I was very anxious to see "Metropolis" for the first time. I had been into silent movies for a couple of years, but hadn't had the opportunity to see Fritz Lang's classic. I finally saw it at a silent movie theater in Hollywood, and my feelings were, to say the least, mixed.
The film is visually stunning. Monumental sets, brilliantly directed scenes, amazing special effects (by the standards of the time). In fact, I might say that I was more enthralled by the visual effects of this movie than I was by say, Lord of the Rings or Avatar. Whereas Cameron and Jackson used CGI to make their visions come true; Lang had to use camera trickery, paint, and wood.
This movie no doubt set the lexicon for the Sci-Fi and blockbuster genre in stone. The images of Metropolis have been repeated in innumerable movies. The scene of the underground city being flooded has curious similarities to James Cameron's Titanic. Even the villainous Rotwang can be seen in the characters, Dr. Strangelove and Doc Brown from Back to the Future.
But then there's the story. And the dialogue. And the acting (which is overwrought, even by the standards of the time. But I don't have enough room to go into that.)
Starting with the opening line: "Look---These are your brothers," a violent cringe would run through my body every time the intertitles would appear.
The later line about the head and hands needing the heart as mediator caused a huge outburst of laughter in the theater. This serves as the basis for the moral of the story, which was eerily similar to "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". Essentially, it can boiled down to this: Somebody (according to writer, Thea von Harbou's later beliefs, this turned out to be Adolf Hitler) needs to appeal to the hearts of capitalist managers and tell them to be nice to their workers. The outcome is a grudging handshake between the head manager, Joh Frederson, and the leader of the workers, Grot; and thus begins a shining new day!
"Metropolis" also incorporates religious symbolism which is, to say the very least, heavy-handed. Scenes of the Seven Deadly Sins, The Tower of Babel, an altar to Moloch, and the Flood all warn of doom to decadent societies that exploit the weak and kill the righteous.
In the end, this muddled mixture of Socialist calls for justice, and Christian Apocalypticism creates a political message that Lang himself described as "silly."
I recommend this film for its artistic brilliance and groundbreaking techniques. But don't go into this expecting an award quality film.
If you want to get into silent film, this is a relatively easy one to get start with. However, I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. I've met too many people who've said that Metropolis was the best silent movie they've ever seen; which probably means that it was the only one that they ever bothered to watch. I would recommend "Sunrise" or "City Lights" as a first over this.
The film is visually stunning. Monumental sets, brilliantly directed scenes, amazing special effects (by the standards of the time). In fact, I might say that I was more enthralled by the visual effects of this movie than I was by say, Lord of the Rings or Avatar. Whereas Cameron and Jackson used CGI to make their visions come true; Lang had to use camera trickery, paint, and wood.
This movie no doubt set the lexicon for the Sci-Fi and blockbuster genre in stone. The images of Metropolis have been repeated in innumerable movies. The scene of the underground city being flooded has curious similarities to James Cameron's Titanic. Even the villainous Rotwang can be seen in the characters, Dr. Strangelove and Doc Brown from Back to the Future.
But then there's the story. And the dialogue. And the acting (which is overwrought, even by the standards of the time. But I don't have enough room to go into that.)
Starting with the opening line: "Look---These are your brothers," a violent cringe would run through my body every time the intertitles would appear.
The later line about the head and hands needing the heart as mediator caused a huge outburst of laughter in the theater. This serves as the basis for the moral of the story, which was eerily similar to "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". Essentially, it can boiled down to this: Somebody (according to writer, Thea von Harbou's later beliefs, this turned out to be Adolf Hitler) needs to appeal to the hearts of capitalist managers and tell them to be nice to their workers. The outcome is a grudging handshake between the head manager, Joh Frederson, and the leader of the workers, Grot; and thus begins a shining new day!
"Metropolis" also incorporates religious symbolism which is, to say the very least, heavy-handed. Scenes of the Seven Deadly Sins, The Tower of Babel, an altar to Moloch, and the Flood all warn of doom to decadent societies that exploit the weak and kill the righteous.
In the end, this muddled mixture of Socialist calls for justice, and Christian Apocalypticism creates a political message that Lang himself described as "silly."
I recommend this film for its artistic brilliance and groundbreaking techniques. But don't go into this expecting an award quality film.
If you want to get into silent film, this is a relatively easy one to get start with. However, I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. I've met too many people who've said that Metropolis was the best silent movie they've ever seen; which probably means that it was the only one that they ever bothered to watch. I would recommend "Sunrise" or "City Lights" as a first over this.