>In response to Andrew's query, the fact that it's only on CD (are you sure?) >isn't a problem for me as I don't DJ (not more than once a year, anyway!). I >think the music itself is pretty good on a standalone basis (closest to the >Axis material), but having now seen the film I think it will work very well >with the images. Mind you, the version I rented seemed to be the longest, >most boring one available - over 2 painful hours with a really awful noodly >electronic music soundtrack. Mills has re-cut the film to fit his >soundtrack, but that aside it seems the one to see is the Giorgio Moroder >recoloured version, which I think come in around the 80 minute mark.
I saw the Moroder version as a kid and was entranced by it but from memory it was quite disjointed and the music and production was a little kitsch - and not in a cool 'camp' way. I think it has all the hallmarks of the 80s in retrospect. I always thought of Metropolis as a techno film, along with Bladerunner, whereas hip-hoppers are usually into Star Wars (old skool) or maybe kung fu (Wu era) or The Godfather (gangsta). It's interesting how the newer musical styles/subcultures appropriate movies as part of their collective aesthetic. Madonna based her video Express Yourself video on Metropolis (she is not unusually attracted to anything that has a connoctation to her name - and Maria is a Madonna type protogonist) and cleverly deconstructed the role of Maria. I really like the Mills score - I couldn't think of someone better to do it, it is a very symbolic move and the score will stand the test of time. It's quite subtle in parts. I think he's approached it similiarly to the way he handled X-103 Atlantis - the music tells the story, but in an understated way. It's very filmic and evocative. I think it helps to have seen the film - it's a mix of romance, socio-political theory and idealism, futurism and mythology, I can see its appeal to Mills. It's interesting too that Fritz Lang abandoned his architecture studies for something all the more unorthodox. Lang's work was more or less unappreciated at the time and I think that is something that afflicts Mills too in some circles. Great interview, Tom. I hope they leave the comment about Mills and his thoughts on Marxism in there as this was something I was wondering about when I received the CD. Peace C
