Based on an actual case, Lang’s late expressionist masterpiece provides a remarkable insight into the mind and paranoid world of a serial child murderer (brilliantly played to the expressive hilt by Peter Lorre in his career-defining role). Featuring some of the most iconic images and sounds of post-silent cinema – its command of silence, expressive sound and art direction is extraordinary – and brilliantly shot by Fritz Arno Wagner (Nosferatu and Spione), Lang’s opus is a fascinating time-capsule portrait of a seething, dog-eat-dog, (a)moral underworld soon to be swamped by the tide of Nazism.
Also screening on Wed 4 May
Program
More than Night: The Fatal Vision of Fritz Lang
M (1931) – Wed 4 May at 7pm
While the City Sleeps (1956) – Wed 4 May at 9.10pm
Man Hunt (1941) – Wed 11 May at 7pm
Cloak and Dagger (1946)– Wed 11 May at 8.55pm
Ministry of Fear (1944) – Wed 18 May at 7pm
Spione (1928) – Wed 18 May at 8.40pm
About the program
Fritz Lang (1890–1976) was a master of both expressionism and film noir whose career spanned almost 50 years, taking him from the vibrant and highly influential German studio system of the pre-Nazi era to many of the Hollywood majors. Often described as a film director’s director, Lang was a virtuoso of the moving image...
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About Melbourne Cinémathèque
Australia's longest-running film society, Melbourne Cinémathèque screens significant works of international cinema in the medium they were created, the way they would have originally screened.
Melbourne Cinémathèque is self-administered, volunteer-run, not-for-profit and membership-driven.
