The movie M

The part of the the movie that stood out to me was the scene in which the defense lawyer for the criminal is  addressing the mob. The defense for the criminal was that he was unable to help himself. According to the lawyer the criminal has an illness and should be put in the hands of doctors instead of being killed. He even addresses the mob and tells them they are without fault themselves. He even calls out the head mobster for his involvement in 3 killings.

This scene beings back the topic of free will that we have encountered in other movies.  The lawyer brought up the question of if the criminal had free will. If he did not then should he be punished for something he can not control. If he does then why can he not be good? Why does his mind tell him to do those types of things? Does a person with a mental illness have free will?

The scene also questions in which hands should the authority lie in. According to Nihilism there should be no authority figure and the power should be in the people's hand. This is demonstrated in this scene through the mob court case. Yet the mob is unwilling to hear the defense lawyer and are overcome by their own emotions. This is to represent the disorder society would face if the power was distribute according to the Nihilistic ideology. However, the movie does not show the police which traditionally are the authority to be an better. They violated the peoples' rights in order to complete their duties.