M (1931)
★★★ — M (1931)
Fritz Lang made M at a pivotal moment, both for himself and for German cinema. It was his first sound film, produced by Nero-Film AG in Berlin, and Lang used the new technology deliberately and sparingly, treating silence and ambient noise as dramatic tools rather than novelties. The script, co-written with his then-wife Thea von Harbou, was loosely inspired by the real-life case of Peter Kürten, the so-called Vampire of Düsseldorf, whose crimes had gripped Germany in the late 1920s. Peter Lorre, largely unknown at the time, took the lead role of Hans Beckert and the performance made him an international name overnight. Lang would leave Germany just two years later, in 1933, as the Nazi Party came to power, eventually finding his way to Hollywood where he continued making crime films and thrillers for another two decades.
A-Z World Movie Tour Germany Considering this movie is nearly 100 years old it is super impressive. The camera work and editing must have been incredibly difficult to pull off just 30 or so years after the first films. I also really enjoyed how they switched between the criminals and the police in their planning of capturing the child killer. The story itself is quite good where the entire city seems to be closing in around the main character. They're all seeming after him for various reasons unrelated to the fact he's killing kids. - we can't do crime without the cops everywhere - we are getting too many reports for no reason I do think it falls down a little bit in the middle as it's quite a bloated script. The "M" bit was my personal highlight and everything else kinda fell off. I also found it quite hard to watch without falling asleep if I'm honest. I respect its legacy but very flawed for me
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 1931 | Watched: 2025-06-22
Where to watch (UK)
Stream: BFI Player · BFI Player Amazon Channel · BFI Player Apple TV Channel
Physical: Amazon UK
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Fritz Lang: You Only Live Once (1937)
More with Peter Lorre: Mad Love (1935) · The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
More from Germany: Lessons of Darkness (1992) · Cemetery Man (1994) · The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) · Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
More from the 1930s: Earth (1930) · Monkey Business (1931) · Sabotage (1936) · People on Sunday (1930)
More drama: Viy (1967) · Wonder (2017) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Beautiful Boy (2018)
More thriller: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) · Angst (1983) · The Long Walk (2025) · Punishment Park (1971)
