“[Fritz] Lang embraces strange perspectives—visual, metaphorical, and narrative—from his opening sho

“[Fritz] Lang embraces strange perspectives—visual, metaphorical, and narrative—from his opening shot, which looks down from a crane’s-eye view on children playing a grisly game inspired by the murderer. Over and over throughout M, he finds inventive ways to visually frame the action. He looks up into Lohmann’s sprawling belly and bulging crotch from a low angle under his desk. He peeks around corners with the hunters watching Hans. He watches Hans’ latest target in a shop-window reflection, while framing Hans’ haunted face in the same window. He peers down through a hole in the floor to find one of Hans’ pursuers, abandoned by his compatriots at the factory, or pitilessly watches Hans from high overhead as the criminals cut off his avenues of escape on an empty street. The whole film is a hunt for a murderer, and Lang’s voyeuristic camera is part of the hunt: The oddball angles make it impossible to forget where the camera is located, giving the sense that it isn’t an objective observer, so much as a spy constantly lurking, sneaking, and prying.” [Read more…]We kick off our Movie of The Week discussion of Fritz Lang’s noir precursor M with Tasha Robinson’s Keynote essay on the different angles through which Lang views his subject, as well as an accompanying Forum discussion. Join in! -- source link

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