In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellant and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice.
Peter Lorre Ellen Widmann Inge Landgut Otto Wernicke Theodor Loos Gustaf Gründgens Friedrich Gnaß Fritz Odemar Paul Kemp Theo Lingen Rudolf Blümner Georg John Franz Stein Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur Gerhard Bienert Karl Platen Rosa Valetti Hertha von Walther Carl Ballhaus Paul Mederow Hadrian Maria Netto Lucie Rhoden Karl Hannemann
Fritz Lang's M, M: A City Searches for a Murderer, М – Город ищет убийцу, Mörder unter uns, M – Dein Mörder sieht Dich an, M el Maldito, M, een stad zoekt zijn moordenaar, M - Il mostro di Dusseldorf, M le maudit, Matou, М убийца, M, el vampiro de Düsseldorf, Vrah mezi námi, M - Morderca, M - Bir Şehir Katilini Arıyor, M就是凶手, Ο Δράκος του Ντίσελντορφ, M - Egy város keresi a gyilkost, M - Убиец сред нас, אם - רוצחים בקרבנו, 엠, М: Місто шукає вбивцю, M, o Vampiro de Dusseldorf, M – kaupunki etsii murhaajaa, M就是兇手, M: Un oraș își caută ucigașul, M - El vampiro de Dusseldorf, اِم, M, un assassí entre nosaltres, M – linn otsib mõrvarit
Thrillers and murder mysteries Intense violence and sexual transgression Humanity and the world around us Crime, drugs and gangsters Suspenseful crime thrillers Intriguing and suspenseful murder mysteries Twisted dark psychological thriller Terrifying, haunted, and supernatural horror Noir and dark crime dramas Show All…
AustraliaPG
Greece
Greece
Denmark15
FinlandK-16
Germany
Norway15
Sweden15
FranceTP
UK
USAPG-13
USAPG-13
USAPG-13
ItalyT
Austria12
Germany
Russia18+
Australia
Austria
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Italy
Norway
Russia
Sweden
UK
USA
You can’t watch M and not see dozens of other films standing on its broad shoulders.
I shouldn’t have been surprised at its ground breaking visual magnificence, as it was after Lang’s stunning Metropolis, but dolly, crane, and single long shot techniques that I had thought were pioneered much later by the likes of Wells and Hitchcock were demonstrated here in an effortless way that didn’t scream 'look at me!', but rather enhanced the viewer’s sense of unease and moved the story along smartly.
Likewise with sound, in its infancy at the time, Lang contrasts sound and silence in way that puts the audience on edge without relying on a single note of score … except for the haunting whistle.…
The original ACAB film. No protagonists, no ensembles. Just an antagonist versus a web of systems and social mechanisms.
In which the police and the surveillance state are dwarfed by the collective action of the citizens, the criminals, the disabled, the blind, the homeless, the working class, the mothers -- a communal justice that would be inspiring were it not for its own descent into capital punishment the very police state they despise perpetuate. By the end, it's clear. Policing isn't the answer. Rabid, fascistic populism isn't the answer. A woman cries out in the final shot, "Look out for the children!"
Accountability, but also kindness. In what world would those two be together.
I’m glad no one ever told Fritz Lang that an entire society couldn’t be the protagonist.
(...and antagonist.)
An expertly written & masterfully executed example of its genre that was far ahead of its time back when it was released and today is rightfully acknowledged amongst the greatest & most influential works of world cinema, Fritz Lang's M is an intriguing character study that paints a compelling portrait of a serial killer and also serves as a biting criticism of a negligent society.
The story concerns a serial killer who preys on children and presents an underworld society whose usual business is disrupted due to everyday raids carried out by the police to apprehend the killer on loose. Driven by police's continued failure & increasing losses in their business, the criminal bosses ultimately decide to take matters in their own hands…
Peter Lorre more than deserved to live on eternally as a Looney Tunes caricature for this performance; the 30s actor equivalent of when Greek heroes would be spared the torments of hades and get turned into constellations upon dying.
A classic of German expressionism that goes far beyond the idea of entertainment. At first glance, the film seems to focus a lot on the pursuit of Hans Beckert, a child murderer who terrorizes the city. However, Lang uses the figure of Beckert as a distorted, but disturbingly true mirror of the society that surrounds him. Beckert, with his nervous fragility and his uncontrollable compulsion, is less an isolated entity and more a by-product of a social structure eroded by negligence and hypocrisy.
Lang confronts and criticizes society in a very passive-aggressive way, with a fundamental question: to what extent is the individual responsible for his actions when he is inserted in a flawed social system? Beckert does not deny…
