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With
Metropolis, Fritz Lang delivered in 1926 one of the first
blockbusters in the history of cinema. Contrary to the big budget
productions of the time, his film was not lacking in a political and
artistic dimension.
Johhan Fredersen (Alfred Abel) is the authoritative governor of
Metropolis, a city divided between a paradisiacal higher world and a
dark underground close to Dante's hell. His plans to annihilate his
slaves will be thwarted by the meeting between his idealistic son
Freder (Gustav Fröhlich) and the beautiful Maria (Brigitte Helm). The
man will try to sow discord thanks to a robot looking like Maria but
a revolution will bring back the order.
A blockbuster before the hour
Whereas other traditional German classics like Nosferatu
and the Cabinet
of Dr. Caligari are always fascinating thanks to their
artistic dimension, Metropolis too often sinks into excess.
Knowing that the director finished his career in Hollywood with more
than doubtful productions, one better understands his taste for
spectacle that does not combine very well with the political and
artistic aims of the project.
Equipped with a budget of more than 7 million Marks, a colossal
amount at the time, Metropolis required more than one year of
shooting and nearly 37,000 extras. Though the production cost is
apparent in the gigantic set and special effects, the film has aged
badly. The science fiction set opposing an imposing ultramodern city
to a dull underground world surely created sensation in the
Twenties, just like the birth of the robot in halos of light.
While one can be impressed by the production of such effects so
early, it is more difficult to digest other aspects of the film. In
addition to its interminable length, the extreme over-acting of
certain actors and especially a far too commercial direction
tarnishes the aura of the picture. Certain scenes turn ridiculous
like the conclusion on the roofs typical of any caper film, and a
happy ending that's too naive and moralist. One will note also the
propensity of film to recycle, another quality of current
productions. The birth of the robot obviously recalls Frankenstein
while its condemnation is reminiscent of the fate of witches in the
Middle Ages.
The artistic membership appears in two precise elements of film,
the architecture and the crowd, which sometimes meet. Just like in
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Nosferatu, the set,
and in this case the crowd as well, are so dominating that they
become characters. The use of a very geometrical architecture
testifies to an Expressionist stylization, like the long monotonous
lines of slaves who sometimes merge into the urban landscape to
become its extension. With its large machines and blackness
contrasting with the fluidity of the upper-world, the underworld
also borrows the theme of the industrial revolution, a favorite of
German painters from the beginning of the century.
The Political Dimension
Under its guise as an entertaining science fiction flick,
Metropolis hardly hides its political ambitions. The
upper-city and its governor without scruple reflect capitalism and,
more particularly, the American system, as the town of Metropolis
clearly resembles New York. The slaves symbolize the people or "the
masses" that are exploited by capitalism. Their representation like
servile beings stripped of any personality and spirit almost make
them robots, which means that the film does not preach Communism
either. The end with the reconciliation between the "management" and
the "people" translates the German state of mind shared between the
American and Russian models.
The principal criticism of the picture goes undoubtedly against
the German society. The slaves point out their Egyptian protagonists
who built the pyramids while certain decorations¡ªthe front of the
factory resembling a god and the stadium¡ªrefer to Roman
civilization. One inevitably thinks of Nazism that was strongly
inspired by this ancient imagery and the film can thus be described
as visionary just like the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and
Nosferatu.
The influence of Metropolis on modern
cinema
Lang's film certainly marked the cinema of science fiction
forever. Its vision of the city strongly influenced a pillar of the
genre like Blade Runner while the robot has since been re-used many
times, from Star Wars' C3PO to the Terminator. Without
forgetting the familiar spectacular ending that never ends. It is
thus not surprising that Lang was one of the first German imports to
Hollywood, the commercial productions of his later in his career
being the logical result¡ªor derivative.
If Metropolis survived its defects all these years, it is
probably to testify to the lack of inspiration of contemporary
cinema whose only evolution seems to have been technical.
It is in this context that it should be appreciated.
From Plume
Noire
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