M

Fritz Langs’ M, made in 1931, is said to have spawned both the serial killer and police procedural genres. I suspect at heart it is in fact neither of these, but is more a commentary on the Germany where Lang lived at the time and clearly despised. The decadence of the period has often been portrayed in tawdry terms, such as in Cabaret, but these films seem positively glamorous compared with Lang’s vision of filth and depravity. The story is of a serial killer, magnificently portrayed by Peter Lorre, who eludes capture so successfully that the city’s underworld becomes involved in trying to secure his capture. This on the basis that the police are making their lives unbearable trying to catch the killer. This may be a bit of a long bow in plot logic as one might expect criminals to welcome the diversion of police attention. Nonetheless, it is a striking and powerful film. Lorre does not get a great deal of screen time but his speech, in which he describes the torment that drives him to commit the murders, is powerful stuff indeed.

The Last Picture Show

Peter Bogdanovich’s Last Picture Show was made in 1971, but it looks in all respects, bar one, as if it were made in 1951, the year in which it’s set. The one exception is the directness of the sex scenes and the amount of nudity, which would never have been possible in 1951 and were even controversial in 1971. In particular Cybill Shepherd’s strip tease on the diving board must have raised a few eyebrows at the time. The film is set in a truly bleak Texas town, where the only distractions, a run down pool hall, all day diner and movie theatre, are all owned by one man, Sam the Lion, played by Ben Johnson. Sam is the only man in town who seems capable of rising above the grinding boredom and desperation of the place that has dragged the lives of all the other residents down to a stifling routine punctuated by uncomfortable and meaningless sexual encounters. The film works on many levels, as a simple story of small town mores, to a quite complex commentary on the changes that occurred in American society during the 1950s. Regardless of how you watch it, it’s interesting, worthwhile, if not very enjoyable, due to the depressing themes. Great performances all round.