M
M • 1h 49m
Directed by Fritz Lang • 1931 • Germany
A simple, haunting musical phrase whistled offscreen tells us that a young girl will be killed. "Who Is the Murderer?" pleads a nearby placard as serial killer Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) closes in on little Elsie Beckmann... In his harrowing masterwork M, Fritz Lang merges trenchant social commentary with chilling suspense, creating a panorama of private madness and public hysteria that to this day remains the blueprint for the psychological thriller.
Up Next in M
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M Commentary
Recorded in 2004, this commentary features University of California at Berkeley professor Anton Kaes, author of the BFI Film Classics volume on M, and Harvard University professor of German Eric Rentschler, author of “The Ministry of Illusion: Nazi Cinema and Its Afterlife.”
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Mastering a New Medium: Sound in M
Listen closely: Fritz Lang’s claustrophobic thriller has one of the densest, most skillfully layered soundtracks in all of early sound film.
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Claude Chabrol on M
