Metropolis on Film4
chaos •
Film4 is listing Metropolis next Saturday.
Saturday 18 July
2:50pm – 5:00pm
Thursday 23 July
11:00am – 1:10pm
“Re-imagining the core of Fritz Lang’s 1926 silent masterpiece as an anime feature was always going to be a considerable challenge. Like its illustrious namesake, Metropolis is a grand city of the future; however the Japanese model comprises a strictly divided society of humans and robots, not thinkers and workers as in the German original. Into this chaotic mix are pitched a pair of detectives who are on the trail of a renegade robot scientist and his latest creation. Despite direction by Rintaro (the brains behind the cult TV series Astro Boy) and a script by Akira auteur Katsuhiro Otomo from the classic comic book by Osamu Tezuka (widely regarded as the godfather of manga), this stylised enterprise fails to live up to the reputation of its creators. The craftsmanship of the artwork is complemented by a laid-back jazz score, but the decision to shun the pyrotechnics of contemporary computer-generated cartooning lessens the impact of the action.”
