The Suitcase of Cinema —Germany
by Javier Solórzano Casarin
“M” (1931)
Fritz Lang
One of the countries, essential for the birth and progress of cinema was Germany. The technical and aesthetic contributions it offered to the origins of film have had an invaluable impact in history. In 1895, the Skladanowsky brothers, German inventors and filmmakers, created one of the first models of the film projector, called a bioscope. A significant influence on the famous camera designed by the Lumiere brothers.
The principals of photography and production design of the German Expressionism (1920's-1930's), in turn nurtured by the drawings and paintings of artists such as Kirchner, Heckel, Schmidt-Rotluff, Kandinsky, among others, was the creative basis for most German films at the beginning of the 20th century — masterpieces that have become the legacy of universal cinema-. That same aesthetic has transcended, influencing hundreds of films that came after, such as “Dracula” (1931), “Psycho” (1960), “Blade Runner” (1982), “Edward Scissorhands” (1990), “Batman Returns” (1992), “ Dark City” (1998), “The Matrix” (1999), and many others.
One of the great directors of this era, and of any era for that matter, was Fritz Lang, called the “Master of Darkness” by the British Film Institute.
“M” (1931) was the first film he made with sound. He had experimented before with this technology, which was practically new. This is apparent when many sequences have moments of very crisp, minimalist sound design, and other scenes are in total silence. “M” is considered the first film to portray the story of a serial killer in a dramatic construction, and the model for the genre known as the psychological thriller. The letter “M” refers to the word “mörder”, which means murderer in German. Loosely based on the real events of the killer Peter Kürten, known as “the Vampire of Düsseldorf”, who terrorized the people of Düsseldorf during the 1920s, accused of sexually abusing and murdering a dozen children.
In the film, Hans Beckert, played by Peter Lorre (“Casablanca”), is a shy, introverted loner who wanders the streets, stalking girls he attracts with his boyish charm. After gaining their trust he commits his sinister act. The authorities, citizens, fathers and mothers are in absolute panic. New victims appear and despite extensive efforts by the police, the murderer is nowhere to be found. Lang provides us with narrative and storytelling techniques way ahead of their time. In the context of this killings, capitalism begins to be affected. The criminal organization that operates in a sophisticated manner throughout the city is under constant harassment by the police, who are willing to do everything to find the killer. Fed up with the circumstances which prevents them from doing their job, it is the criminals themselves (scammers, bank robbers, pickpockets, the leaders of the organization) who decide to find the killer and take justice into their own hands. The result of this paradox in Lang’s vision is a mind-blowing combination of humanistic and philosophical reflections that oscillate exquisitely from irreverence to tragedy and back.
German Expressionism in all its manifestations is an emblem of the film. The photography of Fritz Arno Wagner (“Nosferatu”), the production design and construction of the wonderful sets portray that measure of a world imprisoned between lights and shadows. The perfectly designed compositions of the characters and their contours sketch their inner nature and the emotional sorrows that overwhelm them — Mirrors and reflections, a Lang leitmotif, depict the sensation of disturbed perception -.
Beckert is a strange and incomprehensible facet of humanity. Played by Peter Lorre in a brilliant and disturbing performance, he is able to sketch him with true pathos, humanity and madness.
Every element in the film has a weight of his own. The direction of the actors represented in the quality of the performances, the biting and witty script, the camera movements— again, ahead of their time — stealthily traveling through the spaces and the interiors overflowing with popular everyday life, and the passing of leading silhouettes. The editing builds numerous spatial and temporal juxtapositions, bringing together all the characters, regardless of status or role, in a lavish and emotional mise-en-scene.
The first sequence, chilling to this day, reminds us of Lang’s artistic brilliance. The expectation, the tension, the suspense; the alarming hiss of Edvard Grieg’s “In the Court of the Mountain King”, and finally the silent terror. The murderer will commit terrible acts, but that is what makes it truly scary, he is not a monster, he is just an ordinary being of flesh and blood. Just like any of us.
