Movie: Metropolis (1927)
Last night we watched Metropolis, the silent film classic from 1927. Given the time period in which the film was made, it is astonishing what they were able to do with what is probably the first full-length science fiction movie ever. Fritz Lang, the director, was well, well ahead of his time in terms of camera usage and visual effects. The special effects would not been out of a place in a movie made twenty years later, and the art design was beautiful - art deco meets the Jetsons.
The acting was... well, the acting was 1927 silent movie style, and the story seems extremely heavy-handed by modern standards, but even that was well done for its time, written with a mind to make the audience think and not just sit in the dark while watching the pretty lights on the screen. The version we watched also had the original 1927 orchestral score accompanying the film, and there are hints of John Williams' inspiration throughout.
Comments
How neat, and I don't mean to sound ignorant but.....do really old movies look very different on DVDs? I assume it's like seeing a high-def channel play a non high-def show - the picture looks rather strange.
I saw bits and pieces of this move, always good to remember the context to as to appreciate the filmmaker's perspective at the time.