Metropolis is a science fiction film that was released in Germany in 1927. The screenplay was written in 1924 by Austrian-German director Fritz Lang and his wife, Thea von Harbou. Together they created the film and produced it in the Babelsberg Studios. Metropolis is a futuristic city with a society struggling to align workers and owners. Critics feel the movie is more memorable for its fantastic imagery than its story, which is confusing and somewhat sentimental.
The Story
The story of Metropolis deals with significant trends in technological development for the time as well as class conflicts. A love story, a strong element of magic and the occult are interwoven into the story. Metropolis represents a terrifying, yet simple vision of the twenty-first century; that of a totalitarian society with futuristic architecture and technology.
The action takes place in a city that rested above an underground community of robotized people. Their only function was to care for the machines that operated the city of Metropolis. Critics discount the plot as thin and the acting poor, but the imagination and technology that created the city of flying taxis, monorails and skyscrapers won rave reviews. According to a review of Metropolis, at the end of the movie Fredersen shakes hands with the head of the workers in what most viewers will see as a compromise and truce between the two social classes, or between the boss and workers. The overall impact of the movie won the admiration of none other than Adolph Hitler, who offered the director a job in the Nazi film industry.
By Today's Standards
Viewed today, this film would now fall into the genre known as Science fiction. The robotic look of this film was the result of processes and model work developed by special-effects photographer Eugen Schüfftan. This became known as the Schufftan Process. The Schufftan Process was a revolutionary method of combining live action and miniatures.
As a film, Metropolis has hidden political messages as well as religious connections. At the beginning of Metropolis, and again at the end, a message appears in the inter-titles saying, "The mediator between head and hands must be the heart!"
Owning Metropolis
Although the original 1927 version no longer exists there are several versions of Metropolis available. The version that was released in the United States was severely shortened by removing some scenes. Restorers have added back some of the lost scenes, unfortunatley some parts of the film are gone forever. Each version has a different soundtrack, one is in color and one version uses a slower film speed, making it seem like a longer movie.
Fans of Metropolis recommend versions restored by Giorgio Moroder or a digital restoration, which are being sold by Kino International and by Amazon. com
