M (1931)

Director: Fritz Lang
Writer: Thea von Harbou and Fritz Lang

A child murderer is on the loose and terrorizing a small German town. The police are out in force and the criminals band together to bring the maniac to justice.

One of the greatest German films ever made, by one of Germany's finest directors: Fritz Lang. M tells the story of a man, Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre), who has the uncontrollable urge to kill children. The film, however, is not a whodunit. We know from the start that Beckert is the murderer. The premise alone is chilling and Lang's crafting of the film only adds to the terror. The first death is the most upsetting and sets the tone for the rest of the tragedy to come. As Elsie Beckmann (Inge Langut) is walking home from school a police officer first helps her cross the street when a car nearly hits her. As she walks she's bouncing a ball but stops to throw it in the air and catch it. Lang's camera holds on her for a moment then moves past her to focus on a large pillar with a poster advertising a 10,000 Marks reward and explanation of the murderer's reign of terror. The poster engulfs the frame but Elsie bounces her ball off the poster, that is until a man's shadow comes into frame and hovers over the word "Mörder." His shadow bends over and he talks to Elsie. After cutting to Elise's mother who is waiting on Elsie, growing worried, Lang cuts to the man (whose face we cannot see) whistling and buying Elsie a balloon.

At the end of the scene with Elsie, her mother is leaning through a window calling her name. Lang then cuts to the empty stairwell, the empty attic, Elsie's unused place at the table, all the while we hear Frau Beckmann's voice calling. Then Lang cuts to a little field where Elsie's ball rolls into frame then to a shot of power lines with Elsie's balloon caught in them. We don't have to see her, but we know Elsie is dead. It's all the more upsetting that we just see her ball and balloon, both strong images of childhood and innocence, without Elsie.

M was Lang's first sound feature and his use of sound is what gives the film its potency. Lang uses the killer's whistling the tune "Hall of the Mountain King" to signal his desire to kill. The consistent use of this tune creates an association in the viewers mind such that whenever the tune is heard, anxiety fills the viewer who wonders, "is he going to do it again?" The most troubling result of the aural connection is Lorre's performance. He taps into the psychology of the serial killer but in such a manner that evokes sympathy in the viewer. We see him struggling to suppress his desire. But that tune, a manifestation of his Id, is too great for him to control and thus he kills. However, he gains no satisfying pleasure from his deeds, as he writes to the press demanding that the police capture him. This act is a haunting precursor to real criminals such as the Zodiac Killer of the late 1960s who wrote to San Francisco newspapers, taunting the police.

Apart from a study of psychopathology, M is also a cutting satire of justice. Because Beckert is on the loose, the police are combing the city and the criminals (that is, the nonviolent criminals like con artists, pickpockets, safe crackers, etc.) can't work. The criminal underground assembles to try to track down Beckert as well. Lang is not saying that the police are incompetent, on the contrary they nearly catch Beckert before the criminals. His point is that while these people may be "criminals," they still have a sense of morality against which Beckert has transgressed. Their form of justice is absolute as demonstrated in the kangaroo court. The band of criminals are more than willing to kill Beckert. However, just before the mob descends on Beckert, the authorities intervene and he is found guilty in proper court.

The final shot of the film, the mothers in mourning, is the most heart-breaking because of Frau Beckmann's feeling that it's her fault, and the fault of the other parents, for not having kept a closer eye on their children. Their complacency in society is to blame for the loss of their children just as much as Beckert.