Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

M Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 1, 2010

Fritz Lang's "M" (1931) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include an audio commentary with University of California at Berkeley professor Anton Kaes and Harvard University professor of German Eric Rentschle; a second audio commentary, hosted by Torsten Kaiser, which features restoration supervisor Martin Koerber and Peter Bogdanovich; Erwin Leiser's documentary film "Zum Beispiel: Fritz Lang" (1968); and the film's recently discovered English language version. The disc also arrives with a 48-page illustrated booklet. In German, with optional English subtitles. Region-B "locked".

Peter Lorre

A child murderer is on the loose in an unnamed German city. The police, under the leadership of Inspector Lohmann (Otto Wernicke, Gold in New Frisco), ask the public for assistance - any tips or leads that might help them identify the murderer are welcome. In the meantime, frustrated with the fact that business has been seriously affected by the numerous raids the police have initiated in the city, the local crime bosses decide to take matters into their own hands.

Schranker (Gustaf Grundgens, A Woman of No Importance), an influential gangster, approaches the beggars’ organization with an offer - if they help him and his men capture the murderer, they would be richly rewarded for their efforts. A deal is struck and immediately the entire city becomes a hunting ground.

Soon, the murderer, Franz Beckert (Peter Lorre, Mysterious Mr. Moto), is identified by the beggars. He attempts to run away from them but is quickly captured and brought in front of those whose lives he has irreversibly damaged. He begs his captors for mercy and asks that they turn him over to the police.

Inspired by a real-life manhunt of a serial killer, Peter Kurten, in Dusseldorf, Fritz Lang's M offers a fascinating look at pre-Nazi Germany. On one hand, the film deconstructs city life through the reactions of its residents who quickly become obsessed with the child murderer. On the other hand, Lang effectively compares the police authorities, their methods and the manner in which they justify their actions in front of the public with those of the criminals.

M, however, falls short of producing any brave political statements. Aside from the finale where the murderer confesses his crimes and his captors, an angry mob, argue that justice can be served only by the people - perhaps revealing Lang's dissatisfaction with the then-current legal system in Germany - the rest in the film is indeed open to interpretation.

M is perhaps most effective in the manner in which it manipulates the audience's expectations about good and evil, right and wrong, just and unjust. Lorre's killer, for example, is an ordinary man, soft-spoken and gentle. He looks like every other man on the street, yet he is a monster. Then there are Grundgens' gangster, a sharp-dressed, demanding respect man, who is determined to punish the killer for his crimes, and Wernicke's police inspector, a poorly-dressed man, who clearly lacks proper manners (watch how he dines) but is surprisingly intelligent. Each of these characters is unusual, possessing qualities that are very much atypical for the type of environment they are placed in.

Lang completed M in 1931, two years before the Nazis came to power. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda, admitted liking it and offered Lang to head UFA, the legendary German film studio. Lang, however, immigrated to the U.S., and M was eventually banned by the Nazi government.

M was Lang's first sound film. Unsurprisingly, he experimented with sound in a number of different ways - treating it as a visual medium (some of the most memorable characteristics of the city where the film takes place are created through a variety of different sounds), withholding dialog in favor of unique sounds meant to heighten the audience's sensitivity to the fear and later on paranoia that grips the city, etc.

The acting is exceptional. Lorre, in particular, with his stunning range of facial expressions, single-handedly transforms M into a disturbing visual spectacle that even today looks mighty impressive.

M Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.19:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Fritz Lang's M arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment.

This high-definition transfer is not identical to the one found on Criterion's Blu-ray release of M (though, apparently the two companies had access to the same restored element). Fine object detail and clarity are very strong. There are a variety of close-ups, for example, that look sensational. Again, as it was the case with Criterion's transfer, there are certain limitations that have been inherited - for example, scratches, minor cuts, and damage are still present during a number of scenes.

Generally speaking, Eureka Entertainment's transfer looks slightly lighter than Criterion's. As I understand, additional work went into Criterion's transfer, and as a result contrast levels were adjusted. However, having seen both now, I personally prefer the lighter, silvery look of Eureka Entertainment's transfer over Criterion's. The grain structure of Eureka Entertainment's transfer is as pleasing as Criterion's, and I did not detect any heavy noise corrections to report in this review. There are no serious stability issues either. To sum it all up, Eureka Entertainment and Criterion's Blu-ray releases of M look very strong, but I lean towards the Eureka Entertainment release. Still, I believe that you would be very pleased with how M looks in 1080p regardless of which release you end up purchasing. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

M Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, Eureka Entertainment have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

I could not hear much of a difference between the German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track found and the German LPCM 1.0 track found on the Criterion release. Both are pleasingly stable, and on both the dialog is clean and easy to follow. Aside from some extremely mild background hiss, which I assume is inherited, everything else appears to be intact. The English translation is excellent.

M Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Commentary - this is the same audio commentary that was recorded for Criterion in 2004, which also appears on their recent Blu-ray release of M. It features University of California at Berkeley professor Anton Kaes, author of the BFI Film Classics volume on M, and Harvard University professor of German Eric Rentschler, author of The Ministry of Illusion: Nazi Cinema and Its Afterlife. This is a fabulous audio commentary. The film analysis is exceptionally strong, allowing one to gain a clear picture of what Fritz Lang wanted to accomplish with M, as well as the complex socio-political conditions in Germany at the time when the film was shot. I strongly recommend that you find the time to listen to the audio commentary.

Commentary - a second audio commentary, which was recorded in 2003. It features Martin Koerber, the supervisor of the 2001 film restoration of M (from which this edition has been made), and Peter Bogdanovich, director and author of Fritz Lang in America. Substantial excepts from Bogdanovich's original 1965 interview recordings with Fritz Lang are included, and the commentary host is Torsten Kaiser. This is a strong commentary that offers a wealth of technical information, and specifically how certain scenes where shot, how they fit into the film, and what type of emotions they were meant to evoke, as well as historical information about the production history of the film. Lang's comments, in particular, are very interesting. In English.

English version - the English version of M, which was discovered in the BFI archives in 2005 by German film scholars Robert Fischer and Hans-Michael Bock. As noted by Eureka Entertainment on the actual disc, this is a damaged, unrestored print, with occasional water damage, tears and other defects, but is the best existing element. 1080p upscaled with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track. (93 min).

Zum Beispiel: Fritz Lang - a documentary film made in 1968 by Erwin Leiser, featuring an interview with Fritz Lang on his work as a filmmaker. In German, with optional English subtitles. (21 min).

Booklet - a 48-page illustrated booklet containing "My Film M - A Factual Report" by Fritz Lang; "Fritz Lang on M - An Interview"; "The Missing Scene" - reprinted - with a revised introduction - from professor Anton Kaes' "M" (2000); and "Morder - Meurtrier - Murderer: The Multi-Language Versions of Fritz Lang's M" by Robert Fischer.

M Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you reside in a Region-B territory, I strongly recommend that you consider adding Eureka Entertainment's Blu-ray release of Fritz Lang's M to your library. I personally prefer this release over Criterion's. Both, however, are exceptionally strong. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.