Weekly Theme

Weekly Theme for August 11: The Secret Society

This was a last minute decision for a theme, primarily based on an article I just read in on RogerEbert.com about Fritz Lang's 1927 film, Metropolis.

By Roger Ebert:

It is the most sensational find in recent film history. A nearly-complete print of Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" (1927) has been discovered in Buenos Aires, 80 years after it was thought a quarter of the film was lost forever. Called by many the most important of German films, one of the landmarks of silent Expressionism, its plot had several loose ends that will now be repaired.

The find was made by Paula Félix-Didier, director of the cinema museum in Buenos Aires. Her story is told in an article in Germany's Zeit magazine, which traces the print from its arrival in Argentina in 1928. It found itself in the collection of a local film critic, who sold it to the National Art Fund in the 1960s, the magazine says. It arrived in the Museo del Cine in 1992.

The False Maria.

 

(Enlarge Image)

Felix-Didier's ex-husband, director of the museum before the position was taken by his wife, "had heard from the manager of a cinema club, who years before had been surprised by how long a screening of this film had taken. Together, [they] took a look at the film in her archive --and discovered the missing scenes." Their print has been examined by experts in Berlin, where the film had its 1927 premiere. They agree it is authentic. After a restoration, the Murnau Foundation, owner of the rights, will release it to festivals, theaters and DVD.

I'm very excited about this one. I really liked the movie but you definately get the feeling that something is missing when you watch it.

I was drawn to see this movie about ten years ago when I heard Roger Ebert's audio commentary on the film Dark City. Dark City, pays a great deal of homage to Metropolis and Ebert's commentary explains how Lang's work is commonly thought as the first time a film presented the concept of a "secret society."

It really is a fun topic, everthing from The Matrix to Hot Fuzz has dealt with it. So tell me, did The X-Files and Conspiracy Theory change the way you look at things. Or, do you go more for the sci-fi based Equilibrium or Constantine, or even Night Watch. It seems that any movie that tackles this theme scores a few extra points with me.

Re:Weekly Theme for August 11: The Secret Society

Oh man! This is a good one. And for me the movie that leaps to mind is "Eyes Wide Shut", which is really one of my all time favorites. "Eyes Wide Shut" is so off the scale weird in so many ways that you would think that is was impossible,and yet, watching the movie you feel that it isn't. And really, there is so much more than that in "Eyes Wide Shut", a real masterpiece by Kubrick.

Another Kubrick movie that I think fits in here would be "A Clockwork Orange" not exactly a secret society in the classic sense (calling to mind "The Good Shepherd" or "13 Tzameti") but the group of droogs have some secret society like manors.

And last, a movie I saw recently; "Children of Men". There is a movie that has so many groups of both good-guys and bad-guys operating as secret societies that by the end, the ambiguity of the films ending leans on that point.

I love this topic.

Re:Weekly Theme for August 11: The Secret Society

Great topic leeroy! That article about Metropolis was fascinating. It got me thinking about a possible secret society that kept the complete print hidden for all of these years.

I don't mean to divert the conversation away from secret societies, but I was wondering if you had a hunch as to what was missing from Metropolis? And as cool as it will be to see the complete version, I'll be interested in hearing from you after you see it, and whether or not it's  a little disillusioning to finally see it completed. (Did it live up to what your imagination filled in?)

Speaking of the truth not living up to the rumors, on the highways in Michigan there are billboards for joining the Masons. The tag line is something like "Get in on the secret." I'm thinking anything that advertises on highways like that doesn't have any secrets I'm dying to know.

Which is a far cry from how interested I was in the Masons when I was about 18, when I saw From Hell.

Re:Weekly Theme for August 11: The Secret Society

SkyPilot:

Which is a far cry from how interested I was in the Masons when I was about 18, when I saw From Hell.

"From Hell" is a great and creepy movie. When I first saw it I was like 'No way any of that can be true beyond the happening of the murders themselves." As it turns out allot of the facts of the movie are not far from some events that really happened (even the letter with the kidney). However, going off from the masons, I am going to have to add "National Treasure" to the list there which also really has a remarkable blend of the true and the absurd (despite the fact that it is not a particularly remarkable movie).

"From Hell" also reminds me of another movie neatly in this category; "The Ninth Gate". Johnny Depp again, and also the classic people in robes look to the secret society there.

Re:Weekly Theme for August 11: The Secret Society

SkyPilot:

Great topic leeroy! That article about Metropolis was fascinating. It got me thinking about a possible secret society that kept the complete print hidden for all of these years.

I don't mean to divert the conversation away from secret societies, but I was wondering if you had a hunch as to what was missing from Metropolis? And as cool as it will be to see the complete version, I'll be interested in hearing from you after you see it, and whether or not it's  a little disillusioning to finally see it completed. (Did it live up to what your imagination filled in?)

 

I need to watch the disc that I have again, but I remember parts that would have a paragraph of text describing what was happening. I think those are the lost scenes. But I need to watch it again so I can be reminded of where the gaps are.

Also, I would highly recommend watching Dark City with Ebert's audio commentary track. A friend of mine said that he attended a class in a Colorado university (can't remember which one) in which Ebert gave a live commentary on that film. He said it took a couple of days to get through it.

Re:Weekly Theme for August 11: The Secret Society

Let's not forget one of the movies spoofed/tributed in "Hot Fuzz": "The Wicker Man." I guess that was more a cult than a secret society, but their motives sure were secret.

And, speaking of Edgar Wright, I hear he's supposed to be directing a film version of Jon Ronson's fantastic book "Them." The book is all about conspiracy theorists and the Bilderberg Group, the supposed "secret rulers of the world." I really hope the movie gets made. It was a great read.

Re:Weekly Theme for August 11: The Secret Society

I think that The Parallex View has been largely forgotten, but it is a really great movie with Warren Beatty as an intrepid reporter getting way over his head when he investigates the secret forces behind a Kennedy-esque assassination. The best scene is when the group, disguised as a corporation, strap him into the chair for programming.

It is much better than the similarly themed updated version of  The Manchurian Candidate.  I still love the creepy original. Nobody can play the controlling incestous mother like Angela Lansbury.

Fight Club can be seen as a secret society opposing the forces of corporate consumerism.

And for the classic evil cult type of Secret Society, I'd go for The Devil's Rain, where Tom Skerrit and Bill Shatner take on a demonic cult lead by Ernest Borgnine!

Re:Weekly Theme for August 11: The Secret Society

Another movie that makes the cut The Hebrew Hammer. hee hee. It was pretty funny.

Re:Weekly Theme for August 11: The Secret Society

leeroy711:

Another movie that makes the cut The Hebrew Hammer. hee hee. It was pretty funny.

"Beerfest"; an underground cult is a major part of that movie, so I guess that qualifies it. Funny stuff... stupid movie.

Re:Weekly Theme for August 11: The Secret Society

Anatomy is a German horror film about a secret society of doctors that have eschewed the Hippocratic oath. Their prime concern is not the care and safety of any particular patient; it is the advancement of medical science, whatever the cost.

This results in some pretty horrifying scenes where patients "come to" in the midst of being dissected alive.

It's a flawed movie, but it's really stuck with me. SPOILER ALERT: part of the horror for Franka Potente is that she discovers her grandfather, a revered German doctor, also carried out unethical experiments on Jewish prisoners during WWII.

I can imagine the movie's concept being written in any country, but Anatomy feels like a quintessentially German horror movie. It's an interesting portrayal of young Germans grappling with their grandparents' complicity in Nazi Germany.