SPP: Metropolis

Fisrt things first.. what a bloody long film! Righto, few things to talk about with this one.

The films tagline: 'There can be no understanding between the hands and the brain unless the heart acts as a mediator.' - this message was reapeated throughout the film at different points, and until close to the end of the film it didn't make perfect sense. I liked this because it kept me guessing, and when I did realise what it ment I was chuffed. The Hand, Brain and Mediator were represented through different characters, and different social classes. The hands were clearly the working class, the brain was Joh Fredersen who was the creator of metrolpoils and clearly of a higher stature than the rest of the characters, and the heart was Freder, the son of Joh Fredersen, his role clearly being to connect the two groups.

Aparantly the film shows technology in a rather tainted light, almost showing it as evil. I would agree to some extent as there is an evil robot, and the fact that Metropolis is run by machinary and technology means that the 'Hands' are constantly forced to work to support it, they're almost slaves. However, there are flaws with naming the technology as evil I feel - the technology itself isn't, it's the way that the characters use it, i.e. the evil robot doesn't have it's own will, it does that of Rotwang (the inventor). The 'Hands' may feel forced to keep the machinary running, but they are dependant on it and they need it as much as it needs them. This is more clearly shown after the workers destroy the machines.

Well that's it for now, if anyone didn't get the names of the films that Julius suggested they are:

Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)
Testuo II: Bodyhammer (1991)

Both films are by Shinya Tsukamoto