M

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day 191 of 365 of my year long challenge Week 28: THEY are watching... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In such an unassuming film, Fritz Lang effortlessly highlights the power of emerging cinema technology in ways no Hollywood or commercial film dared dream to. With M, Lang crafts a tense, gripping and energetic thriller set on the streets of Berlin. More than anything else, M so effortlessly manipulates its audience with intelligence and heart that ensures it stays with you long after the film has ended. On the streets of 1930s Berlin, parents are becoming increasingly anxious. With wanted posters for a serial child murderer, the disappearance of Elsie Beckmann (Inge Landgut) sends the city into a frenzy. Police are overworked in their efforts to find the killer. Parents, citizens and children are paranoid and suspicious of everyone. The criminal underworld is in upheaval as their operations are endlessly disturbed. A civilised mob rules the street in the hunt for Berlin's child murderer. From the very beginning, we know something is off and even though it isn't long before the crimes are revealed to us, it still comes as a shock. As an audience, and as people, there is nothing more reprehensible than what out murderer has done. As such, Lang does little encourage or dissuade us either way but leaves it to the world and its characters, all of which are anxious about events, to drive our emotions. We are just as swept up in this hunt as they are. The best part of this trick comes when you realise just how little we actually see. The "worst" part comes when you realise how inclined you are to sympathise with this pathetic killer. The majority of the film comes about via the police, citizens and oddly enough, the criminal underworld of Berlin. Though hardly good people, and in any other film they'd be villains, they come across as vigilante heroes as they organise and search for the killer. They don't worry about anything else and live in a world where justice and the law are two very separate things. It's here that Lang really pushes our sense of morality and ethics in ways few films dare. This all comes to a head in an outstanding climax that is explosive in emotion and passion rather than action. And so it seems, a good story outweighs a good set piece. Yet, for all the brilliance of the story within M, it is as much the film's technical prowess and innovation that has become its legacy. The power of sound and silence are on show here, creating the most brilliantly tense and paranoid atmosphere. Likewise, camera shots we have since come to take for granted are effortlessly used throughout this film. M's technical legacy is one we easily take for granted but watching this, one can't help but picture all the films since that have built upon and stood on its shoulders. M is a film with a massive legacy that, though occasionally heavy-handed, stands out as something truly gripping and amazing. Few films would dare to try something this audacious and fewer would succeed. Likewise, few films could get away with the power of suggestion and the overwhelming drive of passion that M does. If nothing else, M's climax alone is enough to make this a wholly great film and one that will stay with you.