Modernist Utopia In Film

Examine the idea of a Modernist Utopia in relation to two films, at least one of which must be on the module filmography.

Introduction

SLIDE 1

Oscar Wilde say a map of world without utopia, it was not worth having. Actually, utopias come in many different way, they don't have to be the plans for our future, they also can be criticisms of the present. SLIDE 2

Utopias usually are criticised because they violate the reality principle as represented by our knowledge of history. They never actually work out, or when you try to use violence to bring them about what you get is totalitarian regimes. For example, Hitler's ideally Germany would be an example of a kind of utopia. Utopia has a very bad name among historians, and many historians

According to Anton Kaes in Expressionist Utopia the advertising material for the film read “Metropolis, the city of the future, is the city of eternal social peace – the city of cities in which there is no animosity, no hatred, but only love and understanding”, which describes the above-ground city.

In Things to Come, the future is presented as the complete opposite. It is portrayed as a warzone that has been turned into a battlefield over an unknown and seemingly pointless war. It is shown in the film that this desire for the kind of utopia seen above ground in Metropolis is inspired by trauma and devastation and will be realised at any cost, even at the cost of human lives.

In these films, the future and the technological advances that it brings is presented as something we should fear. They send the message that a true utopia cannot be achieved and if we continue running the world the way we are running it now, we will eventually destroy it.

Machine

Dystopia is evident in Metropolis and Things to Come.

Second Slide:
In Metropolis World War I was over but as a result of the bad economy, all was left was the two basic classes of people, which were the extremely wealthy and the extremely poor. This caused the Weimar Republic to experience widespread unemployment, hunger, and malnutrition. Dix shows us the differences in classes of the people in the Weimar Republic. By placing these three different classes right next to each other, Dix is showing the variation found in the quality of life between these groups. Dystopia is clear throughout the dreary movie
Third Slide:
Dictatorship in particularly Air Dictatorship is one of the main causes of Dystopia in Things to come. An aerial bombing raid on the city one night results in general mobilisation and then global war. The bleak film dwells on the madness of war, long enough for the people of the world to have forgotten why they are fighting. Humanity enters a new level of dystopia. Excessive control, repression, and abuse is used to create a dystopia in Things to Come.