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WD_308/ 2007
(  Satoshi Kinoshita )
| Series: | Works on paper: Drawings 4 | | Medium: | oilstick on paper | | Size (inches): | 25.6 x 17.7 | | Size (mm): | 650 x 450 | | Catalog #: | WD_0308 | | Description: | Signed, date and copyright in pencil on the reverse.
Fritz Lang's 'M' -
Intro:
Fritz Lang's 'M' has been called many things: 'frightfully good', 'the predecessor to all serial killer thrillers like Psycho and The Silence Of The Lambs', 'one of the defining movies of European pre-WWII cinema' and much more. 'M' premiered May 11th 1931 in the Ufa-Palast am Zoo in Berlin to the standing ovations of an enthusiastic audience. In my personal opinion it is truly one of the finest movies ever made.
Historical Background, The Peter Kürten Connection:
The story of 'M' started in the late 20ies when the German public was exposed to a growing number of serial killers and their horrible actions. Although Fritz Lang has always denied it, it has to be assumed that one particular serial killer, the 'Vampir von Düsseldorf' (the vampire of Düsseldorf) Peter Kürten became the real-life inspiration to 'M'.
Kürten brutally attacked 41 people, 9 of which died and was finally arrested May 24th 1930. After he drank the blood of some of his victims he was dubbed the vampire of Düsseldorf. Before his accidental(!) arrest over 12,000 leads were followed, over 200 people surrendered themselves claiming to be the killer and 300 psychics and occultists offered their help. The two letters Kürten send to local newspapers sparked a flood of copy-cats and the public was in the state of mass-psychosis. Kürten was the perfect example of a serial killer with the exterior of an average citizen. Surviving victims and witnesses described him as well-dressed, friendly, trust-instilling and respectable. Kürten was executed July 2nd 1931 in Cologne.
Early 1930 during the height of the mass hysteria the police department of Düsseldorf - now also supported by a group of detectives from the Berlin police, commonly referred to as 'Alex' - published a 25 page special bulletin which must have been known by Lang. This special edition of the publication 'Kriminal Magazine' described the 'Düsseldorfer Massenmörder' (serial killer of Düsseldorf) and proclaimed 'Alles vergebens! Der Mörder bleibt unerkannt! Er ist mitten unter uns!' (Everything in vain! The murderer remains unknown! He is among us!). Interestingly enough the working title for 'M' was 'Mörder unter uns' (murderer among us).
Other connections between 'M' and the article in 'Kriminal Magazin' included the detailed description of the suspect (including his hat which was somewhat of a trademark of Kürten) as well as the assumed motives and even whole scenes. For example the scene in 'M' where an old man talks to a little girl and is immediately accused of being the killer - until the police arrives and saves him from the angry mob. Or parents picking up their children at school - a scene featured prominently during the first minutes of 'M'. Or the letters to the newspapers that become an important piece of evidence: Kürten had written his letters in thick blue pencil - in 'M' it is thick red pencil.
In the hunt for the killer the police of Düsseldorf even went so far as to ask the world of organized crime for help since the hunt for the killer was hurting their 'business' - one of the main plot points in 'M'. The Kürten-case was headed by the legendary Kriminalrat (police chief?) Bennat of the Berlin 'Alex'. In 'M' inspector Lohmann became an identical copy of Bennat: heavy, relaxed, cigar smoker, unorthodox methods.
Other influences were the cases of Haarmann, Denk and Großmann - all prominent serial killers in the late 20ies. Also a string of horrendous child killings in the city of Breslau, a crime which was never solved.
The Making:
Thea von Harbou and Fritz Lang had studied the methods of police work, met with psychiatrists about serial killers and familiarized themselves with the area of eastern Berlin in detail and thus were able to write a very detailed and accurate book. The psychological profile of their killer 'Hans Beckert' was dry and detailed, avoiding all grotesque exaggerations that plaque lesser movies. Everything was sound and realistic and Fritz Lang went so far as to employ a number of real criminals during the catacombs trial scene.
So what makes 'M' so remarkable? What are its outstanding features and contributions? Here are only a few suggestions in no particular order:
Peter Lorre's portrayal of a serial killer is one of the defining performances of movie history. Not only did it set the benchmark for his own career (something which he may have regretted for years to follow) it also defined the role of 'serial psycho killer' itself.
bla bla bla - it's not done yet...
It was one of the very first movies with audio track. Fritz Lang handled the new medium of sound in a very professional manner, employing off-voices and personal music themes (he even goes so far as tieing a specific melody - Grieg's 'Hall Of The Mountain King' - to the dangerous state of the murderer, in one of the most impressive scenes of the movie the Beckert tries to supress his devious instincts and as he struggles to control himself he starts whistling the trademark melody until his transformation into the killer is complete). These are traits that may be quite common for today's good movies but it is absolutely brilliant for a director's very first experience with a brand-new technology.
The Nazis:
M was outlawed once the Nazis came into power (does anybody has any specifics on this?) and pictures of Peter Lorre's portrayal of M ended up in the vile anti-Semitic propaganda movie 'Der Ewige Jude' (the eternal jew):
In 'Der Ewige Jude' the narrator reads: 'Der Jude Lorre in der Rolle eines Kindermörders. Nach dem Schlagwort: "Nicht der Mörder, sondern der Ermordete ist schuldig", wird versucht, das normale Rechtsempfinden zu verdrehen und durch mitleiderregende Darstellung des Verbrechers das Verbrechen zu beschönigen und zu entschuldigen.'
Translation: 'The Jew Lorre in the role of a child murderer. Following the motto: "Not the murderer but the murdered is guilty", it is tried to contort the normal sense of justice and to excuse and lessen the crime with a compassion inducing portrayal of it.'
The Story:
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And what do the critics say?:
'A grand evening which ended with enthusiastic ovations for the movie and its creators!' - Filmwelt
'Riveting and frighteningly contemporary; cinematically dazzling, especially for an early talkie. Lorre's performance is unforgettable.' - Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide
'This riveting, 1931 German drama by Fritz Lang--an early talkie--unfolds against a breathtakingly expressionistic backdrop of shadows and clutter, an atmosphere of predestination that seems to be closing in on Lorre's terrified villain. M is an important piece of cinema's past along with a number of Lang's early German works, including Metropolis and Spies. (Lang eventually brought his influence directly to the American cinema in such films as Fury, They Clash by Night, and The Big Heat.) M shouldn't be missed.' - Tom Keogh
-www.cyberroach.com/m/default.htm
Fritz Lang's M - editing sound as visuals
Fritz Lang's M (1931), contains both dialogue sequences and silent sequences with music or sound effects. Lang edited the sound as if he were editing the visuals.
We are introduced to the murder in shadow when he speaks to a young girl, Elsie. We hear the conversation he makes with her, but we see only his shadow, which is ironically shown on a reward poster for his capture.
Lang then set up a parallel action sequence by intercutting shots of the murderer with the young girl's mother. The culmination of the scene relies wholly on sound for its continuity. The mother calls out for her child. Each time she calls for Elsie, we see a different visual: out of the window of home, down the stairs, out into the yard where the laundry dries, to the empty dinner table where Elsie would sit, and finally far away to the child's ball rolling out of a treed area and to a balloon stuck in a telephone line.
With each shot, cries became more distant. For the last two shots, the mother's cries are no more than faint echo.
In this sequence, the primary continuity comes from the soundtrack. The mother's cries unify all the various shots, and the sense of distance implied by tone of the call suggests that Elsie is now lost to her mother.
Later in the film, Lang elaborates on this use of sound to provide the unifying idea for a sequence. In one scene, the minister complains to the chief of police that they must find the killer of Elsie. The conversation reveals the scope of the investigation. As they speak, we see visual details of the search for the killer. The visuals show a variety of activities, including the discovery of a candy wrapper at the scene of the crime and the subsequent investigation of candy shops. Geographically, the police investigation moves all around the town and takes place over an extended period of time. These time and place shifts are all coordinated through the conversation between the minister and the chief of police.
In terms of screen time, the conversation is five minutes long, but it communicates and investigation that takes place over many days and in many places. We sense the police department's commitment but also its frustration at the lack of results.
What follows is the famous scene of parallel action where Lang intercut two meetings. The police and the crimal underworld meet separately, and the leaders of both organizations discuss their frustrations about the child murderer and devise strategies for capturing him.
Rather than simply relying on visuals parallel action, Lang cut on dialogue at one point, starting a sentence in police camp and ending it in the criminal meeting. The crosscutting is all driven by dialogue. There are common visual elements: the meeting setting, the smoking room, the seating, the prominence of one leader in each group. Despite these viusals cues, it is the dialogue that is used to set up the parallel action and to give the audience a sense of progress. Unlike Griffith's train chase, there is no visual dynamic to carry us toward a resolution, nor is there a metric montage. The pace and character of the dialogue establish and carry us through this scene.
Lang used sound as if it were another visual element, editing it freely. Notably is how Lang used the design of sound to overcome space and time issues. Through his use of dialogue over the visuals, time collapses and the audience moves all about the city with greater ease than if he had straight-cut the visuals.
Ken Dancynger The Technique of film and video editing, page 45 - 47.
-filmsound.org/articles/langsm.htm
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