Week 2.

This week we watched M, the suspenseful thriller by Fritz Lang, which was one of the first "talkie" films. The storyline was great, and held my attention from beginning to end. Although, it did leave a little unsaid that I wanted to know. Firstly, I was interested in what the criminals were involved in that they were disrupted by the extra surveillance of the police. Not necessarily needed for the movie, but sparked my curiosity. Secondly, the ending was rather dissatisfying. I felt as though the entire "court" scene was leading up to the climax- whether or Beckart would be convicted. The ending line, "One has to keep closer watch over the children. All of you" I felt flipped the entire movie. It placed the blame not on the homicidal pedophile and onto the mothers. I thought it was an odd decision.
The costumes were interesting as they made everyone look similar. Dark coats in a black and white movie with fedoras. It added to the mystery, and helped in asserting that all the characters were a part of an underground world. The use of sound was very fitting to the style. Often, it was the silence that was more important than the sound, and the sound made you notice the suspenseful silence.
"M" reminds me of "The Cabinet of Caligari, although not surprisingly, because they were both made in Germany roughly in the same time period. The difference, however, is that "M" was not shy about speaking out against the German authorities. The original title, "Murderers Among Us" was banned by Nazis because they feared it was a reference to them. How ironic.