M

[Woodsprite]

EXCELLENT MOVIE. I own it. Man, you're really discovering all the treats the 40s (and 30s) has to offer! First "It's a Wonderful Life", now "M". Soon you'll be watching "His Girl Friday", "Penny Serenade", "Strait-Jacket", "The Lost Weekend", any Frank Capra film besides Wonderful Life ()... Many young people nowdays simply aren't seeing the classics anymore; good to know you are.

I just have to comment on the movie first (I NEVER thought this movie would ever get mentioned on ToS).

M is a very... different film. Hitler certainly took it the wrong way when he used this as a propaganda film to paint the Jews (claiming that Lorre was playing a Jew). Director Fritz Lang was utterly appalled; he left Germany for Hollywood before things got worse (gotta love Robert Osborne and his trivia ). Sure, it has its controversial aspects, but aside from the message (I just need to point out) the acting is incredibly realistic. Everyone acts like... normal people act. And the narration... it just flows. When they have the voiceover talking about everything they're doing to catch the killer, just gives me chills everytime, knowing how hard-working and efficient the police are (you really admire them in this movie).

The message is clear: does a psychologically-deranged killer who knows what he's doing is wrong, and doesn't want to do it (very important point to consider), deserve to meet with a second chance at rehabilitation, even after this method has failed time and again? Shouldn't he be executed? Truth is, I really don't know. His conviction to become fully sane seemed quite strong, so giving him a chance to do so is a wonderful option... but he's killed so many girls after God-knows how many times he was sent to institutions. Personally, I'd keep him in prison for life. He's too much of a danger, and if he truly wanted to stop hurting people, knowing he'll probably never get well, he'd agree to prison.