Autobianchi Y10

The introductory commercial for the Y10 car in 1985 is still remembered in Italy today.  The imagery, seemingly straight out of a science fiction film certainly caught the public imagination.



Shot in the world famous Cinecitta studios in the pre-CGI days it used the oldest robot trick in the book, the costumed performer, in this case a tall, thin Hawaiian model called Sheba.  She described her ordeal in a newspaper interview at the time.  If you know about this, please let me know.

Incidentally, Hajima Sorayama had exhibited his work in Italy the previous year.  His work would strongly influence robots in the 80s, just as Chris Cunningham's design for the Bjork video did in the 00s

Why Metropolis ?

It was this image in the Larousse Encyclopaedia that got my attention as a child. Was it a statue ? A robot ? How did it work ? What was this Metropolis film about ?

It was several years before I finally saw Metropolis and decades after it was made, the design and imagery of the film struck me like a ton of bricks. Being a lover of Science-Fiction I became captivated by one of the most famous movie icons ever.

I spent years collecting images and information about this film, but information was often far and few between and a lot was contradictory and people willing to help me didn't always point me in the right direction. But thanks to the internet and computer technology I was able to substantially update my collection, though it is likely to remain a never-ending quest.

Kropserkel goes Metropolis

Kropserkel is a Canadian prop-making company that has produced a number or stunning models and replicas of famous movie props and costumes.

A few years ago they announced that they would be doing a full-size replica of the Metropolis robot and according to the internet buzz, something will see the light of day in 2009.

For more information :

http://kropserkel.com/

The Metropolis Robot

The Bibliotheque du Film, attached to the world famous Cinématheque in Paris has a very interesting site about the "Maschinenmensch" robot woman from Metropolis.

Videos of the restored version and rare images donated personally by Fritz Lang as well as detailed 3D photos of the robot replica made by Walther Shultze-Mittendorf can be found here :

http://metropolis.robot.bifi.fr/