Metropolis
Last night I watched the German film Metropolis.
Aside from the fact that old silent movies are painfully slow, Metropolis was very cool. It was made for $US2 million, which in 1926 was a hell of a lot of money. It took over a year to film and has a cast of almost 40,000 people, including the main actress, who said being in it was horrible and then denied she was in it at all! With special effects in a pre-computer era and panoramic shots of a futuristic city (actually it’s set in 2000 and our buildings may not be so big, but director Fritz Lang sure got the gridlock right), it’s mighty impressive.
Apparently it was a huge flop in the late ‘20s, but it’s in IMDb’s top 100 movies of all time now and Lang also had the misfortune to capture the attention and admiration of Mr Hitler and Mr Goebbels, who were very powerful in the mid ‘30s and told Lang they wanted him to make movies for the Nazis. Sensibly, he went home, packed his bags and left the country that very same day – although it seems he left his wife behind.
Metropolis was showing in an old Berlin theatre last night, with a new music score and all. It’s about a big city that seems utopian and wonderful, but in reality is run underground by slave workers who unsurprisingly seem none too happy about the situation. At the beginning, a spoilt Daddy’s Boy stumbles upon this underground world and vows to change society. He of course falls in love with a pretty girl from the “other side” and then things are thwarted by an evil scientist with crazy hair and way, way too much eye makeup. The scientist builds a robot that will work for the minimum wage and like it, and everything builds up to a climax and a sappy ending which apparently the director hated.
Metropolis was very ahead of its time though, with massive floods, picture phones (albeit enormous ones) and futuristic skyscrapers. It also seems to predict tyrannical leaders, divided cities and reunification, which was all to come for Germany.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
Aside from the fact that old silent movies are painfully slow, Metropolis was very cool. It was made for $US2 million, which in 1926 was a hell of a lot of money. It took over a year to film and has a cast of almost 40,000 people, including the main actress, who said being in it was horrible and then denied she was in it at all! With special effects in a pre-computer era and panoramic shots of a futuristic city (actually it’s set in 2000 and our buildings may not be so big, but director Fritz Lang sure got the gridlock right), it’s mighty impressive.
Apparently it was a huge flop in the late ‘20s, but it’s in IMDb’s top 100 movies of all time now and Lang also had the misfortune to capture the attention and admiration of Mr Hitler and Mr Goebbels, who were very powerful in the mid ‘30s and told Lang they wanted him to make movies for the Nazis. Sensibly, he went home, packed his bags and left the country that very same day – although it seems he left his wife behind.
Metropolis was showing in an old Berlin theatre last night, with a new music score and all. It’s about a big city that seems utopian and wonderful, but in reality is run underground by slave workers who unsurprisingly seem none too happy about the situation. At the beginning, a spoilt Daddy’s Boy stumbles upon this underground world and vows to change society. He of course falls in love with a pretty girl from the “other side” and then things are thwarted by an evil scientist with crazy hair and way, way too much eye makeup. The scientist builds a robot that will work for the minimum wage and like it, and everything builds up to a climax and a sappy ending which apparently the director hated.
Metropolis was very ahead of its time though, with massive floods, picture phones (albeit enormous ones) and futuristic skyscrapers. It also seems to predict tyrannical leaders, divided cities and reunification, which was all to come for Germany.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
posted by Shona @ 9:24 AM
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