M (1931)

I'm going to make some breakfast/lunch and then I'll watch this. I've been looking forward to this for a long time. Too bad I don't speak German.

That takes care of that movie.

While The Maltese Falcon is generally cited as the first-ever film noir film, some would argue that this film is in fact part of that genre as well and 10 years older. I still don't really get what film noir is, but I think this probably counts.

With that said, it will be hard to avoid comparing this film to The Maltese Falcon - they are both the same genre and they both have Peter Lorre although he wasn't really the star in The Maltese Falcon and he speaks a different language in each film.

Let's first discuss the language. This film, as a result of being shot in Germany, directed by a German director, and starring Germans, is in German. I do not speak more than about 10 words of German so I had to watch this with subtitles. I didn't find the subtitles all that distracting and I feel that they were pretty good although I don't speak German so they might not have been. According to the subtitles, this film had a lot of swearing which is kind of strange for a movie this old. Also, while I don't speak German, as the movie went on there were a few phrases that sounded quite similar to their English version of the same phrase. I think German is supposed to be reasonably similar to English compared to other European languages so maybe that's why. Anyways, on with the review.

The plot of this film was quite excellent. The opening scene of the film was some girls singing about a murderer so it didn't take long to establish the plot. The pacing was excellent as well. There weren't really any moments where the film seemed to be dragging but it wasn't so fast-paced that anything seemed rushed either.

The star of this film is of course Peter Lorre. He doesn't have much of a role in the first half of the film, but as the film progresses his role does. Lorre's biggest part in the film was in the basement at the end where he explains his actions. The acting here was about as good as you'll see. There were other actors in this film and they were all fine, but Lorre is the star.

In addition to the acting, this film involved some music whenever Lorre's character was around. He whistled "In the Hall of the Mountain King" whenever he was on screen (actually Lorre couldn't whistle and Fritz Lang did it for him). This technique is known as leitmotif and is commonly found in opera. It's basically the association of music with a character. An example of this can be seen in the trailer below (which unfortunately doesn't have subtitles):



Speaking of sound, this is a very early talking picture. There were a few instances where there was no sound whatsoever in this film - it felt at times almost like a silent film without an orchestra. That isn't something you see in any film anymore, but it wasn't really a distraction. There was no need for dialogue at that time and background noise would be nothing but a distraction.

As with any movie, there is questions of its redeeming qualities. This movie is 77 years old and still being discussed, so obviously it did something right. This film also deals with some themes which have some relevance. It looks at whether being not guilty by reason of insanity is a just verdict and whether an insane person can ever really be cured. It also takes a look at capital punishment and the difference between common criminals and serial child murderers. The moral of the story can perhaps be summed up at the end of the film as a mother who has lost her daughter states that killing the murderer will do no good, and that parents must watch their children more closely.

As I eluded to earlier, this film is of course going to be compared to The Maltese Falcon. The question becomes can this film compete with the brilliance that is The Maltese Falcon? The answer is yes. Is this film better than The Maltese Falcon? To my amazement, it is!

97.5/100
A+

UP NEXT: Let's go back to English-speaking films and try 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Hey! Here's Lorre at the end with subtitles:

I just rewatched this. WOW! It's amazing on the second viewing, too. I should have watched something I haven't seen yet, but I didn't. Rewatching this allowed me to pick up on a few things I hadn't seen before which was kind of neat.

Thanks for this review catbox! I have watched this one quite some time ago and i loved it too! Glad i could watch this without subtitles.

Peter Lorre is awesome in this movie. I would give the same score you did. Log 97 for me.
Watch this one people!

swiss_tiger wrote:

Thanks for this review catbox! I have watched this one quite some time ago and i loved it too! Glad i could watch this without subtitles.

Peter Lorre is awesome in this movie. I would give the same score you did. Log 97 for me.
Watch this one people!

Your score has been logged. I, too, could watch this without subtitles but wouldn't understand 99% of what is being said :haha:

Back to M I watched it this weekend and it was as good as ever. What a great movie! Of course I just said that a couple posts ago, but it's so good it's worth mentioning over and over.

catbox_9 wrote:

TI still don't really get what film noir is, but I think this probably counts.

After sneaking into half a lecture of a Film Noir and Neo Noir film class at UCLA (where this was the first film they screened!) I tend to think this film is not a film noir:

• There is no femme fatale, or any significant female actress at all for that matter
  
• The character is not morally ambiguous - never do you get the impression that Lorre's character is a good guy and his murdering of little girls is just.
  

That said, this film is still phenomenal. The fact that it isn't a film noir does not detract from its greatness in any way. Almost every film critic in the world says Citizen Kane is the greatest movie ever - that's not even close to being a film noir.