disappearance a new unfortunate girl. Her toy rolling of a remote hills...a balloon drifting away on the wind. Really simple but extremely efficient methods to reflect the ominous actions that just took place. Other than to focus on the further actions of the killer, Lang turns to the effect this terror has on the city and how the manhunt for Beckert develops. Our director is obviously fascinated by how a police procedure is organized and he serves the viewer a detailed overview of all the steps taken by the investigators. Meanwhile, he grabs the opportunity to forcefully criticize the media's influence and the German law system with both hands. I'd really like to stress that Lang's subtle mockery was a really risky thing to do with the upcoming Nazi-reign, so you can't admire him enough. Due to the constant (and fruitless) raids the police are holding in the hope to capture the killer, the criminal underworld begins to lose its profits as well and they start their own manhunt for the killer, assisted by whores, beggars and petty thieves. With the carefully observing eyes all over town, it becomes practically impossible for Becker to satisfy his monstrous needs. The almighty Peter Lorre arrives late in the film every moment he's on screen is a moment worth treasuring. His sad appearance and cruel testimony are sequences that leave no human being unmoved. Lorre is a brilliant actor and this is inarguably one of the most impressive performances of all time. 'M' features constant tension, outstanding dialogue and stunning camera-work. As said before, Fritz Lang had the opportunity to work with sound for this film and he immediately makes the most out of this. This was the first 'big' German production that featured sound and it STILL ranks as the title that made best use of it...and that sure means something after more than 70 years. There's the chilling and legendary tune Lorre constantly whistles but also the absence of sound Lang uses to portray the besieged city. As you can tell from the above review, 'M' is absolute must-see and easily one of the most essential productions ever shot. It's light-years ahead of its time and still disturbing after all these years. This film is a mesmerizing portrait about the darkest, most alarming aspects of humanity and yet still it doesn't live up to real-life facts. As you probably know, the plot of 'M' is based on the whereabouts of the serial killer Peter Kürten who brutally murdered many victims in the city of Düsseldorf. I read a biography on Kürten recently and the true details of his crimes and animal-lusts go beyond every filmmaker's wildest imagination.

Casting its shadow through motion picture history and continuing to do so to this day, suggesting that societies throughout the world have struggled to resolve the most despicable actions of their citizens (inc. those in the police and armed forces) and the penalties they should pay - as seen by the gamut of forfeits that can be incurred for the same crimes across the planet, as well as those that are crimes in some territories and not in others. Ultimately this film asks the question: what makes us who we are, how responsible are we for our actions and what should be done about it and by whom? To this day, as subjective a set of questions as you could wish to ask - but ones we will forever continue to try and answer and cinema will continue to catch in its shadows.

M has to be one of the most influential movies ever made, both technically and psychologically. With an outstanding Peter Lorre, suspense that outsuspenses Hitchcock, excellent cinematography and a deep sociological layer added to it, M is one of the masterpieces of the psychological thriller genre. It is a film devoid of typical humanitarian propaganda, yet it is not the case that we immediately feel the need to relate to the child murderer Hans Beckert ( Peter Lorre ) since Fritz Lang also shows us the effects his gruesome crimes have in the form of the police constantly raiding establishments, the grieving parents & random people accusing eachother of the murders. It is not a movie that forces its opinion on you, but causes you to think about what is truly right and wrong. Hans later claims he cannot help himself because he has an irresistible compulsive urge to kill which cannot be stopped, much to the dismay of other career crooks who claim they only commit crimes to survive and take no pleasure or feel no compulsion towards it. It is a psychological kind of movie that is still as relevant as ever today as it was in 1931. Peter Lorre is ofcourse the perfect fit for the psychopathic child murderer, he has the perfect innocent wide eyed look for a psychopath, who seems to even be likeable when he is not murdering children. His signature whistle by Edvard Grieg - In the Hall of the Mountain King is a nice creepy addition to his character which he uses to lure kids to their doom. Ofcourse the incredible shot at the start which focuses on Hans's shadow on the poster that lists his crimes and reward for capture while talking to a little girl before killing her is a great ironic symbolism to announce his character. It was Lang's first sound picture, yet only two third of the movie was shot with actual sound while everything else was shot silent. This was primarily to keep the costs down since sound equipment was very expensive at the time. It creates a weird mix in constant transitioning from silent to sound. Yet as Lang has stated it adds another layer to the eeriness the movie has, so it only enhances the experience instead of unimmersing you out of the film. The cinematography is revolutionary in its use of low key lightning, which is a technique that was used many times after in the classic Film Noir era in Hollywood. The result is many Film Noirs share a visual resemblance with M due to their dark tone. Not only visually, but psychologically many themes of M have been repeated throughout the years in cinema. It was one of the first instances of a semi-sympathetic look on a pure psychopathic murderer, which has been repeated countless times in later years. Some might feel sorry for Beckert for having this affliction of which he cannot be helped while others would prefer to see him hang, the movie doesn't shove the right answer down our throats, and it's possible to look at it from either way without having a right answer. It is a sociological thinking man's picture that is as relevant now as it ever was.

"Masterpiece" is the word most film buffs and historians probably would use to describe this 1931 Fritz Lange film, based loosely on the events of a real-life serial killer a few years prior to the film. In this movie, the killer is Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre), who lures children to their deaths. Though the story is about a child killer, the theme of "M" centers more on society's obsession with the murders. From kids playing games, to adults going about their everyday lives, everyone is on guard, suspicious, combative, and very vindictive. For selfish reasons, even the petty criminal underworld wants the child killer caught. But the police are ineffective, and a self-righteous mob mentality takes over. The whole film is really a study in the terrifying psychology of "group think". As it turns out, the killer is less monstrous than pathetic and compulsive. Beckert can't help himself. He's a short, squatty, bug-eyed little man who can't control the devil within. Lorre was perfect for the role, and his acting is flawless and mesmerizing. Yes, the killings, all off-screen, are awful. But the militant lynch-mob mentality is just as scary. Beckert is the only individualist in the film. Part silent film and part talkie, the B&W visual style of "M" is wonderfully expressionistic and baroque. There are lots of overhead camera shots. Background sounds, like honking horns and whistles, are precursors of major plot points. What strikes me most about this film is its tone. I can think of very few films that are so harsh, so bitter, so malicious, so punitive. "M" contains not an ounce of humanism. Lang's ex-wife, Thea von Harbou, a Nazi sympathizer, wrote the film, just before the rise of Hitler. The film's angry, militant tone thus foreshadows Hitler's Third Reich, from 1933 until 1945. (Lang himself fled Germany, and ended up in the U.S.) Your own personal preferences in films will determine whether you consider "M" to be a masterpiece, or overrated, or perhaps somewhere in between. But individual preferences aside, there can be no doubt that "M" is an important film, historically. Every person who wishes to be versed in classic films needs to see "M" at least once.

Watching Fritz Lang's M is watching the history of cinema unfold before one's eyes. Made in the transition period between the silent and sound film, this 1931 masterpiece remains fascinating for several reasons. First of all, the use of sound is impeccable. Suffice to say the killer in the movie is caught is through identifying his trademark whistling. But the use of voice-over narration was also new at the time and is used here very well: first when a mother calls, in panic, for her missing child, and her name echoes across several empty walls. Next in a scene in which two detectives elaborate on what they've done to apprehend the killer and everything they say is matched by an image. Secondly, few times has a serial killer been treated with such complexity, compassion and straightforwardness in cinema. Peter Lorre plays a child murder, a man who acts by impulse, possibly a schizophrenic. He simultaneously evokes horror and pity, and he's too distant from the super-cool and erudite serial killers of today. Lorre plays one Hans Beckert, a lonely man with a history of mental illness, an ordinary man without any qualities or amazing traits. Thirdly, it's a powerful meditation on vigilantism and crime. The police is unable to capture the killer, so Berlin's underground decides to capture the criminal. The police raids are putting them out of business and they resent the fact that a child killer is being sought amidst their ranks. The absurdity of bank robbers and card cheaters with a sense of morals is not lost on the filmmakers. In a mock-trial at the end, these same criminals think they have the authority to sentence the child murder to death. But as he tells them, if they wanted, if they got jobs and worked honestly, they could leave their lives of crime; a man who's ordered by voices to kill can't just turn off him impulses. But above all, M is a fascinating, exciting thriller. It's an intelligent crime story, that shows police and criminals working on different sides and with different means to achieve the same purpose. If one can laugh at the idea of a criminal union (realism should never be a criterion for judging art), one can't laugh at the policemen in this movie. Inspector Lohmann, played by Otto Wernicke, is one of most intelligent detectives ever to grace cinema. He's fat, he's cranky, he's an unlikely hero, but he's shrewd, he can read a person's personality at a glance, he's patient. Lang must have liked him too because he used the character (and actor) in his following crime epic, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, in which Lohmann shows even greater skills. I knew (or at least highly expected) that M would be an amazing movie. But I didn't imagine a 80-year-old movie would hold up so well in terms of cinematography, sound, pacing, acting, structure. Few movies achieve such a synthesis of qualities. There is no doubt on my mind that M deserves the recognition it continues to receive from film historians.

This is a very interesting film on so many levels. It's interesting to see just how far ahead German cinema was of its American counterpart at this point in time. Although there is not that much talking in this early German talking picture - Fritz Lang resisted going to sound in the first place - what conversation that does take place is well done and natural sounding. Compare it with any American film from 1931 and you can't help but see the difference. The murderer, artfully played by Peter Lorre, has been killing children that have no link to him personally for months. The police, despite all of their efforts, are unable to catch him, mainly because there is no rhyme or reason in his choice of victims. At first there is a focus on the victims and the hole left in their families by their killing. Then, the film shifts to two normally opposed groups - the police and the underworld. After several months of no results by the authorities, the police are unhappy because it reflects badly upon them, and the underworld is unhappy because their activities are being disrupted because of the police doing constant raids in their efforts to capture the killer. In a particularly well-done part of the film the scene shifts back and forth between a conference of police and one of the underworld. They discuss how they are going to catch the killer. The police settle upon the idea of looking for people with a history of past mental problems that were pronounced cured and released. The underworld decides to enlist an invisible group - the beggars - to follow every child at all times and therefore catch the killer. Both groups focus on the right suspect, the question is - who gets there first? M is a fascinating film that raises many topics - the death penalty, a group of criminals that are criminals by choice causing less stress on society than a lone criminal that acts out of an uncontrollable compulsion, and the motivations of the authorities often being their own bureaucratic survival rather than the larger issue of ending a series of horrible acts against humanity.