Metropolis (1926)

[Esioul]

Has anyone else seen this? We watched it in sci fi soc last night. Partly due to the 80's music, it was unintentionally hilarious and some of us laughed like hyenas, much to the anger of several other members (oh dear, I've made myself a bad name for laughing too much, agh).

 

[Foxbat]

This is a great film (without the terrible soundtrack)from days when cinema was still in its infancy. It's easy for us to sit back and scoff at something we may disregard as being somewhat 'quaint' but, for its time, this was a fine work from a fine director.

I suggest you watch it and remember how little technology folk like Fritz Lang had to work with and you may just find something worthwhile. These people were the bedrock of modern cinema. They deserve our respect.

 

[Esioul]

I did think it was quite impressive for it's time, and I could see it was in some ways a forunner for modern sci fi films. A decent soundtrack could really help things however- when deatha nd the sins started dancing around, the music (which was a bit like ghostbusters) was funny.

 

[Shoegaze99]

some of us laughed like hyenas, much to the anger of several other members

I would have been angry, too. Metropolis is a wonderful movie, not simply for its time, but even right now. It tells a good story and is still impressive to look at.

If there was a bad 80s soundtrack, I can only surmise you weren't watching the stellar Kino edition of the film. If not, that's too bad: The restoration they did is extraordinary, and it includes footage not found in most knockoff editions.

 

[The Master™]

Okay, Metropolis isn't upto todays standards... But at the time, it was CUTTING EDGE!!! As was Nosferatu (which was about the same time, I believe)...

And although it might seem a little comical, it does have some endearing qualities...

 

[Esioul]

True. But when you have only had four hours of sleep for several days, and haven't eaten anything for two, everything is weird and funny.

A good sound track would really have improved things. The one we had didn't fit with what was happening in the film at all, so sounded really wrong and funny at times.

 

[littlemissattitude]

Next time, make sure you've had enough sleep. And get a version with a soundtrack that is more in keeping with the time when it was made. "Metropolis" is an amazing film.

 

[Esioul]

Yeah, and probably not watch it with everyoen makng hilarious comments at the back. Agh, I felt so odd on wednesday, it's weird how odd and sort of light you feel when you're starving and exhausted.

I'd like to watch it again, but with better music. Which is the version with better music?

 

[Shoegaze99]

I'd like to watch it again, but with better music. Which is the version with better music?

The Kino release is the only way to go with Metropolis. It features the original 1927 orchestral score, nice behind the scenes material, an excellent commentary and a superb restoration. Portions of the film look like it could have been filmed last year, the print quality is so gold.

I won't go on at length, since I discuss silent film, including Metropolis, in this article, but suffiice it to say, try to rewatch this with the original score and understanding the context of its time. Visually the presentation is often very impressive, and the story itself offers some good commentary on the classes.

Get or rent the Kino version!

 

[Leto]

I'll have to do that one day.

 

[Foxbat]

There is a documentary on some versions of the DVD (I'm not sure if it's on the Kino version) which explains how many of the special effects were achieved. It's worth watching this to get an appreciation of how ingenious these early film makers really were.

By the way - nice article Shoegaze. You may want to look out for the Smithsonian boxed set of DVDs (The Origins Of Film) It has a collection of early African-American, Fantasy and Animation. Worth looking out for if you have an interest in the silent era.

 

[Shoegaze99]

By the way - nice article Shoegaze. You may want to look out for the Smithsonian boxed set of DVDs (The Origins Of Film) It has a collection of early African-American, Fantasy and Animation. Worth looking out for if you have an interest in the silent era.

Thanks (twice). I'll have to fire up my Netflix queue and see if that set is available; sounds like stuff I'd really want to explore.

 

[GOLLUM]

I have to agree that Metropolis was a significant film for me in this medium. Any movie buffs out there should check it out too.

 

[jenna]

i loved Metropolis, found it fascinating.

 

[Foxbat]

One of only four remaining original posters for this movie was recently auctioned and reached almost £400 000.It went to an anonymous American collector.

Just goes to show that there are still a lot of folk who hold this film in high esteem (and have far too much money on their hands )

 

[ast]

I first saw this film late night on tv (Moviedrome I think), and I found the 1984 version (Georgio Moroder) of it with the "recreated" soundtrack. It does tie in with the film but it doesn't quite match it. This version also had stills added in for "found scenes". It is a fine version, but probably not a patch on the Kino version that has been mentioned.