Or maybe a cigar.

Early on in the film “M” everyone smokes. And they don’t just smoke as SMOKE. Cigarettes, cigars, cigarettes or cigars in huge pipe type things that curve over half your head. There are multiple scenes where the smoke is so thick you can’t see what is going on. Even one character asks another character if they want a cigarette. It’s like they’re talking to me. Funny…as the film goes on…there’s less smoke – less smoky haze. Maybe because the mystery gets clearer. Was Fritz Lang doing some artsy-fartsy filmmaking here? Since it’s SOOOOOOOOOO prevalent in the earlier scenes I would have to assume that, yes, the smokiness is a metaphor (?) for the fact that the authorities can’t figure out who is killing the children.

Okay…on to the real review.

Besides my constantly thinking: “Who’s smoking now?” I kept saying to myself: “This is 1931?” Silent films had ended just three years prior. There were some films that were still being made in the silent film style (one camera – pointed forward). And, yes, there were still silent films being made. So the leaps that Lang does in terms of camera set-ups, style, shadow, shading are amazing. One shot in particular had me stuck with some stupid shit-eating-grin on my face as the camera is placed high above the street set with actors coming in from all sides. This is 1931? There’s bad language! This is 1931? There’s competent acting! This is 1931? There are themes of revenge and horror and retribution! This is 1931? This is 1931 Germany?

Oh, yeah – back to the story.

Peter Lorre (yes, THAT Peter Lorre), plays a child murderer who is terrorizing a city of 4.5 million people. 8 children are dead and he has just written to the papers to say that more killings are going to come. Of course we never see the children die. All we know is that they’re dead and when they’re found they’re, uh, brutalized (again the brilliance of implying horror without actually seeing it). The city is in a panic. No one can figure out who the killer is and though the reward for capture keeps going higher – no clues are coming out.

Now, before you gather that this is going to become: “CSI Berlin” as the cops start clearing out every hovel, every corner, every smoke filled bar where the hookers and layabouts and riffraff drink – the underworld of organized crime realize that this penny-ante murderer is ruining their business. I would assume they also care a bit about the victims but the leader of the group (“Safecracker”) wants this guy found and dispatched or they will be broke.

So now the film is working on three levels. Level one, the killer and his victims. Peter Lorre disappears for minutes at a time. We see and know who he is early on but then the story shifts to the hunt. That brings in level two: The Police who are at their wits end. Everyone is working double shifts, everyone is tired. Level three is the underworld and I’ve already explained that this killer is putting a mighty crimp into the “bidness” they’re trying to do.

So EVERYONE is after Mr. Lorre and his killin’ ways. And besides that…everyone is looking at their friends, their neighbors, the man on the street as the potential murderer.

Now, while the Police are doing everything they can do – the underworld goes one brilliant step further and hires every bum and hobo on the street to watch what is going on. They want every child followed. They want every child watched. They’re going to catch this killin’ sumbitch and exact their justice.

It doesn’t take long before the cops and the mob figure out who it is and Peter Lorre is on the run into a large factory (an amazing set piece). When they (the mob) realize that the killer is trapped, they break into the factory after hours to find him.

What follows is a very tense combing of the factory until the little weasely murderous bastard is ferreted out and brought to justice.

Here is where the film, though, kind of grinds to a halt. In all logical sense Mr. Lorre would be given a pair of concrete galoshes and dropped into the nearest lake. Or he’d be eviscerated by the very knife he was going to kill the little girl with…but, instead, the film goes into a kangaroo court with Safecracker the judge and the underworld and bums as the jury and executioner. They even provide him with a defense (as if he needs one) who makes a valid argument that they guy is unable to control his actions so he must be sent back to the asylum from whence he was released.

While the kangaroo court is in session, the cops are doing a “good-cop/bad-cop” routine on one of the members of the underworld who was forgotten in the factory break-in/capture. That member gives up the info and in the end of the film everyone is busted.

What I liked:

This is a fantastic film in many respects. Though Peter Lorre isn’t on screen for a long time, his overall creepiness permeates every frame. In the scenes where he’s seducing the children he does seem real, human, almost loving. But when he’s the tormented soul…oh how tormented he is. It’s a role I’ve never seen from him before and I role I don’t think he ever did again.

The photography is EXCELLENT and the print is up to the task. There seemed to be a couple gaps in story but a card at the end explained that the original print was 111 minutes, cut to 94, this print is 104 minutes (or something) so there’s still footage missing from SOMEWHERE. Still, that doesn’t detract from a story that is still as exciting and vibrant and prescient today as it was in 1931. 1931!

Also…the overall story just made me giddy with delight. I don’t know why…maybe it’s the hunt. Maybe it’s the suspense. Maybe it’s the using of the beggars and bums to bring the bastard to justice, but I found myself grinning from ear to ear during most of the proceedings.

Also of note are scenes where the film is sped up or there is complete silence (at one point I thought my headphones had broken). These seemed to be leftovers from Lang’s years as a silent film-maker. Though I thought initially that I would be distracted by these moments they, in fact, added a layer of uncomfortable-ness to the film that just enhanced the experience.

What I didn’t like:

The switching gears from a good “where is he/how are we going to find him” story to the kangaroo court was a bit, well, lame. Granted, once he’s found if they kill him like you want (and like how they want) then the film is 95 minutes long. It doesn’t ruin the story for me – but it slows it down in a way like going on a ride where it’s exciting for the first three quarters and then the last quarter it just, well, stops. I assume (and maybe Jason explains this above) that Fritz Lang was really hammering home the revenge/retribution mentality of the masses and how that corresponded with what was going on in Germany at the time. It may well be that Lang was making a point. It just didn’t feel right (maybe because I wanted to see some retribution on Lorre’s ass).

Overall:

Still…a classic in every sense of the word. Wonderful film.