Rating of
4/4
82 years old... Still holds up.
memento_mori - wrote on 08/07/13
Possible Spoilers
M is a movie I discovered by just typing 'm' into the YouTube search bar.
What started out as a seemingly unconscious act led to my viewing of one of the best movies I had ever watched.
M. Just that title sounds so mysterious, doesn't it?
Well, I can assure you that this movie is loaded with mystery and suspense.
Fritz Lang is known for directing the early sci-fi movie Metropolis, but I think his true overlooked film is M.
The way he directed it allowed so much insight into such a controversial premise. A child murderer in Berlin, hunted by the police and eventually Berlin's flustered criminal gangs.
There is something demented about the way the movie looks. You don't know what, but it feels twisted all the way through, like it is refusing to tell you something.
It is a direct reflection of its main character.
The dialogue only adds to this suspense. Fortunately, I speak German, so I understood the interacting conversations.
There are many noteworthy contributing points of this brilliant movie, but the definite unquestionable highlight has to be Peter Lorre. Man. I am speechless.
His character is most possibly the devil himself. The whole film he acts shy and is visibly kind to children. His outstanding performance tricks you into thinking this is a sadistic, vicious man who takes pleasure in his acts. But only as he is confronted by mass hysteria does he reveal his true self.
A scene near the end of the movie including him sends chills down my spine every time I see it.
Admittedly, it can drag on during some parts of the story, but it manages to constantly fascinate me with its persistent tone of noir, its incredible acting and dark direction.
A masterful piece of filmmaking, with a great message, too.
