Weeknotes #6
Doing:
- A lot of resting, as I became a human petri dish and ended up with laryngitis and a secondary ear infection. It's taken three days but I'm finally feeling more human now, although my voice is still pretty blown. Not being able to talk has made me realise how much talking I do on a daily basis.
- Doing some behind-the-scenes admin for Chroma, now that we have closed our recent call-out. Next time: to gather and distribute to our lovely reviewers.
Watching:
- Finally got around to watching Metropolis (the full restoration) at the recommendation of a friend. It is a beautiful film and a technical marvel with visuals that still look great nearly a century later.
The political messaging, however, is quite problematic. It does this strange backflip from critiquing technocracy to encouraging the idea that all will be well...as long as there is a benevolent dictator to lead the masses. Yikes!
Fritz Lang himself mentioned this too in later interviews:
I've often said that I don't like Metropolis, and that's because I can't accept the leitmotif of the message in the film today. It's absurd to say that the heart is the intermediary between the hands and the brain, i.e., of course, the employee and the employer. The problem is social, not moral.
(Was totally not surprised to read that screenwriter and then-wife of Lang, Thea von Harbou, became a member of the Nazi party).