M
1931
****½
Director: Fritz Lang
Cast: Peter Lorre, Otto Wernicke, Gustaf Gründgens, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Theodor Loos, Friedrich Gnaß, Fritz Odemar, Paul Kemp, Theo Lingen, Rudolf Blümner, Georg John, Ernst Stahl-Nachbaur, Karl Platen
As a child murderer is loose in Berlin, the city is gripped by fear. When the police struggle to catch him, the criminal underworld decide to take the law into their own hands. Fritz Lang's German Expressionist thriller is an influential classic for a reason. The screenplay by Lang and his wife Thea von Harbou is not a simple revenge story, but a profound exploration of fear, mob justice, and the psychology of crime. It is directed with remarkable confidence and features several elaborate and innovative camera moves. Remade in 1951 by Joseph Losey.
