Metropolis Revisited

Robot temptress.. Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

TODAY

Today is a crisp, chilly 44 degrees with a deceptively bright, blue sky. Kind of invigorating really as a crowded White Rock suggests. I’m now at Arboretum Starbucks, enjoying my Thanksgiving week off.

CLASSIC SCI-FI

I recently watched a classic sci-fi movie, and actually one considered to be the first feature length film of that genre. Directed by Fritz Lang, Metropolis was filmed in 1925 at Babelsberg Studio in Germany. Considering the year was 1925, some of the special effects are remarkable. The movie, which is silent with captions, even has a fusion of live action and animation that has characterized much later films.

Metropolis took so long to package and edit, it wasn’t released until 1927 at which point talkies had made their debut. The film had elaborate sets and was the most expensive production to that date. It was a commercial-critical dud partly because of its timing. Decades later, the movie was rediscovered for its huge contribution to the sci-fi concept.

The movie depicts a future society in a highly industrialized city (“Metropolis”). Peon factory workers are imprisoned in a subterranean factory setting while a rich elite lives in the ultramodern towers above. It appears (my interpretation) that the workers are cloned offspring of the elite, born to do their bidding. Freder, a scion of the elite falls in love with Maria, a factory wench. Maria also sidelines as an evangelist, urging the workers to seek independence.

Freder’s father has a mad scientist kidnap Maria and project her physical appearance onto a robot creation. Then, the robot is programmed to deceive Maria’s followers, leading them far astray into a life of mindless decadence. I won’t give away the rest of the plot, although it’s safe to say that good wins over evil in the end.

RECEPTION

Critics at the time panned the movie for being a simplistic morality tale (which let’s be honest – it was). Robot Maria’s plunge into decadence had her appearing as an erotic dancer in an adult cabaret. The dance numbers are stunning though some of the facial expressions are comically exaggerated probably owing to a lack of sound as a method of conveyance. The movie seemed to caution against madcap dancing and drinking – even while making it a prominent attraction in the film. The screenplay was written by Lang’s wife, Thea Von Harbou. Her gift of plot structure was not on a par with George Lucas by any means.

TECHIE COOL STUFF

The movie had ultra-modern cityscapes and cars streaming through tubular connected bridges. Freder’s father used video teleconference to reach underlings. The laboratory of the mad scientist had all manner of lightning bolts and energy streams zapping Maria’s visage over to a metallic robot. Some of this is pretty cool even now. I don’t think Star Wars or Total Recall have exceeded the total vision of Fritz Lang circa 1925.

I watched the movie wondering how it played to Weimar Germans of the day, who were still smarting from World War I and flirting with Nazism. The dystopian, monolithic themes must have registered in some way. The Nazi state buildings of the 1930’s almost seem to have the soaring majesty of a Fritz Lang set.

If you have time to kill, this movie is a good way to kill it. One note – the movie was highly censored, edited and even butchered by morality police of the era. Whole sections were cut, so the captions are sometimes paragraphs to explain weird transitions and gaps. Still, it sort of flows. And still, it's a fascinating piece of cinema.

© 2015 Snillor Productions

Four Days in LA

Bryan on Hollywood Blvd.. Picture by Trevor Snillor

SUNDAY
We are having a gorgeous 70 degree day outside. Just completed my 3 mile hike at White Rock, and now feel the need to catch up on my blog. I have several topics in queue but today I’ll talk about my Halloween trip to LA.

Los Angeles 3rd Time Around

In 1984, I visited LA for a weekend vacation following a job interview. I took a Star Line tour and visited a couple of night clubs.. I was inebriated most of that trip, but recall that I liked it and vowed to return. I returned in 2009 with my friend Eric, some 25 years later and sober (but not as serious) as a judge. It was an enjoyable trip, although we didn’t extend our scope much beyond Hollywood and Venice Beach. I caught a bad cold on that trip so the fun was curtailed.

We came back (Eric, my brother Bryan and I) for Halloween week, 2015. We stayed at the Dixie Hollywood on a slightly down-scale block of Hollywood Blvd, but the experience was great again.

We did standard tourist things: Hollywood Walk of Fame, Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Paramount Studio Tour and Hollywood Celebrity Cemetery. I must say that Lucille Ball’s star on the Walk of Fame deserves better than its location near Pep Boys and a homeless shelter. Paramount Studios made me realize what a shallow sham our TV shows are… I wanted to believe that Cheers was filmed in a Boston pub. It is amazing what illusions (even in recent sci-fi) can be effected on a small studio set.

We looked at the Brady Bunch house near Studio City. It’s nicely maintained and I can only imagine that the current inhabitants are annoyed by the tourists snapping pictures all day. Shame on us! The owners might consider making it a museum tour – “This is where Greg took a puff.. This is where Marcia was hit by a football”.

We explored Laurel Canyon, Mulholland Drive (don’t drive there drunk at night), UCLA and Century City. LA is such an awesome sprawl that there are still many things we didn’t touch on: Universal City, Disneyland, the Tate-La Bianca houses, an updated Star Line tour. I honestly think the city is large and lively enough to justify a couple more visits.

We checked out the wacky Venice Beach and also the LA Farmers Market which is actually a luxuriant shopping mall with an eclectic open air food court attached. We looked at one of the few brick-and-mortar CB2 stores which has cool housewares at cooler affordable prices. We priced Hollywood real estate and marveled at how Dallas prices are catching up. On the whole, we had lots of fun doing a variety of things.

Conclusion

My travel companions and I pulled off a trip without having a fight or an argument – that in itself is pretty amazing. Maybe we’re just getting too old and the fire is gone. I doubt that we’ve matured that much. LA is fantastic if you’re star-struck like me. Also, the late October weather was near perfect with azure skies and highs in the low 80’s. If you want a fun, exciting place to vacation in an urban location you can hardly beat La La Land. I took about 100 digital photos, not one of which have I posted, printed or labeled. That should be a forthcoming activity if I ever catch up at work. These could a visual enticement to what awaits in Hollywood Land.

© 2015 Snillor Productions