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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2012 0:23:32 GMT -5
Children: [singing] "Just you wait, it won't be long. The man in black will soon be here. With his cleaver's blade so true. He'll make mincemeat out of YOU!" A killer of children is loose on the streets of Berlin. Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) is a plump, little man luring children with sweets and balloons, hiding in shadows and incessantly whistling a strand of music from Edvard Grieg's "At the Hall of the Mountain King". As the killing progresses, every person in the city is on the lookout for this predator: frightened parents, confounded police officers, even Berlin's criminal underworld. The vision of Berlin conveyed: a smoky, dimly lit city comprised of seedy bars and hooker filled streets, speaks of a cesspool from which such a horrible monster could arise. "M" is a story of a city, in a country, on the verge of a horrible time period. The rise of Nazism is on the horizon and the actions of the townspeople hints at the horror that would soon occur. As Roger Ebert observes, "M" depicts a Berlin with "characters have no virtues and lack even attractive vices. In other stories of the time we see nightclubs, champagne, sex and perversion. When "M'' visits a bar, it is to show closeups of greasy sausages, spilled beer, rotten cheese and stale cigar butts." Berlin is a city on the verge of an explosion, of a nervous breakdown, pushed to the edge by a killer. Fritz Lang's first sound film, "M" sparingly uses dialogue and music, relying on the killer's leitmotif whistling and endless shots of cramped, claustrophobic Berlin, a city filled with grim people with ugly faces. These people form a lynch mob reminiscent of Lang's later film noir "Fury" and their pursuit of Beckert is as unnerving as the killer's clandestine hunt across the city. In the lynch mob, Lang creates a monster as unforgettable as Beckert, which drags the killer in a disturbingly silent scene to be judged for his crimes. Beckert's monologue about his uncontrollable urges brings up uncomfortable, unanswerable questions about responsibility, of insanity, that the film addresses but does not ultimately answer. A couple of questions to consider and elements to look out for: 1. How is Berlin depicted? Who is effected by the killer and what steps do they take to capture him? Famously, Lang portrays the police station and the criminal's hideout as mirror images of one another, with their groups of grim, serious men smoking and drinking, gossiping about the murders and planning to catch the perpetrator. 2. How does the film, Lang's first sound film, use montage and sound to elicit viewer response? An early shot involving a balloon effectively conveys a child's death in a way that a musical change or strand of dialogue couldn't. 3. How is the killer depicted? Peter Lorre, who would become famous for his supporting role in "Casablanca" is frequently depicted as a shadow or a whistle in a crowd. What do others, including children, say about him? 4. Note how the mob forms to trap Beckert, how they stake out the area and trap him. Consider how Beckert becomes marked and what it says about his place in society, how society is defined by his social status. links for info: imdb page: www.imdb.com/title/tt0022100/Ebert's Great Movies review: rogerebert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19970803%2FREVIEWS08%2F401010339%2F1023Note, M is in the public domain and thus should be easy to find. Youtube has several postings and it is on Hulu and Hulu+. Here's a version of Grieg's "At the Hall of the Mountain King" from The Social Network soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross: Bob's Thread on Stanley Kubrick's mind-blowing A Clockwork Orange can be found here. officialfan.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=offtopic&action=display&thread=455586 Keep up the good discussion! The F.A.N. Film Club's General Thread can be found here: officialfan.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=offtopic&action=display&thread=434020Info for the club, including presenting schedule and general break down of how to do this is can be found on Google Docs here: docs.google.com/folder/d/0B9hPR8HPrcOLa3RNTzhWdWtIbkE/edit?pli=1Feel free to add yourself to the list if you have a film you would like to present. Even if you are unsure when you can do it, it doesn't hurt to put it down. Just be sure you can present; don't no show. If you put something down but can't do it, let us know.
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bob
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Post by bob on Nov 11, 2012 1:20:20 GMT -5
This is our 20th movie discussion! Great job everyone.
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bob
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Post by bob on Nov 11, 2012 9:45:06 GMT -5
This is an excellent movie with Fritz Lang hitting a home run in his first talking picture. Hans Beckert is in my opinion is up there on the totem pole of villains in movies.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2012 10:13:15 GMT -5
Beckert is a fantastic villain and Peter Lorre turns in an amazing performance. It's as if he's haunting Berlin. He's representative of the film itself: minimal spoken words but, when he speaks, there's a something so frightening about how pathetic and disturbed he is. Lorre started out as a comedian and a song and dance man, so it's great to see him play against type.
One thing that strikes me about the film is how it bridges Lang's silent films and his sound ones. I considered doing Lang's "The Big Heat" but it's compelling to see a film that's between film conventions, in this case silent films and sound films.
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bob
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Post by bob on Nov 12, 2012 14:52:08 GMT -5
To me M features the best work of Peter Lorre's career, which is ironic because it was one of the his first films.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2012 19:42:42 GMT -5
I agree. When I think of Lorre, I think of a creepy but ultimately humorous sidekick, like you see parodied in Bugs Bunny cartoons. This, though, is a different type of performance and I think he channels some deep emotions here. It's a tricky performance to pull off but he does it well. It's all suggestion for the majority of the film, capped off by a magnificent speech.
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bob
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Post by bob on Nov 12, 2012 23:06:25 GMT -5
I'm going to watch this tomorrow. I'm pretty excited for M, one of the more underrated movies we've watched so far.
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mizerable
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Post by mizerable on Nov 12, 2012 23:12:01 GMT -5
It's a pretty good movie. Lorre's speech at the end is great. If you want a movie in similar contrast, I'd also watch Lang's follow up movie "Fury". That's one of Spencer Tracy's best performances...although a little anti-climactic.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2012 0:11:15 GMT -5
It's a pretty good movie. Lorre's speech at the end is great. If you want a movie in similar contrast, I'd also watch Lang's follow up movie "Fury". That's one of Spencer Tracy's best performances...although a little anti-climactic. Oh yeah, fantastic movie too. I considered Fury, as well as The Big Heat, for this week but went with M because it's easy to find. I love Lang's noirs in general; still haven't seen Rancho Notorious though.
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bob
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Post by bob on Nov 14, 2012 6:12:58 GMT -5
I agree. When I think of Lorre, I think of a creepy but ultimately humorous sidekick, like you see parodied in Bugs Bunny cartoons. I didn't know that.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2012 10:08:24 GMT -5
I agree. When I think of Lorre, I think of a creepy but ultimately humorous sidekick, like you see parodied in Bugs Bunny cartoons. I didn't know that.
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bob
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Post by bob on Nov 14, 2012 20:47:16 GMT -5
It's amazing that once the criminals have Hans cornered and located they choose to give them a trial instead of calling the police. They whole reason they started tracking Beckert was to get him off the street to make it easier for them to do business --- which would've happened if the police had arrested him.
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Post by Apricots And A Pear Tree on Nov 14, 2012 20:55:38 GMT -5
*wristles*
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Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2012 21:31:30 GMT -5
It's amazing that once the criminals have Hans cornered and located they choose to give them a trial instead of calling the police. They whole reason they started tracking Beckert was to get him off the street to make it easier for them to do business --- which would've happened if the police had arrested him. That is an excellent observation. I think part of that is the mirroring effect that Lang establishes with the police and the criminals; it could be seen as a parody of the court system. I have to watch the scene again (didn't take notice of it when I rewatched it) to see if any of the criminals show any outrage over the child-killing in of itself and not just because it made their work harder. It could also be seen as an indictment of society taking justice in its own hands, which Lang explores more in "Fury"; taken to the extreme, that could be a criticism of the legal system in general, that it's ill-equipped to deal with someone as dangerous as Beckert who, as his monologue suggests, can't control his actions.
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bob
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Post by bob on Nov 15, 2012 18:16:01 GMT -5
It's a pretty good movie. Lorre's speech at the end is great. If you want a movie in similar contrast, I'd also watch Lang's follow up movie "Fury". That's one of Spencer Tracy's best performances...although a little anti-climactic. I didn't know M had a sequel. The last scene with Hans breaking down in front of the "jury" is absolutely amazing, and for my money the best in the entire movie.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 15, 2012 20:20:12 GMT -5
It's a pretty good movie. Lorre's speech at the end is great. If you want a movie in similar contrast, I'd also watch Lang's follow up movie "Fury". That's one of Spencer Tracy's best performances...although a little anti-climactic. I didn't know M had a sequel. "Fury" isn't a sequel but it expounds on the idea of a lynch mob and a case of mistaken identity. Fantastic movie as well.
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bob
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Post by bob on Nov 16, 2012 8:35:32 GMT -5
Oh. I'll have to see if I can find it.
Also, I'm a little surprised people have been having trouble finding M.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2012 11:41:47 GMT -5
Oh. I'll have to see if I can find it. Also, I'm a little surprised people have been having trouble finding M. Might just be a quiet week in general, with people busy doing other thing or maybe M doesn't seem that appealing to watch. It's in the public domain so, it should be among the easiest films to find that we've done.
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