M (The Criterion Collection) [DVD]

Description

A simple, haunting musical phrase whistled offscreen tells us that a young girl will be killed. “Who Is the Murderer?” pleads a nearby placard as serial killer Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) closes in on little Elsie Beckmann . . . In his harrowing masterwork M, Fritz Lang merges trenchant social commentary with chilling suspense, creating a panorama of private madness and public hysteria that to this day remains the blueprint for the psychological thriller.TWO-DVD SPECIAL EDITION FEATURESRestored high-definition digital transferAudio commentary by German film scholars Anton Kaes, author of the BFI Film Classics volume on M, and Eric Rentschler, author of The Ministry of Illusion: Nazi Cinema and Its AfterlifeConversation with Fritz Lang, a 50-minute film by William FriedkinClaude Chabrol’s M le maudit, a short film inspired by M, plus a video interview with Chabrol about Lang's filmmaking techniquesVideo interview with Harold Nebenzal, son of M producer Seymour NebenzalClassroom audiotapes of editor Paul Falkenberg discussing the film and its history, set to clips from the filmDocumentary on the physical history of M, from production to distribution to digital restorationGalleries of behind-the-scenes photographs and production sketchesNew and improved English subtitle translationPLUS: An essay by film critic Stanley Kauffmann and a 1963 interview with Lang