M

M (1931)

Directed by: Fritz Lang
Written by: Thea von Harbou and Fritz Lang inspired by actual events
Starring: Peter Lorre, Gustaf Gründgens, Otto Wernicke, Theodor Loos, Friedrich Gnaß, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Rudolf Blümner, Georg John, Rosa Valetti

I don't think that I have anything new to say about this movie - it's been around for a long time, and it's pretty highly regarded. But hey, I can do whatever I want.

The first sound film ever made in Germany and also Peter Lorre's first movie, about a psychotic man who is compelled to kill and presumably rape young girls, loosely based on Peter Kurten who killed at least 14 people in Dusseldorf between 1892 and 1930.

The police seem to be incapable of catching him (damn police) so the criminals and beggars band together to get him and kill him.

It's an interesting moral issue - he is not in control of himself and can't really be held responsible for his actions. So should they let him go and allow him to kill again? Fuck yeah.

Sorry, I had to stop myself from descending into the pit of pseudo-intellectual critiquing.

So, this is the first German talkie, but a lot of the scenes have no sound in them, which creates a sort of uneven feeling. Still, the film is very well made. Many of the techniques and camera work Fritz uses are way ahead of the time.

And then there's Peter Lorre. This was his first movie, and probably one of the best performances I've seen out of him. He was totally insane and repulsive but kind of... pitiful.

So there are, like, 9 minutes missing from this movie still. The government cut a shit load from it. Surprise surprise. Damn government. Um...

I like black and white movies. They look nice. The print I watched was actually very good - very crisp, very clean... it looked good...

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