metropolis Blog and Journals

So, I turned on the internet today and asked it to show me something that would make me angry.  The internet, being the loving neo-earth-mother that I've come to love, obliged me.  It showed me this site, which informed me that the producer of Alexander, Thomas Schuehly, is going to be pumping out a remake of Metropolis.

I heard vague rumors about this a while back but as I had read a script called Metropolis I assumed it was that.  The script was a neo-Matrix noir (noir in tone if not thesis) and actually felt more like a successor to The 13th Floor than anything else.  I hope it ends up getting made.

But the Fritz Lang version?  Let's look at it in context.  Not delving into some of the historical aspects (which you can pick up at the above link) it's art.  Pure and simple.  The plot isn't that important.  It's this operatic visual extravaganza.  It's expressionist film (which is now nigh dead) at close to the best if not the best.  The themes it takes on are love, humanity, industrialization and every relationship between those.  So, problems with remaking it?

1. In the current climate of Hollywood I really don't think any studio is prepared to make a decent or even fair remake.  Currently spectacle is in.  And while that might seem like a good thing for Metropolis it's not.  Metropolis became spectacle because of the art movement it was inspired by (harsh expressionism) and not because it was supposed to be a big pretty explosion show.  In fact, there are morphs between reality and abstract expression (see, that's where expressionism gets its name) of realities that tie the gap between their concept and their physical manifestation.  Does that sound like anything that's been filmed in recent years?  Not really.  It's form fitting content and not the other way around which the big studios aren't ready to embrace.
2. It's the guy who produced Alexander.  I will be fair.  He also produced The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, which is a lot closer to the expressionist movement than almost anything out there.  But that's really because anything Terry Gilliam directs has that "I'm not really in touch with reality but shit, that looks ridiculous!" feel.  So while it will hinge on the director I don't think this is the time or scale in which to make it.  I could see a CG version or even a Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow getting it closer.  Still, any directors currently rocking those medium aren't ripe for the direction.  Pixar, Zemeckis?  No.

It's not the right time, the right producer or necessary.  Still, I don't see any of those factors stopping countless other projects from coming to bitter fruition.  So raise a glass (of something hard) and throw it back.  I have a feeling we're all gonna need it.