Plays October 25-27 at Cinematheque

There are certain films that can be watched and re-watched over and over again regardless of how much time has passed since their theatrical debut. At 36 years old, George Lucas’ Star Wars is continually being seen by every generation on Earth because of how incredibly entertaining and technically well-made it is. With its study of alienation in an industrial society, Charles Chaplin’s 77 year old Modern Times continues to have relevance. This revue will look at how Fritz Lang’s 1931 classic M is relevant in 2013.

The plot of M revolves around Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre), a man who is murdering children in Berlin. The police search for this man is so intense that it is disrupting the shady activity of the relatively “normal” criminals. Disgruntled, both law breakers and law enforcers go on the hunt for Beckert.

On the surface, the Winnipeg Cinematheque seems to be playing M to coincide with Halloween, but if it just needed a scary classic for the holiday, then why not Dracula or Frankenstein, both released within two years of M? Perhaps it is because Lang’s film is not frightening in an “entertaining” way. It is disturbing because it forces us to confront our own morals, our flawed justice system and the lack of action in regards to mental health. Imagine there is man like Hanz Beckert, a mentally disabled man roaming around Winnipeg killing children and he is finally caught by the police. Would the man be sentenced to life in jail? Should he be sentenced to life in jail?

Is Beckert a villain in the true sense of the word? He seems like another victim of his tragic illness. However, our society treats ill-behaved mentally challenged people like threats to society. Perhaps it is society that is more of a threat to Beckert. Even though we have grown since 1931, our society still lacks the treatment necessary to prevent cases like Beckert’s from happening. The scariest part of this is that there could very well be a Beckert-like murderer in Winnipeg, and it will be the fault of the system.

Published in Volume 68, Number 8 of The Uniter (October 23, 2013)