M directed by Fritz Lang Scene Analysis

The film M directed by Fritz Lang is set in Berlin, Germany. A serial killer, Hans Beckert, of little girls is on the hunt for his next victim. However, in response the police are taking extreme measures to find him. This affects the towns criminals' business of hustling and burglary so they also begin their own search. One of the most compelling scenes of the film occurs when the criminals get together in order to take on the responsibility of stopping the murderer. From the moment the criminals are in the room the audience is unsure if it is another police gathering, however they soon realize that they are in fact convicts. The head of the scandals, whom is Schranker, appears and the discussion of the stopping the murderer begins.

The team of lawbreakers begin to discuss how the murderer is different from them, even though some of these men have also committed murder. It is a way to desensitize themselves from the fact the murderer is a human and make him appear to be more of a "monster" as well as a threat to the town and the criminals themselves. Here, it is easy to compare the criminals to the Nazi party. The Nazi party during this time believed that they would do a better job of fixing Germany than the current political party. They believed that the current political party was not helping to solve the many economic and criminal problems of Germany.

The outlaws begin to discuss ways as to why the police are unsuccessful with stopping the murderer. According to one of the men, the general public is of no help at all. He is suggesting that the townspeople should not be allowed to be involved in these matters of handling the murder because they give inaccurate information and become overwhelmed by hysteria. Here, the need for someone to take control of the situation at hand is being suggested. This is indefinitely how the Nazi party was able to become a strong force in Germany by recognizing the German people's need for control. Due to the economic difficulty and the failing infrastructure of government the Nazi party was able to seize political power.

Schranker suggests that because the police are unable to stop the murderer it would be in the best interest of the outlaws to pursue the murderer themselves. They discuss the use of street beggars as a means of surveillance in the town because it would not be suspicious. Once again, the parallels between the scandals and the Nazi party are uncanny. The group of scandals and the Nazi party both felt that the government are failing them and the German people. They both felt the need to take the matters into their own hands and to take control of the situation.

There are also many nihilistic themes that are apparent in the movie. The nihilistic lawbreakers decide to go against their government and the take matters into their own hands. They did not and never have conformed to society norms, such as having respectable jobs. Once they were able to see the police failing them as well as the German people they decided to go against police efforts and take control of the situation. They symbolized the Nazi party in Germany in many ways even before the Nazi party had full control of Germany in 1933.