Fritz Lang's M is a masterpiece of early sound film, and of art as a whole. The plot follows the public outcry surrounding the police's inability to catch a child murderer. As the police crack down on known criminal hideouts, hurting their illegitimate businesses, those same criminals start hunting down the child murderer themselves. In one of the film's most arresting scenes, they find a man they suspect is the murderer and mark his jacket with the letter M, following him around the city. The story is unfortunately a timeless one; it is a saddening portrait of human decay, of psychiatric problems manifested in aberrant desires and needs, of mob mentality and uncontrollable bloodlust. But it is also one of law and justice, of sympathy pervading the darkness, and of appealing to our higher sensibilities. It shows us the lows of society, yes, but it also shows us the highs of the human condition.
Made just four years after the first talkie, it uses both sound and silence to generate suspense. In fact, Lang sometimes uses opposing audiovisual cues to make it all the more terrifying. Images of a peaceful street and children playing as the killer's signature tune is whistled in the background, slowly increasing in volume, is infinitely more chilling than simply seeing the killer approach. But Lang uses more than just sound; his cinematography is impeccable even by today's standards, his editing remains vibrant and modern, and the performance he gets out of Peter Lorre still stands out. I cannot remember feeling this much empathy for a murderer outside of Psycho. This movie retains its power after so many years because it touches on our fears, our hopes, and our duties as humans and as members of society. It shows us who we are, who we might be, and who we should be.IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022100/