Metropolis

Resensi Film: Metropolis (bisu) (9.0/10)

Tahun Keluar: 1927

Negara Asal: Germany

Sutradara: Fritz Lang

Cast: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich

Plot: Di masa yang akan datang, sebuah kota metropolis terancam hancur ketika penguasanya yang fascist menggunakan scientist yang gila untuk mematahkan perjuangan kaum buruh yang menuntut perbaikan nasib (IMDb).

Jika anda pernah melihat Metropolis keluaran pra tahun 2010, bahkan jika tertulis "restoration" sekalipun, anda belum melihat Metropolis secara lengkap. Pada tahun 2008, copy dari film original dari Fritz Lang ini ditemukan di sebuah museum di Argentina. Setelah melalui proses restorasi yang lama dan njlimet, hasil restorasinya ditampilkan di layar lebar di Berlin dan Frankfurt pada tanggal 12 Februari 2010. Inkarnasi yang baru ini, hasil kerja keras dari sebuah konsorsium di Jerman, mempunyai panjang dua jam penuh dan memanfaatkan setiap frame yang tersedia dari versi aslinya, dari sumber-2 yang terbaik. Direstorasi secara digital -- dibersihkan dari segala macam distorsi gambar dan suara, dan diberikan copy baru untuk soundtrack-nya, versi terbaru dari Metropolis ini tetap tidak seutuh versi aslinya yang mempunyai panjang 135 menit, tetapi adalah versi yang paling utuh, paling mendekati versi aslinya.

Melihat film ini adalah pengalaman yang surreal, time-bending (waktu seakan-2 berputar balik) -- mengunjungi masa lalu dan melihat bagaimana orang dari masa lalu berprediksi tentang masa depan. Dan yang paling mengejutkan, dan sekaligus mengerikan, adalah betapa cocoknya prediksi tersebut (!) Sebuah masterpiece dalam art-direction, film ini sejak tampil untuk pertama kalinya telah mempengaruhi visi orang tentang masa depan: gedung-2 pencakar langit yang megah dan berwibawa, dan sekaligus dingin dan berjarak. Di Metropolis, kelas atas menghuni permukaan kota; sedang kelas bawah, yang hidup bagaikan kaum budak, menghuni bawah tanah. Brigitte Helm memainkan perannya sebagai Maria yang memimpin kaum buruh, tetapi dia tidak berdaya di bawah penguasa yang fascist. Sebaliknya, replika robot Maria dikirim ke bawah tanah untuk men-diskredit-kan diriya, tanpa menyadari scientist yang menciptakan robot tersebut ternyata mempunyai agenda terselubung. Hasilnya, kekacauan total! Sejak tampil untuk pertama kalinya di Berlin 85 tahun yang lalu, visi dari film ini terbuka terhadap berbagai macam interpretasi: sebagian penonton melihat film ini sebagai peringatan terhadap tirani fascist, sebagian yang lain terhadap bahaya komunisme, sebagian yang lain lagi terhadap bahaya kapitalisme yang tidak terkontrol. Tidak peduli apa interpretasi anda, cara terbaik menikmati film ini adalah dengan melihat film ini sebagai film produk dari jamannya, yaitu sebuah jaman yang penuh dengan kekhawatiran.

* 9.0/10

Metropolis dapat anda temukan di eBay.com

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Resensi Film: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari) (****/4)

Tahun Keluar: 1920

Negara Asal: Germany

Sutradara: Robert Wiene

Cast: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher, Lil Dagover

Plot: Seorang pemuda mencurigai seorang pemain sirkus dan partner-nya sebagai pelaku dalam serangkaian pembunuhan di desa kecil Holstenwall di Jerman (IMDb).

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari adalah salah satu dari film-2 bisu yang paling terkenal. Film ini meraih posisinya dalam sejarah perfilman karena penggunaan gaya ekspresionis Jerman-nya yang kuat, penuturan ceritanya yang ber-flashback, dan akhir ceritanya yang ber-twist. Dengan berjalannya waktu, formula ini -- terutama penuturan cerita melalui flashback dan akhir cerita yang mengandung twist -- ternyata masih sering digunakan oleh para filmmaker jaman sekarang. Salah satu dari film-2 modern yang paling berhasil dalam menggunakan formula ini adalah The Sixth Sense (1999) dari M. Night Shyamalan. Saat ini, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari tersedia dalam format fully-restored dengan dua pilihan soundtrack (tradisional atau modern -- yang terdengar lebih menakutkan), inter-title dengan huruf-2 bergaya ekspresionis, dan kualitas gambar yang lumayan tajam. Film ini terbaik anda tonton tanpa mengetahui plot keseluruhannya. Faktanya, anda tidak ingin mengetahui plotnya ... dan akhir film dapat anda artikan dengan banyak cara, bersiap-2lah ketika itu terjadi.

Cerita (****)

Screenplay (****)

Karakter (****)

Akting (****)

Keseluruhan: ****/4

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari dapat anda temukan di eBay.com

The Gold Rush

Movie Review: The Gold Rush (silent)

Year of Release: 1925
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Charlie Chaplin
Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Mack Swain, Tom Murray, Georgia Hale

Plot outline: Little Tramp goes the Klondike in search of gold and finds it and more (IMDb).

He may be called "The Lone Prospector" in this movie, but the character played by Chaplin is the same wistful, resourceful Little Tramp that had been entertaining the world since 1914. The story is told with a background of the Klondike. It is as much a dramatic story as a comedy. Chaplin takes strange situations and stirs up tears and smiles. He accomplishes this with art and simplicity, and in his more boisterous moments he engineers incidents that provoke shrieks of laughter. You find yourself stirred by the story, gripped by its swing and filled with compassion for the pathetic little hero. Chaplin obtains the maximum effect out of every scene, e.g.: 1) When he stands with his back to the audience, watching the throng in a Klondike dancing hall, garbed, in his ridiculous loose trousers, his little derby, his big shoes and his cane. He is lonely, and with a bunch of the shoulders and a gesture of his left hand he tells more than many a player can do with his eyes and mouth ... he is thinking of the girl Georgia, the dancing hall queen, who is not even conscious of the presence of the little man who adores her. 2) When he entertains the girls by jabbing two forks in two rolls, performing a captivating little "dance" with the pastries. The Gold Rush was the longest and most elaborately produced of Chaplin's silent comedies. (HE, NYT)

My judgement: ***1/2 out of 4 stars

Blackmail

Movie Review: Blackmail

Year of Release: 1929
Country of Origin: UK
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Anny Ondra, Sara Allgood, Charles Paton, John Longden, Donald Calthrop, Cyril Ritchard

Plot oultine: A shopkeeper's daughter fights off blackmail after she kills a young artist who tries to rape her (IMDb).

An assortment of Hitchcock's greatest early movies are featured in a three-disc collection. Adapted from Charles Bennett's play of the same name, Blackmail was Hitchcock's (and Britain's) first sound movie. It utilized the new sound technology in a rather creative way off-camera. The lead actress, Anny Ondra, had a strong Eastern European accent that was difficult for British audiences to understand, so Hitchcock's solution was to have British actress Joan Barry speak Ondra's lines of dialogue off-camera. Hitchcock used several elements that would become his "trademarks" including a beautiful blonde in peril and a famous landmark in the finale. The movie was a critical and commercial hit. The sound was praised as inventive. The silent version of Blackmail actually ran longer in theaters and proved more popular. Despite the popularity of the silent version, history best remembers the landmark talkie version of Blackmail. It is the version now generally available although some critics consider the silent version superior. (NYT)

My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars

The Manxman

Movie Review: The Manxman (silent)

Year of Release: 1929
Country of Origin: UK
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Carl Brisson, Malcolm Keen, Anny Ondra

Plot outline: A fisherman and a rising young lawyer, who grew up as brothers, fall in love with the same girl (IMDb).

An assortment of Hitchcock's greatest early movies are featured in a three-disc collection. Based on a romantic novel by Sir Hall Caine, The Manxman was the last silent movie Hitchcock directed before he made the transition to sound. This movie is filled with enchanting scenes and the story itself is quite well told. There are periodical posings by the players and their movements are frequently either too slow or much too fast; yet, considering the task he undertook, Hitchcock, the young British director who produced Britain's first talking movie, Blackmail, has done a worth-while job. This movie is said to have been photographed on the Isle of Man, the locale of the story, and it is another instance where backgrounds count for a great deal in unfurling the narrative. Not only are the out-of-doors stretches as beautiful as anything that one would hope to behold on the screen, but the interiors are evidently faithful reproductions of an old inn and a fisherman's cottage. The production is not brilliant, but the shortcomings in acting and to a certain extent in the direction are atoned for by the artistry of the scenes. Moreover, it is a movie in which Hitchcock exercises laudable restraint, even though suspense is seldom particularly keen or sustained. Carl Brisson plays Pete Quilliam. He appears to be devoting more attention to his smile or having a lock of his hair protrude under his cap than he does to the mood of the moment. Malcolm Keen is competent as Philip Christian. He is quite aware that he is not good-looking and therefore is less guilty of posing than the others. Anny Ondra does some fair acting as Kate Cregeen, but her performance hardly causes one to think that she is in earnest. Randle Ayrton figures as Caesar Cregeen, whom he fails to make sufficiently human. (NYT)

My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars

The Farmer's Wife

Movie Review: The Farmer's Wife (silent)

Year of Release: 1928
Country of Origin: UK
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Jameson Thomas, Lillian Hall-Davis, Gordon Harker

Plot outline: After his daughter weds, a middle-aged widower with a profitable farm decides to remarry but finds choosing a suitable mate a problematic process (IMDb).

An assortment of Hitchcock's greatest early movies are featured in a three-disc collection. Adapted from Eden Phillpotts's stage comedy of the same name, The Farmer's Wife is a lethargic affair with ingenuous fun. It has been nicely directed with a keen eye for the sunlight and shadows over the winding country roads, and the indoor scenes are always correct as to furnishings. There are old taverns, with queer old persons who loll on the wooden benches, and, in spite of the limited number of words, the most has been made of the subtitles to give the onlooker an idea of the dialect of that section of England. It all takes pace in the days of very long skirts and other peculiar ideas of the Victorian era. Farmer Samuel Sweetland, well-to-do and bewhiskered like a squire, decides that he has been a widower long enough. He discusses with his attractive housekeeper, Araminta Dench, likely women who might make a good wife. This comedy is one that would obviously prove far more amusing in audible form. It would give audiences a chance to hear the Devonshire dialect and also offer further opportunities for fun if the awkward Sweetland and the women to whom he proposes could be heard as well as seen. Jameson Thomas gives an easy performance as Sweetland. Lillian Hall-Davis is attractive as Araminta. The other players, especially Gordon Harker as the surly workman, rise to the occasion. (NYT)

My judgement: *** out of 4 stars

Easy Virtue

Movie Review: Easy Virtue (silent)

Year of Release: 1928
Country of Origin: UK
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Isabel Jeans, Franklin Dyall, Robin Irvine

Plot outline: A divorcée hides her scandalous past from her new husband and his family (IMDb).

An assortment of Hitchcock's greatest early movies are featured in a three-disc collection. In the early stages of his directing career, Alfred Hitchcock made a number of hackneyed studio movies which barely resemble the works he would go on to direct. The society drama Easy Virtue is one of the nine silent movies Hitchcock directed. The movie opens with Larita Filton (Isabel Jeans) posing for her portrait in an artist's studio. The behaviour of her boorish, philandering husband, Aubrey Filton (Franklin Dyall), drives her into the artist's arms where her husband discovers her. In the melee that follows, the artist shoots the husband, wounding but not killing him. Aubrey sues for divorce and Larita falls from grace in the courtroom while journalists feed the public a salaciously inflated account. Ruined, Larita flees to the south of France and meets John Whittaker (Robin Irvine), a young, upstanding British man. They fall in love, marry, and the happy couple returns to England to mummy. Mother Whittaker, a Victorian in the modern age, strenuously opposes the union and upbraids John for bringing scandal upon the family name. Neither John nor his father has the strength to withstand Mother Whittaker's onslaught, and the movie, and Larita, end miserably. Hitchcock does one of his wordless cameos in the movie. (NYT)

My judgement: ** out of 4 stars

The Ring

Movie Review: The Ring (silent)

Year of Release: 1927
Country of Origin: UK
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Carl Brisson, Lillian Hall-Davis, Ian Hunter

Plot outline: Two boxers compete for the love of a woman (IMDb).

An assortment of Hitchcock's greatest early movies are featured in a three-disc collection. The Ring is a traditional prizefighting melodrama, elevated by the richness of the characterizations and the stylish, Germanic use of the camera. But, the movie has its faults, but they are not faults of showmanship. The story is of the competition of two professional boxers, one her husband - Carl Brisson plays "Round One", a cocky young boxer who matriculates from sideshow bouts to the big time - and the other her nearly successful suitor, for one woman. Round One's marriage to Lillian Hall-Davis goes sour when she throws him over for the champ. An old and rather a thin story, but well told and well acted by Carl Brisson, Lillian Hall Davis and Ian Hunter. There is, too, an appearance in a minor part of Gordon Harker, which proves him to have a sense of humor and character and an extraordinarily flexible and expressive face which should some day make his reputation on the screen. Mr. Hitchcock's method of treating his subject may be roughly described by saying that it has something in common with both German and American technique. It has a German variety of photographic angle and a German love of suggesting emotion very skilfully by means of circumstantial detail, and it has sometimes an American smoothness and swiftness. During the climactic big fight, Hall-Davis realizes that she's still in love with Round One when she witnesses the brutal beating he's getting. As in Hitchcock's later suspense movies, sparks ignite between hero and heroine only when there's an element of danger involved. There are scenes of irrelevant farce which should have been omitted, but the big scenes are well contrived and in spite of its rather commonplace subject, the movie has distinction. (NYT)

My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars

The Lodger

Movie Review: The Lodger (silent)

Year of Release: 1927
Country of Origin: UK
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Marie Ault, Arthur Chesney, June, Malcolm Keen, Ivor Novello

Plot outline: A landlady suspects her new lodger is the madman killing women in London (IMDb).

An assortment of Hitchcock's greatest early movies are featured in a three-disc collection. The Lodger, while it was not his first movie, was the first to truly deserve the designation "A Hitchcock Movie". A serial killer known as "The Avenger" (in reference to "Jack the Ripper" - the serial killings taken place in the autumn of 1888 in the largely impoverished Whitechapel area and adjacent districts of London) is on the loose in London, murdering blonde women. A mysterious man - British matinee idol Ivor Novello plays Jonathan Drew, a quiet, secretive young man - arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting looking for a room to rent. Drew's arrival coincides with the reign of terror orchestrated by "The Avenger". The lodger quickly builds a close friendship with Daisy, the Bunting's daughter, who is seeing one of the detectives assigned to the case. The detective becomes jealous of him and begins to suspect he may be the murderer ... causing plenty of anxiety for the house's other residents. As the story proceeds, circumstantial evidence begins to mount, pointing to Drew as the selfsame murderer. As the movie progresses, tension and fear continue to build until an ending that is exciting, if somewhat melodramatic. In addition to Novello's 1932 remake, The Lodger was remade in 1944 with Laird Cregar, then again in 1953 as Man in the Attic, with Jack Palance as Jonathan Drew. (NYT)

My judgement: *** out of 4 stars