#rotwang the inventor

[optimisticrunawaygalaxy]

Sorry but i think more people should be obsessed with him

[the-herdier]

What a theater kid

[doubtspirit]

The inventor C.A. Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) and his robotic invention (Brigitte Helm) in Fritz Lang's silent film classic Metropolis (1927).

[sirenjose]

Call of the Abyss 5

This is a repost of my COA 5 Analysis.

Trailers:

COA 5 Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jYQazp7NfM

COA 5 Call of the Neon Colors Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV-SJ-oSlo0

COA 5 Playoff Stage animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg58rAbXIuc

COA 5 non-China Qualifier animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJIhD4qpSuc

COA 5 Funny animations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbq05bsXthg

The setting for COA 5 is Metropolis City, a “city of excess and eternal night, where lavish feasts, elegant balls, and uproarious performances reign supreme”. The “one in charge controls all the media and entertainment in the city, inducing the citizens to get drunk in it” and lose themselves in pleasure. Unknown to the people is the fact that an alien entity, the Color Out of Space, is hidden in the city’s neon lights, causing the people to mutate and fuse with machines and become part of the city.

COA 5 Background

The splendid and prosperous Metropolis is full of endless feasting. The one in charge controls all the media and entertainment in the city, inducing the citizens to get drunk in it and indulge in an absurd and extravagant debauchery. In the colorful neon lights of the city, there is also a mysterious "Color Out of Space" hidden. The end of all people sinking into pleasure and losing themselves is to be attracted by the "Color Out Of Space", a form of alienation entity and their bodies are gradually merging with machinery and tools to become part of the Metropolis. But, there are still people who are not willing to degenerate, and they gather together to launch a "media war" against the mouthpiece of the controller, revealing the secrets behind the prosperity of the Metropolis, and alerting the citizens who are addicted to it.

 “Metropolis” and thus COA 5 is a reference to a 1927 film also called “Metropolis”.

In the city of Metropolis, the working class live underground, while the upper class live in skyscrapers. The city is governed by Joh Fredersen, who doesn’t care about the needs of the working class. His son, Freder, an idealist, meets and falls in love with Maria, a woman from the workers’ city, who’s talking to a group of children about them being connected to the people in the high rises. He goes to the workers’ city and is appalled by their conditions, but when he questions his father about the conditions, he dismisses them. Freder enlists the help of Josaphat, who his father had fired on the spot for “incompetence”, and switches places with a worker to go into the workers’ city. There, he finds Maria leading a peaceful revolution and is looking for someone who can connect the ruling and working classes. Freder declares he is the mediator they need. Maria also tells the story of the Tower of Babel and warns against sin and indulgence.

Fredersen visits Rotwang, an eccentric inventor who loved the same woman Fredersen did, but she married Fredersen instead, and is building a robot to immortalize her. Fredersen spied on Maria’s meeting and wants Rotwang to help undermine the revolution, but Rotwang secretly plans to undermine Fredersen’s plan too and destroy the whole city. He finishes his robot and makes her the image of Maria (after kidnapping the real Maria)

The robot version of Maria is seductive and amoral, and spends most of her time dancing at a nightclub. She convinces the working class to wage a destructive revolution against the whole city, shutting down the machines and flooding the workers’ city, but leaving behind their children. The real Maria, Freder, and Josaphat help the children escape the city. The workers charge the Heart machine, which keeps the whole city running. The operator tells them not to, and that Maria is a witch that must be burned. They think their children are dead, and so capture the false Maria and burn her at the stake. Freder and Rotwang end up fighting, with Rotwang falling to his death, and Freder is successful in bringing the 2 classes together.

As for the Color Out of Space, it was a story written by Lovecraft, also coincidentally in 1927.

An unnamed land surveyor comes to the town of Arkham, Massachusetts to investigate the area of a new reservoir. He notes the town’s population is slowly dwindling and hears about a strange area of the town called the “blasted heath” where the land is covered in ash and nothing grows. He talks to Ammi Pierce, a local who lives near the heath. Ammi is the only person who still remembers what happened there and of the fate of a local family.

A meteorite crashed into the farm of Nahum Gardner and his family. Professors at a local university tried to take samples, but any they collected soon vanished. They did discover that the samples emitted colors outside the normal spectrum. The sample shrunk and disappeared the next morning along with the glass beaker it had been stored in. When they go back to the meteorite, they discover the meteorite had shrunk. As they dug out a 2nd sample, they find a glassy bubble, which they break to see what was in it. The bubble disappeared and appeared empty, though Ammi thought he felt something pass by him when the bubble broke. That night, the meteorite is struck by lightning and disappeared.

The farm appears to thrive over the summer, as the crops grew particularly fast and large, but at harvest they find them to be inedible and have a rotten aftertaste. Nahum concludes the color leaked into the ground after the storm and poisoned the soil. Over the following year, the color spreads to the surrounding area, mutating the plans and animals in grotesque ways. The trees sway without wind and all the vegetation became bioluminescent. As the summer goes on, the plant life turned gray and brittle.

1 by 1, the Gardner family goes mad, and Nahum is forced to either lock them away or bury their remains. Ammi realized their state of mind was caused by the color contaminating their well water. Those that went mad also had the same bioluminescence as the plant life.

Later, Ammi goes to the Gardner farm and finds Nahum had gone mad. His wife and 1 son were locked in the attic, while another son was living in the well. Nahum says the light from the well sucked your will to escape. Ammi finds the 2 in the attic alive but decaying into dust like everything else and leaking the mysterious color from their body. Nahum says the color was behind everything and was siphoning the life from the surrounding area. He soon dies himself. Ammi gets the authorities, and they find the bodies in the attic and well. As it gets late, they see a ray of light emerging from the mouth of the well. The land glows with the color before the well erupted, shooting the color into the sky. The erupting color eradicated the farm and remaining mutated life before disappearing completely. The area was reduced to nothing but grey dust and inorganic matter. Some of the color that was too weak to fly remained in the well.

The story of COA 5 takes place around the same time as COA 4. This is confirmed by Traffic Flag, whose description talks about “rumors of a racing rally”, which is referring to the Great Race from COA 4. This is the race we know Highway Cavalier wins and defeats Molten Hound based on Cruiser’s description.

Traffic Flag: There's not much entertainment or news from outside of Metropolis, yet the rumors of a racing rally have been surfacing on a regular basis. This wasn't requested by the one in power but forces even further behind the scene.

Cruiser: Hiding in the snowy streets, the cruiser monitoring the schedule witnessed the final result: the knight has finally gone home!

Traffic Flag states news of the race was being requested on a “regular basis” not by the “one in power” but by “forces even further behind the scene”.

The “one in power” and the “mouthpiece of the controller” refer to Eternal Aurora, who we see in her design notes and on the Abyssal Whisper pages that she is stated to be the one in control of all the media channels in Metropolis City. Regarding the “forces even further behind the scene”, this is referring to the Energy Corporation. We know this as the Animated Jukebox states they are the ones funding Metropolis’ “enormous expenditure in exchange for researching human materialization and object revitalization”.

Animated Jukebox: To the eyes of the Energy Corporation, humans are merely vessels of energy. This organization supports the Metropolis' enormous expenditure in exchange for researching human materialization and object revitalization.

The Energy Corporation are 1 of the 3 corporations introduced during COA 4. The other 2 were the Transportation Corporation and the Pharmaceutical Corporation. From COA 4’s extended backstory, we learn that these 3 companies studied “abyssal creations” and held “underground racing events to experiment with their respective Cthulhu technologies”. The Transportation corporation was the event organizer, vehicle provider, and “researched the combination of machinery and Cthulhu”. The Energy Corporation provided energy and “researched the energy use of Cthulhu substances”. Finally, the Pharmaceutical Corporation transformed riders and studied the “combination of Cthulhu and the human body”. The real controller of the race was Yidhra (Broadcaster), who’d reward the winner of the race with a “powerful life force and a huge benefit to the corporation”. This reward is likely the reason the Energy Corporation is regularly requesting news on the race.

COA 4 Extended Backstory:

There are three mysterious giant corporations that study abyssal creations. They periodically hold underground racing events to experiment with their respective Cthulhu technologies:

--Transportation giant (COA1 Pirate Ship), as the event organizer, provides vehicles and researches the combination of machinery and Cthulhu

--Energy giant (COA2 Snow Energy) provides energy and researches the energy use of Cthulhu substances

--Pharmaceutical giant (COA3 statue activation and manipulation) transforms riders and studies the combination of Cthulhu and the human body

The real controller of the underground race is the Dream Witch. The three major corporations send their riders to hold races in the Dreamlands she owns. The winning rider in the 24-hour race is rewarded by the Dream Witch: a powerful life force and a huge benefit to the corporations.

Gamekeeper is an artificial sculpture of the pharmaceutical giant (COA3 Pickman + puppeteer's technique) who broke out of control and became a monster after winning the previous race. He continued to absorb the lifeforce of other riders. Those who are devoured by him, once they leave the game, will age rapidly. Unless you win.

Prospector, Priestess, Acrobat, and others have also been participating in the race in order to defeat Gamekeeper. They often fought separately for their own interests, and they have established a bond of both enemies and friends. Until this time, many people united to delay Gamekeeper and help the Prospector defeat Gamekeeper. The others, when they leave the race, will take their aging bodies and wait in reality for the result that may not be known when they will appear. Their young souls died unwillingly in their withered bodies, and even the results of their efforts were unknown.

Ending: One day, the Prospector with a smirk will come to them with a young face. At that time, without words, seeing his face, they could understand that they had finally won. The young Prospector, in the end, could only watch his teammates grow old and die one by one. With the life they gave him, living alone.

Broadcaster: Being the broadcaster is just her way of staying informed of the races. If those playthings roam blindly in her nightmare, they won't be able to get near her at all.

The research the Energy Corporation is performing is what we see happening in Metropolis City. People are mutating and fusing with machines and tools (human materialization), the Scavenger Bot is evidence of their research into bringing tools to life, and the Color Out of Space being in the neon lights relates to their research into the “energy use of Cthulhu substances”. Though it seems they’ve had problems researching bringing objects to life, as the “only one” that became “sentient” (autonomous, able to feel, have an identity, etc…) was born from junk. This seems notable as in the other translations of the COA 5 backstory it mentions people sank into the pleasures of life and end up losing “themselves”, as in their ego, independence, individuality, sense of self, etc…

COA 5 Backstory (translated)

A bright and prosperous metropolis with endless extravagance and bustling nightlife is everywhere. The rulers control all media and entertainment in the city, inducing its citizens to indulge in a life of intoxicating and ridiculous extravagant debauchery. The mysterious "colors out of space" also seem to be hidden in the city's glamorous and colorful neon lights. Everyone sinks into the pleasures of life and ends up losing their ego. They are fascinated by the "colors out of space," and their mutated bodies gradually fuse with machines and tools, becoming part of the metropolis. However, some people who do not approve of the corruption gather together and bring the "media wars" to the throats of the rulers. They revealed the secrets behind the metropolis' prosperity and awakened the citizens from their dreams.

Scavenger Bot: In a city that symbolizes the culmination of desires, all mechanical creations are merely tools. To everyone's surprise, the only one that became sentient was born from a landfill.

Back in COA 4, it was mentioned that the Energy Corporation had “infiltrated into each of the logistics departments”, meaning they have likely been spying on the other corporations (Transportation and Pharmaceutical) and potentially stealing their research. That could explain why in COA 5 the Energy Corporation is researching people turning into machines, which connects to the Pharmaceutical Corporation studying the “combination of Cthulhu and the human body”, and bringing machines to life, which connects to the Transportation Corporation researching the “combination of machinery and Cthulhu”.

Racing Mechanic: The Energy Corporation has taken resources from the snowy ruins and has infiltrated into each of the logistics departments. Yet he's one of the few exceptions.

The reason they were spying on the other companies and the goal of their research in COA 5, as in why the Energy Corporation want to research people turning into machines and why they want to bring objects to life, beyond simply wanting to win, I think is because they want to find out how the Pharmaceutical Corporation created Molten Hound and brought it to life. That or they’re trying to find another way to create something similar.

From the 3rd Anniversary package, it says Molten Hound was developed with a “technique to bring inorganic substances to life, and produced a body from which the ‘Great Race’ descends”. There’s also the Jammed Gear, which implies Molten Hound (aka the “container”) was created using “Pickman and the Puppeteer’s recovered techniques – with only a tiny flaw in its design”.

Jammed Gear: The Pharmaceutical Corporation and the Bureau of Investigation created an almost-flawless container that combines Pickman and the Puppeteer's recovered techniques - with only a tiny flaw in its design.

3rd Anniversary Package – Molten Hound: The Pharmaceutical company developed a technique to bring inorganic substances to life, and produced a body from which the “Great Race” descends. It’s first work was Gamekeeper – a racer made of paper and plastic. He attacked others on the circuit and hunted the life force of other races to sustain his own eternal life. Eventually, he was defeated by the Prospector and was expelled from the race.

Jammed Gear’s description only references the Pharmaceutical Corporation and the Bureau of Investigation being there, with other versions adding that the Pharmaceutical Corporation assisted the Bureau with their cleanup after the events of COA 3. This is likely why the Energy Corporation wouldn’t know how they were able to make Molten Hound. If these Corporations are mainly only interested in studying “abyssal creations” and experimenting with their “respective Cthulhu technologies”, that would explain why the Energy Corporation might be interested in learning about Molten Hound. Either they were unable to discover the secret, or if they did, they were attempting to do something similar but a different way. But from Scavenger Bot we know they weren’t quite successful.

I think it’s possible the reason it was the only one to become “sentient” could relate to why Highway Cavalier won the race and was the kind of person the Pharmaceutical Corporation was looking for. From Fueling Agent, who secretly worked for them, we hear they needed the right “kind of spirit” which “can only be identified through tragic and fierce competitions”. This comes up again with Hysterical Fans, who says “No matter how tragic and fierce the competition is, racers who never give up will always be given a second chance”. Wheelchair Racer says she’s attending the races waiting for something (to “welcome something new” or a “new birth”), potentially a more flawless replacement for Molten Hound. Highway Cavalier wins due to how he kept pushing on despite the pain and failure and difficulty he encountered. The Scavenger Bot, as it was born from “junk”/“landfill”, could be described as having gone through something similar (struggle, rejection, etc…), which may be why it was able to become “sentient”.

Going back to Racing Mechanic’s description, it also stated the Energy Corporation was taking resources from the snowy ruins. These “snowy ruins” should be the “snow land” or “snow kingdom” referenced back during COA 3. From various accessories, like Snow Lotus, Ice Crystal, and Edelweiss, we learn they had “craftsmen” and gave out various items they had to others. These items were all likely from or connected to the abyss, as the Snow Lotus for example was actually a Nether Flower. Either way, the Snow Kingdom was likely what became of Steam City after the events of COA 2.

Teleoperator: Only the Abyss can confront the Abyss - when the dispute from the far away snow land came over, she finally realized this is all but another pipe dream. "The Surveyor will be devoured by his own creation." She sent numerous messages to her companions, yet she couldn't foresee this ending.

Snowfear: The Snow Kingdom has a legend that at the height of the storm, two huge figures will appear in the plains. People call them the Snow Monsters, but Snowfear does not buy it.

Snow Lotus: Legend has it that this flower can only grow in the holy land of Snow Kingdom. It was given as a gift to the Dancer, and although it was taken out of Snow Kingdom, it continued to bloom miraculously.

Ice Crystal: The work of the craftsman from Snow Kingdom exudes a strong chill every moment.

Edelweiss: Who will put this ornament from the Snow Kingdom on Geisha?

Nether Flower: A single blossom of flower native to the nether dimension. It brings an otherworldly beauty to this ordinary world.

Locomotive: The train he vowed to protect never reached the station. When the world is frozen still, the interminable engine he carries shall power the last train that has no terminus.

Therefore, the “resources” the Energy Corporation took were items salvaged from the ruins of the Snow Kingdom aka Steam City, which may have actually been items tied to or from the abyss. They likely used these “resources” as part of their research they were performing in Metropolis.

I actually wonder if it’s possible if the Color Out of Space was 1 of the “resources” they acquired from the snowy ruins, especially considering they’re interest in “energy” and they’re using the Color Out of Space as the “energy” for the neon lights. In the original story for the Color Out of Space, it was said to have arrived on a meteorite. Maybe that could be where the meteorite landed? Maybe that’s why the Snow Kingdom is now only “ruins”?

Considering they take the resources “away” from the “snowy ruins”, and these ruins were likely those of Steam City, not to mention Metropolis isn’t “severely cold”, which was the defining characteristic of Steam City (to the point the city used heat as currency), we know Metropolis isn’t actually Steam City. Therefore, Metropolis is somewhere else, somewhere new.

I do have a theory that Metropolis may actually be in the Dreamlands.

A big part of this comes from the fact it is emphasized that there is no sun. It is always “eternally” night. Pirate Radio in the COA 5 trailer even asks everyone “Can you even recall the last time you saw the Sun?”.

COA 5 Trailer

Good Evening. This is Pirate Radio. Headlines after headlines, musicals after musicals. Can you even recall the last time you saw the Sun? The media fills you with cheap thrills and mindless entertainment. Eventually, we’ll all “amuse ourselves to death”. I was once like you, waking up on the red carpet of Metropolis. But now? Look at what we’ve become. A cog in this entertainment machine. Wake up. This city is eating you alive. We’re nothing but pets and livestock. Trapped in captivity in this city forever. Let’s continue the carnival tonight. Maybe tomorrow we’ll see the Sun. Tonight, we celebrate the prosperity and beauty of Metropolis.

If Metropolis City were in the real world, how would there be no sun at all for that long? We know it’s not cold, so it can’t be that they’re in the north or south poles. And no hint is given for it being some method they may have devised to make it that way.

There are places in the Dreamlands though that have no sun, like the “Underworld”, which lies beneath the Dreamlands and is dimly lit by “death fire”. Regarding further evidence, other versions of the COA 5 backstory say people were “awakened… from their dreams” (and people enter the Dreamlands via dreams). Not to mention Orpheus at the start of the COA 5 event says he wrote this story based on a “dream” he had. There’s also the pages Pirate Radio and his group hand out which have the words “WAKE UP!!!” and “They Live, We Sleep”. Then there’s how we see the COA 4 cast in the city during the COA 5 pre-registration event as well as how in the Metropolis film the workers’ city was underground. Not to mention both Metropolis and the races being in the Dreamlands would make it easier for them to get news of the races. One other addition to this list is how Housepainter says the city “never sleeps”. This could relate to them being in the Dreamlands as usually people get there in Lovecraft’s universe by falling asleep, and Lovecraft never really talked about sleeping or dreaming in the Dreamlands, which could explain why the city “never sleeps”.

Let’s go back to the setting of COA 5: Metropolis City. In the city, Eternal Aurora is a celebrity, the Queen of Metropolis, and the one controlling all of the media and entertainment in the city. She’s helped by her publicist, Military Band, who arranges “all journalism, advertisements, and public opinion” to support her, improve her influence, and increase the number of people following her. Due to how Eternal Aurora holds all the power, there is no need for a Sheriff or “opposition by force” as power now comes from “public opinion and influence”. Part of this influence comes from the neon signs all over the city that advertise all the entertainment and everything else. As a result, regular people like Housepainter have their skills “confined in the billboards… below the neon signs”.

Military Band: As the publicist for the ‘celebrity’, he considered all journalism, advertisements, and public opinion to be weapons in a media war, all of which should be arranged with precision and efficiency just as each verse is in a military song.

Sheriff: With the ‘celebrity’ holding all the power, there's no need for the sheriff to eliminate oppositions by force. In a seemingly "genteel" media war, the real power comes from public opinion and influence.

Housepainter: The Metropolis never sleeps. His painting skills were confined in the billboards, manifesting only below the neon signs all over the city.

The neon lights though are where the Color Out of Space hides, as we know from Neon Vanguard’s description. As is hinted at from the pre-registration page and the pages handed out by Paperboy, who as the founder of the newspaper Have Fun was likely the one to create that page, the people of the city are “livestock” for the Color Out of Space. The Color Out of Space is feeding on the energy (aka lifeforce) of the citizens. Those that are completely drained end up like Easter Egg Carriage, who “transformed from an entertainer to a tool of entertainment – captured by the splendor of neon lights and ultimately swallowed by the city”. It says Easter Egg Carriage was drained of all his “heat”. This is what Eternal Aurora’s description was referencing when she said she wanted to be “the aurora in this city of excess and eternal night—a beautiful sight for the victims to behold before they die of cold”. She’s basically referencing people being completely drained by the Color Out of Space and becoming fully robotic.

Neon Vanguard: “As he took down the neon lights in the most melodramatic effort to resist temptations, he accidentally discovered colorful creatures lurking inside.”

Paperboy: The founder of Have Fun. He used his newspaper to raise the voices of opposition as he couldn't stand the monotonous, hollow, and gaudy reporting and advertising in all forms of media.

Easter Egg Carriage: As the last bit of heat drained from it, it transformed from an entertainer to a tool of entertainment-captured by the splendor of neon lights and ultimately swallowed by the city.

Eternal Aurora: The true intentions of the one in power are little known, just how only a few know who puppets the city behind the scene. She wishes to become the aurora in this city of excess and eternal night—a beautiful sight for the victims to behold before they die of cold.

According to reversed audio from the pre-registration event, the government says this is happening as a result of a “virus”, yet the city though has no hospitals, as “Metropolis never needs one”. This was likely a purposeful decision the Energy Corporation had the city’s government do for them in exchange for funding for the city, as the Energy Corporation wouldn’t want anyone to stop their research by being “cured”. As a result, those who have begun to transform but haven’t become fully robotic yet, go to the make-up artist to hide their mutations.

Reversed Audio

“Still no word on a cure for the virus. Government officials report the virus is not airborne”

“reporting suspicious activity and call 911 for immediate response. Expect d-“

Make-up Artist: When those enthralled by the Metropolis could no longer stand their mutated bodies, they could only seek help from the makeup artist to conceal their flaws. There are no hospitals here, for the Metropolis never needs one.

This last part is of note for the next idea I want to bring up, which is in regards to Eternal Aurora. Her design notes state she’s “being controlled by a mysterious being – the Color Out of Space”. What I find interesting is how it also states that she has “traces of mechanical transformation on her body and face”. From this, I think Eternal Aurora isn’t just a robot the Energy Corporation created for their experiment. I think she used to be human, just like the other people in the city.

This would support the idea the Energy Corporation wanted to discover how the Pharmaceutical Corporation created Molten Hound and/or are trying to find another way to create something similar. This is likely in part to help them win the race for the reward at the end, especially as 1 of their racers, Repairman, lost the will to race, while the other, Fueling Agent, secretly works for the Pharmaceutical Corporation.

Repairman: An agent of the Energy Corporation. He used to be a racer, but he was forced to join the support team once he lost his will to race. He constantly regrets the lost time he spent on the racetrack.

Fueling Agent: An agent of the Energy Corporation. She secretly works as an experimenter for the Pharmaceutical Corporation. She understands that just like fueling agents can be applied to engines, enhancers can be used on racers, but the kind of spirit they're looking for can only be identified through tragic and fierce competitions.

To help back this idea up, on the 4th page of the Abyssal Whisper rewards, 3 of the words connected to Eternal Aurora are “Media Queen”, “Musical Celebrity”, and “Extinguished Guest”. The 3rd is what I want to focus on. At first I thought this was referencing citizens of the city in general and what happens to them when they are completely drained, but the first 2 words are definitely specifically descriptors for Eternal Aurora. In which case, it must follow that the 3rd word is also a descriptor for her. Thus, Eternal Aurora is also an “extinguished guest”, meaning she’s someone who has likely been fully drained or died because of the Colors Out of Space. It probably happened due to the importance of her role as a celebrity and the one with power over the media and entertainment, the Color Out of Space focuses on controlling her to influence the rest of the city.

It would also fit with the Metropolis film. Based on that film, Eternal Aurora would definitely parallel the Robot Maria character, but the Robot Maria was a robot made in the likeness of the real Maria. Unlike the film though, we’ve never seen another Eternal Aurora. From the trailer and backstory, we’ve only known her to be controlled by the Color Out of Space. But if she used to be human before being “extinguished” and then becoming a robot, that could fit the film better.

I actually have a follow-up theory connected to this that Pirate Radio was meant to play a similar role and become a host the Color Out of Space would directly control like it does with Eternal Aurora.

The idea begins with how in the trailer Pirate Radio says “I was once like you, waking up on the red carpet of Metropolis”. The “red carpet”, as in the kind where celebrities gather and walk on before participating or taking their seats at a big event. Similar to how we see Eternal Aurora walking in the image for the 1st stage of COA 5 “The City of Lights”. Based on Stage 2 being Neon Corridor and Stage 3 being Ethereal Theater, she should also be walking on a “red carpet”, likely before attending the event in the theater we see in the COA 5 trailer.

Continuing from here, we have Pirate Radio’s design notes, which describe him as being “fashionable” and having what may be translated as “mature charm” or “adult sex appeal” to “attract people’s attention”. Similar to what Eternal Aurora would have as a celebrity. It also mentions all this being “key to expanding his influence in the media wars”, and we’ve been told by now “influence” rather than “force” is the real power in the city. Then there’s his role with the Pirate Radio channel and his voice, which we hear in the trailer, and see during the pre-registration event. Eternal Aurora also uses her voice to influence people’s opinion, and notably we see her singing in the COA 5 trailer as well as in the official COA 5 song.

If Eternal Aurora used to be human but the Color Out of Space uses her to control the rest of the city once she’d been “extinguished”, that may mean that Pirate Radio would have fallen to the same fate if he hadn’t rebelled.

This also fits considering Pirate Radio is the captain of the COA 5 team, and being the captain of a COA group seems to mean a higher chance at being corrupted (Steam Teen had the evil eye, Whiplash saved Puppeteer by transferring her corruption to himself, Highway Cavalier was likely the new Molten Hound Wheelchair Racer was looking for).

Pirate Radio even has “Color Out of Space” written on the disc on his chest.

The idea that Pirate Radio is the captain, beyond how he acts and is shown in the trailer, as well as his role in the pre-registration event, is backed up by the Abyssal Whispers pages, as according to the story laid out there, the events of COA 5 starts with him. He was apparently the 1st to become “sickened” and disillusioned by the city. As a result, he decided to leave the city and “wander” until he came to an “abandoned port”. It is here that he discovers they are living on an “isolated island”. The fact the port is “abandoned” means there are no people around, and also that there may be no “ships” either. This would explain why in the trailer he says they are “Trapped in captivity in this city forever”, as well as the word “trapped” on the last Abyssal Whisper page. If the Energy Corporation ensured there were no hospitals, they also likely didn’t want any ships or other method for people to easily leave the city.

Pirate Radio: In a deserted port, he strived to keep the Pirate Radio in operation so that he could take over the broadcasting channels-to warn everyone in this city that beneath the extravagant facade lies nothing but an embellished island in isolation.

It’s possible the ships were “dismantled” by Dismantler from COA 4. He says he used to salvage shipwrecks and currently dismantles vehicles to “improve the technologies of the 3 giant corporations”, so maybe he also dismantled ships as well.

Dismantler: Scrapped cars can be used to improve the technologies of the three giant corporations. Yet as he's busy dismantling, he begins to reminisce the time when he salvaged shipwrecks for a living at the Transportation Corporation.

In any case, this means that Pirate Radio has gone to the city’s outskirts. He’s as far from the city as possible. This seems similar to Ammi Pierce from the Colors Out of Space story, which is a reminder how being far from the Color Out of Space (the neon lights) means having a better chance to keep your sanity and avoid corruption. I also find it a bit interesting that he’s the only person who’s that far from the city. He’s the only one in that deserted port. It’s possible it’s because he’s the person most wanted by the authorities, as that 2nd reversed audio line does reference “reporting suspicious activity” which likely is referring to Pirate Radio and his rebel group. (Maybe it’s also because the Color Out of Space wants to finish corrupting him so it can use him as a host it can control like Eternal Aurora?).

It's at this point Pirate Radio learns the “truth”. This could be in regards to the truth regarding Eternal Aurora, the city, and the Color Out of Space, as nothing says Neon Vanguard was the only one to discover the colorful creatures, not to mention he does have “Colors Out of Space” written on the disc on his chest. It’s also possible he learned somehow that they’re in the Dreamlands, especially considering all his references to everyone dreaming or being asleep and why he says they are on an “isolated island”.

From here, he decides to “disseminate” the truth to the people of the city via his Pirate Radio channel. It’s at this point he begins gathering allies, 1 of which is Tabloid, who uses her position as a reporter for the Metropolis Star (the city’s official newspaper) to gather gossip and look into the “secrets and scandals” of the city. Around this time, they must’ve been able to learn that the Energy Corporation are the ones working behind the scenes and responsible for what’s happening in the city. They collaborate with Paperboy, the founder of Have Fun, to expose the city’s secrets as part of their media war against Eternal Aurora and Metropolis City.

Tabloid: In the name of gathering gossips, she looked into the secrets and scandals of this pompous Metropolis. Her homemade polygraph and sharp questioning finally caused a stir among the desensitized inhabitants.

Around then is when the events of the trailer takes place.

From how the room looks, with the windows, material, and what looks like the reflection of water on the ceiling, this should be the abandoned port he’s been living in.

(Also, from the picture on the wall above him, I wonder if he helped design Neon Vanguard’s prosthetic legs, with the wheels on his feet and everything?)

We also see on the wall of Pirate Radio’s room that he had been the one to come up with the plan that’s carried out in the trailer, as we see an image of the train, with 1 section circled with where the “key” is, another circled with where the film reel they need is, and a section in the middle for where the “gate” is that the key is for.

This matches up with what happens during the rest of the trailer. We see what seems like Neon Vanguard and Paperboy serving as a distraction in the train (we know it’s a train from the movement through the windows), with Neon Vanguard messing with some machine before being chased by the guards, while Paperboy is spreading his newspaper pages around. This allows Auditorium to get the “key” and access the “gate”.

Auditorium is then able to make it into the room where the film reel they need is located. This room we know is Eternal Aurora’s, as we see her sitting in this same room in her funny video animation.

Once in the room, Auditorium looks at a glass case with pink in it and an oval shaped indent that looks vaguely reminiscent of an eye. As the evil eye isn’t mentioned at all anywhere in the lore of COA 5, I’m leaning more towards it being for the Color Out of Space, as the original story mentions the Color in the story not falling within the range of anything known in the visible spectrum, not to mention the samples and meteorite eventually disappear in the story (there was also that glassy bubble that they broke that Ammi mentions thinking he felt something pass by him but he didn’t see anything).

He eventually turns away, and we next see him walking out with a film reel under his arm. This fits as we did see plenty of film reels in that room, not to mention it makes sense for the film reel they need to be in there, which reveals Eternal Aurora’s secret and her real form as that is actually her room.

From the Abyssal Whispers pages, we know this was “The Crux” of their plan: to have Auditorium edit in this “key footage” for them to play in the “Ethereal Theater” to the people while Eternal Aurora was there, to serve as “propaganda” in their media war and act as a “wake-up call” for the people of the city.

Auditorium: Cinemas in the Metropolis have no place for pain, sorrow, or criticism. Yet with his secret splicing, some of the classic scenes found their way into the meaningless films—albeit for a split second.

This may be around when the scene where we see them in prison takes place. They likely wanted that to happen as, again, this isn’t a war fought by force, but instead via opinion and influence, and their statement probably had a stronger impact if they let themselves get imprisoned. This fits considering we see Pirate Radio swinging a key around his finger, meaning he probably had all this planned out (again) and never intended to stay locked up for long.

This may be where the final battle takes place. Once they’ve won the people’s opinion in the media war and have left Eternal Aurora no other choice, now that they’ve revealed her secret and true form and have gotten the people on their side. In the last trailer, we see them defeating some of her guards on the train, before having another encounter with her.

This idea is also backed up by 1 of the posters for COA 5, where we see them engaged against those in the city that were fully mutated (and we actually see these fully robotic people during the trailer).

We know the group was successful in defeating Eternal Aurora, the city, and the Color Out of Space from Hairdresser’s description, which says “The hairdresser knew about the Metropolis' biggest secret. She also witnessed the dark void when it was stripped of its glory after the secret was exposed”. In other versions, it mentions the colors had faded and a dark stillness had set in. This matches up with the end of the Color Out of Space story when it eventually flew off, leaving behind the gray and lifelessness of the blasted heath. It also fits with the end of the Metropolis film, as the workers learn the truth about Robot Maria and burn her at the stake, with Freder successfully serving as a mediator between the ruling and working classes.

We know that just because the Color Out of Space left doesn’t mean they all died, as in the story, Ammi and the authorities were right there when it flew up into the sky. The only thing that crumbled and died was the land and anywhere the Color Out of Space had infected.

Considering they are in the Dreamlands, and Pirate Radio and his group had been trying to tell people to “wake up” so maybe they would see the sun again, it’s possible they were able to “wake up” and return to the real world, similar to what happened to Highway Cavalier and his group, as Highway Cavalier was the only one who didn’t quickly grow old and die as he’d received the reward for winning, while the others had their life forces drained. If Pirate Radio and the others were able to “wake up”, it’s possible that means the mutations and corruption had left them (likely similar to how when Highway Cavalier returned to the real world, he likely didn’t have the same scars he’d had while going through the time loops). If Pirate Radio says their goal was to see the “sun” again, it’d make sense for them to return to the real world at the end.

[minhas-leituras-e-peliculas]

Metrópolis - 1927

Metrópolis, ano 2026. Os poderosos ficam na superfície, onde há o Jardim dos Prazeres, destinado aos filhos dos mestres. Os operários, em regime de escravidão, trabalham bem abaixo da superfície, na Cidade dos Trabalhadores. Esta poderosa cidade é governada por Joh Fredersen (Alfred Abel), um insensível capitalista cujo único filho, Freder (Gustav Fröhlich), leva uma vida idílica, desfrutando dos maravilhosos jardins. Mas um dia Freder conhece Maria (Brigitte Helm), a líder espiritual dos operários, que cuida dos filhos dos escravos. Ele conversa com seu pai sobre o contraste social existente, mas recebe como resposta que é assim que as coisas devem ser. Quando Josafá (Theodor Loos) é demitido por Joh, por não ter mostrado plantas que estavam em poder dos operários, Freder pede sua ajuda. Paralelamente Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge), um inventor louco que está a serviço de Joh, diz ao seu patrão que seu trabalho está concluído, pois criou um robô à imagem do homem. Ele diz que agora não haverá necessidade de trabalhadores humanos, sendo que em breve terá um robô que ninguém conseguirá diferenciar de um ser vivo. Além disto decifra as plantas, que são de antigas catacumbas que ficam na parte mais profunda da cidade. Curioso em saber o que interessa tanto aos operários, Joh e Rotwang decidem espioná-los usando uma passagem secreta. Ao assistir a uma reunião, onde Maria prega aos operários lhes implorando que rejeitem o uso de violência para melhorar o destino e pensar em termos de amor, dizendo ainda que o Salvador algum dia virá na forma de um mediador. Mas mesmo este menor ato de desafio é muito para Joh, que ouviu a fala na companhia de Rotwang. Assim, Joh ordena que o robô tenha a aparência de Maria e diz para Rotwang escondê-la na sua casa, para que o robô se infiltre entre os operários para semear a discórdia entre eles e destruir a confiança que sentem por Maria. Mas Joh não podia imaginar uma coisa: Freder está apaixonado por Maria.

Veja AQUI

[gabrielisdead]

Did you know? We associate mad scientists with black latex gloves, messy white hair and with eccentric body language because of this guy...

this is C. A. Rotwang the mad inventor from the iconic silent film Metropolis (1927) directed by Fritz Lang, who created a fembot, but lost his right hand in the process.

His impact on cinematography was HUGE, so much so that his laboratory directly inspired the outlook of Dr. Frankenstein's lab, (Frankenstein 1931) and contributed to make german expressionism synonym with horror films.

Plus point that he lives in a strange house with no windows or doorknobs, probably because it's confirmed to be built by a mysterious wizard, the former owner of the house~

[chuuyanaurkahara]

Im sorry for bothering you, but i wanna know what you think about this:

In the future, wealthy industrialists and business magnates and their top employees reign over the city of Metropolis from colossal skyscrapers, while underground-dwelling workers toil to operate the great machines that power it. Joh Fredersen is the city's master. His son, Freder, idles away his time at sports and in a pleasure garden, but is interrupted by the arrival of a young woman named Maria, who has brought a group of workers' children to witness the lifestyle of their rich "brothers". Maria and the children are ushered away, but Freder becomes fascinated by her and goes to the lower levels to find her. In the machine halls, he witnesses the explosion of a huge machine that kills and injures numerous workers. Freder has a hallucination that the machine is a temple of Moloch and the workers are being fed to it. When the hallucination ends, and he sees the dead workers being carried away on stretchers, he hurries to tell his father about the accident.

Grot, foreman of the Heart Machine, brings Fredersen secret maps found on the dead workers. Fredersen fires his assistant Josaphat for not being the first to bring him details about the explosion or the maps. After seeing his father's cold indifference towards the harsh conditions faced by the workers, Freder secretly rebels against him by deciding to help the workers. He enlists Josaphat's assistance and returns to the machine halls, where he trades places with a worker who has collapsed from exhaustion.

Fredersen takes the maps to the inventor Rotwang to learn their meaning. Rotwang had been in love with a woman named Hel, who left him to marry Fredersen and later died giving birth to Freder. Rotwang shows Fredersen a robot he has built to "resurrect" Hel. The maps show a network of catacombs beneath Metropolis, and the two men go to investigate. They eavesdrop on a gathering of workers, including Freder. Maria addresses them, prophesying the arrival of a mediator who can bring the working and ruling classes together. Freder believes he can fill the role and declares his love for Maria. Fredersen orders Rotwang to give Maria's likeness to the robot so that it can discredit her among the workers, but is unaware that Rotwang plans to use the robot to destroy Metropolis and ruin both Fredersen and Freder. Rotwang kidnaps Maria, transfers her likeness to the robot, then sends the robot to Fredersen. Freder finds the two embracing and, believing it is the real Maria, falls into a prolonged delirium. Intercut with his hallucinations, the false Maria unleashes chaos throughout Metropolis, driving men to murder and stirring dissent among the workers.

Freder recovers and returns to the catacombs, accompanied by Josaphat. Finding the false Maria urging the workers to rise up and destroy the machines, he accuses her of not being the real Maria. The workers follow the false Maria from their city to the machine halls, leaving their children behind. They destroy the machines, triggering a flood in their city deeper underground. The real Maria, having escaped from Rotwang's house, rescues the children with help from Freder and Josaphat. Grot berates the celebrating workers for abandoning their children in the flooded city. Believing their children to be dead, the hysterical workers capture the false Maria and burn her at the stake. A horrified Freder watches, not understanding the deception, until the fire reveals her to be a robot. Rotwang becomes delusional, seeing the real Maria as his lost Hel, and chases her to the roof of the cathedral, pursued by Freder. The two men fight as Fredersen and the workers watch from the street, and Rotwang falls to his death. Freder fulfills his role as mediator by linking the hands of Fredersen and Grot to bring them together.

huh

[imkeepinit]

Electric rings spin around the Maschinenmensch (Brigitte Helm) as its inventor, C.A. Rotwang, begins its transformation into a replica of Maria, an activist who preaches against the divide between the economic classes in the city, in order to deceive and control her followers. Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) remains one of the most influential films of all time.

[lifewithaview]

Metropolis (1927)

Sometime in the future, the city of Metropolis is home to a Utopian society where its wealthy residents live a carefree life. One of those is Freder Fredersen. One day, he spots a beautiful woman with a group of children, she and the children quickly disappear. Trying to follow her, he is horrified to find an underground world of workers who apparently run the machinery that keeps the Utopian world above ground functioning. One of the few people above ground who knows about the world below is Freder's father, Joh Fredersen, who is the founder and master of Metropolis. Freder learns that the woman is called Maria, who espouses the need to join the "hands" - the workers - to the "head" - those in power above - by a mediator who will act as the "heart". Freder wants to help the plight of the workers in their struggle for a better life. But when John learns of what Maria is advocating and that Freder has joined their cause, with the assistance of an old colleague. an inventor called Rotwang, who turns out to be But their nemesis goes to works towards quashing a proposed uprising, with Maria at the centre of their plan. John, unaware that Rotwang has his own agenda., makes plans that include shutting down the machines, with the prospect of unleashing total anarchy both above and below ground.

[pintandoconmajo]

Metrópolis 1927 (resumen)

Linda noche este es mi resumen sobre la película metrópolis toda una obra de arte!

En las profundidades de la metrópolis se encuentra la ciudad de los trabajadores mientras unos salen de trabajar otros los relevan del extenuante trabajo… Entre la ciudad de los trabajadores se encuentra también el club de los hijos y hermosos jardines donde se encuentra el hijo de Joh Fredersen quien es dueño de la metrópolis, su hijo Freder que se encuentra divirtiéndose con las chicas en el jardín cuando aparece una chica con un grupo de niños que eran los hijos de los obreros a los cuales se refirió a Freder diciendo que eran sus hermanos. La chica es expulsada del jardín y Freder al ver lo hermosa que era corrió tras de ella cruzando la puerta descubrió a los obreros que trabajaban sin descanso alguno estaba algo sorprendido de pronto vio a uno de los obreros caer de lo cansado que estaba y es donde dejaron de funcionar las maquinas produciendo un accidente que dejo como resultado otros obreros muertos que fueron cambiados por otros sin mucha importancia Freder al ver esto se preguntó ¿porque trataban tan mal a los obreros? y corrió a decirle a sus padre el cual su padre no le prestó atención ya que estaba en otros asuntos despidió a su ayudante Josaphat por no estar enterado de dicho suceso, Josaphat entristecido intento suicidarse y justo en ese momento llega Freder y se lo impide diciéndole que va ayudarle y que se encuentren en su casa más tarde. Freder vuelve a bajar a la ciudad donde se encontraban los obreros y mostrando un buen corazón se ofrece a intercambiar de vida con uno de los tantos obreros. Mientras tanto Joh quien había recibido unos planos encontrados en los bolsillos de dos obreros que habían muerto acude a casa de Rotwang un inventor para descífralos este que recordaba mucho a Hel la esposa de Joh que había fallecido en el parto de su hijo, Rotwang le presenta el robot que había creado y le dice que los planos son de las catatumbas. Freder habiendo terminado sus horas de trabajo se dirigió con los demás a las catumbas donde se encuentra María la chica que él había visto desde un inicio y ella comienza a contar la leyenda de la torre de Babel y dice que el mediador entre la cabeza y las manos es el corazón, Rotwang guía a Joh a las catatumbas y se encuentra con esto, cuando María termina de hablar Freder le declara su amor y quedan en verse el día siguiente, Rotwang y Joh al escuchar esto idean un plan para crear discordia entre los obreros y María, Joh le pide a Rotwang que use el alma y la apariencia de María en el robot. Al día siguiente Rotwang secuestra a la chica y le pasa su alma al robot justo ese día Freder enferma y comienza a tener alucinaciones con María y su padre, comienza la nueva María a hacer estragos y armar caos en el bar Yoshiwara poniendo así a todos en contra de Joh e incitándolos a dañar las maquinas. María logro liberarse de Rotwang ya que Joh lo espiaba y escuchaba que le había tendido una trampa María escapa y comienza a ver con todo empieza a destruirse y a inundarse mientras los obreros festejaban y se olvidaban de sus hijos, María, Josaphat y Freder fueron a salvarlos de morir ahogados logran salir todos con vida y los llevaron a l club de los hijos de pronto sus padres se acordaron de ellos y pensaron que sus hijos habían muerto fueron a buscar a María la robot para matarla por lo que había hecho y la confundieron con la verdadera María apareció Freder para salvarla y finalmente queman a la María falsa mientras Rotwang pelea con Freder al Final Rotwang muere y María le propone a Joh unir cabeza con manos pero para esto necesitaban a un mediador que era Freder quien los unió para que trabajasen en equipo y desde ahí comenzaron una nueva vida.

[humanforthis]

ooc; the more I think about maria and any human interaction within her canon , i just cry.

i mean  in the film, the first person she meets after Rotwang is Joh Frederson, the literal owner of Metropolis AND the worker’s city. She extends her hand to him and he has nothing to say. He only looks at her with disgust.

In the book he accidently touches her when she loses her balance in steps that seemingly are her first and again, ( although he is burnt by the coldness of her skin) meets her with disgust.

I love this passage from the book. Both Frederson and Rotwang only place her as  a thing. No wonder she spirals into chaos.

"Who is it?" he replied. "Futura...Parody...whatever you like to call it. Also: delusion...In short: it is a woman...Every man-creator makes himself a woman. I do not believe that humbug about the first human being a man. If a male-god created the world (which is to be hoped, Joh Fredersen) then he certainly created woman first, lovingly and revelling in creative sport. You can test it, Joh Fredersen: it is faultless. A little cool--! admit, that comes of the material, which is my secret. But she is not yet completely finished. She is not yet discharged from the workshop of her creator. I cannot make up my mind to do it. You understand that? Completion means setting free. I do not want to set her free from me. That is why I have not yet given her a face. You must give her that, Joh Fredersen. For you were the one to order the new beings."

"I ordered machine men from you, Rotwang, which I can use at my machines. No woman...no plaything."

"No plaything, Joh Fredersen, no...you and I, we no longer play. Not for any stakes...We did it once. Once and never again. No plaything, Joh Fredersen but a tool. Do you know what it means to have a woman as a tool? A woman like this, faultless and cool? And obedient--Implicitly obedient...Why do you fight with the Gothics and the monk Desertus about the cathedral? Send the woman to them Joh Fredersen! Send the woman to them when they are kneeling, scourging themselves. Let this faultless, cool woman walk through the rows of them, on her silver feet, fragrance from the garden of life in the folds of her garment...Who in the world knows how the blossoms of the tree smell, on which the apple of knowledge ripened. The woman is both: Fragrance of the blossom and the fruit...

"Shall I explain to you the newest creation of Rotwang, the genius, Joh Fredersen? It will be sacrilege. But I owe it to you. For you kindled the idea of creating within me, too...Shall I show you how obedient my creatures is? Give me what you have in your hand, Parody!"

"Stop..." said Joh Fredersen rather hoarsely. But the infallible obedience of the creature which stood before the two men brooked no delay in obeying. It opened its hands in which the delicate bones shimmered silver, and handed to its creator the piece of paper which it had taken from the table, before Joh Fredersen's eyes.

"That's trickery, Rotwang," said Joh Fredersen.

The great inventor looked at him. He laughed. The noiseless laughter drew back his mouth to his ears.

"No trickery, Joh Fredersen--the work of a genius! Shall Futura dance to you? Shall my beautiful Parody play the affectionate? Or the sulky? Cleopatra of Damayanti? Shall she have the gestures of the Gothic Madonnas? Or the gestures of love of an Asiatic dancer? What hair shall I plant upon the skull of your tool? Shall she be modest or impudent? Excuse me my many words, you man of few! I am drunk, d'you see, drunk with being a creator. I intoxicate myself, I inebriate myself, on your astonished face! I have surpassed your expectations, Joh Fredersen, haven't I? And you do not know everything yet: my beautiful Parody can sing, too! She can also read! The mechanism of her brain is as infallible as that of your own, Joh Fredersen!"

and when she is given a skin, the place she is placed in to sway humanity is vile and misogynistic. living as a human even, she is still a thing. no wonder her ultimate choice is the take her instructions literally :” You will destroy Joh Frederson, his city, and his son.”

No wonder she destroys a huge chunk of humanity with it. There is nothing good there for her, or anyone like her.

[thefilmsimps]

Metropolis (dir. Fritz Lang)

—Jere Pilapil—

I cannot emphasize enough how blessed I am to have a local theater that sometimes shows this kind of thing. The first time I watched Metropolis was probably around the time they discovered all the extra footage thought lost and branded it The Complete Metropolis (this showing was this cut). I watched it on a laptop at my parents’ dining room table; to say that this is an experiential upgrade is an understatement.

Metropolis is the grandfather of so much sci-fi in film; you could trace its influence through the years to, most obviously, Star Wars, Blade Runner and The Matrix, and its set design and futuristic cityscape echoes in countless other depictions of terrifying cities. (I, for one, would double feature this with Alita: Battle Angel sometime). Beyond that, though, it holds up as a fantastic movie. Its special effects and moralizing have aged badly, sure (it beats its message you over the head like a Looney Tunes character beating another: the recipient’s body winds up underground, head poking up above a hole in the ground, seeing stars). But it’s a gripping story about matters that echo timelessly.

The central conceit of Metropolis is that the above ground of the titular city is where the wealthy and politically connected live, while deep underground the workers toil away doing manual labor. The son of the leader of the city, Freder, is frolicking in the gardens when one day a woman, Maria, interrupts with a shit ton of worker children, telling him they’re his siblings (metaphorically). From this moment on, Freder has empathy for the workers, eventually scheming his way into taking over one operating a clock-like machine where the arrows need to line up with some lightbulbs, like some “Common People” shit.

Needless to say there’s a “chosen one” narrative, an evil inventor who eventually builds a “machine-man” in Maria’s image, and class warfare.

There are some twists here on the formulas that I love: maybe most notably, the “chosen one” isn’t a warrior who will strike down the haves in favor of the have-nots, but as the movie terms it, is a mediator between the two. He’s a peacemaker, unlike Neo with his Kung-fu DLC pack (which is also very cool, don’t worry). It also has a pretty nuanced take on the class division: the workers eventually rebel, but they are manipulated into acting against their own interest. It’s a smart take, and conveyed effectively with the incredible site of hundreds of extras working as a mob, both as a force of fury and as a mass of children in danger later on.

It’s really, brutally unfortunate that we’re unlikely to get a more complete version of this (fingers crossed, though). There are still some scenes missing, probably most notably a fight between Freder’s father and the evil inventor Rotwang (a GOAT villain name). Intertitles tell us about the scene, though I can’t help but feel the actual footage might clear up Rotwang’s actual, exact plan with all the scheming. It’s an unnatural amount of inference for a movie that literally says “THE MEDIATOR BETWEEN THE HEAD AND THE HAND MUST BE THE HEART” at least three times. But, that’s not Fritz Lang’s fault as director. The story he told is still near-perfect, thrilling, timeless allegory that now doubles as a red flag for the importance of film preservation.

10/10

[bitemyhip-blog]

@dererfinder -- INTRODUCTION.

     His footsteps are silent across the floor but when he creeps up behind Rotwang and yelps, “BOO!” beside the working man’s ear, he slaps his hands onto both of his shoulders with a resounding firmness.

      “What are we creating now, inventor? I have a yellow, throbbing headache.”

[mortsauvage]

@dererfinder

“Rotwang!” In the classic Gomez Addams way, he invites himself into the other’s home, a wide grin being displayed towards the inventor. “It has been too long! Well, it’s difficult to keep in touch when you stay cooped up in this place day in and day out, but no matter!” A firm hand grasps his shoulder. “How have you been keeping, old boy?”

[teaandamovie]

Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927), The Fifth Element (Luc Besson, 1997)

Originally posted 26 April 2013

Fritz Lang and The Von Harbou reportedly took a lot of inspiration from 1920’s New York City with its Art Deco style, which you can see in the Fredersen Headquarters which shares similarities with the Chrysler Building. The Chrysler Building was built at the same time, so while it was unlikely a direct influence, they are both reminiscent of the same movement.

The trajectory comes full circle with The Fifth Element, a film that takes significant inspiration from Metropolis and is set in New York City circa 2263.

Moving away from the city, there is a quick homage to Metropolis when we are introduced to Leeloo. In The Fifth Element, a race of aliens called the Mondoshawans remove a super weapon from Earth claiming it is not safe here, but promise to return it when Evil returns. Several centuries later they do return but their ship is attacked. Scientists reconstruct one of the aliens by rebuilding them with their surviving DNA.

The being they create is “dressed” with white bandages over her body, I say “dressed” because wearing strips of plastic I guess qualifies as a form of clothing. Nonetheless, this being is meant to be the “perfect” being, and will later become the saviour of Earth. This bandaged woman in a glass tube device is reminiscent of Metroplis where Rotwang, an inventor, transposes the image of Maria onto an android. The device has metal bands that crossover her body in the same way the bandage covers Leeloo, both are undergoing cloning procedures, and both are saviours; Maria is the saviour of the workers, Leeloo of Earth.

The android that takes Maria’s place is a famous piece of design that is paid homage to in the design of C3-PO in Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977). Gold plated polished metal with an unmoving face, it almost seems C3-PO’s stilted walking stance was a reference to the limited moveability in the Metropolis android.

Furthermore, elements of the Maria android can be seen in the designs of H.R. Geiger, specifically in Species (Roger Donaldson, 1995) where genetically created alien named Sil has both a human form and alien form, with the alien form taking on the mechanical, sleek look Geiger is famous for. Geiger’s style of mixing organic and machine mirrors the organic human element of Maria and the robotic endoskeleton of the android in Metropolis.