|
- Like many other great works of art, M is
unpleasant, not only because it focuses on child murder but also
because Lang subverts many of the audience's sympathies. Trust in
the normal channels of justice is impossible; criminals cannot be
glorified as redemptive heroes; and one cannot even indulge in a
feeling of rage against an abhorrent outsider. Discuss your
affective reactions to the film. At its conclusion, what are you
feeling for the main character(s) and the community: sympathy,
disgust, sorrow, pity, envy?
- How does the editing of the film's early scenes
prepare viewers for the crimes, pursuits, and apprehensions that
follow?
- What was Lang's response to the availability of
sound technology? Ideologically and technologically, how did his
response differ from Chaplin's?
- Director Fritz Lang's films share a cynical view of
human nature and social institutions. Mankind is often portrayed as
frail at best, and relentlessly psychopathic at worst, and the
forces designed for human comfort--the community, laws, government
officials, even the family--seem impotent, irrational. How are these
views represented in M? And what meanings does M have
for contemporary society--a society plagued with difficult questions
about violence, abuse, molestation, conviction, punishment, and
responsibility?
|
|
