Cinema has two gigantic cities: One is called Blade
Runner, directed by Ridley Scott; the other is called
Metropolis, directed by Fritz Lang. The difference between
these mighty cities? Metropolis happens before what Henri
Lefebvre calls the “urban revolution.” Blade Runner happens long
after it’s over. The citizens in Metropolis are ready to
fight for their urban rights; the inhabitants of Blade
Runner are too tired to fight. Metropolis marks the birth of
who we are now. (SIFF Cinema at McCaw Hall; see Movie Times, page
88, for details.)

Charles Mudede—who writes about film, books, music, and his life in Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, the USA, and the UK for The Stranger—was born near a steel plant in Kwe Kwe, Zimbabwe. He has no memory...