Needless to say punk, here is mainly the problem of steam.
Of course, steam is obviously a general reference or a synonym, so let me start with the importance of steam here. The reason why it is important is not how valuable it is, but what can it do? It is precisely because of the rational use of steam that led to the birth of the first technological revolution. Machinery replaced handwork, accelerated the industrial process, and became the real primary productive force. As a result, people at that time had common worries with us. They were worried that unemployment and the coldness of machinery would eventually take away the warmth of the mortal womb, just like today we have to worry that cloning and artificial intelligence will replace humans in the near future. Most of us have a dead end or become their slaves. This is a truth.
So this kind of worry inspired the literary and artistic youths at that time. In that era of science fiction, it undoubtedly provided creators with the best material. To this day, we can still see the inspiration brought by steam from Verne's Nautilus.
After that, sci-fi works appeared endlessly, and mankind also carried out the second, third, and even fourth technological revolution. New elements were added, and electricity, atomic energy, AI, biotechnology, etc. were all written into the novel. However, science fiction is not concentrated in a certain period of time. Instead, it is constantly changing and bringing forth the new along with the progress of human science and technology history. Obviously, they also have a division of age, just like our 70s, 80s, and 90s, they are each branded with distinctive marks.
Well, since we are talking about movies, let's bring the topic back to movies. The appearance of the steam engine was a century earlier than the movie, and it took decades for the real popularity of movies. Calculating this way, from steam to novels, novels to movies, it has caused a very serious problem. The future in the novel has been out of touch with reality. In the early days of modern science fiction movies, please note that it was modern times. George Lucas abandoned the outdated steam engine and replaced it with advanced electronic equipment to create a powerful warship that travels through the universe. Most of the subsequent sci-fi movies continued this idea. Before the steam engine had time to shine on the screen, he was locked into a small black room.
But this is not the case. In addition to the early signs of science fiction, steampunk has already sprouted in the field of movies (Metropolis 1927). In the golden age of Hollywood sci-fi movies, in addition to the mainstream space laser gun battles, the red, green and green buttons on the spaceship console were complicated. Another genre of science fiction movies is quietly emerging, it is the doomsday theme. It has a classic setting that runs counter to mainstream science fiction. On the one hand, the rapid development of technology and the change of scenes to space and other planets. On the other side, the development of science and technology has stagnated to a certain stage, civilization has begun to decline, and the scene is still the earth, but it is even more desolate and dilapidated. Obviously the former is easier to commercialize, while the latter is more thinking (Blade Runner).
In this kind of movies, the world is barren, industrial equipment is wiped out in the war, utopia begins to be established, and human beings are struggling in wreckage and ruins. This kind of setting set the main tone for most steampunk movies in the future-ruins, giant machinery, run-down, nostalgia, another earth in parallel space. (I think it still has some Gothic style)
And on the other side of time, punk culture emerges. In the following journey, the two concepts with decadent colors began to gradually merge, resulting in the vocabulary we hear now-steampunk.
In the process of its integration, animation and games have also contributed to the flames and made numerous contributions. Among them, Japan has contributed the most. Katsuhiro Otomo, Hayao Miyazaki, and Hironobu Sakaguchi have incorporated many classic steampunk settings into their works. It turns steampunk from rough to mature, and finally bursts with dazzling sparks on the film.
Finally, genuine steampunk began to appear in the movie. In my opinion, the first relatively pure steampunk should be the 99 year's "Haifengmen". After that, "Gentlemen's League", "Colonel Sky and Tomorrowland", "Steam Boy", "Howl's Moving Castle", "Mutated Chronicles", "Twilight City" and so on began to appear (I really feel that The bad boy is not counted, only some of the scenes are counted). I believe there will be more and more steampunk movies in the future. After all, Hollywood has been leading the pack for more than ten years, from singing and dancing to science fiction to thriller to action to magical to anime adaptation. Maybe it will be steam next time.
In the end, why do I like watching steampunk? Well, it should be the whole setting.
I like the dilapidated city in the ruins, the architectural style lingers in the West in the 1970s, and you can see falling old newspapers and burning trash cans everywhere.
I like the gloomy sky in the city, the big dark clouds that keep time in the night forever, the streets washed by rain and the sculptures that describe horror.
I like huge cold machines driven by gears, pistons, and bearings, and obsolete robots that only have a child's IQ.
I like the unheard and unseen technological products. Their appearance represents the progress of people's lives or the prelude to a human catastrophe.
I like rulers, dictators, and monopolists who build their own empires in the ruins, and I prefer to see them overwhelmed by the overthrown system.
I like unknown heroes who take a solemn mission to embark on an unknown journey, or refugees who leave their homes and struggle to survive in the dark underground.
I like their clothes, leather and rags, gray eyes and rickety bodies, to bring out the superiority and decay of the upper layer.
I like another fictional world, even if it is depraved, even if it is devastated, I need to thank the reality of our existence and warn those absurd ideas.
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