Post by Evan on Dec 11, 2006 17:56:46 GMT -5
A very rare and obscure science fiction film from 1921. Also Known as Uomo meccanico, L'. For many years this early science fiction film from Italy was regarded as lost. Some reels of the Portuguese release version were discovered in Brazil. The discovered film amounted to 740 meters which is believed to be approximately 40% of the complete film. Luckily, the discovered footage came from the later part of the film and included some of the special effects and the battle of the two robots in the Opera House. By mid-2006, this is the only footage known to survive.
This DVD was a bit of surprise from Alpha Video. They release many old, public domain films, but I had never heard of this one. For 6 dollars you get this and the 1922 Headless Horseman film. All I can say is "No Brainer" for fans of silent horror/SF.
The plot involves an evil woman who steals a robot from a scientist. She programs it to destroy to serve her wishes. A young man tries to save his girlfriend with help from the scientist who invented the mechanical man. In the end he sends out a second mechanical man to dispose of the original. It has a Feuillade-like pace to it. Here is a italian description:
The MECHANICAL MAN
Director: André Deed
Year: 1922
Cast: André Deed, Valentina Frascaroli, Gabriel Moreau, Mathilde Lambert
Subject: Arrested from the detective Ramberti in order to have murdered the inventor of the mechanical man, beautiful and perfida the Mado it succeeds to escape. Kidnapped the grandaughter of the dead man, makes itself to deliver the plans for the construction of the “steel monster”: commanding it at a distance with a “television set”, he seeds fear and destruction. But the brother of the inventor puts in its turn to point according to mechanical man. The final crash between the two giants happens in the course of a veglione to the Work.
Critic: Interesting film of the Italian dumb cinema, to the crossing between fantascienza and comicità. The giant of Deed and the machine that controls it anticipate celebre the inventions more de the Inhumaine and of Metropolis. Michele Canosa in Cinegrafia (n. 4, 1991) have emphasized the importance of this film, are for the presence of a thematic fantascientifica (even if associated to the burlesque one), are for the relations with the futurist iconography (From the presentation of the Mondadori Video, edited by Antonio Costa).
Notes: The work seemed passing, until a copy - it fails to fulfill - has been found in the “Cinemateca Brasileira” of Saint Paul. The film survivor (740 meters on an original length of 1821 meters) has been restored in 1992 edited by the Cineteca of Bologna, in the laboratory “the found again Image”. The video, distributed from the Mondadori, has the duration of 35 minuteren.
This DVD was a bit of surprise from Alpha Video. They release many old, public domain films, but I had never heard of this one. For 6 dollars you get this and the 1922 Headless Horseman film. All I can say is "No Brainer" for fans of silent horror/SF.
The plot involves an evil woman who steals a robot from a scientist. She programs it to destroy to serve her wishes. A young man tries to save his girlfriend with help from the scientist who invented the mechanical man. In the end he sends out a second mechanical man to dispose of the original. It has a Feuillade-like pace to it. Here is a italian description:
The MECHANICAL MAN
Director: André Deed
Year: 1922
Cast: André Deed, Valentina Frascaroli, Gabriel Moreau, Mathilde Lambert
Subject: Arrested from the detective Ramberti in order to have murdered the inventor of the mechanical man, beautiful and perfida the Mado it succeeds to escape. Kidnapped the grandaughter of the dead man, makes itself to deliver the plans for the construction of the “steel monster”: commanding it at a distance with a “television set”, he seeds fear and destruction. But the brother of the inventor puts in its turn to point according to mechanical man. The final crash between the two giants happens in the course of a veglione to the Work.
Critic: Interesting film of the Italian dumb cinema, to the crossing between fantascienza and comicità. The giant of Deed and the machine that controls it anticipate celebre the inventions more de the Inhumaine and of Metropolis. Michele Canosa in Cinegrafia (n. 4, 1991) have emphasized the importance of this film, are for the presence of a thematic fantascientifica (even if associated to the burlesque one), are for the relations with the futurist iconography (From the presentation of the Mondadori Video, edited by Antonio Costa).
Notes: The work seemed passing, until a copy - it fails to fulfill - has been found in the “Cinemateca Brasileira” of Saint Paul. The film survivor (740 meters on an original length of 1821 meters) has been restored in 1992 edited by the Cineteca of Bologna, in the laboratory “the found again Image”. The video, distributed from the Mondadori, has the duration of 35 minuteren.
