Metropolis (1927)

I think this is the first film I've ever posted three times.  Again, with the German film class.  Get ready to learn some things, people.  This is also from the Weimar period, though much further along.  Again, you can see themes of totalitarianism, rejection of authority, a strong streak of communism, and also a reaction to technology in general.  Particularly, it shows the upper classes blindingly seduced by easy (and therefore evil) technology in the form of a beautiful but unattainable woman, who is also a popular demagogue engaged in stirring up the masses to both turn on their betters and destroy themselves in the process.  No foreshadowing there.  Posted previously 30 Nov 13.

I finally got to the Completed version.  It was still at #50 in my DVD queue but first on my streaming.  Meaning right now I probably have enough movies on my list for the next decade.

Anyway, I have to say the restorers did a great job putting the pieces back in and tying together the parts that are still missing.  The added footage was badly degraded and you can immediately tell which scenes were recovered because they look almost like they have a black stocking over them.  Still, this is a classic work and to have found any of the lost footage at all is amazing.

It's such a highly stylized film, really beautiful in its art and symbolism.  I would really encourage anyone interested in the beginnings of film to check it out.
Originally posted 7/18/11    I think this might be the oldest movie I've ever reviewed on this site.  It's certainly the first completely silent one.

I am ashamed to say that I had never seen Fritz Lang's Metropolis before.  I had heard of it, of course, what geek hasn't, but I had never actually sat down and watched it.

It stands up surprisingly well for being 84 years old.  I mean, think about that.  That is older than all four of my grandparents.  Do you have a living relative that was old enough to have seen this movie?  Forgetting the fact that it's a German film and was cut to pieces in most cases, did they like it?

The version I saw was the 2001 F. W. Murnau Foundation version that had been restored.  In 2008, about 30 more minutes of original footage was found in Argentina and New Zealand and a Complete Metropolis was released in 2010.  That one is in my queue at #447 right now.  What?  It'll give you something to look forward to. 

Yes, I cringed a bit leaving that sentence hanging on a preposition.  No, I'm not going to change it. 

Movie.

It is 2026.  The world is divided into the rich ruling class and the poor, who live completely underground.  Freder is the son of the city's founder, Joh Fredersen, and lives a life of ease, cavorting around with weirdly-costumed nymphs in the 'Garden of the Sons' until a woman from Below brings up a gaggle of children to the garden.  Suddenly suspecting there may be more to life than what he knows, Freder heads down into the lower-class ranks and trades places with a worker named only 11811. 

In the pocket of his worksuit, he finds a map leading him down into the catacombs even further beneath the city where the woman he has been searching for, Maria, is preaching to the masses, promising them the arrival of a Mediator to act as the heart between the hands and the head. 

Little does he know that his father and the mad inventor, Rotwang, are spying on the meeting.  Joh Fredersen demands that Rotwang make a Machine-Man (android) that looks like Maria in order to incite the proles into open rebellion so that they can be crushed and their spirits broken.  However, Rotwang is still pissed that Fredersen stole the woman he loved and decides that his mechanical Maria will destroy Metropolis. 

It has elements of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Frankenstein, The Time Machine and probably more. 

Also, a seriously bitchin' table lamp.  Honest-to-God, this was my favorite thing out of the movie.  I would put one of these in my apartment RIGHT NOW if I could find one. 

This is definitely a must-see for sci-fi fans.  I'll probably end up owning the completely restored version at some point.