Totally Pretentious #17. M (1931): The Nature of Evil, Citizen Mobs, and the Terror Within

In today’s episode, David and Shaun once more talk about the films they’re currently enjoying, from big blockbusters to television epics and more. Then they turn their critical brains to the film of the day:  Fritz Lang’s M (1931). They cover some of the history behind the film — including 1930s Germany and the background of the Lang and the cast — how the film explores the role of trauma and terror in the theme of good vs. evil, the claustrophobia of cities, the reception of the film in the 1930s, and much more! Prepare yourselves for another foray into cinematic greatness. Enjoy the episode! Show Notes: Today’s Movie: M (IMDb) M (Wikipedia) Resources: BFI’s Fritz Lange Page “Fritz Lang’s M: the blueprint for the serial killer movie” by Geoff Andrew (BFI) Gustaf Gründgens (IMDb) Fritz Lang: Interviews edited by Barry Keith Grant (University Press of Mississippi) The Films of Fritz Lang: Allegories of Vision and Modernity by Tom Gunning (BFI) M (BFI Film Classics) by Anton Kaes (BFI) “The Daesseldorf Murders” by M.H. (New York Times) Our Next Movies: Cat People (1942) and The Seventh Victim (1943). Here are some places where you can watch them: Cat People Amazon YouTube Google Play Vudu The Seventh Victim Vudu Feel free to shoot us an email at skiffyandfanty [at] gmail [dot] com! You can also leave a comment on our website. Our intro/outro music comes from “Sundancer” by Wild Shores. Licensed under Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0