The M (1931) movie was very interesting to say the least. The parallels to our times are scary. For example, one of my favorite parts of the movie is when the commissioner is conducting his brainstorming session to try and figure a way to catch the murderer. The first response from the uniformed official in charge of the police is to “step up ID checks, comb the entire city and raids, relentless, ever tougher raids!” He wants to do this without having a clue of what or who he is looking for. Let’s harass the people and something may fall in our laps, ala NYPD style with their Stop-and-Frisk Campaign which according to NBC New York, the Campaign has hit an all-time high; 684,330 people stopped in 2011 alone and only 12 percent were charged or received summons! Further more, in that scene we see how the authorities view the public with contempt.
1. The evolution of police power as it is depicted in M is far from what we see in Dr. Caligari. The police were portrait in a very rudimentary way with their tight uniforms and funny looking mustache in the Dr. Caligari film. That is in very sharp contrast to what we see in the M film where the police officials are wearing suits and have different branches. Also they have more scientific knowledge at their disposal including what would be considered in today’s time a FBI profiler.
2. Whether the killer deserves to die or not is a very personal question. I am of the opining that in cases like this one where there is no doubt of his innocence, the best thing to do is to kill him.
3. The criminals’ ability to organize themselves is what gave them the ability to capture Beckert. The police was after Beckert for eight months with no results, and yet the criminals where able to capture him in a couple of days.
4. I think the Nazis where depicted as the real heroes of the film because they where portrait as being on the right side of common and justice. They even went as far a giving Beckert a fair trial. I think that the label of criminal only added to their appeal. Yes they where criminals, but they conducted themselves as a well organized an enterprise which held regular meetings like any good business would. They where also portrayed as being with the people and not above them like the authorities.
5. The significance of the media in this film is the same as it today. It only serves one purpose and that is to agitate the masses. The media exacerbated fear and panic and turned it in to chaos to the point that the people were turning on each other.
Hi Andrew. Glad you enjoyed the film. Actually I don't think it is that controversial to believe that the killer should die. The movie doesn't actually say what happens to Beckert, but if his fate was anything like what happened to the real life serial killers captured by the state during this time he probably would have been given the death penalty.
ReplyDeleteAlso good that you see the parallel between the film and "stop and frisk!"
ReplyDeleteHi Andrew, why is your depiction about the media in the film is such on a negative side and don't you see it as something informed the masses on what was going on at that time.
ReplyDeleteAlatise thanks for you feedback. I agree with you that The media was informing the masses, however they also published Beckert's letter after the police refused to make the first one public. The media did that because they knew it would sell more newspapers but it also gave the murderer great pleasure and satisfaction to see his letter publish
DeleteWith the stop and frisk of the NYPD is much like in the M movie except that they have the go ahead from the government to search vehicles as they feels like. But they are both harassment from the authority towards its citizens. I am afraid it might not get better with lot of homicide and criminal crime going on everyday.
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