M

M - 2 Disc Special Edition - Criterion Collection
$39.95
This is a chilling film about a child murderer who terrifies a Berlin neighborhood. The police seem to focus on the lowly criminals and prostitutes in the area and seem more interested in making a show of the hunt at least in the beginning. The community members are terrified and numb at first then become activist in hunting for the killer. Police eventually bring in skilled investigators who come close to catching the killer. The people use a blind possible witness for better effect. What happens to the killer, who captures him and his explanation form the essential thought provoking finale. Capital punishment, evil deeds and uncontrollable compulsions are discussed and become part of the story. The psychological background of the killer, the police and the community were ground breaking at the time. The DVD comes with a story booklet, several interesting documentaries and quite a lot of information on Fritz Lang and German film-making at the time. I found all very interesting. Loved them.

M - Criterion Collection
$29.95
This is a chilling film about a child murderer who terrifies a Berlin neighborhood. The police seem to focus on the lowly criminals and prostitutes in the area and seem more interested in making a show of the hunt at least in the beginning. The community members are terrified and numb at first then become activist in hunting for the killer. Police eventually bring in skilled investigators who come close to catching the killer. The people use a blind possible witness for better effect. What happens to the killer, who captures him and his explanation form the essential thought provoking finale. Capital punishment, evil deeds and uncontrollable compulsions are discussed and become part of the story. The psychological background of the killer, the police and the community were ground breaking at the time. The DVD comes with a story booklet, several interesting documentaries and quite a lot of information on Fritz Lang and German film-making at the time. I found all very interesting. Loved them.

The History: Pop Muzik -- The 25th Anniversary
$22.98
Robin Scott's biggest hit was "Pop Muzik". I guess that song was okay, but I liked one track, "Transmission" from his second M album "the Official Secrets Act" much better. Since the "Offical Secrets" CD is out of print and was going for big bucks the last time I looked, I went with this low cost alternative.

I also got it because Thomas Dolby is on it.

Dial M for Murder
$19.98
Alfred Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder" is one of his best films. Most of the movie takes place in a single room, but it remarkably doesn't feel limited or claustrophobic. Based on a screenplay of the same name, by Frederick Knott, this thriller is a brilliantly directed suspense thriller. Hitchcock's films were generally suspense thrillers rather than mystery thrillers, the difference being that in a suspense thriller we might know who has done what, or who is going to do what, but the structure of the film is always suspending the inevitable. And it is this quality that often separates Hitchcock from other directors. In this case we have a murder that is about to take place, and we wonder how it is all going to take place, and how events might be displaced by events as mishaps or variables come into play. As the novelist in the movie mentions, there is never a perfect murder because there is always something that is overlooked by the murderer, and this is what sets up the intriguing sequence of events that are to take place.

Interestingly, this film was filmed with the intention of showing it in 3-D, which was popular at the time, and this accounts for some fascinating spatial arrangements in the film. There is often a heightened sense of space (even without the 3-D) because of the way people or objects have been arranged in the camera's frame. Often people are seen just beyond an arrangement or group of objects in the foreground which are seen from waist level or lower. There is also a sequence whereby the camera angle is held from above the height of an imaginary roof looking down on the actors. This was a clever way for Hitchcock to expand the boundaries of room as well as to create the sense of another person peering in to the proceedings unbeknownst to the characters. The audience becomes the witness, which is to say, the plotter will not get away with murder. He is like a rat in a maze, and we see everything, so it is just a matter of watching how the suspense will play out.