Giving Voice to the Silent Screams against the Tyranny in Metropolis
- Thomas Tittmann
- 3 hours ago
- 4 min read
LIVE FILM PRESENTATION 8/14/26 1 PM EAST MEADOW LIBRARY
Friday August 14 the 1927 silent film Metropolis with live music accompaniment by Mister Christopher Peters! 1pm East Meadow library. Unique one time only screening. Don't miss it!
Please register. A confirmation email will be sent to you.
Keith J. Crocker
Cinematic Seminars
BACKGROUND TO DYSTOPIAN BOOKS & FILMS
7-minute animated summary of George Orwell and his books helps us understand dystopian literature and films like Fritz Langs' Metropolis.
ORIGINAL 1927 SILENT FILM
Modern Music Alternative Version from 1984
Giorgio Moroder's digitally restored (1984) with original soundtrack by Freddie Mercury, Pat Benatar, Jon Anderson, Cycle V, Bonnie Tyler, Lover Boy, Bille Squier and Adam Ant.
Tip: Watch this 1 hr 19 minute 1984 version to better understand the original 1927 silent version.
"The Shift Change" - I selected this scene from the beginning of the film.
PINK FLOYD'S MACHINE WORLD
Welcome, my son, welcome to the machine
Where have you been?
It's alright we know where you've been
Welcome my son, welcome to the machine
What did you dream
It's alright we told you what to dream
1984
THE MATRIX: BUDDHIST AWAKENING TO REALITY
Core Buddhist parallels
The film’s central metaphor — the “red pill” vs. “blue pill” — mirrors the Buddhist distinction between Relative Truth (the world of appearances, maya) and Absolute Truth (emptiness, śūnyatā). The “blue pill” keeps Neo (and the viewer) in the illusion of a false reality, while the “red pill” points toward the true nature of reality. Source
IF YOU DON'T SUPPORT BIG BROTHER...YOU'D BE BETTER OFF DEAD
The kids start hearing the truth in the music and leave to begin making changes...
Kids start throwing their paint ball "stones"
Throwing Stones
Grateful Dead
Picture a bright blue ball just spinning, spinning free
Dizzy with eternity
Paint it with a skin of sky, brush in some clouds and sea
Call it home for you and me
A peaceful place, or so it looks from space
A closer look reveals the human race
Full of hope, full of grace is the human face
But afraid we may lay our home to waste
There's a fear down here we can't forget
Hasn't got a name just yet
Always awake, always around
Singing, "Ashes, ashes all fall down" (ashes, ashes all fall down)
Now watch as the ball revolves and the nighttime falls
And again the hunt begins, and again the bloodwind calls
By and by again, the morning sun will rise
The darkness never goes from some mens eyes, ooh no
It strolls the sidewalks, and it rolls the streets
It's taking turf, dividing up meat
Nightmare spook, piece of heat
It's you and me, you and me
Hey, Flashblade in ghetto night
Rudies looking for a fight
Rat Cat Alley, roll them bones
Need that cash to feed that jones
And the politicians throwing stones
Singing, "Ashes, ashes all fall down" (ashes, ashes all fall down)
Commissars and pin-striped bosses roll the dice
Any way they fall, guess who gets to pay the price
Money green, the proletarian gray
Selling guns instead of food today
So the kids, they dance, they shake their bones
And the politicians throwing stones
Singing, "Ashes, ashes all fall down" (ashes, ashes all fall down)
Heartless powers try to tell us what to think
If the spirit's sleeping, then the flesh is ink, yeah
History's page will be neatly carved in stone
The future's here, we are it, we are on our own
On our own, on our own, on our own
If the game is lost, we're all the same
No one left to place or take the blame
We will leave this place an empty stone
Well, that shinning ball blue
We can call our home
So the kids, they dance, they shake their bones
And the politicians are throwing stones
Singing, "Ashes, ashes all fall down" (ashes, ashes all fall down)
Shooting powders back and forth
Singing, "Black goes south and white comes north
And the whole world full of petty wars"
Singing, "I got mine and you got yours"
And the current fashions set the pace
Lose your step, fall out of grace
And the radical, he rant and rage
Singing, "Someone got to turn the page"
And the rich man in his summer home
Singing, "Just leave well enough alone"
But his pants are down, his cover's blown
And the politicians throwing stones
So the kids, they dance, they shake their bones
'Cause it's all too clear, we're on our own
Singing, "Ashes, ashes all fall down
Ashes, ashes, all fall down"
Picture a bright blue ball just spinning, spinning free
It's dizzy, the possibilities
Ashes, ashes, all fall down (ashes, ashes, all fall down)
Ashes, ashes, all fall down (ashes, ashes, all fall down)
Ashes, ashes, all fall down (ashes, ashes, all fall down)
Ashes, ashes, all fall down (ashes, ashes, all fall down)
All fall down (ashes, ashes, all fall down)
All fall down (ashes, ashes, all fall down)
Singing, "Ashes, ashes, all fall down (ashes, ashes, all fall down)
All fall down (ashes, ashes, all fall down)
All fall down! (ashes, ashes, all fall down)
Singing, "Ashes, ashes, all fall down"
Ashes, ashes, all fall down
Ashes, ashes, all fall down
(Ashes, ashes, all fall down)
SILENT SCREAM
I'm caught up in your expectations
You try to make me live your dream
But I'm causing you so much frustration
You wanted me to show more interest
To always keep a big bright smile
Be that pinky little perfect princess
But I'm not that type of child
And the storm is rising inside of me
Don't you feel that our worlds collide?
It's getting harder to breathe
It hurts deep inside
Just let me be
Who I am
It's what you really need to understand
And I hope so hard for the pain to go away
And it's torturing me
But I can't break free
So I cry and cry but just won't get it out
The silent scream
Big “Sister” Confronting Big Brother
#KeithCrocker #Metropolis #FritzLang #GiorgioMoroder #GeorgeOrwell #dystopian #FreddyMercury #PatBenatar #JonAnderson #CycleV #BonnieTyler #LoverBoy #BillieSquire #AdamAnt #PinkFloyd #TheMachine #1984 #TheMatrix #Neo #GratefulDead #AnnaBlue #BigBrotherandtheHoldingCompany #JanisJoplin
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