Film Analysis: Fritz Lang's 'M'

The film M by Fritz Lang (1931) is a timeless masterpiece that not only reflects the fear and distrust present in German society after WWI, but also uses sound in ways it had never been used befor. M was made during a time of paranoia in Germany, set against the backdrop of a rapidly deteriorating Weimar Republic. The country was in the midst of heightened poverty due to unemployment and increasing criminal activity after the stock market crash of 1929. It was also a time where psychopathic serial killers were at large in German cities. In the film, the panic felt by the townspeople to try and catch the murderer, and the paranoia that it could be anyone among them, is reflective of the fearful emotions felt by the German people during the early 1930s. The use of high camera angles show the vulnerability and innocence of the children, the murderer’s victims. The use of shadows and reflections show that the murderer has two sides, and it is because of these two varying characters that he can walk amongst society unknown for what he is. For example, when the townspeople see a man telling a little girl what time it is, they immediately assume he must be the murderer. Because of their paranoia, they jump to conclusions,

Throughout Hitchcock’s 1954 movie rendition of Frederick Knott’s play, Dial M for Murder, the audience is subjected to a “romping plot...where the action is constricted to one room” (Barnes). Even though both the murder and criminal investigations happen in the Wendice home, Hitchcock employs a variety of techniques such as blocking, camera angles, and props in order to add a unique twist to a seemingly straightforward murder. This twisted and almost confusing plot ultimately helps to keep the audience absorbed in the film. Hitchcock’s costuming decisions, especially with characters with costumes that are contrasted with different colors, add to the dimensions of the plot, specifically with Margot’s emotional state. This increase in complexity

Since the end of World War 2 in 1945, Nazism has been used throughout films in order to showcase what life was like leading up to, during and momentarily after the second world war. The different perspectives and viewpoints provide the viewers with an idea as to how extreme propaganda, recruitment and control was in Nazi Germany and to what extent the Nazi’s went to in order to display their power and have jurisdiction over the citizens of Germany. In some cases, movies portray the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany, such as The Lion King, Cabaret and Sophie Scholl, whereas others depict the collapse of Hitler and his Nazi’s, such as Schindler’s List and Downfall. While some movies show an obvious representation of Nazism through the plot line, others use symbolism to subtly express the idea of Nazism.

Luhrmanns style of adapting and crafting film is knows as “ Red Curtain Cinema.” This style of genre which

Charles Higham and Joel Greenberg’s essay “Noir Cinema” takes a liking to Schrader’s essay in the sense that it has the diversion to subject film noir to a hard definition. Though while Schrades like taking a stab at film noir through tones and influences, Higham and Greenberg seem to describe film noir in characters and images For example they say film noir lives in a world that is “always night, always foggy or wet, filled with gunshots and sobs, where men wear turned-down brims on their hats and women loom in fur coats, guns thrust deep into pockets”. These images that are described by Higham and Greenberg are the visual manifestation of Schrader’s je ne sais quoi of film noir. They are all of the different shades of black that make up film noir. Both of these descriptions of film noir take a compliment to each other, though they differ greatly in their categorization as Schrader says film noir is not quite a genre while Higham and Greenberg say it is.

Today, in 2014, most people think about Superman when they hear the word Metropolis. This 1927 German film, however, is far from something as bright, colorful and all-American as Superman. America 's greatest hero represents ideals like hope, whereas Metropolis (1927) embodies the opposite and something far more sinister. By looking at the production elements and the cinematic tropes that Metropolis created and inspired, in relation to power dynamics, a scholar can see how the German people felt under the German Reich, that eventually led to the Nazi regime. How are political messages conveyed? What is the relationship between machinery and workers? How do the workers and the rich contrast each other? These questions and many more

The movie M depicts a society where everyone is in fear of something, and everyone is doubting others; the central idea of this movie is that no one is safe and everyone is “isolated.” The movie M shows the influence of German Expressionism movement by incorporating many ideas from it. This movie incorporated many shadows which was a very significant part of German Expressionism; the audience relies on the serial killer’s shadow to know his presence in many scenes. The first half of the movie is slow-paced, and the shadow of the serial killer is huge (exaggeration). Techniques such as Mise-en-scene is utilized in this movie, for example, when the serial killer kidnaps, Elsie, audiences don’t see him killing

M was directed by Fritz Lang and was released in Germany in 1931. M follows the story of a strand of child murders in a German city. In a hunt for the murderer the police as well as the organized criminal underground of this German city search rapidly for the killer of these innocent children. The specific elements that Fritz Lang uses to express his view of what the sound should be are, how particular sound techniques shape the film, and how the sound affects the story. In a shot by shot analysis of a series scenes that uses diegetic sound the audience can understand what Lang's intentions for sound was for this film.

The silent film, Metropolis directed by Fritz Lang, released in 1927, reflects the social situation of the time in Germany during the Weimar Period, before the rise of Hitler power. At that time, there was a new political climate, which was in favor of an equity-oriented fascism rather than liberty-oriented capitalism. The film clearly gives viewers an idea that fascism way of the political system is the preferable ideology for the society by depicting the class struggles between capitalists and labours. Thus, the movie was often interpreted as a propaganda movie and being criticized.

Das Neue Kino cannot be characterized by a single ideology or style because the efforts of the filmmakers of this movement were singular, yet the movement in its own respect expressed a wide sense of dislocation induced by post-war tendencies of German culture to repress its past. The New German Cinema movement derives from the Young German Cinema movement, which attempted to create a new cinema; however, resulted in a failed Germany film that lacked a German audience. It was the combined efforts of the Oberhausen group and the younger filmmakers of the Authors Film Publishing Company that would eventually birth the New German Cinema.

In class we talked about German Expressionism, and how it deals with many different characteristics from body movements, plot/storyline, character appearance, acting, and camera angles. German Expressionism stands out in Nosferatu through the use of the characters, in particular that of Count Orlok. The one thing that stands out about him is the fact that he takes on such a mysterious identity. According to German Expressionism, this represents terrors of that time period. Count Orlok’s exaggerated, dead, and unrealistic appearance helps create or define German films at the time. The fact that he has this pointy nose, large eyes, and sharp, nails/fingers gives off an abnormal interpretation of the main character. Mainly everyone in the film

New German Cinema was a movement to find an opposition against the Hollywood culture. The movement lasted from the late 1960’s into the 1980’s. This new type of cinema was a cinema of disillusionment either through politics, gender norms, conformity, etc. The New German Cinema was fueled by a fire of differentiation and nationalistic pride which was very political. It wanted to show the audience what they needed to see rather then what they wanted to see through the exposure of moral hypocrisy in terms of social justice, counter culture and shocking subject matter. It was ushered in by young, innovative, and politically radical directors who refused to conform to West German Society and expressed the desire to improve its failing film industry.

The movements of German Expressionism and Japanese pre-war cinema produced trends greatly influenced by its historical context. These contexts contributed to shaping their own stylistic styles captured throughout the theme, mise-en-scene, and cultural ideologies. Although these two movements occurred in fairly similar time periods, they both occurred in different parts of the world which had a fundamental role in generating key contrasts between these movements. Both occurring in pre-war periods, a striking similarity existed between the two; they both displayed the economic instabilities. Both subtly exhibited the internal anxieties that the individuals faced in the differing societies. German Expressionism had the stylistic forms that in turn captured distorted images or grotesque style to convey an abstract sense of reality throughout 1920’s. On the other hand, the Japanese pre-war cinema expressed the humanistic family by displaying their everyday struggles of the lower middle class known as the “common people” during the 1930’s. Although these movements were individually unique throughout their distinct stylistic devices and ideologies, they essentially came together during this time period to help transform the art of national cinema.

In this film Metropolis, you can obviously see how this film would be an example of a German expressionism based, off the definition given from James Monaco's film glossary. The way the movie is produced. The tone, the music and the character’s roles helped give an eye of how the film would show German expressionism. During the movie there is no talking that you could hear, there weren’t any color, just black and white, and you could see emotions and only imagine what was going on. I also feel as if this could be an example of an Expressionism because of the time period, you could see during the movie that this movie was filmed during the 20th century. Also, by the way the people dressed gave the impression that it was the 20th century.

After the second world war, new national cinemas started to garner attention, specifally the German cinema. Film became an important part of propaganda during Hitlers reign. When new German cinema started making its way back into the cimenatic world, it became a form of that seemed important. For almost 20 years, Germans were just watching American films, and it was now time that German citizens started to watch German cinema again. It was reflective of where they wanted to be culturally. Germany wanted to project strong German cinema to the rest of the world, using film as one of their most powerful things to offer. A group of about 15 German filmmakers came together and made a production and distribution company. This company allowed fillmakers to continue to create the low budget films that allowed them to experiment. Fassbinder, specifically, had his own style. He had total control over the movie, so it was more personal to him. He usually filmed in the same locations with the same cast. Fassbinder had three primary visual and social settings: the stifling, tawdry world of the working middle class-their apartments, bars, and shops; the hard, shiny, world of the