Fritz Lang - Metropolis

January 10, 1927 in Berlin, the premiere of the film, which influenced the subsequent development of cinematography. January 10, 1927! I can imagine how this picture looked at that time, if even today it amazes with magnificent special effects, excellent editing, direction, operator and actors. Honestly, I watched this movie with the translation of the credits. I think I would have understood it all, since the silent movie is shot in such a way that it is clear without words. This is his magic! And yet I looked at this film with a translation to understand everything to the smallest detail.

Metropolis is a film with an excellent storyline. It captures the viewer from the very first minutes, more precisely from seconds. From the epigraph: "The mediator between the head and the hands should be the heart." It is this epigraph that is the basis of the whole film. He is also shown at the end of the film, the whole film is being held around him. This movie carries this epigraph. But the plot of this film, like himself, is multifaceted. Therefore, to say that this epigraph is a single meaning of this film, it will not be entirely correct. "Metropolis" is a film about two classes: a class of workers and an elite. "Metropolis" is a film about the relationship of these two classes. Although people speak the same language, they still can not understand each other. "Metropolis" is a film about what connects these classes: heart, soul. Head and arms, and between them is the heart. But apart from all this, Metropolis is a film about love. He is the son of the ruler of Metropolis, lives upstairs and has fun in the Eternal Gardens. She is from the dungeon, preaching to the workers about peace. She opens his eyes to him and he is already head and heart. As I have already written, this film is multifaceted, therefore it is not so easy to determine the genre of this film. It is fantastic. But not really. This is drama. And not only. Metropolis is an anti-utopia.

Fritz Lang. This name I heard not so long ago. At the same time, I heard about his film Metropolis. Since that moment I really wanted to see this movie and today I finally looked it up. I do not even know, maybe what I'm about to write is now trivial, but everything in this film is excellent. Look at the plot - the story is magnificent. Look at the direction - the direction is excellent. Look at the effects - they ... they ... I do not even know how to say, probably because I can not explain, although it may be possible, but I can not. The effects are simply gorgeous. Of course the modern viewer, having looked at this film, probably will not agree with me. What we just did not see. And space ships, and aliens, and flying people. In general, you yourself know. But all this is created with the help of computer effects. And all these magnificent models of spaceships made of plastic and cardboard are in the past. They are left in the past, but they look great now. The whole city. Imagine! Model of the whole city. How much effort was spent to create it. After each frame, rearrange the small cars, so that on the screen they traveled in a few seconds. And the model of the towers. And all the rest! In addition to the city, there are more effects in this film. After watching the movie, I read on the Internet how the effects were made to this film. I will not retell the reading, I will only write that it is excellent. The combination of actors and miniature models. The Schuftan process. In general, what can I say, the work of Fritz Lang is above all praise. Directing, as I mentioned before, is gorgeous. The style and atmosphere of the director are excellent for the excellent work of the operator. Metropolis is very clever. And not only special effects prove this. The shooting is a very strong side of this film. And the installation of all this is well fixed. For example, when dozens of eyes were shown, as if several frames had merged into one.

The actors also played perfectly. And there is nothing surprising here. At that time, the theater play of the actors and the play of the actors of the cinema was almost the same. In our time there are obvious differences. Theatrical performance of actors is more dramatic, although, of course, it all depends on what movie you watch. It's one thing to talk about playing actors in some American comedy, and it's another thing to talk about playing actors in the author's cinema. But still. Silent cinema is another. Almost everything depends on the actors. They should play in such a way that even without titles, it's clear what's what. And they do. The actors in this film performed their roles, again, perfectly. They play dramatically, but not tense. They perfectly convey feelings and emotions. During the viewing, you are concerned about the characters, you think what will happen to them. And this is very important. When actors are really actors, not ordinary scenery.

My acquaintance with silent cinema happened a long time ago, when I was about five or six. This acquaintance happened with some movie of the Great Charlie Chaplin. Then, about three years ago, I looked "Nosferatu, a symphony of horror." I remember that it was not easy to find it without the Internet. And it was from that movie that I fell in love with these old films of the 1920s-1930s. Then when the movie was an art. Now cinema, like real art, is not so common. And yet it occurs. Silent cinema has gone with the advent of sound. It's gone, but it's not dead. And remember it is also necessary.

Metropolis is a real movie. Classics for all time. A masterpiece of cinematography.

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