Metropolis (2001), the Japanese film, at first glance, you
might think it's based only on Osamu Tesuka's manga of the
same name, but this film didn't have his backing in life,
the production couldn't start developing until he died.
This film is not only an adaptation of Tesuka's manga, it's
also an adaptation of the silent film of the same name from
1927. The story is that Tesuka's manga is based solely on
the iconography of the Metropolis film and not on the film
itself, which he had not seen yet at that time.
This mix of both films recontextualizes both works at the
same time, from a more modern point of view.
In a bit of history, in 1905 to 1915 the western bourgeisie
was beginning to experience a rather big change in its way
of persive the world. The bourgeois perception was experie-
ncing something revolutionary. In the past, seeing a thing
meant that thing that was seen. But from that time on, the
world began to think differently, multiperspectivity was
born, and with it, multiple ways of interpreting something,
but then, a great depression fell and all the luxuries that
the bourgeoisie buyed for the simple fact of spending and
having more things that reflected their status, began to
shrink and start thinking in a more functionalist way. In
the case that concerns us, in Architecture, they began to
think about the idea of stacking houses on top of each
other in skyscrapers, seeing housing in a functionalist way
and thinking about it in a different way, now people could
be closer, travel less, and create more populated urban
areas. Megacities like New York with their skyscrapers
became the image of the future and the paintings of people
like Grosz allowed the image of those skyscrapers to reach
the rest of the world in their art, this image of a
futuristic world full of skyscrapers is what inspired the
creation of Metropolis (1927) and then an image of the
cities in this film, would inspire Tesuka. So basically,
both works had the same kind of trigger and finally in 2001
they were able to finish joining together.
I must start by saying that the fact that this film is so
little known breaks my heart, I think that it should be at
the level of cultural impact of a Ghibli film, Ghost in the
Shell or Akira. The production levels are astronomical and
the script seems wonderful to me.
It think that the most important part of this work, outside
of its unparalleled aesthetic level, is the way it ends up
showing capitalism. Let us remember, the metropolises were
created with a functionalist reason by the bourgeoisie and
in the film it is no different. The great ziggurat, the new
tower of Babel, the bourgeoisie live above, the poor in the
basements, with no method of social ascension, since robots
exist. The robots took the place of humans in all jobs, and
now humans have no way out of poverty, while the rich live
in their towers. Meanwhile, an entire fascist organization
carries out public executions of the passive robots that
for some reason are outside their designated areas or do
something improper, maintaining complete security in social
status, fascism isn't there to oppress weak humans who want
to rebel, it represses the defenseless workers who keep the
structure functioning, so that no cog is out of place.
I don't want to spoil the whole movie so that you can enjoy
it. I just decided that it was important to make this movie
known to more people and introduce them a little to its
history so that you can enjoy it better. This movie doesn't
deserve to be just a cult movie, Metropolis deserve to be a
general culture movie.
