Metropolis (1927)

Metropolis is a classic silent film from director Fritz Lang set in a futuristic urban dystopia. There was nothing to compare to this epic masterpiece when it was originally released in 1927. Unfortunately, the complete version of this film no longer exists, so the version that I viewed featured intertitles filling in the gaps that would be missing scenes. There is one character known as The Thin Man (Fritz Rasp), and almost all of his scenes are now lost. This film, despite being a landmark in silent cinema, is a major testament to the importance of film preservation.

The city of Metropolis is a layered and divided into two main sections. The upper levels are where the thinkers and rich live comfortable and lavish lifestyles, while the underground level is where the working class live and work on the machines that power the city. A big theme of the story is the unification between the two classes, and the need of a mediator to unite them. The story follows Freder (Gustav Fröhlich), the son of Joh Frederson (Alfred Abel), who is the ruler of the city. He falls for a young woman (Brigitte Helm) named Maria who wanders up to the surface with a large group of children trying to get the attention of the elites. While looking for her below ground, he sees first hand how poor the conditions are for the working class and tries to help by switching places with one of them and finding their meeting place in the catacombs where he sees Maria telling the workers to wait for “a mediator” to come to them bringing peace before resorting to causing a revolt. While all this is happening, Joh Frederson meets with a scientist named Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) who is building a machine-man in the image of Frederson’s deceased wife. When hearing about the potential revolt, Frederson tells him to change the machine-man to look like Maria in order to stop it before it gets out of hand. Rotwang has his own plans however, and things only get worse from there. Even with all the missing scenes, the film has pretty remarkable lasting power; there are some truly incredible scenes. Brigitte Helm as both Maria and the machine-man made to look like Maria is particularly good, as the two characters only share the appearance of the actress. The machine-man character is so evil and visually so, that it is a captivating performance. The way she moves so fast and erratically, she almost seems not only like she’s not human, but like she may be malfunctioning as well. The constant close-ups help attract attention to the odd way she moves and looks around. The visuals in the film are still impressive today. The sets are large and imposing, fitting the colossal structures that make up the different layers of the city and the miniatures are well crafted and detailed, featuring a distinct Art Deco style that seems original and futuristic, as well as reminiscent of German Expressionism. Some of the most memorable scenes are the ones featuring the iconic machine-man before it has the appearance of Maria. The scene in which Maria’s skin is transported onto the machine-man stands out the most, as the equipment brings to mind Frankenstein’s laboratory, complete with inexplicable boiling liquids and electricity flowing all over the place, displaying tools science that the viewer is not meant to fathom, let alone understand. There are also some interesting shots in this film, displaying Fritz Lang’s talents as a director. In one instance there is a zoom in on a rag that Freder finds in the basement of Rotwang’s home, but his right arm moves with the camera, maintaining its position within the shot. This then makes the shot a point of view shot and the viewer literally becomes the man, reaching for the rag. This may not be that impressive now, but at the time and compared with many of the shots throughout the film, this is a memorable scene. Metropolis is a great and important film (despite all that is missing) and definitely one worth checking out.