Film History part I
written by J.A.Bohr
Page Five
Table of Contents: Pages 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 - return to Non-Fiction index
continued from Page Four
Metropolis takes the viewer into a city of the future. Critics harshly downplay the movie due to the narrative's odd political stances and suggestions, but in another example of the visuals stealing the show, Metropolis is called "the most important science-fiction film since A Trip to the Moon."11 Fritz Lang and his art directors create stunning city scenes through the use of sets, mirrors, light, and patterns of people. When a demented scientist in the film transforms his robot into a likeness of our heroine, circles of light rise up around the robot's body. As men stare at the heroine as she performs a seductive dance (actually the robot pretending to be her) the shot cuts to dozens of eyes superimposed into a collage of voyeurism. The opening scene of machine shots dissolving into each other is worth a viewing alone. There are many critics to the narrative, but it is hard to judge it by the versions existing here in America. The film was originally 17 reels long, but was cut down in America to 10 reels. Most have never seen the original in its entirety, and the remaining intertitles may not give us all that we need to understand the end the way it was intended. But regardless of the version or interpretation, it is the stunning visuals that will keep viewers coming back.
It is here in these masterpieces of film that we find the roots of what we call Science-Fiction and Horror. These are the moments filmmakers will try to reproduce for ages. Now every couple of years a new vampire film comes out. Each week we ride with our favorite characters through space and time as they explore the open universe of race to find home. But this form of visuals didn't just happen overnight. It took decades of film artists experimenting and pushing the limits of their art to bring us the unreal, to make fantasy come alive.
Footnotes
1. Bruce F. Kawin and Gerald Mast, A Short History of the Movies, 6th ed.
(Needham Heights: Simon & Schuster, 1996), p. 25.
2. Bruce F Kawin and Gerald Mast, p. 34.
3. Voyage dans la Lune. http://www.filmsite.org/voya.html
5. Diane MacIntyre, George Melies, (1997).
http://www.mdle.com/ClassicFilms/BTC/prod11.htm
6. Festival 96, Quatre films Pathe. (1996).
http://www.pardo.ch/1996/festival96/cineteque/quatrefilm.html
8. Carter Findley and John Rothney, Twentieth-Century World, 4th ed.
(Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998) p. 89.
9. Bruce F Kawin and Gerald Mast, p. 154.
10. Bruce F Kawin and Gerald Mast, p. 154.
11. Bruce F Kawin and Gerald Mast, p. 156.
Bibliography
John DeBartolo, Faust: Eine Deutche Volkssage. 1996.
http://www.mdle.com/ClassicFilms/FeaturedVideo/video18.htm
Festival 96, Quatre films Pathe. 1996.
http://www.pardo.ch/1996/festival96/cineteque/quatrefilm.html
Festival 96, Treasures of the Swiss film archive. 1996.
http://www.pardo.ch/1996/festival96/cineteque
Carter Findley and John Rothney, Twentieth-Century World, 4th ed.
Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.
Karen Jaehne, Voyage dans le Lune.
http://www.filmscouts.com/rooms95/tanqry95/tri-moo0j.asp
Bruce F. Kawin and Gerald Mast, A Short History of the Movies, 6th ed.
Needham Heights: Simon & Schuster, 1996.
Diane MacIntyre, Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood, 1998.
http://www.mdle.com/ClassicFilms/FeaturedVideo/video9.htm
Diane MacIntyre, George Melies, 1997.
http://www.mdle.com/ClassicFilms/BTC/prod11.htm
Magic Dragon Multimedia, SF Timeline 1890-1910. 1998.
http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/timeline1910.html
Magic Dragon Multimedia, SF Timeline 1910-1920. 1998.
http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/timeline1920.html
Metropolis. http://www.german-way.com/german/metrop.html
Voyage dans la Lune. http://www.filmsite.org/voya.html
Table of Contents: Pages 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 - return to Non-Fiction index
