Sci-Fi the Third Reich Outlawed: WOMAN IN THE MOON (1929)
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- čas přidán 2. 08. 2024
- Promoted as the first sci-fi movie to be based in actual science, Fritz Lang's Frau im Mond (Woman in the Moon) is a seminal work of hard sci-fi cinema that shouldn't be ignored.
If you're looking for a "review" in the traditional sense, then let me just say I appreciate this movie. This video, however, is a "review" in the literal sense (using the Miriam-Webster definition "a retrospective view or survey"), in that I'm going over the history of the film and its place in cinema history.
In other words, please stop commenting on how my videos aren't what you consider "reviews."
#FritzLang #WomanintheMoon #FrauimMond
00:00 Intro: Speculating about Genre
02:06 Synopsis
02:55 Production Background
04:56 Shameless Self-Promotion
05:36 Filming
09:45 Release & Legacy
11:56 Opinion & Analysis
14:24 Outro
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Some royalty-free assets taken from coverr.co, mixkit.co, and pexels.com - Zábava
A couple of points for clarification on the plot line. You have to remember that in the 1920s Germany was still controlled by the Treaty of Versailles of 1919. Under that treaty Germany was forced to pay its war debt in gold backed currency. That lead to the country having massive inflation as the currency used in general circulation was not gold backed. Since Germany's access to gold was limited having lost its colonies, there was a great deal of speculation about alternative sources for the precious metal. This was reflected in popular literature and media such as film. So this is why the discovery of gold was such a big deal in the film. It would have made a huge economic impact on Germany's standing in the world to have access to it and be able to pay off the war debt. The issue with the group of Capitalists working together for their own self interest was also a major concern at the time. What is shown is a cartel where one small group would be able to hold a legal monopoly and exclude any competition from taking place. Likewise their aims were based on self interest, not those of the country, and that was coming under public criticism at the time, and would play a major role in the changing political landscape of Germany in a short period of time. Finally, launching the rocket from water was not for stability, but to dampen the noise of the blast at take off. This is done today when rockets are launched, and you will see large amounts of water being sprayed under the motors. This is not to prevent fire, but to dampen the extremely high decibels of noise that could damage the launch pad. This is the exact same reason why the rocket in the movie was launched the way it was, and shows how accurate the technical information was that was used in making the movie.
Good point about the gold standard... I hadn't considered that. 👍
His silent Dr. Mabuse the Gambler is one of my 13 all time favorite films. 4 1/2 hrs long and not boring for one second
Rod Serling probably said it best:
It's been said that science fiction and fantasy are two different things: science fiction - the improbable made possible; fantasy - the impossible made probable.
-- The Twilight Zone, "The Fugitive"
Of course, there are merges. Star Wars is really a fantasy framed in a science fictional milieu, and Doctor Who is often science fiction framed in a fantasy milieu. Don't argue! 😆
Ha! Just saw that episode of the Twilight Zone with that quote over the New Years' weekend!
I stumbled on a late night showing of this on TCM a year or two ago, caught it just after the rocket launch. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. A silent space adventure, with pretty accurate science, really interesting situation, and it looked AMAZING! Thanks for covering it!
The moving lunar landscape before landing, obviously a barrel being rotated in front of the camera, was done again for a 1970s Dr. Who episode.
I have a continuing fascination for the movie, "The Silent Star" aka, "First Spaceship on Venus", 1960. It's one of the few films to show extensive footage of an alien landscape, including a derelict Venusian city, and fragments of an alien language recorded on a spool and played back via computer. While the Venusians are only seen by their shadows, etched into the walls of a building due to an atomic accident, the reveal of the shadows is truly eerie. The english dubbed version has a more extensive musical score, but some scenes were cut for a shorter run time.
AIUI, also cut out of the film was a shot of a living Venusian, watching the humans departing. A lovely image I'd like to see restored someday to- a film I also have admired.
I regret that it has become a joke, used as a gimmick in tawdry films like *_Galaxina._*
@@arcadiaberger9204Hey! Hold on...Galaxina...tawdry?! How dare you!! 😂
The visual influence of German Expressionism on future sf is immeasurable.
Pretty much everything from Alien to The Incredibles shows its effect.
The cartoonish acting keeps me from really liking this film, despite its obvious
contributions to the genre.
Combining scifi and fantasy as one category always bothered me. They are complete opposites.
Scifi shows what science can do.
Fantasy shows what science can't.
Also, when Heinlein coined "speculative fiction", he meant scifi only.
Get your own term, you fantasy hippies... :)
Great movie metropolis 😊
This is proof positive of the role of SF in driving forward history, actually helping make real discoveries and inventions comes true. If I ever teach again, I will be sure to use this!!
I love Fritz Lang. His films are imaginative and explored sinister forces. I have been trying to complete his filmography in the last few years and I'm a little behind on the silent films. Will check this out.
Hey TUG, watching this in reverse order. I hadn't gotten around to watching this until this morning and actually read your comment about how well it was doing on YT. The video looks GREAT. You did a great job matching the film with equally good looking archival footage. I did some work for a very small company that was just getting into restoring certain films. One film I worked on was a bizarre thing I had never seen with some very good and recognizable actors, The Telephone Book (1971). It's a racy film with Roger C. Carmel (Harry Mudd), Barry Morse (The Fugitive and Space 1999), Jill Clayburgh and creepy character actor, William Hickey. The print they were trying to restore was in terrible condition. Sorry for the tangent... erg. Anyway, so when I was looking at this, I had to look it up and apparently they did an AWESOME job of restoring it, from a very good negative, in 2000.
That's the thing with movies this old. As you say, even now, the science of it is still worth considering. At the time, it must have been cutting edge. I recently read Andy Weir's novel, The Martian, as I had questions about the narrative and some of the science. I actually kind of hated the book. despite what I learned from it, and appreciated Scott's adaptation more. Taking license with the science and technology in relation to the narrative is an art in blending itself.
I think the a major part of it's reception is that your production skills in it are very well done and the restoration, being in such good condition, really makes it accessible to modern audiences. Despite a few things, it looks like it could have been shot yesterday as opposed to, approximately, 96 years ago
I love the line "Do not dishonor me as a woman!" The speaker was demanding for herself and all other women an equal right to partake in the risks, hardships, and glories of exploration and discovery.
Great vid! Definitely one I'll have to put on my "must watch" list! While in grad school in the 90's, I actually did a history paper on the Weimar Cinema and how it was influenced my the Expressionist Art movement I am impressed that this seems to be one of the few classic silent films that's available in its entirety. (As opposed to the eternal search for missing reels from films like Metropolis...)
Never knew there was so much connection between this Flic & the actual History of Rocketry!
Very good review of a film that has fallen off the radar of many film buffs as time goes on, and in need of a rediscovery going forward.
I am drawn to the full Technicolor production designs of DR. CYCLOPS 1940. Note the re-use of the King Kong hand as a human skinned hand here.
Very interesting :)
This review should be shown in film schools.
I was surprised to hear that a young Werner von Braun was present on the day of that rocket taking off.
Thank you Geek!
It is mostly forgotten today, but there was a belief that lingered well into the 20th century that the moon was actually somewhat egg shaped. The smaller end of the egg pointed directly at earth, with the bigger end pointing away. The reason for this was that you can see slightly more than 50% of the moon from earth. The reasoning went that if it was a sphere, you would never be able to see more than 50% however, you could see about 55% from earth. The reason for this quite obviously is that the earth is wider than the moon and pretty close to it so if you’re on the extreme Eastern terminator you are going to see a little bit more than somebody who is on the extreme opposite terminator of the Earth.
The mistake in that reasoning is pretty obvious, and I’m sure plenty of scientists had already figured it out, but I have read science fiction from as late as 1940 that took the moons egg shape as given, and I’ve even read scientific papers written as late as the 1930s.
So, their reasoning went that if the moon was egg shaped, the far side must be denser than the nearside, and could presumably hold a rudimentary atmosphere. presumably that is what Lang was going with in this movie
I’m so glad that I finally caught up with this film, but it’s the least of Fritz Lang’s German silents. Spies does better espionage and Metropolis does better sci-fi. M and The Mabuses are better paced. It looks brilliant though. Thanks for the review
You're absolutely right about this being a movie in two parts, the first does tend to drag with almost all the action in the second. But it is still a very good film. About the actors, the only really notable one was Fritz Rasp who was usually a cad; in Spione, Metropolis, especially in Diary of a Lost Girl (Louise Brooks), The Love of Jeanne Ney, etc. However, many of the actors had been in other Lang films.
I also recognized Fritz Rasp in the clips. I have a vintage post card of him.
Actually, Willy Fritsch who played Helius was a very popular actor in the 1920s and 1930s. The song played on the record player in Inglorious Basterds is him singing a popular song from one of his movies.
As to Fritz Rasp: Whenever a director in the German film industry needed a dubious character with a mean, malicious smile they could rely on Fritz Rasp. The first one was the future Hollywood legend Ernst Lubitsch (while still filming in Berlin) in his 1916 silent movie SCHUHPALAST PINKUS. Besides the films already mentioned by @brettcoster4781, he also was the villain Grundeis in EMIL UND DIE DETEKTIVE (1931), based on Erich Kästner's same-named book. The film script was co-written by yet another future Hollywood giant: Billy Wilder. Kästner also wrote DAS DOPPELTE LOTTCHEN (1950) that has since been made into films practically worldwide, with perhaps the best known recent adaptations being IT TAKES TWO, with the Olsen twins and THE PARENT TRAP, with Lindsay Lohan.
@@guesswho5122 He was really good at playing cads/dubious characters, so I can see why he was the go-to actor. He was probably a much better bloke in person, but that was what he was seen to be as far as movies went. And he plays it so well.
Great to see you back and super interesting and enlightening video!
Thanks for a great overview of this film. I like Fritz' work - but I was unaware of this film until now. I am interested in the history of space flight, as well as sci-fi, and never dreamed that Oberth was a tech consultant on a film like this. Film & science history firsts in one! Now I have to find it and watch it! You do a fabulous job on covering a film, I appreciate your form of review, and I'm subscribing.Thanks again!
You're very welcome. Thank you!
Thanks for the review. Heard a lot of good things about this movie. Will have to get around to watching it. Would have to go with 2001 for hard science. Granted 2001 wasn't anything like 2001.
Harry Turtledove wrote a story named “Juchi the accursed” which is set in the Hegemony universe created by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven. It takes place on Haven, a moon of Cat’s Eye in the Byers star system and populated by the Bureau of relocation with criminals, political prisoners and refugees. As soon as I saw the Chronicles of Riddick I felt I had seen this story before. I have yet to find anybody who has read the books and seen the movie to share my opinions with and would very much like to hear your take on this.
Bert Steele
I am fine with your definition, for what its worth. It doesn't matter that much. Until someone comes up with a reasonable challenge, I see no reason to argue. Now, let's get on with the show and have fun. As long as it doesn't hurt anyone.
I remember seeing this and was surprised how good it was for it's time. A lot of silent movies have gone over my head, but there are good ones.
It's a great movie! Now on to other matters...
0:43 ... there's also the sub genre of Science Fantasy, most of which your Vacuum Busting Space Opera falls under .... so many categories!
15:47 ... as to not mentioning the cast members, a little more research would've revealed some interesting history worth adding, such as "die frau," Gerda Maurus was hired by Lang primarily because of her beauty (I know most silent film aficionados love Brigitte Helm but I find Gerda's features much more compelling) and, of course he fell in love with her which led to his falling out with von Harbou and divorcing (if he had any thoughts of marrrying Maurus those were dashed because she married someone else 😆)...
10:12 ... I mean, look at her!! She'd have made a much much better Maria in Metropolis!!!
As we are in early German s-f cimenatography field, I would recommend "F.P.1 Doesn't Answer" from 1932. Love triangle part is cheesy but science fiction elements works. Also song performed by main actor, Hans Albers, titled "Flieger, grüß mir die Sonne" is simply EPIC.
😊
I saw the version with Conrad Veidt. That one was pretty good--maybe since it was the second remake, they were pretty good at the story. I don't remember singing in that version.
I think there's really only two points in the film which seem unclear and not in a good way.
First, the wealthy industrialist's favorite teacher is starving in a garret. Granted, the professor has his pride, but it seems to me the hero could find a legitimate job for him, even if he has to build an observatory to do it.
Second, it's not clear if the two who stay behind have enough supplies to last until the rescue ship could reach them.
The black and white pattern of the moonship is mostly duplicated on the SpaceX Crew Dragon, and serves to help thermal regulation by allowing the vessel to roll to expose different amounts of black and white to the sun. A similar pattern is a shibboleth of Von Braun's rockets, and was originally implemented so the roll rate could be easily measured with film of the rocket in flight.
Von Braun adopted the countdown from this film, and found it was useful to help a launch crew follow their procedures in synchronization. Apparently the Soviets did not use a countdown, which might be the reason for a minor glitch on Gagarin's flight where a launch gantry was retracted while people were still on it. Oddly, Soviet SF movies usually use a countdown.
Congrats on 10k!🎉
Best horror movie from the 1920s that I saw was Nosferatu😊
Gotta point out that Donald Kingsbury's "The Moon Goddess and The Son" has a number of plot parallels with Frau im Mond, probably deliberate. I highly recommend it, though it can be hard to find these days. It was a Hugo nominee in 1980, though, it might have been reprinted in one of the retrospectives for the year.
Great find and review! 📽️🎞️
I saw “Frau im Mond” in film class. I was struck by the beauty, drama and poignant ending. Fritz Lange defined many genres, here serious science fiction. The spy thriller refined with Dr. Mabuse, the murder thriller refined in “M”!
And James Bond in "Spies."
Oh heck Lange was a bloody genius....
And who can forget Lang in Godard's masterpiece, Contempt?
I stood a couple of meters away from Forrest J Ackerman in 1978 at Iguanacon in Phoenix, Arizona, and heard him defending the term "sci-fi". I had admired him for most of my short life, but I'd always hated "sci-fi".
I almost walked up and disputed his defense. I'm glad now that I didn't, but I'm sorry I didn't go up and tell him how much I admired him and was grateful for all he'd done . . . *_except_* for "sci fi".
I somewhat agree... I think my own distaste for the term "sci-fi" at the time was the pronunciation being advocated, "skiffee" (which, thank ghod, did not catch on)... I remember a number of editorials by Ted White in the Amazing and Fantastic magazines weighing the pros and cons of the term "sf," "stf" (for scientifiction) and the subsequent arguments in the letters section! Fun stuff back then!!
Forrie - or 4SJ as he liked to sign himself - would have enjoyed swapping views with you. and would have liked that as much as hearing your positive comments. Sorry you missed that opportunity.
I met 4SJ twice, and found him to be a generous soul. Even before I met him the first time (1989), he replied to my letters and regretted that we had not met earlier. As recompense, he sent me a large bundle of books and memorabilia, including a lavishly illustrated catalogue from an auction of his stuff (inscribed for me, including the pun "Auctions speak louder than words".
Then We met in person the next time I flew to Los Angeles for a conference. He gave me a personal conducted tour of the Ackermansion and then took me out to lunch!
The second time we met was when he came to my home town Wellington, in New Zealand to be the guest of honour at Forrycon (1993, which also featured Peter Jackson fresh from his success with Meet the Feebles). On that occasion I was able to return the favour and take Forrie to dinner between events at the convention. He was very entertaining despite his torrent of bad puns (a somewhat endearing habit). I agree with you that since the 1930s he made a huge contribution to feeding the appetite of fans.
@@EdMorbius46 Ah, go ahead, feed my regrets...while also warming my heart with the recognition that 4SJ (yes, I did know about his charming callback to Hugo Gernsback's *_Ralph 124C41+)_* made a contribution to the world which will be with us for as long as SF culture endures.
🥰@@arcadiaberger9204
I am happy with your definition of SciFi in this context. 👍
Never heard of this film - which is a shame, am sure I would enjoy it!
And given you are open to speculative fiction - I would love to see your take on Wizards. High fantasy with guns and sex, what a movie 😛
Wizards. 😂 I saw it on it's release and was underwhelmed and subsequent viewings have confirmed my distaste for Bakshi and rotoscope animation ...
@@hurdygurdyguy1
Bakshi had ambitions way beyond his budgets!
While the animation in Wizards (and his version of Lord of the Rings) may be lacking, his ideas and vision made these movies worth watching.
Saw this at a "art-house" cinema, the Film Forum in NYC years ago & was surprised & enchanted. Fave sci-fi horror? Why: Island of Lost Souls. It was based on a H.G. Wells novel & 2 of it's remakes are better known, both titled Island of Dr. Moreau; one in the 1970's the other in the '90's. If you haven't done a review of that 1st one please do.
I have covered Island of Lost Souls! 👍🏻
Cool. I'll be on the look-out for it.@@TheUnapologeticGeek
Please cover "Colossus the Forbin Project". This piece of "speculative fiction" addressed "AI" decades before the term was coined. It is a chilling film.
I have covered it! It’s one of my most successful videos.
Lang seems to have dabbled in several fantasy and science fiction genres while he was in Germany: Siegfried, Metropolis, Frau im Mond, Spies, Mabuse. In the U.S. studio system, he seems to do thrillers and Nazi war movies.
Nice coverage of a good science fiction movie from the 1920s. As for the acting, do you think it was because the actors were in a silent movie where they had to act more with their bodies or was it just bad acting (for most of them)?
I was a bit confused about “banned” being stamped on the image of the movie poster, having added a copy of Frau im Mond to my collection over 20 years ago. I rank it as a 7.2/10, a very good but not great film; which is to say still among the best 2500 films ever made (an achievement considering there are over 500,000 films out there).
Your definition is fine.
I bought the DVD a year or two ago. Great film.
This film is so great! Be sure to pay close attention at about 0:49:15 so hilarious.
Both Asimov and Clark were hard sci-fi writers. A better example of soft sci-fi would be Ray Bradberry's "The Martian Chronicles" and "Fahrenheit 451".
While Asimov was a scientist, I wouldn’t classify any of his most well-known fictional works as hard sci-fi. But to each their own!
@@TheUnapologeticGeekI tend to agree with you but historically speaking, Asimov was always lumped in as hard sci-fi, along with most of the generation of writers promoted by John W. Campbell. I find that categorization equally questionable when applied to the likes of A.E. Van Vogt and Robert A. Heinlein. The latter was at least as concerned with social, political, cultural questions and some of his later books pretty much departed from hard science altogether.
you are awesome. 👏🏼
This movie was rather prescient if you see how private enterprises like SpaceX are getting involved in the race to Mars today. I really like Contact (1997) in the hard sci-fi category.
Contact is one of my absolute favorite movies!
Me too. I have Contact on DVD to rewatch periodically. Good science, and good characterisation.
Bonus thumbs up for again featuring a silent film.
Radioactive? Attacks the Golden Gate Bridge? I’m sure it came from … the ocean?
Never heard of it. Thx for the education
If you run into an ant death spiral you can gently disrupt the circle with a line of cinnamon and they'll generally find their way back to the other trails.
I like your intro. Journey to the Center of fhe Earth and Time Machine are both Science Fiction, unless of course one is a documentary in disguise. 😂
Suggestion of a file: Solaris 1972, Not the 2002 version.
That’s coming very soon! I’ve been planning to cover it for my 10k subscribers milestone.
@@TheUnapologeticGeekThat I look forward to. It's in my collection of favourite DVDs. Not the George Clooney version, though I recognise the need for you to comment on that as an also-ran. Happy new year TUG!
I find your definition to be nominal and functional. No action required on your part. Shalom.
I would like to see what your take is on the French film "City of lost children." 1995. A good friend at the time said it like Doctor Seuss for the adults. One of the lead actors was Ron Perlman.
I have a copy!
The difference between sci fi and fantasy is usually described as science or magic. A good story can be written in either universe.
The force, magic.
Space ships science.
Thanks. It's a mostly unknown film now, but I had to study it about 45 years ago in a HS film class. Ever review Zardoz and it's "deeper meaning?"
I haven’t gotten to Zardoz yet, but it’s been on my list for a while. I’m definitely looking forward to it, because ho boy, will it be fun to talk about.
I think the deeper meaning is; “Damn, drugs are fun!”
@@spocko2181 Cute, but....no.
Despite it's flaws Zardoz is a great movie (one of my favorites) with a "deeper meaning" of "Be careful what you wish for, Immortality may not be all it's cracked up to be"
Marooned and Women actually shaped real space travel. While some other notable films inspired some technology.
"Destination Moon" didn't use multi-stages as the ship was NTR (nuclear thermal rocket).
There should be tons of gold on the moon, likely even nuggets on the surface. But it's not going to be any easier to discover than on the earth, and obviously you can't just walk around there for very long or get there easily.
The obvious two talkies... "Forbidden Planet" (in color!!) and "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (the good one with Rennie) and of course the silent "Metropolis" from '27.
Actually I’m with you and agree with your definition of SiFi
4:29 second from right a young Dr von Braun
before suffering from amnesia regarding the early fortys
Phantom of the opera good movie from 1925 and the lost world from 1925 great movie 😊
One more year til it is in the public domain in the US, or is it already in the PubDom.
Oooo I want to see that one lol 😂
How about that. They had a Zachary Smith in the movie.
Want to pose a question. SF hasn;t been so big in Germany after WWII, even now. It's like they want to forget their scientific ambitions, or any ambitions. East Germany by contrast did a lot of good SF. Why not review ''Eolomea' (1972)?
The female lead character is what feminists of the time wanted: a woman who was treated as an equal partner in the discovery of a new world, regardless of her genre.
Very scientifically accurate. After all, the one guy IS wearing a sweater, which you would definitely need on the Moon.
It is always so tedious when folks demand strict adherence to classifications such as Sci Fi. 100 Million B.C. IS sci fi in my book.
Sci-Fi stands for Science Fiction - not Speculative Fiction. Lord of the Rings is not Sci-Fi.
LOTR I'd call fantasy
trek 4 life lol 🎉
I like my Sci-fi like my drink; hard. Andromedae Strain, if you please.
Captain America the winter soldier
But Highlander still isn't sci-fi?
Still can’t justify it as such. I mean, the second one definitely is, but I don’t really want to talk about that one.
Soft sci-fi is not fantasy. It's concerned with social issues. Hard sci-fi Is concerned with the effects of technological advances.