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‘Tis true. This is a case where my mind and heart are at war much as the Metropolis “planners” are using their power to keep down the “workers”.

Intellectually I’m drawn to this film by the innovative use of special effects (I still wonder how the “face stealing machine” lightning and light discs were done), its plot (Heavy with double entendre and symbolism with its classic “David vs. Goliath” allusion as well as Biblical allusions with its saviour and Virgin Mary figures). My mind even secretly feels a bit smug because it’s a “foreign film”. (Not that it matters that much since all the subtitles are in English and there’s no dialogue)

Emotionally I never get swept away though. My heart never REALLY cares all that much about the workers’ plight or feels shock at the callous disregard of them by the planners. You don’t really find out WHY Frederson falls in love with Maria…he just DOES. They also don’t seem to go into the motivations of Freder to be the king figure he strikes in the film.

In the end, my hands decide it’s not worth shelling out the spoils of my time “fighting the clock” to have this in my collection.

BOTTOM LINE:

Just because *I* don’t plan to buy it doesn’t mean I don’t understand why there are those who would. Enough filmmakers were influenced by this that merely seeing it will help you understand how visuals from other films came about and it really is a visual feast even in this jaded age of CGI animation and billion-dollar explosion fests. I’d advise this edition if you DO choose to buy because of the explanatory commentary that left me a lot less befuddled than I’d have been without it, as well as an interesting albeit too short talk about the restoration process with the German archivists involved (it’s subtitled in English). There are also some production stills that give you the flavor of some of the many scenes that have been lost to time after the film was edited after release.

Even if you don’t buy it, do borrow from your local library or an artsy friend……more info

In Terms of Entertainment, It Blows Most of Today’s Movies Out of the Water
I never would have guessed that an 80 year old movie could be this good if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. I thought this movie was as entertaining as any Star Wars movie ever made. I loved the music, the actress playing Maria, and it’s story full energy, tension, and imagination that has a happy ending. I’m not an old man who has a bias for these old throw-backs. I’m a 22 year old college student who loves action packed films like the Matrix and Die Hard. This movie is now one of my all time favorite films.

I’m also not someone who dishes out 5 star reviews like candy (I have to be very impressed). If you don’t doubt me, go to the website rottentomatoes dot com and do a search of this film to see what the critics say about this movie. Or do a google search for the Kino version of Metropolis and go to their website which has a trailer of the film. This film is worth every penny that it costs. It’s an absolutely remarkable film that could very well change your opinions on silent films as it did me. A MUST HAVE!…more info

Lang’s Sci-Fi Masterpiece
As one of the earliest examples of cinematic science fiction fantasy, director Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” ranks as an unparalleled achievement in its size, scope, and vision. Forty years would elapse before Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968) would rival Lang’s epic spectacle about a troubled, dystopian society fractured along the fault lines of the economic inequality isolating the haves and the have-nots. Nevertheless, nothing could ever be said to surpass “Metropolis” as a film of beauty, majestic, and surrealism. The preamble encapsulates the film’s timeless, universal message: “It has a moral that grows on the pillar of understanding. The mediator between the brain and muscle must be the heart.”

“Metropolis” inspired generations of filmmakers with its use of state-of-the-art visual effects that transformed the science fiction film. Thea Von Harbou’s saga about an evil robot designed by a vengeful inventor to impersonate a flesh & blood female Christ figure and incite anarchy can clearly be traced as a source of inspiration to many contemporary sci-fi films and television shows, such as the “Terminator” franchise, “Robocop” franchise, “Blade Runner,” “Logan’s Run,” “The Fifth Element,” and Battlestar Galactica.” The “Metropolis” robot was not the first robot, but it was unmistakably the seminal one that sired a long line of cinematic robots. The famous transformation scene where the robot turns into a human foreshadows the “Frankenstein” franchise.

Many detractors of Lang’s visionary work–primarily noted sci-fi author H.G. Wells–derided it as shallow and his criticisms are not without substance. Indeed, the characters lack depth because they represent archetypes instead of individuals in a larger-than-life story. The spectacle, this Marxist chronicle of humanity at odds with itself over machinery, and the anarchy that emerges from this division makes “Metropolis” a memorable meditation about our flawed society, part sci-fi, part horror and a statement about the incompatibility polarity that comes about between those who control and those who are controlled. Again, von Harbou’s theme re-echoes with greater intensity. The virtuous Maria would say that the head and the hands would need a mediator and the mediator would be the heart. You cannot understand and appreciate science fiction as a cinematic genre until you see that every sci-fi film owes a debt of gratitude to Lang’s masterly work of genius. Actually, while Lang would make many greatmovies in a long career, the legendary Austrian director never made another sci-fi film that surpassed this milestone.

A malevolent robot, messianic crusaders, a patriarchal titan of industry, a mad scientist with vengeance in his heart, and masses of mindless men and women enslaved by the patriarch constitute the array of characters in this famous work of German Expressionist cinema, and embraces Art-Deco in its architectural designs. Scenarist Thea von Harbou and Fritz Lang assembled these protagonists and antagonists for the clash of the century with visuals that were designed to overwhelm 1920’s audiences by their sheer beauty and grandeur. In the annals of science fiction film, these special effects, involving the use of mirrors to supplement shots of live action, matte paintings for sprawling cityscapes, and miniatures of the city, were singular. All the planes, trains, and automobiles in the long shots were done either with wires pulling them along or stop-action photography. Reportedly, Lang got the idea for his cityscape from a trip to Manhattan, but there are too many undocumented stories about Lang and his inspiration; so you’d have to read the biographies available about his life to sort out the fiction from the fact. One thing is certain Lang was more a film dictator than a director and he toiled endlessly and made his cast and collaborators toil to forge his vision. Lang drove his actors, actresses, and technical crew like a slave driver and often exhibited a sense of perfectionism that defied civility and common sense. He amounted to a cinematic Herod.

While “Metropolis” qualifies as sci-fi, the film also dabbles in the disaster film. The villainous father of the hero, Joh Fredersen (Alfred Abel), enlists the evil inventor, C.A. Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge), to create a robot look-alike of the virginal heroine, Marie, who preaches a gospel of sorts to unit the workers. Rotwang dresses in dark colors, has wind-blown hair, and wears a black glove on his right hand. Fredersen wants Rotwang to forge a robot that can assume the identity of Marie (Brigitte Helm), mislead the masses, and get them to destroy themselves. Joh has obtained secret plans for meetings among the workers and wants to thwart them. Rotwang escorts Joh down into the 2000 year old catacombs to witness Marie preaching her gospel of unification and that is where Joh sees his son Freder (Gustav Fr?hlich) appear and embrace Marie.

Previously, Freder was smitten with Marie when he saw her first early in the film. She entered the Club of Sons where Freder cavorted with various women. Freder was so stricken by Marie that he descended to the depths where the workers operated the machines and witnessed a meltdown. Joh is worried about his son’s dalliance with the workers because it threatens to destroy everything that he has worked for for so many years. In fact, Joh fires his secretary Josaphat (Theodor Loos) because Josaphat didn’t inform him about the incident with the machines. Joh replaces Josaphat with the Thin Man (Franz Rasp) and orders him to keep him constantly abreast of his son’s whereabouts. Eventually, the false Marie does mislead the workers into destroying the Heart Machine and the loss of power leads to a flood that wipes out their homes. Grot, the foreman in charge of the machines, warns Joh, but he orders Grot to open the gates so that the workers can destroy the Heart Machine. The evil Marie leads the men and women workers alike to the machine hall, but she slips out a back exit while they destroy the machines. What the workers fail to realize is that the destruction of the Heart machine will destroy their own homes.

Meanwhile, Freder and the real Marie rescue the children below as the flood waters rise from an underground river that Joh had constructed. They use the air shafts to escape from the depth and take the children to the Club of the Sons above the earth. At the same time, Grot alerts the workers about the dangers of what they have done and how it will jeopardize their children. The furious workers now want to kill Marie. The evil Marie has gone to a nightclub where she is celebrating her masquerade over the workers. The nightclub revelers leave the club with Marie on their shoulders and go out into the night air. The virtuous Marie has gotten separated from Freder and the children and is now being pursued by the mob of angry workers. She runs into the revelers and wicked Marie and the mob grabs the evil Marie. They tie her to a stake and set fire to her. Rotwang captures the real Marie and takes her to the top of the cathedral. Freder spots Rotwang with Marie over his shoulder and sets off in rapid pursuit. They fight on the roof-top and Rotwang plunges to his death below. In the last scene, the virtuous Marie calls on Freder to serve as the mediator between his father and Grot, the worker’s representative, to work together.

“Metropolis” dealth with one of Lang’s recurrent themes–mob violence. Later, he explored this theme in “M” (1931) with Peter Lorre and “Fury” (1936) with Spencer Tracy. Although “Metropolis” has been available as a cheap, inexpensive public domain film for over 40 years, Kino Video has released a splendid restored version that true movie lovers will genuinely appreciate for its clarity of picture. Meanwhile, this is one hell of a silent German movie!

…more info