I finished watching Metropolis this morning. It’s a 1927 silent film directed by Fritz Lang. I was a little apprehensive about surviving 2.5 hours of a silent film, but I became surprisingly involved in the plot.

This film was the pre-cursor to all sci-fi films since. The film deals with so many controversial themes: Man vs. the machine, groupthink (to borrow a term), rich vs. poor, and new generation revolutions. To think about putting all these ideas in the cinema in the 20s seems insane. The film challenges many parts of society that existed at the time (and continue to). But like with so many other great films, there’s always the underlying love conquers all, boy gets girl type that has to be mixed in. At least in Metropolis, it had a use to some degree in setting up the rest of the plot.

Beyond themes in the film, the special effects achieved in the film left me speechless at times. I’m still trying to discern how they accomplished some of them. Of course, there was the obvious use of men flying down on ropes for some of the falling but still, it was quite impressive. The sets were incredible…it was futuristic but with a classic 20s-swing feel to it.

The acting was pretty typical of a silent film…some gestures/expressions that were held a little too long, but overall very good. The lighting on the characters did well at capturing their essence. There was one shot where the leading lady looked outright evil and twisted. She was wonderful, playing both the villain and the heroine.

I’m not a sci-fi person or big silent film buff, but I do love well-made and creative movies. Metropolis is certainly one of them. The cinematography is comparable at times to Citizen Kane. It’s truly amazing.

Additionally, the music is superb. It’s so much more powerful than any dialog could be. Every note enforces the feeling of the scene. And as for title screens, there are very, very few. Even some of the few they use aren’t necessary, the music and visuals tell it all, which is the aspect I find most impressive about silent films. ah, but that could take me to a completely new post.

Take a look at the trailor. It gives a great glimpse of the film.