I'll admit it:
I find silent movies very difficult to watch.
While many of them are very visually impressive or culturally interesting, it's difficult - if not impossible - for me to enjoy them on a cinematic level. For me, watching a silent movie is kind of like going to a mime opera. It's certainly an interesting experience, but you can't help but feel that something's missing. After all, how are you going to keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen Paris? What can I say? I'm a sound addict.
That being said, Fritz Lang's Metropolis is one of the best silent films I've seen. Even after eighty-three years, it's still an impressive film. I'm a big fan of German Expressionism, and this movie is an excellent example of that artistic movement. Lang's images are a brilliant blend of the Gothic and the futuristic, and it's easy to see how many sci-fi and horror filmmakers have been influenced by them.
