METROPOLIS: The Masterpiece

SPOILERS AHEAD (marked in red)

The days have slugged past, and I, without realizing it, have slowed down along with it. I haven't gotten much done over the past few days of the holiday (and as I am writing this I owe monochromaticRAINBOWS two posts) but I've been sitting back and taking my time with everything, which, in hindsight, is probably not a very good thing. That was my revelation late last night, so this morning I woke up early and made myself useful--I even plucked up the willpower and the inspiration to write this post. :)

Only this is going to be a little different from the stuff I've been doing. Today I present to you a review of a movie I recently got a hold of. Sounds boring? I hope not. I honestly hope I'll be able to do the movie justice through this review. The movie is an animated piece, and in the past has won over the favor of various movie critics for the art as well as the storyline involved. It is the brainchild of a Japanese genius of animation by the name of Osamu Tezuka (known for the widely popular Astroboy) which ranks up there along with Howl's Moving Castle (ranked #13 by IMDb), and Spirited Away (ranked #1 by IMDb).


Some people may consider animated pieces of work not worth their time; especially since the aforementioned works all fall under the category of 'old-school' 2D animation. Further yet, these masterpieces of fine art are seriously stereotyped for falling under the category of Japanese anime--along with the likes of Sailor Moon and other 'ridiculous' pieces of 'rubbish' (I say these in quotation marks because opinions differ, and I will personally suspend judgment in the matter). These issues came to mind because I myself was at first disinterested. One, because I assumed Japanese anime could only go so far so well as a movie, despite the wildly positive reviews. Secondly because I am finicky when it comes to how things look, and I didn't like Osamu Tezuka's knack for putting gigantic lashes on his characters.

Just a few days ago I set aside my ridiculous 'prejudices' and watched Spirited Away. I thought that I would just grin and bear it; and if it turned out to be lackluster, so be it--I was just trying to spend time.
Perhaps it was because I expected so little that I ended up being so impressed. I wasn't exactly willing to admit I was wrong, so I thought to myself that it wasn't so bad. I personally cannot believe it took me so long to discover something this great.

I went on ahead and tried to find what other all-time animated movies ranked high up the list (Spirited Away is ranked #1 by IMDb!), and came across Metropolis through another ranking list. Watching Metropolis, I discovered a newfound respect for Japanese directors, animators and writers. There are times when I would watch a movie after reading a review on it and I would think that it fell short of the expectations the review had set me up for; but METROPOLIS is nothing like that. Even after reading reviews by movie critics on the movie, I still found more things to appreciate in the movie; details that suggested a certain sense of intricate dedication in the making of the film.

So what, exactly, is the movie like? Why is it so good? One of the reasons (which I myself actually hadn't noticed at all) is that the movie has been hailed as a great achievement in animation for smooth transitions between slides, as well as the quality of production and attention to detail in the character, building, and background designs. The other reason (which I thought could make it good materials for an English blog post), is that METROPOLIS is truly a literary treasure, presented in the silver screen, meaning that instead of proceeding as a mindless transition from opening-to-problem-to-solution, the plot and characters have backgrounds and political, spiritual and cultural settings that attach a unique kind of value to them.

METROPOLIS tells the story of a fictional metropolis (duh?), which is dystopian and also plutocratic--stereotypically indicational of good literature in my ears :). A plutocracy is where the power and the benefits of a good life are contained only within the affluent and high social class; the rest of the population is left to flounder, and more often than not is made to support the cushy lives of the high and powerful. This is also true of Metropolis, where there is social laddering not only in humans; but it is further complicated by the presence of robots, which humans insist do not have the right to have human names (trespassing on the territory of exclusively human rights), among other things.

The story begins with the announcement of the completion of the Ziggurat--a reference to the biblical Tower of Babel that eventually fell to ruin and caused the scattering of peoples to all corners of the earth--and the supposed coming of a new dawn for the city as a leading force in technology and a powerhouse of all might and wealth. Involved in the upcoming application of the Ziggurat is a recently completed robot superbeing by the name of Tima, who is rescued by an unknowing Kenichi from the ruins of the lab after her creator is killed. Over a few quick hours Tima develops a deep attachment to Kenichi, especially after being manhandled, carried, dragged, and driven in a rickshaw by him to get away from Rock, a member of the Marduk party (Marduk is the head honcho in the Babylonian gods' hierarchy) who serves Duke Red and is jealous of the attention Duke Red (as a father-figure to him) is pouring on Tima (who was modelled after his deceased daughter).

Eventually Tima is captured; Kenichi tortured and reduced to a limp puppet, and having discovered she isn't human like her beloved Kenichi, Tima proceeds to take her assigned place at the top of the Ziggurat on a 'throne' from which she will control the whole world for Duke Red (or so he assumes).

Things, however, don't go according to plan. Tima's 'unstable energy' (the way Duke Red explained her emotions to her) led her to decide she had no need for humans. Using the Ziggurat she takes control over the world's technological weapons and aims them at human population hotspots around the globe, and also arranges for the creation of a biological weapon to annihilate all mankind. Kenichi snaps to; just in time, and follows Tima into the darkness of the Ziggurat's heart. He wrenches her from the throne, but the Ziggurat has 'completed' her programming and she doesn't remember him anymore. At the end, the entire Ziggurat falls apart as a result of the overwhelming data provided by Tima, killing Duke Red and Rock (who meant well when he pressed the button of the superweapon used to destroy robots, but it resulted in the destruction of the entire monolithic monument).

Even through that not so brief synopsis it is not difficult for us to perceive just how much detail goes into METROPOLIS as a literary piece. Osamu Tezuka indeed even drew his inspiration from other works that helped shape his wondrous fantasy universe, including, among all else, the silent movie Metropolis by Fritz Lang, which also involved a female robot and is said to have given birth to the idea of Tima. There is also great detail in its art--for me especially, the architectural designs of the city of Metropolis and the Ziggurat are eye-candy and demand some sort of recognition from its viewers.

Of course the movie is not perfect, and indeed has its shortcomings. Most prominently is the way the entire story ended. Kenichi looks through the debris to try and find Tima, but has to face the fact that she is gone, as robots (who have returned to their senses) crowd around him, each cradling a part of Tima, most notably a robot named Fifi who helped them earlier in their escape from Rock, holding Tima's heart (a human heart, as she is made out of both human and non-human parts). Kenichi walks away with the robots, and the screen changes to a shot of Tima's treasured radio, which she obtained around the beginning of the story. The radio crackles and asks "Who am I?" the first words Tima said, and the movie ends. The problem with this ending is that Tima, who seemed to have been slowly developing an identity of her own, is apparently incapable of defeating the greatest stumbling block; her human/robot nature, and apparently falls into oblivion never having resolved the issue. It doesn't do her as a main character much justice, and it further complicates the tangle of loose ends that the story leaves off with.

In the original Japanese version, the movie ends with a photograph of Kenichi in front of a store named "Kenichi and Tima Robot Company", while a figure that is heavily reminiscent of Tima stands in the display.
It isn't clear if Kenichi put her back together, or if the figure indeed is just a figurine. This doesn't do the story much good, plot-wise.

Despite the disappointing ending (it leaves off enough loose ends for us to be able to expect some sort of sequel, I suppose?), METROPOLIS overall is a marvellous piece of work as a movie, and in that, as a highly interesting and well-composed literary piece. I'd recommend this movie for anyone willing to put their brains into gear and explore the many open-ended questions you'll be faced with throughout the entire movie. My synopsis doesn't explain it as well as I hoped it would, so you have more to expect from METROPOLIS than any review can ever tell you; that is, if you're ready to chew it over yourself.

On Ambitions

Sometime ago, at a church event, one part of the schedule was writing notes to people and putting them in bottles with names on them, so that at the end of the event you would get to take the bottle home and see what people thought of you; especially people who you'd gotten to know during the course of the event. One of the messages I received said things about how nice I was--the kind of things you write about people you don't really know that well--but then the end of the message surprised me.

"You come across to me as a very determined and ambitious person. Of course, this is just my own opinion, so don't get upset... Just don't let your ambitions consume you."

Ambitious? Really?

In my head I told myself, No way, this guy has never met some of my friends. Now that's ambition. Among other things that I could say about myself, or remember other people saying about me; overambitious, no, ambitious was just not one of them. What in the world could have inspired this anonymous writer to get that impression from me?

It took me a whole lot of thinking before I began to make sense of it.

I suppose without me realizing it, I had developed into someone inherently different from the person people expect. In primary school I achieved fluctuating grades ranging from fours to sixes on a one-to-ten scale--even now when I see people from my old school they're always tentative when asking about how I'm doing at school. I guess they're slightly worried that I've failed a few times and had to repeat the entire grade curriculum (I can assure you as of now I'm not at much of a risk of failing), so they always try not to bring it up.

Eventually, after we talk, they tell me I'm very different from the person they remember.

That's because the person they remember is the girl in the back row who still hasn't finished copying down that sentence from the board; you know, the one who still doesn't get how mathematical roots work? Uh huh, the one who multiplies by adding them. Yeap. That one.

The person they can see is the person who really outdid what she expected of herself in the first place. Who has her mother to thank for the change in mind that came about as a result of threats (which, by the way, is perfectly acceptable way to get your kid to do stuff), and a whole lot of other people to thank for helping her get so far.

When I look back at how much I've changed from the mute idiot in the back row to the person who takes chances, I begin to think; Yeah, maybe I can be a little ambitious.

Just that when you see a dream come true, and you witness a difference, you begin to believe that it's not complete folly to believe in absurd hopes, and to reach farther than you can grasp. When you look at how far you've gone and how much you've changed, you begin to have more faith in humanity, and you place hope in its dim but existing glimmer of kindness and morality.

You begin to ignore the darker side of the coin (even if it's not the best idea) and you risk looking like an entirely different kind of idiot by wishing for the unrealistic. You begin to find people call you naive simply for having faith in the possibility of a change. You begin to notice that the world you build around you is full of unrealistic hopes that you're more than happy to harbor for the rest of your life. You begin to speak out in defense of what you know to be true; and you're secure in the knowledge of being right without the need to rationalize it to bits.

You begin to think it's normal to actually have some conviction in what you're saying. You begin to melt outside of the norm and determine that you'll lead instead of follow. You begin to close your ears to the incessant snide criticism and your eyes to the 'truth' shoved in front of you, and you lead with hope and the belief that things will work out anyway.

So I guess maybe I have a slight tendency to be ambitious. I guess this is the point where you begin to realize that even though it's expected of you to be normal, you know you're more than capable of doing more.

Call me ambitious; but I think it's just faith when I say I have hope that in the future global warming will cease, that in the future Indonesia will truly get back on its feet and establish itself as a significant power in Asia. I think it's hope when I say 'we'll get through this'. Ambition is taking your chances because you know you can't fall far enough to break. :)

Why, Girl?

Love, I'm simply asking you to appreciate him.

He mustered every ounce of confidence he has to ask your father's permission to take you away, to fly you to cloud nine. He cares about you. He notices every time you curl your hair, he thinks you look pretty, and you know that. His heart dances when you walk beside him; he wishes every step would take two minutes because he wants as much time with you as he can get. Everything else looks blurry when it's you he sees. You're his focus, his aim. Is it so hard for you to see?

Why, Girl?

Have you ever noticed the glitter in his eyes? It only lights up when you're around, you can't miss it. He smiles all the time, to the extent where it seems humanly impossible. I don't understand how he can be so... full of bliss. I think it's because of you, and because of Him, too. There is never a hint of lachrymose in his days. The Word of God really is his sword. He's strong, I'm sure that you know. His music instrument is huge, but there's always enough strength to carry your things, too. Isn't he lovely? Don't you want to reply his smile?

He loves you.

I'm simply asking you to look at him with an open heart.

:(

No thanks to you, the glitter in his eyes are now nonexistent. His smiles are no longer vibrant. His laughter sounds fake to my ears. You blighted his hopeful heart, Girl. He gave you his all, and you put it all to waste. He's a great athlete, an admirable musician, a creditable pupil, and a committed Christian. He, is in a lot of ways, very much like you. His hand would only be still if you fill in the gaps. He's every girl's dream, but why not yours? Hundreds would kill to walk with him, but he'd kill to have a stroll down the corridor with you. You are one lucky dame, do you really need me to tell you that? I'm a stranger, but I can see everything. These days, his smile hides misery and weakness. You stopped everything altogether. He is Samson and you're his Delilah.

Why, Girl?

I have no right to tell you what to do, but would you please just listen to the world. They want you to be with him. They think you two are a match made in heaven. If you search deep enough inside your heart, I know you'll find it. Your conscious which says, "Oh, why did I turn away?" Trust the world. You are the only girl for him.

His soul is plummeting. Please do raise him up. Someway. Somehow.

I can practically hear him crying everytime I see him smile.

No other person in this world can do what you can do to him. Make his heart billow with joy once more.

Love him.

Please, I beg you.

Oh why, Dear Girl? I would take your place anytime now.

[to those who understand who and what I am talking about - *tears*]