Metropolis Movie Critique - Essay Example

?Metropolis Introduction The movie Metropolis by Fritz Lang is a revolutionary entity in the world of cinemas. It was produced in 1927 under quite a considerable fuss and budget during the time. It is a stand out classic touching on a vivid occult theme that is worth every attention. Its message is very clear and it somehow manages to stand the test of time. However, change is somehow inevitable and therefore some details relating to the movie have changed over time. Despite that, the relevance of the movie is still noticeable. Metropolis is a still sci-fi movie that was released by Fitz Lang in 1927. It was quite popular and among one of a kind movie to ever grace theatres and cinemas. Fritz Lang was a master of expressionism in German. This shows why he adopted and directed such an ambitious and eye catching movie to air in the 1920s. He adopts a futuristic dystopia that has two distinct approaches. The distinct classes are that of workers and thinkers. The movie depicts struggles between the two conflicting entities. It incorporates symbolism to a large extent. That said, the sci-fi perspective that is shown in this movie does not come close to defining reality. The fact that it was set in 1927 makes it seem eerily near reality. This is one of the many distinctive features with the movies of current times. However, the blame does not fall on Fritz as the provisions of that time only possessed the characteristics that feature in the movie. It is a good trial to depict reality. The visual impressions created are laudable though there is a considerable change and advancement of the same since 1927. The movie is credited as having taken up a large amount of resources to make. In fact, it was the biggest budgeted movie in Germany during that time. There is a critic on the issue of budgeting. The movie was shot for a period of 310 days (close to a year) with an unmatched production design and members of the cast summing up to 36,000 extras. This is the reason why a huge amount of money was used up in its production. The amount spent on this movie translates to a better visually and acting equipped movie in current times. There is no denying that acquisition of the provisions that facilitated production of metropolis at that time was an expensive endeavor. There has been progress in the budgeting of movies of the same kind such as metropolis. They are not as demanding and the provisions are readily available. The movie world has instituted favorable technologies to oversee the production of science fiction movies. Similarly, the movie world has developed ways to manage the number of cast involved in the –production. Current science fiction movies certainly do not use such a huge number of extra casts. This means that production of such a movie in recent times is not a pioneering practice as in the case of metropolis. The cast are continuously being reduced to a manageable level and the rest of the cast requirement facilitated by technological features. Therefore, cost effectiveness in production of science fiction movies has been noticed over time since 1927(Lopate 22). . The movies possess a commendable attribute of linking science fiction with common and existing phenomena. This attribute is not common with movies of such kind in current times. The movie captures the conflicts of two groups. The workers are depicted as mentally exhausted and submissive. They walk in crowds creating the impression that they can be easily deceived. The masses are portrayed as incapable of challenging for anything. This description of the masses by Fritz Lang, coincidences with the notion created by leaders of that time. For instance, Hitler is quoted as saying “How fortunate for leaders that men do not think”. Other politicians also viewed the description as worth accreditation. This is a physically approved attribute that assures the movie plot is quite relevant to the social and political settings of that time. However, this does not mean that current science fiction movies do not capture prevailing social and political themes. They do that but it may not be a feature that is worth prioritization by the movies. The distinguishing fact is that the classic science fiction movies such as metropolis captured the themes more and intently than the movies produced during the following times. However, the movie is seen as largely hallucinatory. Despite covering the themes of society and politics, the manner in which the views and outcomes are aired are largely wanting. It is especially noted that the film depicts a futuristic 2026 where there is no middle class in the society. There are just two classes that include the top notch “thinkers” and the lower and subjective class “workers”. Robert Egbert, through one of his writing produced in 1998 labels the movie as largely defying common sense and a nightmare that lacks reassurance of a steady storyline. He sees it as deficient in terms of being realistic compared to movies produced after that. Nevertheless, he acknowledges some relevant but not so consistent details in the movie. That is majorly the reason why he brands the movie as lacking a steady storyline (Lopate 26). The movies produced after that either show consistence by sticking to too much fiction or less fiction. Movies produced in the following years also dwell in the practicality of the issues in them. The picture and sound quality of the movie is another differentiating factor. It shows just how much the movie world has revolutionalised. The cinematography of the movie, though laudable for its time, is faulty compared to the quality of present day movies. The movie world of the current times is able to produce stable images that were beforehand jittery. This is through elimination of distracting splices and cracks in the images. The acting in the movie is also wanting and is somewhat faulty when compared to modern day acting. The acting in the movie is atrocious and in most cases over the top. The presence of mostly new and premiering actors combined with other factors could be the main reason. This could be as a result of the complications entailed in the initial filming of the movie. Some film critics assert that it could have boiled down to the demanding nature of Fritz Lang. In addition, the shooting took so long such that the actors were feeling drained. Frustrations can be attributed to this as numerous retakes were also done. Filming of night shots could take up to three or four weeks. Bridgette Helm, who previously had no acting experience asserts that “ I once fainted, during the transformation scene, Maria, as the android, is clamped in a kind of woven armament, and because the shot took so long, I did not have enough air.” There have been numerous developments relating to actor management and the acting itself. Filming techniques are favorable and less time consuming (Rosenbaum 17). As a result, actor output is not prejudiced. Similarly, the choice of actors takes in-depth look at the actor output and quality of the output. The suitability of an actor for a certain role is the leading feature towards achievement of quality movie releases. In light of this, we observe a wide gap in acting quality over time. The depiction of the future by science fiction movies has changed though not with a high magnitude. The depiction of the future by Metropolis continues to become a reality so the following releases advance on that. However, some elements still remain such as skyscrapers and the differences in classes of people. The following movies narrow on the gap between social classes but incorporate high levels of technology such as robotics. The main idea of awesome and perplexing nature of the cities still remains throughout movie releases adopting the same techniques (Rosenbaum 14). .It is worth noting the revolution in the movie industry. Of equal importance are the aspects that movies adopt from the previous ones. This is a concept that has been applied in the movie industry to ensure continuity. It is also notable that each movie still bears recognition for the outstanding performance during it time. This is the main reason for appreciation of classic movies despite being surpassed by time. Works Cited Lang, Fritz, and Thea von Harbou. Metropolis;. London: Lorrimer Pub., 1973. Print. Lopate, Phillip. American movie critics: an anthology from the silents until now. New York: Library of America, 2006. Print. Rosenbaum, Jonathan. Movie mutations: the changing face of world cinephilia. London: BFI Pub., 2003. Print. Read More