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| FIG.1 METROPOLIS, 1927 POSTER |
Metropolis is a 1927 science fiction film directed by Fritz Lang, the film takes place in a futuristic, dystopian society where the privileged, up above, control the workers down below. The wealthy live above in a utopia where they are able to relax and have a good time, but when our protagonist Freder falls in love with a rebellious girl from the city below, he finds a society of which he's never seen before where the workers are literally turning into gears of machines.
This scene happens early on in the film, so the audience is faced with the clash of two different worlds early on. It can also be said that as a German film, the social divide represents Germany communism divides in the 1920's. Due to all the ways, the social classes are being portrayed, the message can then be worked through right up until the last scene of Metropolis. Jack Eidt, a novelist says: 'The film tells the story of a futuristic city, with magnificent skyscrapers traversed by biplanes and monorails, with beautiful gardens and sports stadiums. Yet this paradise of glass and steel is not for everyone. Hidden in the bowels of the city we see an image of hell, where workers toil endlessly at the giant machines that run the world above.' (Eidt, 2012) which separates the two worlds of the rich and the poor, the bosses and the workers, the head and the hands of the world. Eidt says 'in the bowels...an image of hell', this gives a good impression of what it is like for the workers, 'workers toil endlessly' doing their jobs like clockwork, like gears in a machine, slowly becoming parts of machines. However, by the end of the film after several mentions of the need for 'a mediator between the head and hands' (as seen in figure 2) Freder, the mediator of the two worlds ends up becoming the heart, joining both social classes together after being separated for so long. He is able to do this after his journey through both worlds where he started as a privileged rich man and ended testing the roles of the working class and doing whatever he could to find his lover: Maria.
This scene happens early on in the film, so the audience is faced with the clash of two different worlds early on. It can also be said that as a German film, the social divide represents Germany communism divides in the 1920's. Due to all the ways, the social classes are being portrayed, the message can then be worked through right up until the last scene of Metropolis. Jack Eidt, a novelist says: 'The film tells the story of a futuristic city, with magnificent skyscrapers traversed by biplanes and monorails, with beautiful gardens and sports stadiums. Yet this paradise of glass and steel is not for everyone. Hidden in the bowels of the city we see an image of hell, where workers toil endlessly at the giant machines that run the world above.' (Eidt, 2012) which separates the two worlds of the rich and the poor, the bosses and the workers, the head and the hands of the world. Eidt says 'in the bowels...an image of hell', this gives a good impression of what it is like for the workers, 'workers toil endlessly' doing their jobs like clockwork, like gears in a machine, slowly becoming parts of machines. However, by the end of the film after several mentions of the need for 'a mediator between the head and hands' (as seen in figure 2) Freder, the mediator of the two worlds ends up becoming the heart, joining both social classes together after being separated for so long. He is able to do this after his journey through both worlds where he started as a privileged rich man and ended testing the roles of the working class and doing whatever he could to find his lover: Maria.
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| FIG.2 METROPOLIS, 1927, THE MEDIATOR STILL |
This film was pushing the boundaries of the science of its day along with costume design (the robot), special effects and social classes. This film took the limits to the next level in order to modernize the German society through Lang's vision of what the city would become. 'It's holistic vision of a future city with no middle class, where the super-rich live high above the poor workers who toil in the depths, has gone on to influence a century of cinema and architecture.' (Haridy, 2018) Since then we can see that the film has influenced different aspects of other films such as, I,robot (2004) where we can see robots taking where humans are getting too comfortable, Blade Runner (1982), where technology is pushed further and further, and Star Wars (1977), where the world is built up of technology and robots. When looking back on a film like Metropolis, it can be said it was ahead of its time, especially when beginning to compare it to other, more recent, sci-fi films. Alongside Metropolis being one of the first hard-hitting science fiction films, it could be said that it is even more than just a sci-fi, it can fall under a dystopian/utopian genre as well, due to the film being so backward and frightening. On top of this, it has a disaster film vibe as well because by the end of the film everything goes wrong- all because of the robot and the mistakes that came with it.
Overall it is clear that the film wanted to push the limits of modernity in technology, science and social classes in order to succeed in a more modernised society where everyone is involved in the community- 'One of the ideas that had become popular during World War I in Germany was known as volkgemeinschaft which was an expression that aimed to remove class tensions and create a “people’s community."' (Ufilmanalysis, 2013). The idea was to begin eliminating classes and depending on the spectator watching Metropolis it could be said that the message of the film was not just about science fiction but was also about the political side of things and social divides finally coming back together with someone to join the two classes in the end.
The impact Metropolis has had on today's science fiction films is obvious once the points can be spotted, like social class divides, realities and boundaries of science, special effects and even things down to gender roles- where men are more heavily portrayed than women. It is fair to say the film is extremely creative and most likely was ahead of its time, something the viewers were not quite ready for, which is what could have caused it to flop in the box office. It's likely the world was not quite ready for what Lang had envisioned for the future of Germany, although now it's clear that his visions were not as far out there as it may have seemed back in 1927.
IMAGES:
FIGURE 1- METROPOLIS (1927) [POSTER] AT: https://www.allposters.co.uk/-sp/Metropolis-German-Movie-Poster-1926-Posters_i6258718_.htm
FIGURE 2- METROPOLIS (1927) [STILL] AT: https://unaffiliatedcritic.com/2013/02/metropolis-1927-independent-study-in-world-cinema/ (ACCESSED ON: 27 SEPTEMBER 18)
FIGURE 3- METROPOLIS (1927) [STILL] AT: https://www.wilderutopia.com/performance/film/h-g-wells-on-the-futurist-dystopia-of-fritz-langs-metropolis/ (ACCESSED ON: 27 SEPTEMBER 18)
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
EIDT, J. (2012) AT: https://www.wilderutopia.com/performance/film/h-g-wells-on-the-futurist-dystopia-of-fritz-langs-metropolis/ (ACCESSED ON 27 SEPTEMBER 18)
HARIDY, R. (2018) [PDF] AT: http://futureoflocalgovernment.org.au/files/2018/07/Robotics-and-Automation-Science-Fiction-Cities-Smart-Cities-of-Today-and-the-Future.pdf (ACCESSED ON: 27 SEPTEMBER 18)
Overall it is clear that the film wanted to push the limits of modernity in technology, science and social classes in order to succeed in a more modernised society where everyone is involved in the community- 'One of the ideas that had become popular during World War I in Germany was known as volkgemeinschaft which was an expression that aimed to remove class tensions and create a “people’s community."' (Ufilmanalysis, 2013). The idea was to begin eliminating classes and depending on the spectator watching Metropolis it could be said that the message of the film was not just about science fiction but was also about the political side of things and social divides finally coming back together with someone to join the two classes in the end.
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| FIGURE 3. METROPOLIS STILL, 1927, THE FUTURE OF GERMANY |
The impact Metropolis has had on today's science fiction films is obvious once the points can be spotted, like social class divides, realities and boundaries of science, special effects and even things down to gender roles- where men are more heavily portrayed than women. It is fair to say the film is extremely creative and most likely was ahead of its time, something the viewers were not quite ready for, which is what could have caused it to flop in the box office. It's likely the world was not quite ready for what Lang had envisioned for the future of Germany, although now it's clear that his visions were not as far out there as it may have seemed back in 1927.
IMAGES:
FIGURE 1- METROPOLIS (1927) [POSTER] AT: https://www.allposters.co.uk/-sp/Metropolis-German-Movie-Poster-1926-Posters_i6258718_.htm
FIGURE 2- METROPOLIS (1927) [STILL] AT: https://unaffiliatedcritic.com/2013/02/metropolis-1927-independent-study-in-world-cinema/ (ACCESSED ON: 27 SEPTEMBER 18)
FIGURE 3- METROPOLIS (1927) [STILL] AT: https://www.wilderutopia.com/performance/film/h-g-wells-on-the-futurist-dystopia-of-fritz-langs-metropolis/ (ACCESSED ON: 27 SEPTEMBER 18)
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
EIDT, J. (2012) AT: https://www.wilderutopia.com/performance/film/h-g-wells-on-the-futurist-dystopia-of-fritz-langs-metropolis/ (ACCESSED ON 27 SEPTEMBER 18)
HARIDY, R. (2018) [PDF] AT: http://futureoflocalgovernment.org.au/files/2018/07/Robotics-and-Automation-Science-Fiction-Cities-Smart-Cities-of-Today-and-the-Future.pdf (ACCESSED ON: 27 SEPTEMBER 18)
Ufilmanalysis, 2013, Is the film Metropolis a reflection of German culture in the 1920s? At: https://ufilmanalysisfall13.wordpress.com/2013/09/05/is-the-film-metropolis-a-reflection-of-the-german-culture-during-the-1920s/ (ACCESSED ON: 27 SEPTEMBER 18)
1 Comments
Hi Ren!
ReplyDeleteAnother thoughtful review - you have discussed many of the important aspects of the film here...well done :)
You still have a slight 'font size issue' going on, although it's not as drastic as last time!
Make sure that you reference all the quotes; the quotes by Eidt, for example, need the in-text citation.
This sentence here doesn't really make sense - 'it is fair to say the film is extremely creative and most likely was ahead of its time, which is what caused it to flop in the box office'.
It starts in a positive tone (saying it was creative and ahead of its time)but then goes into a negative tone(causing it to flop). Better might have been -
'Despite the film being extremely creative and most likely was ahead of its time,the viewing public may not have been ready for such innovation, which might explain what caused it to flop in the box office' or similar.
Double-check the Harvard guide - certain parts of the bibliography should be italicise, and others not!