M was a really good film, and I thought it was very well rendered to show some very strong points. The whole society in M is foreshadowing of National Socialism, and the Nazi control. The beggars and lower people of society are asked to show their papers, aka their birth certificates. Early in their control, Nazi's required people to carry their birth certificates to prove whether or not they were Aryan. Also, in the same scene, one man has a newspaper sticking out of his pocket. The police inspector does not like the article he sees on the front page, so, despite the man having accurate papers, he is sent to the precinct. Although not directly a Nazi tendency, this is an overt abuse of power, which most individuals would see and associate with the Nazis.
Later, the beggars and criminals become the authority while holding the Kangaroo court. In banding together, they have discovered the common enemy, and decided to persecute him. Lorre's speech, explaining there is nothing he can do to help it calls for some sympathy, and understand. He is sick, but everyone demands his head. One must commend Lang for doing an excellent job capturing the alienation that Hans Beckert is suffering. I feel the theme of alienation and persecution ties very strongly into the Nazi persecution of the Jews during World War II.
In reading Krakauer after having seen M, I was a little bit unimpressed. The only reason I can see for this is the safety of Beckert when the police come and hand him over to an Asylum. Nazis would have sent the mentally insane to a concentration camp. I still disagree with Krakauer not mentioning these themes. Thoughts?
While Kracauer does not specifically mention the Nazi's and concentration camps in regards to this film (except at the very beginning when he spoke about the initial difficulty Lang faced when trying to find a studio to make the film), I think it's important realize that his analysis of the film was placed in the chapter titled "The Pre-Hitler Period" for a reason. What he does do is tie Bechert's character in with the retrogression of society and how "terrible outbursts of sadism are inevitable." This sadism is reflected in Beckert's terrible deeds, and the animalistic appearance and desire for vengeance exhibited by the masses, both when they're on the hunt for the killer, and again when the criminals and street folk are holding their "Kangaroo Court." Krakauer further goes onto write that "Both films ("The Blue Angel" and "M") bear upon the psychological situation of those crucial years and both anticipate what was to happen on a large scale unless people could free themselves from the specters pursuing them." How I see it, Krakauer views his readers as intelligent people. From what he has written previously, we should be able to draw connections between the authoritarian powers in the film and the fear of Nazism in the pre-Hitler era. While it might have been nice for Krakauer to have had more background and a longer discussion on Lang's political views and intentions when making this film, I don't actually think discussion on the concentration camps was necessary since this film came before their time.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Daphne. Although the connection between M and the Nazi regime is undeniable, I believe that it is more a foreshadowing of what will happen later on than a comparison. M shows (and that is what I believe is Krakauer is trying to say) that the general mind frame in Germany in the early 30s, is the reason why Nazism was able to proliferate.
ReplyDeleteI thought the pre-Hitler mindset and impending social change was quite evident in the film-- I recall making a note about some mention of the Green coats being everywhere, and their significant role in policing the state. We are already seeing signs of high regulation-- which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is setting up the scene for someone with a little too much power (or assumed power) to control the people through heavy policing. As people adjust to the idea that high regulation is a good idea (snubbing out crime and keeping the public safe), the change is able to be made to where the wrong person in power can corrupt the entire system. I think what Kracauer has been trying to point out is that there is a clear progression in the German mind towards the control of the Nazi era and that in some ways it was inevitable that someone would come along and take advantage of this delicate balance of law enforcement and control.
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