Official Score = 3 1/2 Devils[/caption]Unfortunately unless you’re a film student or Art House film fan, or some one who works in the industry, then if I had to guess I would say you most likely haven’t seen to many if any Silent Films… Which it quite unfortunate!
What I mean by this is that watching Silent Films is like a whole different world! Most modern films look just like that! A Modern film that is made with modern techniques, with modern actors and actresses… Well simply put, old Silent films are just not like that!
In some aspects the Silent film is better, and in some respects its worse! The truth is, is that with absolutely, ‘0’ CGI, the detail work that people put in to silent film sets were utterly amazing! These old silent films are almost all story, which makes these stories incredibly amazing! And the truth is, is that just about all the actors in Silent Films would not make it in the modern setting, which is a shame! I mean the things that these actors were able to do back then were just simply amazing!
And you know what? Just about all of that is what makes the legendary film, Metropolis (1927) such an amazing and stylistic film!
Written by: Thea Von Harbou (Die Gatten), Fritz Lang (M) & Directed by: Fritz Lang. Starring: Alfred Abel (Fury), Gustav Fröhlich (Die Dubarry), Rudolf Klein-Rogge (Hexen), Theodor Loos (Titanic) and Brigette Helm (Die Insel).
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Joh Fredersen (Alfred Abel), C.A. Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) as Joh is looking for his help![/caption]This movie (which was made in Germany) tells the story of a world in the future where above level is where the elite (what you could say as ‘nobility’ (although it mostly seems to give the idea, that it is mostly either scholars or clueless rich people) live…
With that in mind there is also an under-class that lives below the city in a dirty city that comprises the, ‘worker’ class… Now these worker class are the ones that are responsible for keeping the machines and what not working for the people in the world above!
The one who controls all of this is Joh Fredersen (Abel)… Fredersen is a despotic ruler who keeps a very tight control over both the world above and below… (to the point where when his personal assistant makes a mistake he ends up sending him down to work as a lowly, ‘worker’…
Now one of the things that Joh Fredersen does is tries to keep his son from discovering the truth about the workers that his father treats as second class citizens… But of course his son is the adventurous type and when he finds out what is going on in the world below and that his father’s former personal assistant is down there, he will act as the heart, and along with a few friends from down south (literally), will join the hand (the works) with the mind (the people in the utopian society above), and maybe make sure that everyone can begin to live their lives together as equals!
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Maria (Brigitte Helm) with the unhappy masses of the under appreciated under class in, 'Metropolis' (1927)![/caption]If you’re a Science Fiction fan, or a movie fan then you might want to give this truly legendary film a chance! I did, and the truth is, is I thought that one translated well after 86 years!
http://youtu.be/ZSExdX0tds4
