Gateway Cinephiles

3-Minute Intro: Metropolis

Screened: January 22, 2008
Format: DVD - Madacy Entertainment (1998)
Selected By: Eric

Few filmmakers have had such a profound effect on the look of cinema as Fritz Lang, and that influence is almost wholly contained within the frame of his sprawling 1927 silent science fiction epic, Metropolis. At the time, it was the most expensive silent film ever created, and every Reichsmark is apparent in the film’s stunning production design. Initially released in Berlin, alternate versions of the film were screened in Europe and America in subsequent years, although these versions were edited and re-titled to the point of incoherence. Reception of the film was mixed, especially outside Germany, but in the eight decades since its release Metropolis has wielded a tectonic power over film history, and over science fiction in particular.

The screenplay, co-written with Lang’s then-wife Thea von Harbou, is a typical example of early twentieth-century fiction, combining dystopian speculative science fiction elements with leftist political commentary. The film features a stock of archetypical characters, whose roles and motivations vary depending on the version of the film: a power-hungry captain of industry, a charismatic oracle, an idealistic prodigal son, an obsessed scientist, and a robot that threatens society. What makes Metropolis an achievement is Lang’s uncompromising ambition to knead together the artistry of German Expressionism, an Art Deco-inspired visual design, and familiar science fiction conventions.

In contrast to his literary antecedents, Lang was less concerned with scientific plausibility and technical exposition than with conveying an evocative vision that served the story’s themes. With distinctly German gravitas, Metropolis tackles the frightening power of technology to oppress, segregate, and distract. (Although for years Lang actually regarded the finished film as too uplifting and sentimental!) It was Metropolis’ novel visual design, however, that would eventually reverberate through cinema. Although they are now familiar futurist landmarks, the film’s towering skyscrapers, monorails and airships, and nightmarish industrial underbelly had never been realized on such a scale. The laboratory of Doctor Rotwang in particular established the lasting look for mad scientist lairs in the pop culture imagination. For better or worse, Metropolis’ legacy has been a filmic language for science fiction. Lang’s passion and innovation have been matched by others in the genre, but his foundation he laid has never been overturned.