Beckert's Personality As Depicted In The Film 'M'

The film M, directed by Fritz Lang, is a 1931 German film with English subtitles. It stars Peter Lorre as the infamous child murderer Hans Beckert, also known as “M.” The film takes an interesting look at how somebody who is mentally ill might struggle with being able to control their urges. All though Beckert at first glance appeared to be an upstanding citizen this film demonstrates that looks can be deceiving. I believe the film poses the question upon its audience of what should be done to individuals such as Beckert, and who should be the one to decide their fate.

In M, the audience gets a clear sense of how difficult it might have been to capture a predator such as Beckert in 1930’s. Today’s law enforcement is much more equipped to identify and track possible predators; however, this was not the case in M. The police at one point had been investigating the murders for over eight months with no success in getting closer to catching the murderer. Progress was not made until police continuously raided local establishments and disrupted criminal activity. The bosses of the criminal underworld banded together to assist in catching Beckert
It appears that Beckert might have suffered from some sort of mental illness. What makes Beckert unique is the fact that he realized his urge to murder children was wrong yet did nothing to prevent himself from committing further harm. I don’t believe having these urges makes someone a criminal, but I do feel that when a person acts on these urges and harms society they then become a criminal. I feel that it would be much harder for a predator such as Beckert to operate in today’s society with all the advances in technology and policing