Joseph Losey looked ready for major director status in his country of birth, the USA, when he decided to flee to Europe to escape the Senator McCarthy-led House Un-American Committee, HUAC investigations. In Europe, specifically the UK, he produced most of his better known work, including THE SERVANT, THE GO-BETWEEN, KING AND COUNTRY, BLIND DATE, among other superior films.
M is a remake of the similarly entitled German film directed by Fritz Lang in 1931. It falls well short of the original's genius, but it does retain some of its expressionism, especially over the first third, with superb closeups of gargoyle-like faces, including the blind man who gets to play a crucial part in identifying the culprit. I admire Losey's courage in tackling a near taboo subject even today, let alone back in 1951, that of child abduction, abuse and murder, but he loses focus when he starts bringing in all manner of social strata, including politicians, police and a criminal gang, all with their own motivations for locating the child and capturing the abductor.
After the terrific first third, I found that I could not accept the logic of the criminal gang and its nose-poking kingpin, Martin Gabel.
Very good cinematography, as in all of Losey's work. Very good performances from Da Silva, Burr. Not overly impressed with David Wayne, with the unenviable role of child abductor. Even less impressed with the script, with sketchy characters.
I found M watchable but a dim remake of the original. I doubt I will want to rewatch it.
M is a remake of the similarly entitled German film directed by Fritz Lang in 1931. It falls well short of the original's genius, but it does retain some of its expressionism, especially over the first third, with superb closeups of gargoyle-like faces, including the blind man who gets to play a crucial part in identifying the culprit. I admire Losey's courage in tackling a near taboo subject even today, let alone back in 1951, that of child abduction, abuse and murder, but he loses focus when he starts bringing in all manner of social strata, including politicians, police and a criminal gang, all with their own motivations for locating the child and capturing the abductor.
After the terrific first third, I found that I could not accept the logic of the criminal gang and its nose-poking kingpin, Martin Gabel.
Very good cinematography, as in all of Losey's work. Very good performances from Da Silva, Burr. Not overly impressed with David Wayne, with the unenviable role of child abductor. Even less impressed with the script, with sketchy characters.
I found M watchable but a dim remake of the original. I doubt I will want to rewatch it.