Metropolis 1927 film review.
I haven't watched this film in years, when it started the music and the visuals made me feel nostalgic...
The music blared almost instantaneously as the credits stopped with a hectic pace as the fast machinery emphasized the idea of a crazy world where technology had advanced faster then we could have ever dreamed in the late 20's.
The feeling of chaos and confusion summarized in merely the first 48 seconds shows how well it was made.
The music blared almost instantaneously as the credits stopped with a hectic pace as the fast machinery emphasized the idea of a crazy world where technology had advanced faster then we could have ever dreamed in the late 20's.
The feeling of chaos and confusion summarized in merely the first 48 seconds shows how well it was made.
The white on black intertitle is a change to the usual black on white, possibly a decision by the directors or producers to help hammer in the feeling that this is a bleak world we have been thrust into, a dark land with only a small glimmer of light... hope... when your shift is over and you simply return home to rest, waiting for when your shift is back on.
The music has now changed to a more docile... Nay a sad tone, one that adds to the visuals of men in drones walking in synchronized speed towards large elevators, broken men who know nothing but work and sleep have memorized their positions through repetition and dare not step out of line or bare the crack of the metaphorical whip held by their overlords.
The text that appears between the scene of the workers heading home and that of the upper class playing games, is formed as a triangle to which i believe was done because it symbolises the pyramid design that this world is based on, similar to those that describe ancient Egyptian societies which places the pharaoh at the peak and the slaves among the bottom... but who pray tell is the pharaoh of this world?
The shift from the workers to the upper class is a vast and shocking one, it immediately presents the viewer with a contrast on this worlds tiered society, as thousands spend their lives to work in the cities underbelly a select few run and play, taking advantage of their situation. Perhaps this whole movie is an allegory for us in the real world taking advantage of our luck to be born into families that can afford luxuries, such as being able to watch a film.
If this review carries on as it does then it will be hundreds of pages long as this is only the 6 minute mark in a film over 1 hour and 58 minutes, as such it will now skip further ahead and describe scenes this reviewer finds important.
32:03
The cinematography in this film is not ground breaking, it sticks with the simple and safe shots such as having a Long shot on the city to show more of it or a scene that is entirely shot without any panning, tracking or even a zoom, perhaps this was an artistic choice but because of that the movie can feel as if it is dragging on at certain times.
50:28
There is a lot of christian influences in the film which is not a big surprise as at the time period it was one of if not the biggest religion in Germany, Whether it's the story of babel, the crosses behind the saint like image of maria or the pentagram behind the "machine-man" which was actually used by Christianity for a time to symbolise the "5 wounds of Christ" but that was later replaced by the symbol of the cross, the pentagram is also the main symbol in paganism which is often considered the enemy of Christianity so it could have a double meaning of either being the wounds of the body (Rotwangs hand), the wounds of the soul (Joh Frederson), the wounds of the mind (Frederson's son) and so on or perhaps it's to symbolise Rotwangs decent into madness and the 'ungod-like abomination' of the machine-man.
54:34
The romance in the film feels lacking, there is never a moment where any passion is conveyed between the protagonist and the love-interest maria which leads to confusing moments when they kiss for apparently no reason other than the protagonist being desperate to kiss a beautiful girl, always leaning in and her pulling back ever so slightly made this reviewer feel very awkward.
1:04:27
This far into the movie you really appreciate the score, even when you are not paying attention to it your feelings are ever so swayed by the musical accompaniment to the scenes and it sounds beautiful.
The music has now changed to a more docile... Nay a sad tone, one that adds to the visuals of men in drones walking in synchronized speed towards large elevators, broken men who know nothing but work and sleep have memorized their positions through repetition and dare not step out of line or bare the crack of the metaphorical whip held by their overlords.
The text that appears between the scene of the workers heading home and that of the upper class playing games, is formed as a triangle to which i believe was done because it symbolises the pyramid design that this world is based on, similar to those that describe ancient Egyptian societies which places the pharaoh at the peak and the slaves among the bottom... but who pray tell is the pharaoh of this world?
The shift from the workers to the upper class is a vast and shocking one, it immediately presents the viewer with a contrast on this worlds tiered society, as thousands spend their lives to work in the cities underbelly a select few run and play, taking advantage of their situation. Perhaps this whole movie is an allegory for us in the real world taking advantage of our luck to be born into families that can afford luxuries, such as being able to watch a film.
If this review carries on as it does then it will be hundreds of pages long as this is only the 6 minute mark in a film over 1 hour and 58 minutes, as such it will now skip further ahead and describe scenes this reviewer finds important.
32:03
The cinematography in this film is not ground breaking, it sticks with the simple and safe shots such as having a Long shot on the city to show more of it or a scene that is entirely shot without any panning, tracking or even a zoom, perhaps this was an artistic choice but because of that the movie can feel as if it is dragging on at certain times.
50:28
There is a lot of christian influences in the film which is not a big surprise as at the time period it was one of if not the biggest religion in Germany, Whether it's the story of babel, the crosses behind the saint like image of maria or the pentagram behind the "machine-man" which was actually used by Christianity for a time to symbolise the "5 wounds of Christ" but that was later replaced by the symbol of the cross, the pentagram is also the main symbol in paganism which is often considered the enemy of Christianity so it could have a double meaning of either being the wounds of the body (Rotwangs hand), the wounds of the soul (Joh Frederson), the wounds of the mind (Frederson's son) and so on or perhaps it's to symbolise Rotwangs decent into madness and the 'ungod-like abomination' of the machine-man.
54:34
The romance in the film feels lacking, there is never a moment where any passion is conveyed between the protagonist and the love-interest maria which leads to confusing moments when they kiss for apparently no reason other than the protagonist being desperate to kiss a beautiful girl, always leaning in and her pulling back ever so slightly made this reviewer feel very awkward.
1:04:27
This far into the movie you really appreciate the score, even when you are not paying attention to it your feelings are ever so swayed by the musical accompaniment to the scenes and it sounds beautiful.
1:10:04
The scene with the transformation of the 'machine-man' to maria is, for the time, amazing! The superimposed special effects must have been painstakingly hand made to go around the figure perfectly and it's appreciated, it's amazing to think that one day someone simply decided to add to his or her movie by drawing on the frames or scribbled on a poster and then boom! An idea that would one day manifest and evolve to become what we know it as today.
1:12:19
This mans hallucinations are absurd! It's understandable that it's supposed to be a representation of his mind and how confused he is but to some degree it seems that the creators wanted more wow factor with their effects rather than making a compelling character that expresses himself through body language and facial expressions, Yes in the past acting on film meant flailing your arms exaggeratedly as if you are a cartoon character but the quality is good enough that we can see their faces clearly so such crazy spectacles aren't really needed.
1:16:51
Has the movie lost it's way? A skeleton playing a bone as if it were a flute while walking towards the camera, the scene that follows with the skeleton holding the scythe about to strike would have held much more weight if we didn't just see it perform a merry play of the lute, in this reviewers opinion they wanted to make the most of their expensive Death dummy and placed it in other scenes to get their monies worth.
That or it's a "Tongue and Cheek" moment that is often in old silent movies.
1:20:03
The actors in this film just love putting their faces as close as possible to each other, at any point they could have an accidental kiss or headbutt, was this the style back then? Was there no such thing as personal space in the 1920's? It's so jarring whenever it happens that you can hear viewers shout "kiss him you fool!" over and over again.
Note to self: Never watch a film to be reviewed with friends.
1:40:55
The reservoirs have broken and the worker city is flooding, as buildsings collapse and dams burst there is a lovely shot of the protagonist and maria clinging onto a rail as the camera shakes and swings to and fro as if suspended from a light fixture, this is the first shot where the camera moves, would this be classified as a panning shot? a vertical panning shot perhaps?
1:57:34
The climactic battle was a nice change of pace and the ending really tied together the story of the tower of babel and this futuristic setting, while the burning at the stake and the yelling of "witch" felt far too archaic for such a futuristic setting but then again considering how the working class were so easily swayed and simple minded it wouldn't be that big of a stretch so lets let that one slide.
In the end it's a classic film with a lot of weight in the film and art community and it's not undeserving of that title, that's my slightly shortened review, thank you.
THE END.
P.S it's currently 3:19AM, i watched this freaking film 3 times... my brain is numb, really hope by the end of that review i didn't get too terrible from the sleepiness hahaha, still at least for this first review not much is expected of me and there was no word limit so... yeah bed time.
1:12:19
This mans hallucinations are absurd! It's understandable that it's supposed to be a representation of his mind and how confused he is but to some degree it seems that the creators wanted more wow factor with their effects rather than making a compelling character that expresses himself through body language and facial expressions, Yes in the past acting on film meant flailing your arms exaggeratedly as if you are a cartoon character but the quality is good enough that we can see their faces clearly so such crazy spectacles aren't really needed.
1:16:51
Has the movie lost it's way? A skeleton playing a bone as if it were a flute while walking towards the camera, the scene that follows with the skeleton holding the scythe about to strike would have held much more weight if we didn't just see it perform a merry play of the lute, in this reviewers opinion they wanted to make the most of their expensive Death dummy and placed it in other scenes to get their monies worth.
That or it's a "Tongue and Cheek" moment that is often in old silent movies.
1:20:03
The actors in this film just love putting their faces as close as possible to each other, at any point they could have an accidental kiss or headbutt, was this the style back then? Was there no such thing as personal space in the 1920's? It's so jarring whenever it happens that you can hear viewers shout "kiss him you fool!" over and over again.
Note to self: Never watch a film to be reviewed with friends.
1:40:55
The reservoirs have broken and the worker city is flooding, as buildsings collapse and dams burst there is a lovely shot of the protagonist and maria clinging onto a rail as the camera shakes and swings to and fro as if suspended from a light fixture, this is the first shot where the camera moves, would this be classified as a panning shot? a vertical panning shot perhaps?
1:57:34
The climactic battle was a nice change of pace and the ending really tied together the story of the tower of babel and this futuristic setting, while the burning at the stake and the yelling of "witch" felt far too archaic for such a futuristic setting but then again considering how the working class were so easily swayed and simple minded it wouldn't be that big of a stretch so lets let that one slide.
In the end it's a classic film with a lot of weight in the film and art community and it's not undeserving of that title, that's my slightly shortened review, thank you.
THE END.
P.S it's currently 3:19AM, i watched this freaking film 3 times... my brain is numb, really hope by the end of that review i didn't get too terrible from the sleepiness hahaha, still at least for this first review not much is expected of me and there was no word limit so... yeah bed time.
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the world of CAA film reviews :)
Ok, so you have made some very relevant observations, but I would refer you back to the examples that Phil has flagged up for you here, so that you can get a better understanding of how the review should be structured.
http://ucarochester-cgartsandanimation.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/fao-caa-yr-1-invisible-cities-2016_17.html
Avoid using so many exclamation marks!! And all those question marks? You are aiming to produce an academic-sounding piece of writing, and by overusing punctuation, you are making it sound very chatty. Likewise, your PS... don't forget that this blog is the window onto your professional practice, and you should ensure that your language reflects that.
Looking forward to your next review :)
I'm a bit confused, David... where art thou Caligari? You've just reviewed a film we haven't watched yet ... and yes, take a look at the advice re. writing reviews in an academic mode; you're going into some forensic detail here - good - but you're also making a set of statements as opposed to producing a cogent argument. Take a look at the brief too - it tells you that you need to include 3 illustrations (minimum) and use published sources (quotes) to reinforce your arguments. Let's see a Caligari review on here that reflects some of the advice etc. Onwards!
ReplyDeleteOh i thought we were supposed to review this video, we were reviewing caligari?... Well crud.
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