Italian Lang

In another scene where Lang uses off-screen sound and precision silence effectively with the killer’s whistling motif, the killer is standing outside a storefront on a busy day and the street rumblings of the city can be heard off-screen. The sounds are loud and hectic, until the killer focuses on the reflection of a little girl in the shop window, then all the loud sounds come to a halt and the film makes you focus on his urges in dead silence, making the scene leave a lasting imprint by witnessing him fall apart just at the sight of a little girl.
As the scene continues and the girl begins to walk away the killer quickly gains his composure, begins whistling his tune and walks off-screen letting the viewer know that a new chase has begun.
Lang used precision silence throughout the entirety of M, approximately one-third of the whole film is silent. One can assume this may have been because M was made during the transition from silence to synchronized sound so they may have had some difficulties with the new technology that led them to make a third of the film silent, but because Lang was experimenting with the new technology in various ways and had many years’ experience working with silent films previous to M, he used the silence precisely and made it mean something whenever it’s used almost making the silent scenes unnoticeable. In another scene that uses precision silence, the police silently infiltrate the criminal district and march down the streets, this is done in complete silence until a series of police whistles can be heard off-screen. The silence infers that the police are wanting to catch all the criminals off-guard, like a
The mother in the middle, the same one who cries for her daughter in the beginning of the film has thousand-yard stare and utters, “One has to keep closer watch over the children! All of you!” This harkens back to the position of the camera in the first shot of the film of the children playing a game in a circle. The camera’s position is hovering over the children inferring that we the viewers are watching over the children.
In conclusion, Fritz Lang’s M was a huge step forward in the development of synchronized sound technology after the decline of German Expressionism. Lang’s use of sonic motifs, off-screen sound, sound bridging, and precision silence alongside expressionistic-inspired dark visuals were way ahead of their time. The way Lang edited sound in comparison to the way he edited his visuals was a successful attempt at embracing the new technology and inspired filmmakers for years to