Just as we cannot use modern standards to evaluate historical events and characters, we must take into account the process and limitations of history. Metropolis also cannot be evaluated by the standards of the modern film industry.
When I went to see a movie with this idea, I found it unexpectedly! Even with a modern perspective, "Metropolis" is a very good and landmark work!
Genius imagination.
The complete isolation of the capitalist class and the working class under the rapid development of science and technology in the future. Capitalists play every night in the modern metropolis with high-rise buildings, while workers live in underground cities, machines that keep the city running day and night. This great city was built by the workers who kept it running, and the good life brought about by modern technology had nothing to do with them.
When I first watched "Folding Beijing", I thought of "Metropolis". The folded city in Beijing completely separates people of different classes from space and time, while the metropolis directly divides the crowd into above and below ground.
The wonderful plot advancement under the silent stage setting and the wonderful acting skills of the actors.
Since the film is a silent film, I was worried that the film would be too long, boring and silent before watching the movie, but the wonderful performances of the actors and the ups and downs of the plot completely overcome these problems. Even without the lines, you can see the emotion and language they want to express. The plot is compact and exciting, and the novel ideas that keep popping up are even more wonderful.
It is also a classic symphony soundtrack.
Because there are no actors' lines, the soundtrack becomes the only voice in the film. Metropolis' soundtrack is a raging symphony, written as the plot unfolds, without a single repetition. The desperation under extreme depression in the dungeon at the beginning, the tension of the fighting scenes in the later stage, and the savageness in the dance hall are all extremely well expressed.
I remember that there was such a plot in a Japanese movie. The girl heard the soundtrack through the phone and knew the progress of the plot of "Metropolis". When the male protagonist was watching "Metropolis", he received a wrong call from an unknown female protagonist. When he was about to hang up, the female protagonist said that the plot of the flooded dungeon has now been put in. The male protagonist said yes in surprise, and the female protagonist said, don't worry, they will all be rescued. The male protagonist said, thank you, otherwise I won't have the courage to watch it, and I can't stand the sad ending. (Afterwards, the two were not ashamed to be together.
Political and religious metaphors.
The metaphor of "Metropolis" is very deep, which is one of the important reasons why it has become a landmark work in film history. The story of the Tower of Babel in the Bible permeates the whole story. Maria is both a saint and a prostitute, Joe is a moderator, and the spy around Fredson is a sidekick and a prophet.
The struggle between the working class and the bourgeoisie was already a trend of thought that could not be ignored in the context of the times. The transition scene at the beginning of the film and the scene where Qiao first entered the dungeon and saw that the workers were dealt with by mistakes made people terrified. With the depressing effect of the background soundtrack, I felt so uncomfortable in that moment that I almost wanted to escape from the theater. .
When those workers hunched their heads and walked in unison, when they were exaggeratingly operating the machines as if they were dancing, they no longer had human ego, they seemed to be just robots, just zombies. How could there be no resistance in such an extreme environment?
But the purpose of the film was anticlimactic, and in the end, there was no revolution, but only a "coordinator" was ushered in. They only talk about peace, not violence.
The coordinator of the hand and the brain can only be the heart. This is the core of the entire film. Of course, this also served the political background at that time, which became the place where many people criticized, but in my opinion, this does not affect the excellence of the Metropolis.
After watching the movie, I came back and searched for the relevant creators and actors. I found that everyone has passed away, after all, it is a movie from more than 90 years ago. The actor who played Fredson died prematurely in 1935. At that moment, there was a feeling of vicissitudes. RIP
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