marpontes5 Reviews

Metropolis (1927)

Some of the most impressive images in film history

[10/10 · 9 January 2023]

The great future city of Metropolis in the film is inhabited by two distinct classes: the industrialists live off the fat of the land, supported by the workers who live under the city and endure a bare-bones existence of backbreaking work. The story concerns a forbidden love between Freder (played by Gustav Fröhlich), a young man from the industrialist class, and Maria (Brigitte Helm), an activist who preaches against the divide between the two classes.

Despite advances in filmmaking technology, no other film has surpassed Metropolis in terms of its impact on production design. Its influence can be seen in many subsequent science fiction films. Lang's eye for magnificent set pieces and special effects resulted in memorable images, notably the immense skyscrapers that dominate the skyline of Metropolis.

M (1931)

Social criticism

[10/10 · 9 January 2023]

M is a german thriller film, released in 1931, director Fritz Lang's first sound film, and it featured Peter Lorre in his first major screen role.

Lorre played Hans Beckert, a psychologically tortured child murderer and presumed pedophile who terrorizes Berlin. When the authorities fail to catch him, the city's criminal underworld joins forces with street beggars to do the job themselves, sparking a race between the two groups to find the murderer first and subject him to their own form of justice. The film's title refers to the "M," for murderer, that is chalked onto Beckert's jacket, leading to his apprehension.

Beckert's eerie penchant for whistling the melody of "In the Hall of the Mountain King," from Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt, prior to each attack is a leitmotif technique borrowed from opera. Though the director depicted no on-screen killings, his weaving of sound and atmosphere in the lead-up to the crimes contributes to the increasing sense of entrapment and encroaching terror.

Blame! (2017)

We need machines to survive, but what if one day they no longer need us?

[8/10 · 30 August 2020]

A mysterious man is looking for humans with a gene capable of controlling the machines and stop the ceaseless construction of the city. Blame! present us with a story in which the technology we created is no longer controlled by us, quite the contrary, it is hostile, hunting and killing us. Humanity survives, but few know that the gigantic city, built autonomously by machines, was under our control. There are fewer who want to recover a way to control the machines. Blame! starts in the middle of the story and we are not told either the beginning or the end. In this world, human beings are no longer the central figures, but unwanted guests. An interesting meditation on our relationship with technology.

Akira (1988)

Classic anime

[9/10 · 23 January 2020]

Akira predicted that the 2020 Olympics would be in Tokyo, as it is 2020 and I will be at the Olympics I decided to re-watch this anime for the ninth time. Here the Olympics are a symbol of human arrogance, showing the world how we are unable to change and we end up making the same mistakes, I hope that the real Olympics will not have the same fate. Akira introduced the western world to Japanese pop culture, which today is stronger than ever. The film asks us a question that seems to me essential when it comes to nuclear weapons, are there things we should never deal with? It is a great film that you should watch.