M

The first sound film directed by the great Fritz Lang, it is an affecting, beautifully cinemagraphed, and intelligent work, that is obviously of its time but still worthwhile to see for pure enjoyment today.
The black and white images are beautifully rendered, the shadows and Conrad-esque aesthetic giving us a series of still images that remain in the memory. The use of sillouhettes, shadows, and of the droopy face of the tremendously acted killer give a sense of mounting dread and genuine fear, heightened by clever and innovative tricks of not letting the audience see precisely what is going on.
The story is a good one, told with a decent pace and a nicely ambiguos message, humanist message. The characters are well drawn. The script also works well enough, it is not overflorid or any such, and the voices of the actors come across well in a soundscape that is often silent, making the whistles and cries that do suddenly intrude shrill and contain a genuine sense of the sinister.
This is an expertly made film, which for its time would have been sensational. Now we may see a slightly lightweight plot, and rather odd uses of sound, but generally we can still admire the films power. Highly reccommended.