Vs. Episode Suggestion! Metropolis vs. M!

[Philly Cheesesteak 92]

Hi! Longtime fan of the show and its two hosts, first time commenter! Call me Phil.

 

Something I want to throw out there, but lately I've been glad to see a couple non-American choices make their way into the Canon over the last little while. We've had at least two Japanese films (Kiki's Delivery Service, Battle Royale), one Bengali classic (Pather Panchali), an Israeli animated documentary (Waltz with Bashir), a Danish arthouse movie (Antichrist), one Korean neo-noir (Oldboy), an Italian pseudo-documentary exploitation film (Cannibal Holocaust), a Swedish vampire romance (Let the Right One In), an Australian silent film that was once lost (Sunrise) and finally... one Spanish fairy tale (Pan's Labyrinth).

 

All fantastic works, I'm happy as hell they were voted in.

 

So, all that in mind, I'd like to suggest some more additions to the Canon's growing repertoire of world cinema. I figured not only are these highly influential and historically important, and exemplary of the German Expressionist movement of the 20's and 30's, but they're both genre goodness that Devin's bound to enthusiastically defend or argue against (always fun). More than that, these are the greatest and most well-known works of the great German filmmaker Fritz Lang.

 

How's this for a vs. episode?

 

Metropolis vs. M.

 

In one corner, we have the grandfather of science fiction cinema. Without Metropolis, we wouldn't have the iconography of its massive pop culture grandchildren Blade Runner and Star Wars. Everything we owe in modern science fiction, in visual language, can be traced back to Metropolis.

 

In the other corner, Fritz Lang's film noir magnum opus and Peter Lorre's most famous role. This is the story, without a soundtrack and no music save for ominous whistling, about a serial killer who targets only children, prompting even the German mafia to organize a manhunt for the killer. This was made just as the Nazis were taking over and it has been suggested more than once that the mob were a satirical takedown of Nazi Fascism.

 

And ironically, M was one of Hitler's favourite movies. Go figure.

 

Both movies have fascinating histories behind them. Both are cornerstones for science fiction and crime, with some even citing M as the prototypical police procedural. The stories behind and onscreen is compelling stuff, and I'd love to hear Devin and Amy discuss that.

 

What do you think, guys? Should either of these two be the first German addition to the Canon?

[WilliamMendoza 3]

I would choose M because of Peter Lorre.

[Philly Cheesesteak 92]

It is his most famous performance. Bela Lugosi has Dracula, Boris Karloff has Frankenstein... and Peter Lorre has a schizophrenic child serial killer.

 

One of these things is not like the other.

[Marsellus_H 118]

Oh man. As a film nerd, I love the structural audacity and the performanes and the imagination in M., but as an architect, I can't help but admire Metropolis. You know, when I was studying, one of our profs used to say that we only had to watch 2 films for our profession: Metropolis and Blade Runner. The set design and the action pieces belong to the greatest ever, but I think the acting and the characters are really, really weak. And that film has so many flaws in its pacing and narration, which M. simply doesn't have. I'm not sure if it would make the canon, even on its own terms.

[Philly Cheesesteak 92]

Oh man. As a film nerd, I love the structural audacity and the performanes and the imagination in M., but as an architect, I can't help but admire Metropolis. You know, when I was studying, one of our profs used to say that we only had to watch 2 films for our profession: Metropolis and Blade Runner. The set design and the action pieces belong to the greatest ever, but I think the acting and the characters are really, really weak. And that film has so many flaws in its pacing and narration, which M. simply doesn't have. I'm not sure if it would make the canon, even on its own terms.

 

To be fair, they included Forest Gump and Blade Runner despite either host's personal contentious opinions on either. It might be a similar situation. Does the film's groundbreaking visual language influencing all modern science fiction cinema (heck, even video games and broader popular culture) alone warrant it a position in the Canon?

 

Although, granted, gun to my head I would certainly argue M. is the superior film. It's subtler, better structured, better acted, and while I can remember every striking visual from Metropolis I can't remember every scene and entailing emotional thread in as much minute detail as I can make out with M (if that makes any sense).

 

Also-

 

You know, when I was studying, one of our profs used to say that we only had to watch 2 films for our profession: Metropolis and Blade Runner.

 

Throwing it out there, but damn, you have a cool professor.