Figure 1: Film poster, metropolis 1927
(Metroplolis
1927) is a German film directed by Fritz Lang which has some extremely current
issues in today’s society as in an article I read by Peter Bradshaw saying it is
like the “current crisis in Dubai, whose economic boom was founded on a colossal
import of globalised labour” (Peter Bradshaw, The Gaurdian, 2010) I believe
this just shows that greed is a natural human trait and that it will forever be
an issue in life. The story starts out with an incredibly rich upper class man called
Freder (Gustav Fröhlich) the son of Jon Fenderson who was the founder and the
man behind who runs the city. Within the first 20 minutes of the film it is
clear that there is a huge class difference within the population of the city
and in one of the opening scenes the young prince of metropolis was living the
best life imaginable for any young man chasing beautiful glamorous women around
his extremely large and high decorated garden all until he is stopped as he
catches the eye of a very beautiful women who is extremely normal baring her
flesh without no makeup or wearing any fancy clothes. The women had arisen from
the extremely poor working class area of metropolis. Freder is instantly in
love with the beautiful women who is forced back down by the security, Freder
goes looking for but only discovered what makes the city turn and how harsh
life is for the lower class of Metropolis.
This is how
the tale is set and enfolds in a very strange tale with a mad professor,
cloning, a prophet, city floods and many more events. Metropolis is easily recognisable
as being the first summer block buster of all time by the way the story is laid
out and the fact that even in films today you can see that there has been some
inspiration been taken from the film. The architecture of the futuristic city
is one of the key features that makes this films as iconic as it was the first
of its kind and carried on influencing many films in the way that the cities
architecture is laid out in such films like blade runner and the fifth element.
Figure 2: a scenic view of The Fifth element 1997
Roger Bert
also noticed that the films had all the ingredients to be classed as a summer
block buster like todays films by commenting on it saying it was “Other
dramatic visual sequences: a chase scene in the darkened catacombs, with the
real Maria pursued by Rotwang” (Roger Robert) which I completely agree with as is
clear that Lang was so far ahead of his time with his ideas in what a
futuristic city would look like.
The most
iconic scene from this films is when the mad scientist Rotwang attempts to
clone the beautiful Maria (Brigitte Helm). This scene is almost so recognisable
even the majority of the public who havnt seen the film will know that scene
and know that it is from metropolis. Not only has this scene of the film heavily
influenced other sci-fi films it has also made a huge impact on said “So what
do today’s pop stars have in common with this android, programmed by the
rulers, with a mix of science and occultism? Well … everything.” (The Occult Symbolism of Movie
“Metropolis” and its Importance in Pop Culture) I then began to notice that numerous pop
cultured stars have attempt to copy the look of Rotwangs robotic women.
Figure 3: The comparison between Lang's robot and Pop icon Beyonce
The films is
ended with Freder reuniting his father with the people in a healthy
relationship being the middle man in making the life better for the majority of
the people of metropolis almost as to give the viewer that there is hope with
resolving the issues of today.
Illustration List
Figure 1: http://scifimoviefilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Metropolis-movie-poster.jpg
Figure 2: http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/1361828781-fifth-element-product-placement-1.jpg
Bibliography
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian 2010
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/sep/09/metropolis-restored-film-review
Roger Robert Review of "Metropolis" 2010
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-metropolis-2010-restoration-1927
Th Occult symbolism of Movie "Metropolis (2010)
Th Occult symbolism of Movie "Metropolis (2010)
Hi Adam,
ReplyDeleteOk, a couple of pointers to make your reviews look and sound more academic. Firstly, don't centre your text - by doing this, it gives it the feel of being a verse rather than prose; use the 'justify' option for the most professional look.
You should italicise the quotes, and then reference them just with the author's surname and the year, not the whole name of the publication, so for example, (Bradshaw, 2010) Have a look at the reference guide on myUCA for full details on how to use the Harvard method and create a bibliography -
http://community.ucreative.ac.uk/Harvard-Referencing
You should avoid writing in the 1st person - for example where you say ,
'I then began to notice that numerous pop cultured stars have attempt to copy the look of Rotwangs robotic women'. To write this sentence in the 3rd person, you could say something like,
'It can be noticed that numerous...etc'
There is an excellent guide to writing in the 3rd person in the Unit descriptor, under 'Essays and Articles' (Just below the influence map template.)