Fritz Lang's M (Masters of Cinema) (1931) :: Review

Fritz Lang

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M
G E R M A N C I N E M A

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UK Official 2 Dvd Set

Actors: Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann
Directors: Fritz Lang
Format: Black & White, PAL
Region: Region 2 (UK & Europe)
Number of Discs: 2

Classification: PG
Studio: Eureka Entertainment
DVD Release Date: 22 Feb 2010
Run Time: 110 minutes

Barcode: 5060000403084

Of all Fritz Lang’s creations, none have been more innovative or influential than M, the film that launched German cinema into the sound era with stunning sophistication and mesmerising artistry. A spate of child killings has stricken a terrified Berlin. Peter Lorre gives a legendary performance as the murderer Hans Beckert, who soon finds himself chased by all levels of society.From cinema’s first serial killer hunt, Lang pulls back to encompass social tapestry, police procedural, and underworld conspiracies in an astonishingly multi-faceted and level-headed look at a deeply incendiary topic. One of the greatest psychological thrillers of all time, M remains as fresh and startling almost 80 years on. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present a stunning high-definition restoration of a definitive classic of world cinema.

ACHTUNG!
MÖRDER -
MEUTRIER -
MURDERER :
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THE MULTI-LANGUAGE
VERSIONS OF FRITZ LANG'S M

This is an astonishing release due to the fact that the extras include the original 1932 British release version of M, presented in its entirety, recently rediscovered (too late for the 2003 'Ultimate Edition' UK release with the far better and iconic Lorre M front cover though that picture is the front cover of the informative booklet for this release), featuring different actors, alternate takes, and Lorre's first performance in English, coutesy of the BFI National Archive (93 minutes). I don't think this version has been released anywhere else, and, to be honest, it's the first I've heard of shooting a film in several different languages in those days.

The accompanying 47-page booklet is excellent in going into the depths of the making of the film and in an insightful section on M's language versions by the film historian Robert Fischer he says:

'It was common practice in the early 1930s to shoot a film in several different languages on the set, using different actors if necessary, but the same sets, the same or similar camera set-ups, the same lighting, etc...'

Transpires this English language version as well as a French version were made after Lang and his collaborators had left the picture. That is why he never talked about them. Thus their existence was quickly forgotten and for sixty-five years even no-one really thought or considered the film existing in any other language version other than German.

The booklet sheds light in what, for me, is a curious aspect of film-making and who then was responsible for these other-language versions.

The English-language version of M is M but then again it's not. It's a masterpiece just screaming to be returned to it's rightful owner, Fritz Lang. In fact it's just plain weird - PAUL PAGE

On Disc 1 you have the classic German release, 110 minutes. Watch this and then watch the butchered British, English-language release on Disc 2, 93 minutes of sheer surrealness. You just have to see it to believe it. It is marvellously weird. Almost genius in its distorted way! Things that stand-out for me are the plum British voices lost and found in the mouths of Berliners (think The Queen doing cockney-slang straight and you're halfway there); the German billboards and signs that surreally turn into English momentarily before turning German again; Peter Lorre actually talking English in his first English-speaking part (now that is good); the 2 British actors replacing their German counterparts (I'll leave it to you to try and figure which roles I'm talking about); the peoples' court scene; and just seeing M as I never thought I'd see it. It's like watching a classic film with your head rolled sidewards.

Unmissable though. I just can't get my head round the whole concept of Englishness in 1930s Berlin. Germanic characters in a sci-fi type bodysnatchers shocker by characters from Brideshead Revisited.

Whatever: it doesn't work. Seriously, it doesn't. But it's a compelling mess all the same.

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