14th Hall of Fame

Fritz Lang was an incredibly talented and influential filmmaker, whose work helped to inspire and shape modern cinema as we know it. While it's easy to see the lasting impact that films like Metropolis had, particularly on the science fiction genre and special effects industry, the importance of films like M unfortunately tend to be lost on some audiences. At a time when many film makers in Europe thought that the use of sound was a gimmick that would cheapen the art of film, Lang created a brilliant work where the use of sound was not only a tool with which to create atmosphere and build tension, but it was also critically important to the film's plot.

Unlike films that used this new sound technology primarily to eliminate the need for title cards and produce films with a myriad of dialogue, sound in M is used to build a realistic world where noise exists outside of the camera's frame, and where leitmotifs, such as the whistling of “Hall of the Mountain King”, can convey meaning and emotion without having to rely on the spoken word at all. You can hear a lot of things in the film before you ever see them, which was practically unheard of at the time. Not only was Lang challenging the audience with questions regarding morality, but he was also pushing their perspective of how a film should look and sound.

Similarly, a dynamic, moving camera, which would typically only be used in large set pieces, follows characters and navigates scenes as though it were its own living part of the film. While the use of broken glass to reflect a characters' tormented soul was a common shot in German Expressionism, M puts a unique twist on that image, using multiple reflective surfaces (such as a set of knives in a store window) to emulate that look without being derivative. The camera produces a number of high angle shots as well, making characters seem small and powerless against the feeling of dread that is overtaking the city. This dark cityscape and hint of fatalism would later become typical of film noirs, so the world of M should feel familiar to fans of that genre.

While I am one of the many people who would likely choose Metropolis over M, I thoroughly believe that M should not go unnoticed. Even if you don't end up enjoying this thriller, I hope you can at least somewhat appreciate its significance in the history of cinema.