Frau im Mond (1929)
(Woman in the Moon)
Country: GER
Technical: bw 162m silent
Director: Fritz Lang
Cast: Willy Fritsch, Gustav von Wangenheim, Gerda Maurus, Fritz Rasp
Synopsis:
A wealthy philanthropist collaborates with a scientist to build a rocket to the Moon, but his plan is hijacked by plutocrats in league with organised crime to secure the theoretical gold reserves there. Meanwhile, the woman he loves becomes engaged to his closest friend, and is determined to accompany them both on their expedition.
Review:
Following on from Metropolis, this was Lang's other great contribution to filmed Science Fiction. It is extraordinarily prescient and meticulously researched, and yet howlingly wide of the mark in its particulars (launching from a tank of water, walking about the Moon as if it had the same atmosphere and gravity as Earth). The sequences preceding the takeoff recall the Mabuse world of urban settings, surveillance, and leather-clad chauffeurs bent on nefarious deeds, and the launch is itself an ambitious piece of model work, complete with title-card countdown coined by the director. Once the ill-assorted ark of astronauts nears its destination, however, it becomes a crucible of competing desires and jealousies and the dénouement is as contrived as it is oddly satisfying. In short, a curate's egg of inspiration and longueurs.
(Woman in the Moon)
Country: GER
Technical: bw 162m silent
Director: Fritz Lang
Cast: Willy Fritsch, Gustav von Wangenheim, Gerda Maurus, Fritz Rasp
Synopsis:
A wealthy philanthropist collaborates with a scientist to build a rocket to the Moon, but his plan is hijacked by plutocrats in league with organised crime to secure the theoretical gold reserves there. Meanwhile, the woman he loves becomes engaged to his closest friend, and is determined to accompany them both on their expedition.
Review:
Following on from Metropolis, this was Lang's other great contribution to filmed Science Fiction. It is extraordinarily prescient and meticulously researched, and yet howlingly wide of the mark in its particulars (launching from a tank of water, walking about the Moon as if it had the same atmosphere and gravity as Earth). The sequences preceding the takeoff recall the Mabuse world of urban settings, surveillance, and leather-clad chauffeurs bent on nefarious deeds, and the launch is itself an ambitious piece of model work, complete with title-card countdown coined by the director. Once the ill-assorted ark of astronauts nears its destination, however, it becomes a crucible of competing desires and jealousies and the dénouement is as contrived as it is oddly satisfying. In short, a curate's egg of inspiration and longueurs.
(Woman in the Moon)
Country: GER
Technical: bw 162m silent
Director: Fritz Lang
Cast: Willy Fritsch, Gustav von Wangenheim, Gerda Maurus, Fritz Rasp
Synopsis:
A wealthy philanthropist collaborates with a scientist to build a rocket to the Moon, but his plan is hijacked by plutocrats in league with organised crime to secure the theoretical gold reserves there. Meanwhile, the woman he loves becomes engaged to his closest friend, and is determined to accompany them both on their expedition.
Review:
Following on from Metropolis, this was Lang's other great contribution to filmed Science Fiction. It is extraordinarily prescient and meticulously researched, and yet howlingly wide of the mark in its particulars (launching from a tank of water, walking about the Moon as if it had the same atmosphere and gravity as Earth). The sequences preceding the takeoff recall the Mabuse world of urban settings, surveillance, and leather-clad chauffeurs bent on nefarious deeds, and the launch is itself an ambitious piece of model work, complete with title-card countdown coined by the director. Once the ill-assorted ark of astronauts nears its destination, however, it becomes a crucible of competing desires and jealousies and the dénouement is as contrived as it is oddly satisfying. In short, a curate's egg of inspiration and longueurs.