The scene that I choose from the film is the one in which the police department heads are discussing how to catch the killer and simultaneously the band of criminals are also discussing how to catch the same killer. Although the meetings are taking place at different places, the film maker's decision to picturize them together makes the scene beautiful, as the topic of discussion is the same however, the approaches are different. The police department, being a law agency, wants to adopt the legal way. However, the criminals are ready to try any method to fulfill their motive. The viewer can also sense the desperation in the voices of the criminals who want this impasses over as soon as possible, because the police have done so much to make their lives miserable, by intefering in their daily lives and activities.
1. Discuss the evolution of police power as it is depicted in Dr. Caligari and M?
The evolution of police power between the two films Dr. Caligari and M is phenomenal. The police force depicted in Dr. Caligari is shown as having old methods of conducting their operations, where as the police force in M has begun to resort to new means of technology. I also noticed that in the film M, certain sections of society had begun to distrust the police, and therefore decided to take the law into their own hands.
2. Does the killer deserve to die?
Firstly, the killer deserved a fair trail. During the climax of the film the killer claims that he killed people out of a desire to suppress his fears and voices that were haunting him. I believe, a fair trail would have adjudicated him as a mentally unstable person and sentenced him to a mental asylum. Even if he was found guilty, he should not be killed, but rather sentenced to life imprisonment.
3. How does the criminals ability to organize themselves affect their ability to capture Beckert?
The criminals ability to spread people all over the city and especially from the beggars union was a smart move. They also showed great determination in breaking the law to capture Beckert.
4. How would you judge the depiction of Nazis as criminals?
The Nazis came to power around that same time period on a broad agenda that they could turn the fortunes of the nation around. In the film, the criminals achieved their means by breaking the law, so did the Nazis achieve it means by doing a lot of injustices.
5. What is the significance of the media in this film?
The media certainly keep the public informed. It also helped to make the authority more accountable for its actions.
I also found that part of the movie interesting. Its funny how criminals are better at catching other criminals, than the police. The criminals thought out of the box and came up with a great approach. They were more effective than the police, they were even about to have their own trial.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with that comment. That practice is still prevalent today. The proverb "great minds think alike" is appropriate over here. Only the mind of a criminal knows how another criminal's mind functions. I don't know if you watched this film "Silence of the lambs". This film shows how the FBI takes the help of a murderous psychopath name Dr. Hannibal Lecter to catch another serial killer, who is a wanted man on the FBI list.
Delete".....criminals are better at catching other criminals, than the police" is so true. Since criminals know their way in that department of course, they have more knowledge on what a criminal might do after the crime.
DeleteThe criminal definitely did not get a fair trial but I wonder if the outcome would have been different. Even though his "attorney" argues that he should be institutionalized, it is interesting that real life serial killers captured during this time were given the death penalty like Kürten and Haarmann.
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