Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis (2001)

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nOsamu Tezuka’s Metropolis (2001)

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nDirector: Rintaro

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nWriter: Katsuhiro Otomo

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nThe first thing that attracted me to this anime film is thatnit was heavily influenced by Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) and seeing an animenversion of one of my favorite science fiction films ever was too tempting tonignore. Fritz Lang’s classic silent film inspired this film from inception,nright down to when it was first conceived as a manga way back in 1949 by OsamunTezuka; who by the way is also the creator of Astro Boy. You see, Osamu Tezuka sawna still image from Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) and that was enough to sparknhis imagination. He then wrote and drew his own sci-fi opus which he alsoncalled ‘Metropolis’, I guess as a homage to the landmark film. According tonTezuka, he wasn’t inspired by the film itself, which he hadn’t seen.  I’ve never read the manga, but supposedly itndoesn’t share plot elements with the film, save for the fact that part of thenstory is centered around a female robot. So anyway, fast forward to 2001 wherento anime juggernauts, Rintaro and Katsuhiro Otomo, decide to join forces tonmake a film based on Tezuka’s classic manga. Rintaro is the director behind thenclassic anime films Galaxy Express 999 (1979) and The Dagger of Kamui (1985).nIt was Rintaro who took over the directing duties for Metropolis, whilenKatsuhiro Otomo, the director behind Akira (1988) and Steamboy (2004) took carenof writing the screenplay. What was the result of joining these two animenlegends on one film? Nothing short of brilliance! 

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nIn Metropolis, the people of the city are celebrating itsnmagnificence! According to the architects of this advanced city, it representsnthe culmination of mans knowledge and intelligence. The city wide celebrationsnare due to the creation of a huge structure called “The Ziggurat”, a giantnbuilding that, unbeknownst to the people of Metropolis, is also a giant weapon.nBut, in the midst of this celebration, a rebellion is brewing and it’s allnabout Humans vs. Robots. You see, the rebels want to destroy the robots becausenaccording to them; they are taking their jobs away. So there’s a strongnanti-robot sentiment throughout the whole city. Meanwhile, Duke Red, one of thenwealthiest men in Metropolis is secretly orchestrating a coupe de tat by buildingna robot that will rule the entire city (and eventually the world) from anrobotic, mechanical throne. Will he achieve his goals? Will his robot end up controllingnthe world?

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nThe interesting part about this film is that while OsamunTezuka said he wasn’t influenced by Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent film when hencreated his Metropolis manga, the filmmakers behind this 2001 film were. If you’venseen Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) you will see parallels between both films, somenimages are extremely similar. It is obvious that the filmmakers were not hidingnthe fact that Fritz Lang’s film was inspiring them. And if you ask me, that’snawesome because Lang’s film is an amazing film to be influenced by. Yet, whilenthere’s no denying the similarities between both films, Rintaro’s Metropolis isnactually very original in its own way, it’s not a rip off or carbon copy ofnLang’s Metropolis (1927) because while Lang’s Metropolis centered aroundnclassist issues, Rintaro’s Metropolis is more about power and who ends upncontrolling it. It’s more about what makes us humans. You see Tima the robot isnalways questioning what makes us human, why we are the way we are. She is thisnfilms Pinocchio, she wants to be human, but ultimately can’t. It’s also aboutnmans obsession with destroying and controlling each other. That thirst fornpower, the obsession with controlling the masses. It asks the question: shouldnall that power be bestowed upon one person? Metropolis shares this ‘abuse ofnpower’ theme with Akira (1988), which makes sense since both films were writtennby the same guy. As you can see, this is a film that can’t be blamed for beingnshallow.

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nAt the same time, it’s visually dazzling. It never stopsnamazing us with its imagery. Rintaro went for something different, which wasnmixing traditional Japanese style animation with computer graphics. Nownnormally, I don’t like this mix because to me the two don’t mix. Somethingnfeels off about movies that mix traditional animation with computer graphics,nto me they just don’t go together visually. For example, Ghost in the Shell 2.0n(2008), which took the original Ghost in the Shell film and added computernanimation and backgrounds to it, didn’t exactly work in my book. I’d much rather watch Ghost in the Shell in its original traditionally animated form. To me,nanimated films should either be in traditional animation, or computer animation,nbut not a mix of both. Still, in the case of Metropolis I think it was handlednbeautifully. The film has a unique look to it, things feel retro, yet there’s robotsnand advanced technology. The whole film uses jazzy music, which gives an old fashion air to it. They even use Ray Charles’ ‘I Can’t Stop LovingnYou’ during a climactic scene, so there’s this merging of the old fashion with thenfuturistic. Another interesting visual aspect of Metropolis is that while thenbackgrounds are rendered in a somewhat realistic fashion, the films charactersnare done in an extremely cartoony style, paying homage in this way to OsamunTezuka’s original manga. This Metropolis is a world on its own, a very uniquenlooking film. So anyhow, in my book this is another amazing milestone in Japanesenanimation. If you ever feel like watching some of the best anime has to offer,nyou’d do good in including this one on your list.

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nRating: 5 out of 5  

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