• The hype machine

    Date: 2010.07.18 | Category: Movies | Tags:

    I talk about “Inception” in this post. No blatant spoilers, but a few plot points are discussed.
    If you want to read about my experience seeing Conan O’Brien at the Herbst Theater on Saturday night, head over to Talk Show News.

    Was “Metropolis” the “Inception” of its day? “Metropolis,” the 1927 silent film, cost a whopping 5 million Reichsmark and featured the proverbial cast of thousands. Of course, back in those days, we didn’t have Ain’t It Cool News, Twitter, “Entertainment Tonight” and Rotten Tomatoes to gin up hype. I have no idea what sort of newspaper articles might have greeted “Metropolis” when it premiered in the U.S., but you can be sure that no one was calling it “the greatest movie of all-time” before it was even released into theaters.

    Today, of course, “Metropolis” is hailed as a masterpiece, and a restored version is currently playing in selected cities. I went to see it on Friday, where it was the centerpiece of this year’s Silent Film Festival. I had never seen “Metropolis” before in any of its incarnations; just as well, since the new one, based on a copy found in Argentina last year, marks the first time since 1927 that audiences can truly appreciate director Fritz Lang’s vision. Like most films of the era, it can take a while for modern audiences to get into; I find myself distracted by what seems to me to be overacting and mugging (particularly on the part of Gustav Fröhlich, who plays the wealthy scion Freder). But there’s a certain pace to old movies that invites reflection and can take you deeper into the world of the film; I was mesmerized by an early shot of workers coming and going from their underground factory. No director would put such a leisurely sequence into a movie today, but watching the men walk, heads bowed, moving in unison, tells you so much about their lives and the conditions under which they toil.

    The plot is pretty thin for a two and a half hour movie, but it’s really all about the striking visuals — for a brief taste, check out this crazy clip featuring “robot Maria”’s erotic dance. The eyeballs filling the screen are creepily surreal and indicative of Lang’s artistic imagination.

    There are scenes in “Inception” that feature skyscrapers in the background that made me think of the more primitive visual effects of “Metropolis.” Those buildings in “Inception,” though, are part of a dream — in writer/director Christopher Nolan’s script, which he reportedly worked on for 10 years, there are hierarchies of dreams, and you can go deeper and deeper, essentially into a dream within a dream within a dream. I’ll admit that for the first 15 minutes or so, I had no idea what the heck was going on. But eventually, I figured it out — sort of. (I’m not even going to attempt to describe the plot.) Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his colleagues are on an airplane, dreaming that they’re on a van about to plunge into the water, dreaming that they’re in a hotel room, dreaming that they’re in a Canadian snowscape… and then Cobb goes even deeper, into his very subconscious, where he must confront a horrifying incident from his real-life past. Or is it another dream? It’s all so mind-bending that a lot of people will no doubt want to see “Inception” two or three times to try to figure it out.

    As with “Metropolis,” you can just let go and enjoy the visual richness — a scene in which a Parisian neighborhood is folded in on itself (hard to describe, but stunning) is a must-see, and I particularly liked the scenes where Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Arthur suddenly has to work in a weightless environment. I assume it was done with wires and green screens, but he truly does appear to be floating through space as the hotel hallway moves up and down.

    I kind of wish some of the dream sequences had been, well, more dream-like — I have three or four recurring anxiety dreams, and to be honest, I’d rather dream that I was skiing down a hill, shooting at bad guys, than that I’m desperately trying to pack a suitcase because I’m late for my flight. But on the whole, “Inception” is that rare summer movie that adults can enjoy, and think about. (IMDb has already set up a FAQ section for “Inception,” including this one: “What really happened in this movie?”)