: Metropolis
Author: Fritz Lang
Director: Fritz Lang
Strange, but remarkable film. It tells the tale of the future city of Metropolis, where the worker class toils relentlessly in the bowels of the city, while the elite live in luxury in the skyscrapers above. The city master’s son, Freder, learns of the worker’s plight, and tries to help them. He meets the beautiful Maria, the leader of the rebellion, who preaches peace. But Freder’s father has the evil inventor create a robot in Maria’s image, and the robot tricks the workers into violence, which is exactly the excuse Freder’s father wanted so he can use violence back. Remarkable for being able to tell such a complex story without sound, so far back at the dawn of cinema. While the quality of the film is poor in terms of film quality, there were many impressive special effects (such as the electric fields and the dream sequences), and the acting was excellent. I found the film’s pace to be lethargic, especially compared to the high-speed visual storytelling I’m accustomed to, but silent films had to explain the story solely with visuals and minimal text, and of course film was so new audiences were not as savy as modern moviegoers. Definitely worth your time.
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