M

(The Criterion Collection, 12.7.2004)

Fritz Lang's M is the granddaddy of an entire genre of filmic storytelling, from film noir to modern-day cop shows like "C.S.I." It does away with conventional character-based plots and instead focuses strictly on procedure and methodology. As such, it wastes no time drawing you into the chase, but it also lets Peter Lorre's tortured child-killer emerge as its most fully-formed character. M remains an amazing viewing experience, so far ahead of its time in terms of filmic technique that it still pulses with incredible energy and vitality. For all his prickly eccentricities, Lang, one of the great geniuses of early cinema, may well have been from another planet but the lasting impact of his work is undeniable.

Criterion's double-disc reissue of M offers an overhauled image, courtesy of a recent restoration effort, that presents the film in its proper 1.19:1 ratio (pillarboxed here; previous releases were cropped to 1.33:1). The restoration isn't quite as revelatory as, say, Kino's 2003 release of Metropolis but it's close. Lang's detail-jammed compositions really sparkle now and the cleaned-up soundtrack (with the original stretches of eerie silence restored) helps shine a greater light on Paul Falkenberg's meticulous editing.

The supplemental material is typical top-shelf Criterion, beginning with a feature commentary by German film scholars Anton Kaes and Eric Rentschler which has some dead spots but, for the most part, is highly informative. Rentschler points out Lang's repeated use of circles as a visual motif and, more helpfully, Kaes fills us in on elements of the film that were commonplace to German audiences in the 30s, giving us a better sense of the film's historical context.

The second disc features a handful of featurettes that explore the film's cultural and historical impact, beginning with "Conversations with Fritz Lang," a 50-minute interview directed with typical self-conscious artiness by William Friedkin. Also included is Claude Chabrol's short-film remake from the 1950s which compresses the film's key plot points, and its most memorable compositions, into 10 minutes.

Audio recordings of editor Falkenberg form a kind of alternate, scene-specific commentary, as he discusses sections of the film in classes at New School University in the late 1970s. An interview with Harold Nebenzal, son of M's producer Seymour Nebenzal, is also notable mostly for its discussion of the little-seen American remake from 1951. It's a shame that version couldn't have been included as well.

Finally, the featurette "A Physical History of M" takes us through decades worth of re-edits, as well as showcasing an alternate version of Peter Lorre's extraordinary meltdown in front of a kangaroo court of criminals, re-shot in French (!). This is another fine package from the folks at Criterion. -- Jason Comerford