Movie Review: 'M'

Tania says:
Okay – I have been completely lax in seeing old movies and totally lax in seeing really old movies. It is something that I have always wanted to do – go back and revisit old movies that made the new movies what they are today. It is really the reason I wanted to do this project. So the first really old movie on our list was M. This movie was made in 1931 and is very highly regarded. This is a German film and one of the earliest “talkies”. The film is about a pedophile that is kidnapping and killing children in a small German town. That kind of subject matter in 1931 is completely crazy to me. I was really eager to see how they would handle it and to see how times have changed since director Fritz Lang decided to tackle this subject. I have to admit though that the first ¾th of this movie are extremely difficult to watch – not because of the disturbing subject matter but because of the complete and total boredom. The majority of the movie is a bunch of talking. A lot of talking heads discussing how to catch the predator and what they should do and blah, blah, blah. It is pretty brutal.

The last 1/4th of the movie is actually really cool. When the movie starts to focus on the angry mob tracking down the predator it is very suspenseful and really quite scary. Once the mob catches him they start to put him on “trial” and that too is very interesting. That is where the movie is truly ahead of its time. The “trial” addresses therapy vs. jail and what is the best course for dealing with a pedophile. The discussion is still very relevant today. Peter Lorre plays the murderer and he is sufficiently creepy.

I wish that I really liked this movie. It isn’t that I need action, action, action – I don’t mind a movie that is all talk but this one just couldn’t grab me. I do completely understand the place it holds in cinema and once I made it through all the blabbing - I saw some really cool stuff that made me amazed it happened in 1931.

Josh says:
Um, wow, this movie was tough. They really didn't know how to make movies back then.

In one sense, it's pretty cool that there was actually a movie with this subject matter in 1931. I can imagine the water cooler discussions that must have taken place. In all of that discussion in 1931, however, I'm fairly certain nobody said "What an exciting and enjoyable movie!!!".

I very nearly fell asleep, and in fact, only stayed awake as a matter of principle. It's long, not much happens, I'd never see it again, and I hope, through this review, I can save you something that I'll never get back, namely, 111 minutes of my life.

****I should note, that the title of this blog is a direct quote taken from this movie. The one bright spot in this insanely boring movie.


*****Did I mention it was boring?