Steven

Payne Metropolis (1927) Dir. Fritz Lang

Unit Two Space

Metropolis is an iconic science fiction film, creating ripples of influence throughout the history of cinema and filmmaking. Ed Halter of The Village Voice says that, Lang's impossibly vast skyscraper-ziggurats are the blueprint for nearly every science-fiction movie city of the past 30 years (Halter, 2007) The film depicts the downfall of the utopian city of Metropolis at the hands of its underground workforce. Capitalism is the general theme of film, with the character of Freder acting as a catalyst of unity between his capitalist father and the exploited and abused workforce. The first thing that the audience notices about the film is the breathtaking scale of the city of Metropolis. Skyscrapers tower above the city streets with freeways winding up and around the buildings. The art deco style of the world above ground contrasts the gloriously steam-punk under city, much Fig 1 Metropolis Film Poster like that of the engine room to the rest of an ostentatious ocean liner. This segregation of styles reflects the relationship between master and servant, with the master living the life of luxury whilst the servant toils below, in the depths of the city. The city of Metropolis is what everybody pictures in their head when they think science fiction. Its that iconic. Ben Walters of Time Out Magazine says, Langs film is a mammoth marvel, fusing modernism and expressionism, art deco and Biblical spectacle (Walters, 2010)

Fig 2 The Engine Room

Fig 3 The City Skyline (with The Tower of Babel in

the Centre) For its time, Metropolis was considered a spectacle, a sight to behold and that awe-factor remains. The grand scale reflects themes of power and oppression, with both the city above and the engine rooms below being as grand as one another. This plays with the idea of a social equilibrium, with one entity functioning in tandem with another in order to maintain a stable world, in this case, the leaders of the city above must work to appease the workers below as to make sure that they keep their luxurious lifestyles intact.

Steven Payne

Unit Two Space

Themes surrounding religion are also present in the film, with Marias initial role as being a preacher to the workers, telling them tales of the Tower of Babel (which, in the film, is the office of Joh Frederson). In the bible, the tower is built so that the descendants of Noah could eventually reach up to Heaven. God chose here, to alter the speech of his people, saying, They are one people and have one language, and nothing will be withholden from them which they purpose to do. This led to the people being unable to understand one another, and so the tower could not be completed. Basically, this is saying that as long as there is a singular language in the world, there will be little limit for the people of Earth, so multiple languages were put in place as somewhat of a restriction of potential. In Metropolis, the tower stands as more of a symbol of slavery, reflecting the towers Biblical origin of being constructed by thousands of different individuals. In this case, the man at the top isnt God, but Joh Frederson, the closest thing that could be considered God in the city, being in control of everything below him. Richard Scheib of Moria.co.nz says that, The Tower of Babel is traditionally about visionary idolatry; here it becomes a heavy-handed symbol for oppressed workers. (Scheib) It is obvious why Metropolis has had such repercussions on filmmaking in recent times, being both a visual and narrative spectacle. Pretty much every science fiction film has taken influence from Metropolis and the genre as a whole owes it to Fritz Lang for making the genre what it has become today. Bibliography Quotes
Halter, E. (2007) Back to the Future. In: villagevoice.com 10.07.07 [online] http://www.villagevoice.com/2007-07-10/film/back-to-the-future/ (Accessed On 08/11/11) Walters, B. (2010) Metropolis. In: timeout.com 09.09.10 [online] http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/73119/metropolis.html (Accessed On 08/11/11) Scheib, R. Metropolis. In: moria.co.nz. [online] http://moria.co.nz/sciencefiction/metropolis-1927.htm (Accessed On 08/11/11)

List of Illustrations
Fig. 1. Metropolis Film Poster From: Metropolis Directed by: Fritz Lang. [film poster] Germany: Universum Film

Fig. 2. The Engine Room From: Metropolis Directed by: Fritz Lang. [film still] Germany: Universum Film Fig. 3. The City Skyline (With the Tower of Babel in the Centre) From: Metropolis Directed by: Fritz Lang. [film still] Germany: Universum Film