'Invisible Cities' Thumbnails 37-45

Here are my thumbnails for the city Zirma.

'Invisible Cities' Thumbnails 28-36

Here are my thumbnails of Zenobia, I enjoyed exploring this city as It gave me an idea of a native tribal settlement, which seemed to be secluded but also had a certain sense of abandonment to it.

'Invisible Cities' Thumbnails 19-27

Here I made further thumbnails on my study of the city Thekla.

Film Review: Metropolis (1927)

Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis' (1927 )

Fig 1. Metropolis Poster

Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis' (1927) is a German Science - Fiction film set in a futuristic city. The city seems to be full of life as there is always something going on in either the background or the main focus. The city's structure seems to resemble a high earning settlement where it is controlled by one man Joh Frederson (The main characters father).

The Main character of the film is presented to the viewers as a hero, some may seem him as a martyr, others may see him as a freedom fighter via the use of his position and voice, there is also a religious aspect, where people see him as a symbol of hope, the saviour of the city and the people who are stuck down in the working class area.

Peter Bradshaw: "one of the biggest, strangest, maddest films in cinema history returns, with missing footage restored:

 a textual enlargement that of course "explains" nothing about the film, and just makes it bigger, stranger and madder than ever. Fritz Lang's 1927 film is a crazed futurist epic, a mythic sprawl with something of Jung and Wagner, and dystopian nightmare about a city-state built on slave labour, whose prosperity depends on suppressing a mutinous underground race whose insurrectionist rage is beginning to bubble. Metropolis predicts the ideologies of class and race of the 20th century, and there is a perennial frisson in the way the workers' leader Maria longs for a messianic figure who can find a middle way between the head and the heart, the bosses and the workers: he will be the Mediator, or the "Mittler" – a word that has a chilling echo with another real-life leader who at the time of Metropolis's premiere had a few seats in the Reichstag. The "Maschinenmensch" robot based on Maria is a brilliant eroticisation and fetishisation of modern technology and the current crisis in Dubai, whose economic boom was founded on a colossal import of globalised labour, makes Metropolis seem very contemporary."

Characters to focus on are Maria ( The Heroin ), C.A Rotwang (Mad scientist), Joh Frederson, Freder ( Main Character/Hero). All these characters have a specific focus onto them such as Maria who seems to be the voice of the working class, a symbol to them which makes them want to fight for their freedom through the means of peaceful actions. C.A Rotwang is a mad man who has suffered great loss of losing a woman who left him for Joh Frederson and eventually died giving birth to Freder, and thus has become dependant and driven insane with building a life like replica of Hel . Joh Frederson is the head of the city and is set on power and control. It seems the pyramid effects comes into play with his mind where Upper class can never mix with the lower class and thus an ongoing War is formed between right and wrong. And lastly Freder who seems to believe that his father is blind to his beliefs and believes that all people should be equal and work together. He seeks out to try and bring everyone together by his own hands using his position of power and belief in the system that is corrupt.

Fig 2. Still of the metropolis.

Roger Ebert: "Generally considered the first great science-fiction film, "Metropolis" (1927) fixed for the rest of the century the image of a futuristic city as a hell of scientific progress and human despair. From this film, in various ways, descended not only “Dark City” but “Blade Runner,” “The Fifth Element,” “Alphaville,” “Escape From L.A.,” “Gattaca,” and Batman's Gotham City. The laboratory of its evil genius, Rotwang, created the visual look of mad scientists for decades to come, especially after it was mirrored in “Bride of Frankenstein” (1935). And the device of the “false Maria,” the robot who looks like a human being, inspired the “Replicants” of “Blade Runner.” Even Rotwang's artificial hand was given homage in “Dr. Strangelove.”

The entire story gives off many thoughts on what the directer is trying to base the story around, Is it religious terms, Equality rights, a man blinded by power who people seek to conquer, or is it just simply a film about rebelling.

Fig.3 Still of Joh Frederson and C.A Rotwang.

Mick LaSalle: "Seeing it is a time-bending experience, a way of visiting the past and glimpsing the past's idea of the future. A masterpiece of art direction, the movie has influenced our vision of the future ever since, with its imposing white monoliths and starched facades. In "Metropolis," the upper class inhabits the city's surface, while workers, held in little better than slave conditions, live and work in underground mines."

Brigitte Helm plays a saintly figure named Maria who rallies the workers and acts on their behalf. But she is imprisoned by the ruling powers, and a replica robot Maria is sent down to the mines to incite the workers to a self- destructive riot.

Around the time the film was being produced the Ruhr Uprising was happening which was a Left- wing workers revolt. This may of given the director an idea for the film and so based the film on  his research and experience into the Ruhr Uprising.

Overall the film contains many strong characters with a wide range of personality and beliefs.

The camera angles used in the film was very clever, The wide camera that was used, was to show the pure size of the fictional city Metropolis. When the destruction of the city was happening at certain points, a handheld camera was used, in which the camera shuddered forward at certain points as if to make the viewer feel like they were in the destruction of the city as it was happening.

Bibliography:  

Quotes: 

Peter Bradshaw, (2010), Metropolis Review, http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/sep/09/metropolis-restored-film-review

Roger Ebert, (1998), Metropolis Review,

 http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-metropolis-1927

Mick LaSalle, (2002) , Metropolis Review, 

http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/FILM-CLIPS-Also-opening-Friday-2779282.php

Images:

Fig. 1, Metropolis Poster, (2009),  en.wikipedia.org

Fig. 2, still of film, (2013),finzi22l.wordpress.com

Fig. 3, Still of film, (2012), www.myfilmviews.com

'Invisible Cities' Thumbnails 10-18

Here I did thumbnails for the city Isaura, I again did some textures and structures for the description of the city.

'Invisible Cities' Thumbnails 1-9

Here are my first thumbnails for the invisible cities project, here I did some thumbnails which includes textures and structures based around the description of Fedora.

Film Review: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Robert Wiene's 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' (1920)

Robert Wiene's 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' (1920 ) is a German silent film. The film is said to be one of the classic forms of German Expressionism in Cinema. The films settings and surroundings seem to be very daunting and off putting as the entire set seems to be disfigured as if the film is set in a different reality, were all is not what it seems.

Roger Ebert describes the set " The first thing everyone notices and best remembers about "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (1920) is the film's bizarre look. The actors inhabit a jagged landscape of sharp angles and tilted walls and windows, staircases climbing crazy diagonals, trees with spiky leaves, grass that looks like knives."

Fig 1. still of the set 

During the film the camera is always set in the same position, which is straight, this makes the film become more of a stage like feel and so with the over exaggerated acting it seems to be more of a performance than a film.

Fig 2. Cesare

One particular scene seemed to catch my interests, this was when Cesare ( somnambulist ) went to kill one of the characters in the film. This became of interest to me as in this scene, the camera for a small period of time just focused on Cesare's hands coming closer to the screen, by doing this, it seemed to break the scene up from just having the same still positioned image and creates more interest for the viewer, a kind of refresh button for the mind.

Fig 3. Dr. Caligari

The story of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, is very confusing at most, I found that the films story line at first seemed to be obvious ( Dr. Caligari was controlling the somnambulist (Cesare)... to murder )

This seemed to give the storyline a dull tone at first, although this did not matter as viewers were more taken by the over exaggerated acting and set designs.

However near the end of the film there is a huge plot twist, which tells us that the entire film up to a point had been the imagination of a mad man ( the main character ) this could explain why the set design seemed to be disfigured and disturbing as who knows what a mad mans mind could look like, by giving the viewers this interpretation it shows that this world is twisted and disturbed by reality its self and reflects the basic principles of a mad persons persona.

(A less positive review ) this review is talking about the storyline of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

Julia Merriam "Overall, the plot seems almost stagnant, as if it has nothing new to offer. It seems obvious from early in the film that Caligari is controlling Cesare in order to commit these murders. It’s hardly a surprise when Cesare attacks Jane, the only pretty woman on the screen available for damsel-in-distress duty, and the shocking twist ending is so predictable you’re almost surprised they actually follow through with it. However, while Caligari may seem mundane, it’s imperative that we remember this was made in 1919."

For the lighting of the film, yes its a black and white movie but lighting work still comes to play, an obvious one would be to show night and day as when it is day time the set is lit up and when it is night the lighting seems darker, the transactions also come into play and don't always just go to a black out, but instead shrink down to focus on key characters in the film, such as one seen when Dr. Caligari seemed to be plotting something at the end of the scene the screen shrunk down and focused on Dr. Caligari as if to say this was an important moment in the film. A way of helping the viewer keep up with what is going on within the film.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a landmark for the horror genre that we see today, The scenes, camera effects and even plot twist have been influential in an entire genre of Film.

Merrick Doll "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has become synonymous with cinematic expressionism. The visuals in the film pay homage to the expressionism in painting as practiced in the 1900s and 1910s (Reimer 71). Reality is reproduced as if it were reflected in a fun house mirror. The distortions, however, do not obscure the objects but instead render them in distorted shapes. Elongated shadows are painted onto set walls, and the streets wind crookedly past houses that are equally crooked. "


Bibliography:

Reviews:

Roger Ebert review: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari-1920

Julia Merriam review: http://classic-horror.com/reviews/cabinet_of_dr_caligari_1920

Merrick Doll: http://modernism.research.yale.edu/wiki/index.php/The_Cabinet_of_Dr._Caligari


Images:

Figures 1 and 2 : http://theredlist.com/wiki-2-20-777-778-view-1900-1920-profile-1919-bthe-cabinet-of-dr-caligari-b.html

Figure 3: http://www.davidjrodger.com