The Austin Film Society will be screening Fritz Lang’s M on Tuesday at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar at 7 p.m.
German expressionist filmmaker Fritz Lang cemented his artistic prowess with this dark thriller set in the underbelly of Germany. Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre of Casablanca fame) is an unrepentant murderer of children, luring them from their respective families with toys or balloons. Even for hardened criminals of the streets, Beckert is the lowest of the low, a threat to their dissolute if comfortable lives of pick-pocketing and petty theft. With their squalid bunch just as vigilant as the police force and with Beckert zeroing in on his newest victim, justice, from the law or from the people, is imminent.
Before the serial killer genre opted for shock value over suspenseful aesthetics, Lang’s film was the first of its kind, steeped in the shadows of his black and white photography and featuring an unblinking if sympathetic portrayel of a loathsome character. Check the AFS website for more information.
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