Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Metropolis
The first time I tried to watch Metropolis, some years ago, I quickly became frustrated with my lack of understanding of the plot, and slept through the majority of the film. This time around, I still can not confidently discuss the film's meaning, but it's visuals and production blew me away. The film is so striking, in fact, that I think not fully understanding the plot adds a whole different dimension of viewing the film. It's almost like I got sucked into watching something so over my head that it made it that much more believable and eerie. Watching the film with an analysis of production was quite invigorating as well. My first thought was simply the amount of extras that were used in the film. After some research, I found out over 25,000 people were used, and according to most reports they were treated merely as props, being placed in extremely uncomfortable conditions - which is quite ironic considering who they were portraying. Given the time period and the technology Fritz Lang had to work with, Metropolis is a stunning science fiction piece that has cemented its place among some of the greatest films of all time.
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I completely agree about the importance of the film's production. Since the film didn't provide written dialogue except for a few occasions, I found that, in addition to the acting, the cinematography was really helpful in filling in the blanks of my interpretation.
ReplyDeleteThe lack of dialogue is more indicative of the cinema of the time, but powerfully emphasizes the importance of Lang's powerful visuals. Workers are visually likened to a slave class, machines, and at one point, cattle. The vastness of the city alludes to the smallness and insignificance of man. I agree with your interpretation of the film as haunting and eerie, in a very powerful, stylistic way.
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