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Metropolis - Fritz Lang (1927) : Metropolis Is A 1927 German-Expressionist Film by Fritz Lang. It Was Based

Metropolis is a 1927 German expressionist film directed by Fritz Lang. It depicts a dystopian futuristic city dominated by a tall tower called the Babel Tower. The city is strictly divided between the wealthy elite who live at the top of the tower and the workers who live underground. The son of the city's powerful leader witnesses the poor working conditions and follows a woman named Maria down to the worker's city. He is horrified by their suffering. Maria is later kidnapped and used to control a robotic replica of herself to trick the workers into a rebellion. Freder saves Maria and stops the rebellion, bringing an understanding between the classes. The film was acclaimed but also controversial for its depiction of technology and division of society.

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204 views

Metropolis - Fritz Lang (1927) : Metropolis Is A 1927 German-Expressionist Film by Fritz Lang. It Was Based

Metropolis is a 1927 German expressionist film directed by Fritz Lang. It depicts a dystopian futuristic city dominated by a tall tower called the Babel Tower. The city is strictly divided between the wealthy elite who live at the top of the tower and the workers who live underground. The son of the city's powerful leader witnesses the poor working conditions and follows a woman named Maria down to the worker's city. He is horrified by their suffering. Maria is later kidnapped and used to control a robotic replica of herself to trick the workers into a rebellion. Freder saves Maria and stops the rebellion, bringing an understanding between the classes. The film was acclaimed but also controversial for its depiction of technology and division of society.

Uploaded by

Dhuran Modha
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Metropolis Fritz Lang (1927)

Metropolis is a 1927 German-expressionist film by Fritz Lang. It was based on a book written by Langs wife, Thea Von Harbou, and the main influence came from when Lang visited New York City and saw the skyscrapers and saw that the buildings seemed to be a vertical sail, scintillating and very light, a luxurious backdrop, suspended in the dark sky to dazzle, distract and hypnotize". Lang and Harbou cited that for the Babel tower, the main headquarters in the city, the Babel tower painted by the French Renaissance painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder as it makes a good comparison; the poor are building this magnificent building and keeping it, the city, running while the rich live at the top in luxury The audience meets Freder Frederson, the son of the most powerful man in the city, Jon Fig. 1 Metropolis (c.1927) Frederson, whos vision created the city. Freder sees a woman who is displays the children who live in the depths underground of the workers city and leaves. Freder, fascinated, follows her into the depths and is horrified to see the pain and suffering that the workers have to live through, he appeals to his father to help, who refuses. Freder then takes matters into his own hands and relives a dying worker from his post and goes to meet with Maria.

Fig. 2 Metropolis Babel Tower (c.1927)

Maria is soon kidnapped and imprisoned to make the so famous mechanical robot to trick the workers into rebelling and destroying their own city. Freder saves Maria, and as the workers rise against the rich, they flood the city trapping Freder, Maria and all of the children in the city, which is now flooding as a cause of the riot. Fig. 3 Babel Tower (c.1563) They finally escape and find that the mechanical Maria is leading the riot with the workers clueless of her true nature, they spot the real Maria and decide to change their attack on the machine, burning her at the stake, and once united with their children, still with motive, continue onwards to the Babel tower where the chief mechanic united with Jon Frederson with the help of Freder who forever changes the relationship between rich and poor.

The film was met with wide critical acclaim, however, H. G. Wells wasnt pleased at all. He described the iconic robot as soulless mechanical monster (Wells, 1927) however, the robot was made from a mix of plastic and wood so little movement was possible, and it has inspired many directors/writers to create their own version of robots; using them as slaves, helper or even battle droids. This film has inspired George Lucas, who modelled C3P0 on Maria, Ridley Scott, as the miniatures in the opening scenes. Fig. 4 Metropolis (1927) One of the biggest, strangest, maddest films in cinema history (Bradshaw, 2010) Peter Bradshaw of the times credited it as one of the maddest films in history, and this has its merit, because the idea of a robot which can impersonate a human was thought to be almost unreal as technology wasnt very advanced. However, this is one of the main reasons that it has become a timeless film because even by todays standards, this kind of technology is scarce and therefore 85 years on it is still considered science fiction.

Fig. 1 Metropolis Theatrical Poster (c.1927) [Poster] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/06/Metropolisposter.jpg Fig. 2 Babel Tower (1927). From Metropolis. Directed by Fritz Lang. [Film Still] http://metropolis1927.com/inc/img/gallery/stills/13.jpg Fig. 3 Babel Tower, Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c.1563) [Image] http://www.eikongraphia.com/wordpress/wp-content/Tower%20of%20Babel.jpg Fig. 4 Maria Robot (1927). From Metropolis. Directed by Fritz Lang. [Film Still] http://taicarmen.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/metropolis-maria-robot.jpg?w=480

Bradshaw, P (The Guardian, 2010) [Online] http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/sep/09/metropolis-restored-film-review Wells, H. G. (The New York Times, 1927) http://erkelzaar.tsudao.com/reviews/H.G.Wells_on_Metropolis%201927.htm

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