Lifeboat, Metropolis
Watched this masterpiece last night on TCM. Wonder why it's not shown before. Definitely worth a view. Provocative film. You can read about it on imdb.com, but reviews don't do it justice.
I also watched the full Metropolis (1925) last week. Another masterpiece because of its vision and execution even if the story is maudlin. It is a quasi-Christian redemption story at its core: the evangelist Maria tries to spread a message that the head and hand must be united by the heart in order to redeem the society. The society is a futuristic one where the workers, drones, live below to keep the elites in comfort. The hands vs. heads, get it? The son of the head head decides to join the workers and live with them because he sees the injustice of the system. There is an evil genius who creates a robot that he (and this is kind of dumb) converts into a living being through sucking something out of Maria, and the robot is her spitting image, of course. She is a temptress while Maria is virtuous (boy, don't you love how women are either one or the other?). Any way, the evil genius tries to destroy the city, but in the end Maria and the son rescue the children for the striking workers and there is peace because the son--the heart--unites the upper and lower. It's slow going at times and I'm just beginning to appreciate silent films, but this one is a wonder because of the set design, if nothing else. It influenced a lot of other films. Don't think I'd sit through it again, though.
I also watched the full Metropolis (1925) last week. Another masterpiece because of its vision and execution even if the story is maudlin. It is a quasi-Christian redemption story at its core: the evangelist Maria tries to spread a message that the head and hand must be united by the heart in order to redeem the society. The society is a futuristic one where the workers, drones, live below to keep the elites in comfort. The hands vs. heads, get it? The son of the head head decides to join the workers and live with them because he sees the injustice of the system. There is an evil genius who creates a robot that he (and this is kind of dumb) converts into a living being through sucking something out of Maria, and the robot is her spitting image, of course. She is a temptress while Maria is virtuous (boy, don't you love how women are either one or the other?). Any way, the evil genius tries to destroy the city, but in the end Maria and the son rescue the children for the striking workers and there is peace because the son--the heart--unites the upper and lower. It's slow going at times and I'm just beginning to appreciate silent films, but this one is a wonder because of the set design, if nothing else. It influenced a lot of other films. Don't think I'd sit through it again, though.
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