Movie Minx

Starring: Peter Lorre
Directed by: Fritz Lang

Plot: When the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.

But is it any good?

I’d never heard of M before. Shame on me! I had seen Metropolis, and was rather overwhelmed that a directed had made something so ambitious so long ago, and even gotten some predictions of the future right.

M is less ambitious, in that it doesn’t have flying cars and giant skyscrapers. It’s set in Berlin (and I can’t help thinking, when I watch these old German movies, of the context in which they were made and the horrors to come) and concerns a rather icky child killer who seemingly can’t help his nasty urges to top little girls. Details are subtle, which is rare in a fil of this era - a young girl’s murder is implied by a rolling ball and balloon floating away into the sky; her mother’s anxiety grows slowly, like our own.

Frankly, as this is an old film it’s wonder is dulled by its unnecessary length and poor quality audio (thank heavens for the subtitles). But put into context, it heralds the beginning of a whole new genre(s) - the noir thriller, and bravely experiements with camera angles, perspective shots and whatnot. It also sets itself apart from other crime movies by letting us spend time with the criminal, and we feel sympathy for him by the end despite his loathsome pasttimes.

I’m not going to announce it as my favourite movie, but it’s the forefather of my favourite movies (eg Silence of the Lambs, Se7en etc) so I salute it and suggest, if you’re the thriller type and tolerate subtitles, that you give it a go.

IMDB’s rating: 8.5/10
My rating: 8/10

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