First off, i’ve never heard of the film M, which makes me sad because it’s a masterpiece! So, i’m glad i’ve at least gotten to watch the opening scene. A problem i feared when watching this is the obvious language barrier. But, if a film is THAT good, should it be a huge difference? Since we’re looking at the video and not necessarily the script, i don’t think it does. The very opening scene of the children playing through me off. What exactly was the purpose? Lang does this to provide the exposition of the whole film. It starts off with the little girl interacting with the other children, what can be assumed to be her daily routine. This is great because now the audience knows what the little girl does and who she plays this. This is important for later on. Land then introduces the girl’s guardian. She doesn’t necessarily watch her every move. This gives the audience more information on how the little girl could have ultimately been kidnapped. Lang does this so quickly and easily just by showing the daily life of the girl and her family. Once the audience sees that, you get a better understanding of her life already. Next, you follow the girl to the street. Since i cannot read German, i assumed the sign that Lang focuses on is a Wanted sign or a danger sign. Now, the audience knows the little girl is alone so this clues/tips them in. This had me feeling anxious for the little girl which is where Lang provides the audience with narrative tension. The next part really gets me anxious when you only see the shadow of a creepy man looking down at the girl talking to her. You never see his face, which stood out to me. This makes the audience wary of this man. Since Lang is doing this in the beginning, it goes by so quickly and gives us a heads up as to what’s coming next. At first, people wouldn’t think the man is scary until Lang goes back to the guardian and puts attention on the worry of the guardian. Obviously the girl should be on her way home. When the clock reappears, it also gives the audience a heads up. Finally, the audience should definitely know something is up when the guardian calls out the window for the little girl in fear. Lang is smart about this because he then cuts to the ball the little girl was playing with. Instead of being in the hands of the girl, it’s now rollings sadly in the dirt. Then, he cuts to the balloon which has been caught in the telephone pole. That final scene hints to the girl being in danger/dead. I believe Lang did this so well because it was all so simple. He lured us in by showing us the daily life of the girl. Once we understood that, he changed it up by making it a little spooky. He didn’t have to flat out show the little girl kidnapped or dead. Just by showing us small events/actions, we can use our imagination. That’s what makes this simply yet detailed. Hopefully this makes sense..

Here are some notes i wrote as i watched the clip: