Film review - Metropolis (1927)

Fig 1 - Original Metropolis Poster

Released in 1927 and directed by Fritz Lang, 'Metropolis' is one of the most influential films for modern Science-Fiction today, having used the biggest budget in German film making at the time. From the character and set design to the plot, many elements from this film can be spotted throughout a variety of modern films such as 'The Matrix' and 'Blade Runner'.


'Metropolis'  is a film based on a divided city set in the distant future where both the working and upper class live separate lives in different parts of the city. For the upper class, they are provided with high skyscrapers,  Eternal gardens, a district dedicated to entertainment, various methods of transport and many more, while the lower class are subjected to working continuously, enslaved below the city in machine halls and living in small, mundane buildings.

Fig 2 - Machine halls

Fig 3 - Metropolis

Throughout the film, Lang's imagination of the differences between both the working class and upper class' living environments are shown to be depicted well through the use of lighting. Lower, working class citizens are show to be in a dark, barely lit world, while the upper classed are living in a city full of light that appears to be beaming with life. Lighting is influential in the film's feel and genre as suggested by Pierce, "With its immense sets and stark lighting, the workers' city is a credible image of hell, while the over ground landscapes were seminal influence on all subsequent science fiction." (Pierce. 2003) 

The film also depicts how different both the upper class and working class citizen's lives are based on the tasks they have to undertake. References to how hard the working class citizens work shows that viewers may not know what the workers are doing but they know that it is to help the city, as shown here: "What they're doing makes no logical sense, but visually the connection is obvious; They are controlled like hands on a clock. When the machinery explodes, Freder has a vision in which the machinery turns into an obscene, devouring monster." (Ebert. 2010) This quote by Ebert shows that the workers have no control over what they are able to do and it seems as though they sacrifice themselves to the machines in order for the people in upper class to live luxurious lives. 

Fig 4 - Metropolis worker

As well as their working environments, the lower class are also shown to live in poverty, in 'slums' below the city so that they are out of sight and mind of the upper class. "The city’s subterranean slums, alluded to only as “The Depths,” are a direct reflection of Fredersen’s personal disdain for the plebs of von Harbou’s future. Blue-collar grunts slave away where the cosmopolitan elite of Fredersen’s bauble on a hill doesn’t have to see them (it’s “where they belong,” Fredersen glowers)." (Abrams. 2010) As shown, Fredersen, a very powerful upper classed man himself, believes that it is not necessary for the lower class to live the lifestyle they are not seen to deserve.




Illustration List:

Figure 1  - Lang, F (1927) Metropolis. At: http://retromovieposter.com/poster/metropolis/ 
[Accessed on: 30 September 2017]

Figure 2 - Lang, F (1927) Metropolis. At: http://www.putlearningfirst.com/br/metropolis.html 
[Accessed on: 3 October 2017]

Figure 3 - Lang, F (1927) Metropolis. At: https://giphy.com/search/flippingbear
[Accessed on: 3 October 2017] 

Figure 4 - Lang, F (1927) Metropolis. At: https://gifopolis.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/gifopolis.com_1605006.gif [Accessed on: 3 October 2017]
Bibliography:

Ebert, R (2010) Great movie Metropolis [Online] RogerEdbert.com. Available at: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-metropolis-2010-restoration-1927
[Accessed on: 3 October 2017]

Pierce, N (2003) Metropolis (1927) [Online] www.bbc.co.uk. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2003/01/06/metropolis_1927_review.shtml
[Accessed on: 15 October 2017]

Abrams, S (2010) Metropolis [Online] www.slantmagazine.com. Available at: https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/metropolis [Accessed on: 15 October 2017]