6 ms·

Interview with Fritz Lang, Beverley Hills, August 12, 1972

58 points by benbreen 8y ago

feistypharit 8y ago
Been thinking a lot about "metropolis" lately. Need to watch it again soon.
- wolfi1 8y ago
  which version? there is now a version which includes all the scenes (from an archive in Argentina, IIRC)
  - Charlie_26 8y ago
    Saw this in Edinburgh recently with a live DJ soundtrack by Le Vangelis. Only time I've seen it so I was a bit skeptical about the music but it made it so much more incredible.
roryrjb 8y ago
Semi-tangential recommendation, and since Godard is mentioned in the article: Le Mepris (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contempt_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contempt_(film))
- graeme 8y ago
  Fritz Lang shows up in that, IIRC
- Theizestooke 8y ago
  the main musical theme is amazing. still thinking about it, saw it decades ago.
  - graeme 8y ago
    Georges Delerue was an incredible composer. The theme: https://youtu.be/aUs4awmb3-o https://youtu.be/aUs4awmb3-o
yesenadam 8y ago
I watched Scarlet Street a few days ago. What an awesome movie. Noir with a very dark ending... It's got a lot of talk about art in it, quite funny at times, mocking critics and the art world. A painter falls into the hands of a con-man and his girlfriend. Very highly recommended.
codeulike 8y ago
So hear me out. Although Metropolis is a milestone in technical cinematic terms, the actual story is silly, the moral at the end is patronising, and the sci-fi content is weak, even for its time. So the modern equivalent would be something with a huge budget, flashy production and amazing special effects but with a rubbish story. Something like Starship Troopers maybe (although thats actually quite good as a satire). Or maybe 'Cowboys and Aliens'. When you watch it and it seems a bit hokey, don't make excuses for it. It most probably seemed equally hokey to people at the time. For example here's a contemporary review by H. G. Wells: The film’s air of having something grave and wonderful to say is transparent pretence. It has nothing to do with any social or moral issue before the world or with any that can ever conceivably arise. It is bunkum and poor and thin even as bunkum. I am astonished at the toleration shown it by quite a number of film critics on both sides of the Atlantic. https://www.wired.com/beyond-the-beyond/2018/07/h-g-wells-reviews-movie-metropolis/ https://www.wired.com/beyond-the-beyond/2018/07/h-g-wells-re...
- lqet 8y ago
  I agree. While I think M is a masterpiece in almost every aspect, I tried watching Metropolis several times and always found it to be mediocre at best. I cannot understand the hype around this movie. Besides H.G. Wells, contemporary German critics were also spot on: > Thea von Harbou erfindet eine unmögliche Personenhandlung, die in den Motiven überstopft wird. […] Immer wird mit Gefühlsphrasen gearbeitet. Schrecklich. Ein sachliches Thema grausam verkitscht. Effekte, nicht weil Weltanschauungen zu Explosionen drängen, sondern weil der Film seine Tricks will. Der Schluß, die tränenreiche Versöhnung von Arbeitgeber und Arbeitnehmer – entsetzlich.“ Slightly improved Google translation: >Thea von Harbou (she was the screenwriter) invents an impossible plot which is overstuffed with motifs. [...] She is only working with emotional clichées. Dreadful. A serious subject cruelly made into kitsch. Effects not because the depicted world demands it, but because the film wants its tricks. The end - the tearful reconciliation of employer and employee - awful." – Berliner Börsen-Courier, 11. Januar 1927 > Nimm zehn Tonnen Grausen, gieße ein Zehntel Sentimentalität darüber, koche es mit sozialem Empfinden auf und würze es mit Mystik nach Bedarf, verrühre das Ganze mit Mark (sieben Millionen) und du erhältst einen prima Kolossalfilm. > Take ten tons of horror, pour a tenth of sentimentality over it, cook it with social feeling and season it with mysticism as needed, mix with Mark (seven million of it) (Mark the currency, but it may also be understood as bone marrow ("Knochenmark") or tomato puree ("Tomatenmark") in the context of cooking, which is the joke here) and you get a great colossal movie. – Simplicissimus Nr. 44/1927
corysama 8y ago
If you have any interest in Metropolis the movie, you really should read Metropolis the book. It is the most intensely visual work I’ve ever read. I would often need to take a minute between pages to work through the descriptions in my head.

58 points by benbreen 8y ago

feistypharit 8y ago

Been thinking a lot about "metropolis" lately. Need to watch it again soon.

wolfi1 8y ago
which version? there is now a version which includes all the scenes (from an archive in Argentina, IIRC)
- Charlie_26 8y ago
  Saw this in Edinburgh recently with a live DJ soundtrack by Le Vangelis. Only time I've seen it so I was a bit skeptical about the music but it made it so much more incredible.

roryrjb 8y ago

Semi-tangential recommendation, and since Godard is mentioned in the article: Le Mepris (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contempt_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contempt_(film))

graeme 8y ago
Fritz Lang shows up in that, IIRC
Theizestooke 8y ago
the main musical theme is amazing. still thinking about it, saw it decades ago.
- graeme 8y ago
  Georges Delerue was an incredible composer. The theme: https://youtu.be/aUs4awmb3-o https://youtu.be/aUs4awmb3-o

yesenadam 8y ago

I watched Scarlet Street a few days ago. What an awesome movie. Noir with a very dark ending... It's got a lot of talk about art in it, quite funny at times, mocking critics and the art world. A painter falls into the hands of a con-man and his girlfriend. Very highly recommended.

codeulike 8y ago

So hear me out. Although Metropolis is a milestone in technical cinematic terms, the actual story is silly, the moral at the end is patronising, and the sci-fi content is weak, even for its time. So the modern equivalent would be something with a huge budget, flashy production and amazing special effects but with a rubbish story. Something like Starship Troopers maybe (although thats actually quite good as a satire). Or maybe 'Cowboys and Aliens'. When you watch it and it seems a bit hokey, don't make excuses for it. It most probably seemed equally hokey to people at the time. For example here's a contemporary review by H. G. Wells: The film’s air of having something grave and wonderful to say is transparent pretence. It has nothing to do with any social or moral issue before the world or with any that can ever conceivably arise. It is bunkum and poor and thin even as bunkum. I am astonished at the toleration shown it by quite a number of film critics on both sides of the Atlantic. https://www.wired.com/beyond-the-beyond/2018/07/h-g-wells-reviews-movie-metropolis/ https://www.wired.com/beyond-the-beyond/2018/07/h-g-wells-re...

lqet 8y ago
I agree. While I think M is a masterpiece in almost every aspect, I tried watching Metropolis several times and always found it to be mediocre at best. I cannot understand the hype around this movie. Besides H.G. Wells, contemporary German critics were also spot on: > Thea von Harbou erfindet eine unmögliche Personenhandlung, die in den Motiven überstopft wird. […] Immer wird mit Gefühlsphrasen gearbeitet. Schrecklich. Ein sachliches Thema grausam verkitscht. Effekte, nicht weil Weltanschauungen zu Explosionen drängen, sondern weil der Film seine Tricks will. Der Schluß, die tränenreiche Versöhnung von Arbeitgeber und Arbeitnehmer – entsetzlich.“ Slightly improved Google translation: >Thea von Harbou (she was the screenwriter) invents an impossible plot which is overstuffed with motifs. [...] She is only working with emotional clichées. Dreadful. A serious subject cruelly made into kitsch. Effects not because the depicted world demands it, but because the film wants its tricks. The end - the tearful reconciliation of employer and employee - awful." – Berliner Börsen-Courier, 11. Januar 1927 > Nimm zehn Tonnen Grausen, gieße ein Zehntel Sentimentalität darüber, koche es mit sozialem Empfinden auf und würze es mit Mystik nach Bedarf, verrühre das Ganze mit Mark (sieben Millionen) und du erhältst einen prima Kolossalfilm. > Take ten tons of horror, pour a tenth of sentimentality over it, cook it with social feeling and season it with mysticism as needed, mix with Mark (seven million of it) (Mark the currency, but it may also be understood as bone marrow ("Knochenmark") or tomato puree ("Tomatenmark") in the context of cooking, which is the joke here) and you get a great colossal movie. – Simplicissimus Nr. 44/1927

corysama 8y ago

If you have any interest in Metropolis the movie, you really should read Metropolis the book. It is the most intensely visual work I’ve ever read. I would often need to take a minute between pages to work through the descriptions in my head.