M (Fritz Lang)

[dwatts]

You know, I think this might well have been the first time I've seen this title. :(

Anyway, watched it the other night, and yes, it's everything people have said it is. There isn't much to say about a film that hs this pedigree, and this much critical acclaim. So I'll just go with "I think that was really good".

Lorre is great, but then everyone and everything, is great about this one. The Eureka R2 DVD is stellar, they've gotten hold of a great print (the major Lang works all look great on DVD). The featurette on the restoration is good too, it's amazing what these people have to do to get the DVD looking as it does.

Jam packed over two discs, this is a fine DVD release of an, of course, classic.

Anyone else?

[DeathDealer]

A masterwork of cinema...

[hellraiser40]

Picked this up about 3 years ago for 15 euros (how much is that in dollars?) and thought it was quite good with an unusual ending for its time. Eureka have some great DVD's and this is one of them

[Numania]

This movie is excellent. I remember the first time I saw it pretty well. My brother came over, and we were gonna hang out and drink. We were flipping through the satellite and saw that Spinal Tap was on. We were watching that and I said, "Dude. I gotta change this at 10. Fuckin' M is on." He said ok and we both sat there enthralled with it. Good times.

[dwatts]

Good to see some fans. :)

You know, one of the things I like about it is that, despite being an early talkie (1931), unlike many (most?) of the talkies at the time, it's not aged anywhere near as much. Much of the presentation back then was still heabvily influenced by the theater, especially when it came to dialog and the delivery of lines. However (and yes, I know this is a foreign language film, maybe that helps) this one doesn't feel old at all.

Of course, it looking ike it was made yesterday in the transfer doesn't hurt!

[Wayne Manor]

Utterly brilliant film. The 1951 remake isn't so hot, but still.

[VenicuS]

"M" is an incredible film, completely worthy of it's status. My favorite from Fritz Lang next to "Metropolis", and The 2 disc Criterion edition is way high on my want list right now.

[Erick H.]

The film was originally to be titled THE MURDERER IS AMONG US,but it was changed because of threats made by Nazi loyalists who believed the films title was meant as a reference to Hitler(it wasn't).Lang ultimately left Germany though because of his anti-Nazi sympathies,which even broke up his marriage.

[dwatts]

The documentary on the disc has Lang talking extensively about his meetings with Goebell. The Nazi's, and Hitler specifically, were eager to recruit Lang to make their propoganda films - so he left the country under the cover of night.

It's an interesting extra for sure.

[_pi_]

Not that I want to go all feminist on you guys, but the relevance of Thea von Harbou in regards to Fritz Lang's work is great. She's the one who wrote most of his classics (if not all of them) up to (and including) M. But she's been muted by history because she was a woman. Or perhaps because she was a Nazi. It's all so unclear ...

But Nazi or not, she was no less a genius filmmaker than her ex-husband. So I want to give some props to Thea.

[dwatts]

She's mentioned in the documentaries, but yes, is a cursory way. They do say she co-wrote the film, and previous films - but they switch back to Lang very quickly. So I think you have a valid point.

I still think you're going feminist though. :lol:

[_pi_]

I think so too :D

[maybrick]

The documentary on the disc has Lang talking extensively about his meetings with Goebell. The Nazi's, and Hitler specifically, were eager to recruit Lang to make their propoganda films - so he left the country under the cover of night.

It's an interesting extra for sure.

Did the documentary happen to mention the alternate ending that's supposed to exist, or at least used to?

[dwatts]

Not the one I watched (it's a two-disc set, and there's a lengthy audio interview that I have yet to listen to).

This is a new restoration by the way. Apparently restorations were also done in the late 90's, and as late as 2002. Both those previous restorations had glaring mistakes in them. In the 90's some scenes were missing. In 2002 they print didn't look as good as it does now, and some additional dubbing was done for sound effects and dialog (Lang wanted some sequences to be silent). They compare these editions on the disc, and it's startling.

This is apparently as complete as it can be. If you bought previous discs of this, you might have an old restoration that is subpar.

[maybrick]

I was told in film school that originally Lorre's character was killed by the mob. What I don't know or remember is whether or not it was shot this way and then lost, or whether it was changed beforehand. I keep hoping for some clarification as it's been well over a decade since I took that class.

[dwatts]

That certainly isn't there. One of the previous restorations, don't recall whether it was the late 90's one or the 2002 edition - had a truncated ending - where Lorre makes his confession before the gangsters, and the film ends. This was not the original ending (which we now have) which has a brief courtroom room scene after the inquisition. Not sure if that explains things...

[_pi_]

I was told in film school that originally Lorre's character was killed by the mob. What I don't know or remember is whether or not it was shot this way and then lost, or whether it was changed beforehand. I keep hoping for some clarification as it's been well over a decade since I took that class.

Yeah, I recall someone saying something like that in the class I saw it in. But I think, without being 100% sure, that it was just something that was scripted and never shot. I can't remember ..