Top 250-Metropolis

This is quite possibly the oldest film I have ever watched, the only one I can think of which may be older is Man With a Movie Camera and that was more a visual accompaninent to a concert. So I approached the grandaddy of Sci Fi with Trepadation. Its in Black and White. Not a problem. Its a foreign film. Not a Problem. Its got spoken words in it. Getting more difficult. Its an example of German Expressionism. Not got a clue what that is.

After viewing the film I do feel I have a better understanding of expressionism. I think its very melodramatic and focuses on showing emotional very obviously. I'm sure someone will tell me if I am wrong.

My intial thoughts were that the film was going to be a struggle. The pacing is slow comapred to even the most languid films today and the lack of speech made it hard at first. Something twigged about 20 minutes in though. Without any words I was able to impose on the movie more of my own ideas and feelings. The lead character is looking forlorn and his mouth is moving, its up to me to decide what he's saying. For this modern movie viewer it felt like a collaborative effort between me and the filmmaker and helped to draw me in. I must admit though I did cheat as I was reading the wikipedia overview as I watched but I excuse this as the same thing as watching an opera in a foreign language with programme notes.

The sets also helped to encapture me. They may be old but they were well done and the effects all work to tell the story. The general look of the piece is very ditinctive and I think this more than the story is what has kept it in legend for 83 years now. You can see its influence in films such as Blade Runner and even Superman's Metropolis. It set the template for the Sci-Fi City.

As for the acting very little acting actually stands out but the casting does. Rotwang, the mad scientist is very well cast as he does look deranged and creepy and Grot, the leader of the workers, could easily be Brian Blessed. For all I know it is.
The one performance that did stand out was that of Brigitte Helm who has to play two very different roles in this piece. I particularly like her take on the robot character of "False Maria" who unlike most future robots has no robotic charcteristics at all. Instead she is a evil prankster with a side of lasciviousness. This can be particularly seen in the part where she flips the switch to break the pumps. The manner in which she looks around grinning is puckish in its glee and malevolence. She also plays Maria ,who is the Union leader for all intents and purposes, this is a less interesting character and portrayal but it does highlight the fact that she is performing rather than being herself on screen.

I would recommned this film to anyone who is interested in the history of film and can cope with silent movies. I don't know if it'll make it into my own personal top 250, as it holds up as more of an important film rather that one I would go back to again and again or a moving film. Its final placing will depend on exactly what criteria I decide dictates a film worthy of inclusion. Still I give this an 8 at the moment with my hazy scoring system.

Watching Rain Man

I've had this DVD sat on my table for a couple of weeks now. Its been hanging around at the bottom of the Top 250 list and I hadn't seen it. By the nature of the beast this means I've got to watch it. I've popped it into the player and checked the site. Son of a bitch. Its dropped off the list. Still about 15 minutes in now, may as well finish it. Who knows if it'll come back on one day? Also My Neighbour Totoro has rejoined the list and I've seen that one. Just a warning there will be Spoilers but you've had since 1988 to watch it, as have I.

Well so far its Tom Cruise being Tom Cruise but a dickish version of himself. Its quite bizzare seeing Ramada from Hot Shots in something else too. This is going to be like Forest Gump isn't it? Its going to be a heartwarming tale involving a mentally handicapped guy. And here he is. Hoffman has appeared and He's an excellent driver. What's the age difference between Cruise and Hoffman? I'm not buying them as brothers.

Maybe its just this film is old and well known but I feel I've seen it before. Or its not going to be heart warming at all. Its going to be a tale of a young man taking advantage of a handicapped man for money. Possibly with some redemption at the end. About half an hour in now and quite bored. Hoffman is good but its been parodied so much over the years that it has lost some of its impact. Although Hoffman about to stumble upon them having sex is a funny scene.

Hoffman or should I say Ray's freakout about the planes was a shock. It came out of nowhere and was the first sign we've had that Ray isn't a calm person and on a knife edge with his semi-normality. From what I can tell Autism was not as well known back in '88 from the reaction of the nurse at the doctors. Maybe that is why it is so popular. When people first saw it, it was something new. Nowadays we're more used to te concept of autistic folk even if we don't know them ourselves, exactly what autism is or how we'd deal with it.

There was a good scene in the bathroom which gives the film its title where Rain Man is shown to be a corruption of Raymond as said by Charlie when he was little. Also the baby burn bath tub part of the same scene was affecting.

Looks like a gambling scam is getting under way. This won't end well, I predict. Amazinigly it did.

And the film got me in the end. Yes, it dragged at times. Yes, I felt like I'd seen it before. But by the end I did care about Raymond and Charlie. It may have starte out about money but it wasn't by the end. I wouldn't put it in the top 250 films I've ever seen but I'd recommend it to others. It's managed to avoid the schmaltz I was worried about but just not enough happened. It'd be nice to see Cruise in some more films like this now though. Ones which are more character based rather than Star vehicles. Films like this and Magnolia show why he's a star much more than Mission Impossible 2. I'm going to give it a 7 which is a high one.

Edit: Just checked the Imdb tracking site and Rain Man has snuck back in at 249 so I've ticked it off and I've now watched 117 of the Top 250 films. That's just under 47%. Another 8 films and I make halfway. Pfft.