Fritz Lang's Metropolis is a very influential movie that portrays several underlying meanings that allows the viewer to distinguish for himself. Metropolis was the first science fiction film made, which symbolized a new mark in the film industry. It was produced in Germany in 1927, directed by Fritz Lang. This film tells a story of the world of thinkers and workers. The thinkers are people who live in a life of luxury.
The workers are the people who live underground working with machines, in order to support the city above.The acting and the music also played an significant role in the film. The music pleasantly complements the images with motifs for the characters, setting and action. The ruler of the combined lower and upper cities is a cold middle-aged man named Joh Fredersen(Alfred Abel) who also has a good hearted
...son named Freder Fredersen(Gustav Frohlich). Joh Fredersen has a particular style of running Metropolis which is some what like a dictator. Meanwhile, the workers are dissatisfied with their brutal and dangerous working conditions.
They attend a meeting where Maria(Brigitte Helm) makes an inspiring speech about the awaiting of a Mediator. Soon Freder meets Maria and tells her he is the Mediator she has been speaking of. His Father Joh Frederson wants to shield Freder from the truth by sending a thin man to spy on him. Meanwhile Joh Frederson discovered the existence of a Robot created by the scientist Rotwang(Rudolf Klein Rogge). Impressred by Rotwang’s creation, Joh Frederson wants him to make a copy of Maria to incite the workers to attack some of the machines.He wants to replace all the workers with machines, in orde
to diminish the conflicts with the workers.
The result is a great flood that threatens to drown the Workers' children and its up to Freder Frederson and Maria to save Metropolis. One literary element which plays an spectacular role in the film is the expressions of metaphor. When Freder was in the underground he saw how the machines were devouring the workers. This illustrates how workers are slaves to machines. This film demonstrates how the idea of Machines are taking over humans, this first sience fiction ilms showed the viewers what will happen when human life is lost in the future.
German Expressionism is also portrayed in the film. German Expressionism is a way of showing the character or an object in the film by illustrating shadows, which was very popular in horror movies in the early to late 1920’s. A Movie which can be compared to Metropolis is Battleship Potemkin , directed by Sergei M. Eisenstein. In Metropolis where the workers rebeled against Freder Freserson it can be contrasted with Battleship Potemkin where the crew of the Russian attleship rebelled against the oppressive officer during the Tsarist regime. Another significant theme which can be seen throughout the film is “There can be no comprehension between the hands and the brain unless the heart acts as the mediator” Where Freder is the mediator, whose heart is full of love, mediates between the brains (the thinkers, the masters) and the hands (the workers) Metropolis has played an compelling influence to the film industry in many significant ways.
The film set many standards for future science-fiction films likeStar wars, Superman, Frankenstein and many other classic films.
Metropolis dramatizes the behold social, political and environmental hazards of the grand modern city in a vision which stuns the viewer with its greatness and shocks with its barbaric and inhumanity elements. "Metropolis.
"Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 29 May 2008, 07:28 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2 Jun 2008 . Ralph Harrington, ‘Visions of Metropolis: the great city as a theme in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis’ (2000) Location (stable URL): http://www. greycat.
org/papers/metro. html
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