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Almost 75 years to the day of its initial German
release I sat down to take in M
for what must be the second or third time in my
life and was immediately and hopelessly drawn
into this completely consuming tale of a child
killer.
Loosely based on the life and crimes of Peter
Kurten, M (originally scripted
as The Murderer Among Us) begins
with a rhyme sung by children based on the crimes
of Fritz Haarmann. The film then quickly proceeds
to visually telling its story in a highly effective
way as it chillingly shows without violence but
much implication a little girl who doesn't
make it home from school one day. After the initial
crime the impact is then shown on the general
populace as people from all of society gather
in small groups everywhere all over the bleak
industrial city to discuss the mounting events.
Meanwhile, the instigator of the murder writes
a note to the police as he whistles his theme.
Soon no one is beyond being accused of suspicion
as police efforts to trace the killer come up
empty handed. As they attempt early formulations
of forensic work, which also amounts to nothing,
an executive police decision is made to come down
hard on the criminal underworld of the city. Their
reaction is to take action into their own hands
as M becomes something more than
a police procedural. M then evolves
into a pure thriller as both forces rush to chase
down their target. Suffice to say it all ends
in a court room scene with few precedents but
many antecedents. This scene itself is immortalised
in a large four panel fold out on the inside of
the digpak packaging.
While not as graphic a film as Henry:
Portrait Of A Serial Killer, M
is every bit as brutally atmospheric with the
performance of Peter Lorre still at the top of
the psycho tree to this day. See it and believe
it. |
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| Video |
| Despite several digital restorations the age of
this black and white film ensures that it's
never going to appear as slick as the transfer of
your latest multiplex snotbuster. However, that's
not to say that M comes on like
some fifth generation VHS dub from Venezuela with
a tracking problem. Instead M uses
dolly shots, close-ups, crowd shots, and overhead
shots like we've come to expect so that the
minimal wear that now exists on it hardly detracts
from viewing it. |
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| Audio |
| Coming two years after the introduction of sound
to commercial film the most immediately surprising
aspect of M is its lack of sound.
The soundtrack to M is used very
sparingly with large slabs of silence interspersed
between a sound design that was way advanced for
it's time, incorporating off-screen sound
effects with theme music that is whistled by it's
protagonist (apparently by the director for Peter
Lorre who couldn't) producing the cumulative
effect of a bad dream. The sudden use of well-collected
sound especially during street scenes, often has
a jolting effect that reminds you that M
isn't entirely manufactured fantasy. The dialogue
(all German) is always front and central thanks
to the mono soundtrack but well captured especially
when reproducing the whispery high-pitched tones
of Lorre. It's also amazing how effective
children's rhymes can be in creating an atmosphere
of unease. Having recently consumed A Nightmare
On Elm Street and the work of Fernando
Arrabal I can verify the universality and longevity
of this effect but M did it first,
expertly using it to traverse from blackness in
the opening shot effortlessly segueing into it's
bleak urban industrialised world. |
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| Extra Features |
The bulk of the hefty supply of extras on this
two disc set are devoted to the history of restorations
(digital and analogue) and re-releases of M.
A 23 minute talking head documentary with one
Peter Campbell sitting in an editing suite takes
us through some of the more technical problems
associated with the film's restoration in
2003. Campbell and his company IML are based in
Melbourne. There's a four way commentary
track that utilises two of the original German
technicians who worked on the film's first
major digital restoration as well as pertinent
excerpts from an interview supplied and conducted
by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich with Fritz Lang
in 1965. There's a 'worked'
photo gallery presentation with music, zooms and
pans that investigates productions stills along
with advertising and a programme for the film.
A text history of Nero Film the innovative company
behind the production joins the other text based
biographies and filmographies supplied for Peter
Lorre, Fritz Lang and Gustaf Grundgens. Three
documentaries that range in length from 17 to
27 minutes taken from various time periods present
an interview with Fritz Lang, M as horror film
and M – The Film Restoration that traces
the modern impetus and machinations behind the
current release. A very interesting storyboard
to screen comparison is also included. There's
also 37 minutes of the audio interview created
by Bogdanovich with Lang that rounds out what
will give you a thorough grounding into the making
and re-making of M. All are presented
with fantastic animated menus. All in all a more
comprehensive collusion of extras outside of a
Weta release you're not likely to find.
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| The Verdict |
| When it came time to checking the credits on this
film (and yes there is an error printed on the back
of the slipcase) I was surprised to see how it seems
to have faded from many modern horror film reference
books. However, watching or re-watching M
can be as exciting and instructive in a general
sense as it for those seeking it out for Cinema
101. M, while creating one of the
first serial killer thrillers, has much to offer
in terms of pace and overall fear, especially in
painting a picture of slow-burning mass moral panic.
In short, M may be one of the creepiest
PG rated films alive and should be a must-see for
horror enthusiasts of every stripe. |
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