X and M
The daily NIBELUNGEN.
In Lang’s SIEGFRIED, Kriemhild is tricked into revealing the location of the one vulnerable spot on her husband’s body, his shoulder. She even marks the spot with an X sewn into his top.
This “mark of Cain” leads directly to Siegfried’s downfall.
Seven years later, and the mark is back, only now it’s an M.
Same shoulder!
Both films written by Germany’s top screenwriter, Mrs. Lang, Thea Von Harbou. So the central gimmick of “M” must have occurred to her after her work adapting the German myth cycle.
More on this crazy bitch later.
February 13, 2008 at 12:55 am
Hello, David! I hope the new year is treating you well.
I was just thinking about Lang’s M again recently. I hope to soon be obtaining a video copy of the 1950s remake by Joseph Losey. I have been obtaining a lot of Losey material for an independent study that I plan on doing this summer in preperation for my upcoming dissertation on the Losey/Pinter collaboration.
From some of the reviews that I have read recently on Losey’s M, it sounds like the film has been unjustly maligned. Have you ever seen it?
Take care.
Christopher Weedman
February 13, 2008 at 10:16 am
Hi Chris, great to hear from you!
I started to suspect the Losey “M” might be good when I saw his The Prowler, which is excellent. He had his camera style down almost from the start. He seemed like a good choice for it, if you had to do it. I suspect the negative reaction was mostly to do with the idea of remaking a classic — and I sympathise with those who were upset by the IDEA.
i saw Kim’s Video Store in NYC had the Losey M, but I never got around to it as I was too busy renting everything else in sight.
I’ll save my other thoughts for a post later this week about Lang and remakes.
Hope you’ll stick around — and feel free to nominate a clip of Euphoric Cinema!
February 13, 2008 at 4:46 pm
The great Losey from that period is The Big Night — his last American film. Truly remarkable. Haven’t seen M and long to.
February 13, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Well, if Chris gets ahold of M maybe we can work something out with him!
I must owe Chris SO MANY movies now!
February 15, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Unfortunately, I lost out on the VHS copy of “M,” which I was bidding for on eBay. I lost out in the last 15 seconds of the auction. I was really wanting to see it, because I am researching Losey for a Ph.D. dissertation project. Luckily, it looks like David might be scoring a copy.
I would love to see “The Powler” and “The Big Night” as well, but, alas, I have not found VHS copies of them. The earliest Losey films I have been able to find are “The Boy with the Green Hair” (w/Dean Stockwell) and “The Sleeping Tiger” (w/Dirk Bogarde and Alexis Smith).
February 15, 2008 at 10:00 pm
I’m on it. Never come across The Big Night, alas, but I can help out with M and The Prowler.
April 21, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Very very interesting (said with a German accent). Thea von Harbou fascinates me. How much influence did she have over Lang when she wrote the scripts for his most renowned films? Does anyone know where one can find some photos of her? Her image seems most elusive on the internet. (Not many photos of Lang found either for that matter).
As for M, check out my thoughts below:
http://davethenovelist.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/a-review-of-fritz-langs-m/
April 22, 2008 at 12:31 am
Nice review.
There are a few images of Thea online:
http://karlmay.leo.org/kmg/seklit/JbKMG/1996/bilder/368_2.jpg
That’s one of the prettier ones. Mostly she looks like Fritz in drag.
The jumbo Fritz Lang book FL has plenty more images.
As Lang’s writer, whom he respected very much, she undoubtedly had massive influence on him, but while she joined the nazis, he didn’t.