M/Austin Film Society

We're back to AFS;  Chale's tomes; Essential Cinemas and the Alamo South Lamar.  This series of films groups three emigre filmmakers who left Europe and went elsewhere to make films.  (Not sure where "elsewhere" is just yet but for Fritz Lang it was Hollywood).  We began with M starring Peter Lorre.  I knew nothing of this intensely dramatic B&W film about a murderer of children.  The opening scene where a Mom prepares her child's lunch and awaits her arrival home from school is harrowing as we see her beautiful little girl walking home from school, bouncing a ball and eventually meeting up with this murderous creep.  The community's response to the murderer among them is well portrayed, their use of beggars to behave as spies is clever and very realistically shot, and the moral issue of "do you kill him" or have him stand trial is relevant today as well.  The moral conflicts of pre-Hitler Germany being played out in a courtroom rather than with a lynch mob is testament to Lang's moral conscience.  His wife Thea von Harbou wrote the screenplay so I won't imagine how she could go from wanting proper legal management of a child murderer to being a member of the nazi party.  Thankfully, Fritz Lang declined Goebbel's invitation to become the Fuhrer (what a word!) of Film Production and got out.   Another survivor who has brought so much to the American culture.