---
title: Metropolis and music
author: George Mandis <george@mand.is>
date: 2014-03-07
tags: post, post, music, movies, freddie mercury
---

<p>I've been peripherally aware of the 1927 silent film <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis_(1927_film)">Metropolis</a> for a good long time, but have never seen it. In fact, I never even read the plot synopsis until today.</p>
<p><img class="size-full wp-image-500 aligncenter" style="display: block; margin: 0 auto;" alt="Metropolisposter" src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/georgemandis/media/Metropolisposter.jpg" width="248" height="548" /></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>I'd always heard it was an early sci-fi classic of sorts, but the plot was <em>quite</em> different than I expected. Class warfare, secret plots, unrequited love, biblical prophecies, references to red-light districts in Tokyo and figurative witch hunts for robotic decoys. Dang!</p>
<p>This movie serves as a curious intersection between a bunch of things I like: Freddie Mercury, who worked with Giorgio Moroder on a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us29EZ30nTc">1984 soundtrack for the re-release of the film</a>, who in turn has <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m4ZkEqQrn0">a song</a> named after/about/featuring him on the Daft Punk's Random Access Memory, who <em>also</em> has a hilarious impersonation on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHLAq3VffHo">the final installment of Yacht Rocky</a> ((I contend Yacht Rock might be the funniest thing on the Internet. It just gets better every time I watch it.)). Lately I've been listening to Janelle Monae and learned about her <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolis:_Suite_I_(The_Chase)">7-part concept album</a> that loosely borrows from the theme/aesthetic of the 1927 film.</p>
<p>I guess I'll need to sit down and watch the thing one of these days and bring all these loose-ends together.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>