July 10, 2007

M

1931 / Fritz Lang > Does M hold up to our current standards of what a film such as this ought to be? Strangely, yes. Unlike others in the genre which have lost their luster due to overused plot twists or simply a sense of age and awkwardness, M stands firm. Lang's filming is claustrophobic but not overdone; his storytelling is imaginative but coherent; and his treatment of the villain is respectful but not apologetic. In fact, not only does it hold up, it actually still outdoes its successors in terms of intelligence and overall composition.

Nowadays, tension in serial killer films seem necessary to be represented throughout the tenure. However, in M, the great beauty is in its objectivity. The serial killer himself—and his capture—is only part of the game. The cops and robbers, the bystanders and victims, they all play a part in the total landscape without overshadowing the other. Moreover, it's impossible not to see what it's influenced (most notably, in my mind, was Sympathy for Lady Vengeance). Increasingly, this is one of the few classics where a modern remake would be interesting just to see if 76 years of technology and know-how could actually trump the original.