Metall des Himmels: A weird, dusty look at propaganda

Is Metall des Himmels worth watching? Honestly, only if you have a very specific, unhealthy obsession with 1930s industrial cinematography or you're a film history student who enjoys being bored to tears. If you're looking for a casual movie night, steer clear. You will probably hate it unless you’re interested in how governments manipulate the masses through boring-looking factory footage.

The whole thing feels like a fever dream of hammers and sparks. There's this strange, rhythmic clanging that happens for about ten minutes straight. It starts to get under your skin after a while. Bruno Fritz shows up looking like he’s trying to solve a math problem that has no solution. He doesn't say much, just kind of stares at the metal with this intense, dead-eyed focus.

The premise is that a piece of space-metal lands, and suddenly it's the most important thing in the universe. It’s almost funny how they frame a lump of ore like it’s a religious relic. The way they cut from the sky to the factory floor is supposed to feel grand and epic, but mostly it just feels like someone got really excited about welding.

There's this one shot of a worker's hands—they’re covered in soot and grime—that stays on screen for way too long. I found myself counting his fingernails. It’s a weird detail, but in a movie this thin on plot, you start looking for anything to anchor your brain to.

Comparing this to something like The Wolf of Wall Street feels like comparing a rock to a rocket ship. There is no charisma here. Just cold, hard industry. It makes Red Hot Hoofs look like a masterpiece of emotional depth, which is saying something.

The pacing is non-existent. It just sort of drifts along until it stops. You can tell they were trying to convince you that this metal was somehow magic, but it’s really just… metal. Very shiny, very propaganda-heavy metal.

I caught myself checking my watch about halfway through. The scene with the furnace glowed so bright it made my eyes hurt. Maybe that was the point? To blind the viewer with industrial progress? 🙄

It’s not a movie you watch for the story. It’s a movie you watch to see how they used to sell the idea of 'the future' through heavy machinery and nationalistic music. It feels like a chore, but a weirdly fascinating one if you’re into the dark side of film history.

Just don't go in expecting anything resembling human warmth. It’s cold, metallic, and honestly, a little bit exhausting to sit through.