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"Another thing that is striking about M is its realism.  A lot of German Expressionist films (but not all) have some sort of supernatural or fantastical element.  When watching a German Expressionist movie, the audience looked into another world with demons, vampires, doppelgängers, and exotic-dancing robots.  In M, Lang immediately lets the audience know that this story takes place in the real world.  Although the use of shadows adds some stylization, we see buildings, rooms, and streets that were a common sight in late Weimar Germany.  M’s world is gritty, noisy, and full of people just going about their daily lives.  Instead of a traditional folklore or sci-fi monster, the villain is just a man.  Apparently, Lang loosely based M on several serial murder cases, and the song the children sing at the beginning is based on one about Fritz Haarmann, the \"Vampire of Hanover\": \n  \n“Just you wait ’til it’s your time, Haarmann will come after you, With his chopper, oh so fine, He’ll make mincemeat out of you.” "
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