by Allan Fish
(Germany 1927/2010 150m) DVD1/2
I’ve just met two girls named Maria
p Erich Pommer d Fritz Lang w Thea Von Harbou ph Karl Freund, Günther Rittau m Gottfried Huppertz art Otto Hunte, Erich Kettelhut, Karl Vollbrecht spc Eugene Schüfftan
Brigitte Helm (Maria), Alfred Abel (John Fredersen), Güstav Fröhlich (Freder Fredersen), Rudolf Klein-Rogge (Prof.Rotwang), Fritz Rasp (Slim), Theodore Loos (Josephat), Erwin Biswanger (11811), Heinrich George (Grot), Olaf Storm (Jan),
Fritz Lang’s supreme folly and the most ambitious silent film ever made, UFA’s flagship sci-fi fantasy has it all. It has influenced more films directly than almost any other (take Things to Come, Frankenstein, Modern Times, The Fifth Element, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner to name but half a dozen), nearly ruined its studio financially but now stands out as arguably their greatest achievement. Some may decry the somewhat naïve politics and religious symbolism, and the finale is certainly quite laughable, but its message rings clear.
Metropolis is a giant city circa 2000 A.D. Its workers live underground in an ant-commune like city whilst the children of the rich, with its Club of the Sons, play idly above ground in their mansions and stadiums. Almost unconscious of their totalitarian power, the young rich only have their eyes opened when a young woman, Maria, comes to the Eternal Gardens with a group of slum children. Freder, son of the master of the city, is fascinated by her and follows her underground and sees for himself the poverty. But when his father persuades a professor, Rotwang, to create a model Maria to replace the real one and stamp out any revolutionary tendencies, things take a turn for the worse.
Much has been made of the religious allegory of the piece, but to which portion of the Bible the allegory refers is somewhat open to interpretation. The constant references to Revelation lend an apocalyptic feel to proceedings, but the towers of the city recall the Tower of Babel, the statues that come to life denote the Seven Deadly Sins and it might also be showing that, as saieth the commandment, thou shalt have no other God before me. (In this case, money.) Either way, the religious subtext is clear, and its conclusion at a Gothic cathedral – one of the few truly old buildings in this city of the future – could not be more pointed.
The opening and final caption reads “the mediator between the head and hands must be the heart.” Here Freder is found between his father and the workers’ leader in the final symbolic handshake, and though this moral may seem a trifle trite viewed from beyond the year in which the film is set, and its city something of a model of Bauhaus fantasy, it still stands up remarkably well for its age. Unlike Things to Come, which dated itself very quickly by pinpointing events to certain years, Metropolis is very vague about when the film is happening. But it’s the images that matter and there are shots here that truly burn themselves into the brain; the workers plodding in unison to work and back again, the creation of the robotic Maria (with the pentagram behind recalling Der Golem), the demonic Maria doing wild and wildly dated dances with pasties over her nipples leading the young men into a rather laughable frenzy, the poor worker doing the ten hour shift at the generator moving his arms about like a clock, the explosion of the huge machine and, perhaps most memorably, Freder’s wild vision of the machine turning itself into the Moloch furnace with its workers escorted into the flames recalling the poor children in Pastrone’s Cabiria. Above all, the film is to be applauded for its technical achievement. The photography and set design of the city are quite jaw-dropping (especially in the spanking new print restored by the Murnau Foundation). Yet it’s to writer Von Harbou and Lang whom the most credit must go, for managing to make a masterpiece out of what could have been a real farrago if they had put the slightest foot wrong. If the added footage is in a truly deplorable state (found in Buenos Aires in 2008 in a cropped 16mm print) and the sexual angle may date wildly and its view of paradise above even more so, it’s still a paradise of a film for any true enthusiast. Et in arcadia, ego.
Screencap of one of the added scenes in the restored version - poor quality due to state of print. Taken from recording of ARTE channel broadcast. The film is due on DVD and Blu Ray in December 2010
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If a film can have nine lives, Metropolis would be that film. It seems to be revamped about once a decade, though the Buenos Aires version may finally bring that process to its conclusion. In my view, in whatever state we find it it’s not an improvement on Lang’s Nibelung films, but it certainly deserves to be near the top of this survey for its unprecedented and unequaled expression of silent-era futurism. Hearing it with its original score definitely elevates it compared to the random sounds to be heard on public domain prints. However hokey parts of it may be, the film probably speaks to modern audiences more directly than any silents apart from some of the comedies.
Right now I feel certain about three of the final seven, and at the rate we’re going those will be the next three we’ll see.
I still need to see the newly restored version of this, and as such I almost didn’t want to include it on my own personal list, or even put such a list up in the meantime. At any rate, “Metropolis” is one of my favorites, a grand synthesis of heady sci-fi, high adventure and visionary spectacle. I’d complain for it being anywhere outside of the top five, but I think I have a pretty good handle on what’s to come.
As for films influenced by Lang’s masterpiece– Interesting that you note “The Fifth Element”, essentially a Eurotrash version of “Star Wars” with a heavy dose of Moebius’ pages from Heavy Metal magazine, but not the real McCoy itself, even though it carries Lang’s influence in spades. Not terribly surprising, of course, considering the depths to which your esteem for it reaches, but interesting nonetheless. Nice observation on “Frankenstein”, though.
I’m very interested indeed to see the restored version, though I wonder if they might have cleaned up the image a bit better if they weren’t in such a rush. Oh well, I’d gladly double dip (holding off on buying any previous copies paid off) for such a stunning work. Last time I bothered to quantify, I believe I edged out Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler over this (still need to see his Nibelung films), but I don’t know that I can name ten films more influential than Metropolis. All of the best sci-fi films (and the not so good ones too) take something from this, either thematically (Blade Runner, A.I.) or aesthetically (too many examples to list).
While I think the religious overtones of the film and the silly ending are rather forgettable, there is no doubt in my mind that, for pure visual bravado alone, this film HAD to make the top 10. ALLAN rightfully snapped off a half dozen films that METROPOLIS has influenced and I can firmly state that the list could have gone on much longer. However, film is vnot the only thing influenced. Fene Roddenberry’s TV series STAR TREK is influenced by it and guys like BOB KANE with his BATMAN comics and SEIGEL and SHUSTER with their own SUPERMAN were greatly inspired (as Kane imagined Gotham City in his drawing the influence is clear). Like Frank Lloyd Wright, Lang and his artists were obsessed with the modern design concept of ART DECO and that movement, which dominated the period (1910-1945), is a ode to thinkers who wanted to reach to a perfected and sheen future. For the art alone METROPOLIS is unforgettable. No other film looks quite like it.
ONE QUIBBLE TO ALLAN…. With all that is written and discussed about the visual and set design if this film, don’t you think a more appropriate screen-cap for this entry could have been better served than with a screen shot of a mid-riff baring woman. I mean, we’re all guilty of fawning over the fairer sex, but in this case a cap of the robot or the city landscape been more illustrative of what will surely be the heart of the blog discussion?
Honest answer, Dennis, I wasn’t able to put anything better as I have lost screencap facility on my new PC as my old WinDVD program is no longer cpompatible and PowerDVD doesn’t give you the option.
Does anyone know of cheap preferably free software that allows screencaps to be taken, as it has left me having to use those I already had for future entries.
Many times Allan when the computer blocks you from tacking screencaps during a dvd feature it’s an easy line of script the needs to be put into a terminal like application.
for your powerDVD this look like the trick,
http://community.livejournal.com/angelfish_icons/5587.html
or just google ‘powerDVD screenshot how to’ or something along those lines until you find something that works for you.
I feel your pain after being blocked on my mac for years, then finally figuring it out one day.
Fish, I use Media Player Classic. I wind up having to resize the screencaps I take, though after you figure out the proper ratio for stretching the image, it’s not a big deal. Besides, it’s open source, so it’s altogether reliable.
Thanks, guys. Bob, I have downloaded MPC and you’re right, piece of piss. Just pause, save image, open in PhShop. Similar to to WinDVD which just required pressing P and auromatically saved in a folder in My Pics.
Thanks, will make things a lot easier for the 2000s countdown.
Remind me, is “piece of piss” the Brit-colloquial equivalent of “piece of shit” or “piece of cake”?
Indeed…
A dark visually stunning work by visionary fillmmakers. I have not seen the restored version but I look forward to doing so.
I guess I couldn’t have seen the most recently restored version (as I’m pretty sure that last extension I saw was on TCM back in ’06 or ’07, and if it was ’08 it was very early in ’08). But when I did see a longer version than the VHS I’d seen up to that point, I was very impressed. The film had never been one of my favorites, but somehow length and detail helped a great deal, and I admired it immensely. Certainly a no-brainer pick for the top ten (though, admittedly, it probably wouldn’t be in mine).
Hi! Allan,
Once again, what a very descriptive and well-written review of a film that I have not had the pleasure of watching yet…(Once again, with “yet” being the “operative” word.)
Allan said,”Screencap of one of the added scenes in the restored version – poor quality due to state of print. Taken from recording of ARTE channel broadcast. The film is due on DVD and Blu Ray in December 2010…”
Pardom (replacing the “n,”but of course!) I thought that you ordered and received a copy of the restored version of this film recently, but as you have so clearly stated here that the restored version of this film isn’t due for release until December 2010…
…Oh! are you saying that the recently “discovered” print have not been restored, but has been added to the film that is due to be released in December (2010) unrestored. 😕
…By the way, do anyone know how many times this film has been released on DVD? Oh! oui, I’am so aware of the Kino version.
DeeDee 😉
Hi! Allan Fish,
Allan said,”Does anyone know of cheap preferably free software that allows screencaps to be taken, as it has left me having to use those I already had for future entries.”
Allan, a couple of bloggers, mentioned this website to me after I mentioned to them that I was in search of screenshots…and I think that it is free software too! (As I shrug my shoulders and protrube my bottom lip…)
DeeDee 😉
Videolan
Tower of Babel is one of the greatest ever filmed!
And Allan, you should try out VLC media player for the screencaps. It’s free and can do magic.
Yes VLC is the best IMHO. It will play any media film (avi, quicktime, ect) and as you say, it’s a free download.
Allan –
Nice to see this excellent coverage of silent classics. Metropolis is probably my favorite. Its sort of abstract, oddball plot and its stunning visuals make it like one of those ideal movies you dream about but don’t exist. And silent films feel like they exist in a different dimension – and that makes them so stunningly memorable.
I’ve just seen this at Ipswich Film Theatre in the restored version and returned to read your review again, Allan – very interested to hear how many films it influenced. Although the added-in footage is in a poor state, and, as you say, the ending is laughable, the film as a whole is magnificent and it is a great experience to see it on the big screen.
I’d love to know more about how the special effects were achieved 83 years ago.
Must also congratulate you on “I’ve just met two girls named Maria’!
Thanks, Judy. I should have trhe MoC Blu Ray next week, so looking forward to seeing it again.
The screen cap of the added scene doesn’t look much worse than the 16mm versions I saw in the 1970s. I want to see the current restored version. You’re right that even when the plot didn’t make sense, the images were captivating.