Metropolis
The German science-fictional film Metropolis is one of the most influential films directed by Fritz Lang released in 1927. There were abundant critics of the original film in 1927, for example, the film was originally two hours and a half long which then was edited for one and a half. The film became shorter as people felt offended by the sexism in the film, the communist subtexts, and mostly religious imagery. “In 2008 a version was discovered in nearly complete and slight damage in frame” (Kellgren, 2016).
Metropolis, a futuristic city where the human intelligence of technology or machinery has grown. Bellow the creator of the city John Freder we come against low working classes keeping the machine running which holds the city of life. Freder’s son became inquisitive of how metropolis was created after seeing the woman he loves in first sight. He joins the low classes and meets Maria and planned to meet again in the cathedral moreover, Maria was abducted by a scientist who takes her image and transferred to the machine known as the malicious Maria leaving Metropolis in a menace.
The mise-en-scene is captivating as this was influenced by one of the popular art styles at the time which was German expressionism, the style is portrayed in many of the mise-en-scene in the city such as tall skyscrapers. “His cinematographer and special effects guru, Eugen Schüfftan, adapted an old bit of stage trickery, using mirrors to "project" actors into miniature models or drawings” (Snider,2016) producing expressionism. Not only did miniature models look immense additionally they used a low angle shot focusing on the buildings or machines making it look powerful, this is a connotation to show the distance between us and the future. In general, the construction, technical conventions and the stylized sets help create a utopian city.
The dramatical camera angles and facial expressions together made something captivating to watch. For example, a “Dramatic visual sequence: a chase scene in the darkened catacombs, with the real Maria pursued by Rotwang” (Roger Ebert, 1998). The long-shot was used when a torchlight was trying to look for Maria, simultaneously hard key lighting was used which created a sense of tension to the audience. The camera then crosscuts into a middle shot this allowed us to feel the characters emotion being frightened. Looking at ‘Fig.3’ shows how expressive the actor's facial expressions are, making it easier for a passive audience to decode the emotions portrayed by an actor.
One of the reasons this film is a big influence today is because of the hidden signs and symbols overall in this film. Roger Ebert (1998) said the same thing I had in my mind when watching this movie which was how “Rotwang devises a robot, captures the real Maria and transfers her face to the robot--so that the workers, still following Maria, can be fooled and controlled.” In connotation of this phrase, this tells us how technology is going to progress making humans entertained by this new technology, diverting humans in depending on machine, not knowing that they are the ones not in control moreover the technology controlling them. To support my ideology the director Fritz Lang himself said in an interview "I didn't like it much because it was a picture in which human beings were nothing but part of a machine" (world, 2016) at the end of his sentence he called his idea “silly and stupid." His creativeness and symbolism are extraordinary because every day is improving new technology are being created and humans cannot seem to imagine a life with ought technology which helps them in their daily basis (e.g. phone, laptop, television and most importantly Wi-Fi).
In addition to everything said, the choreography in this movie is beautiful mostly the workers moving in sync side to side. In conclusion, the technical convention was intelligently used to exaggerate the beautiful buildings, and the actor’s expressive facial expressions and acting skills were very captivating. Moreover, the film is a symbol of knowledge improving and the danger in technology which turned their utopia into dystopia.
References;
Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dOWo2UocF0 (Jessica Kellgren, 2016)
Bibliography
http://mentalfloss.com/article/83617/12-futuristic-facts-about-metropolis(Eric D Snider,2016)
Illustration
Hi Divine,
ReplyDeleteFirstly, see my previous comment on how to put the bibliography together...also the comment regarding labelling the images - you have not labelled them at all this time!
You have a bit here that doesn't make sense - 'the film was originally two hours and a half long which then was edited for one and a half minute.' One and a half hours, perhaps?
Be wary of the spellchecker - you have 'bellow' which means to shout loudly, instead of 'below', for example.
PS... you should also italicise the film names - important when it comes to films such as 'King Kong', otherwise you can end up with some weird sounding sentences!
ReplyDelete