Metropolis (1927)
- Directed by
- Fritz Lang
- Genre
- drama film, silent film, science fiction film, dystopian film, arthouse science fiction film
- Country
- Weimar Republic
- Runtime
- 2h 33m
- Rated
- NR
- Rating
- 8.1 of 10 from 3,127 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
In a future city, the rich live in luxury while workers toil below. The son of the city's ruler meets a woman from the worker class and tries to bridge the divide between them.
visually lushgrandmelancholicdystopianurgentsolemnsoberingmythic
What happens
Metropolis is a 1927 German expressionist science-fiction silent film directed by Fritz Lang and written by Thea von Harbou in collaboration with Lang, based on von Harbou's 1925 novel of the same name (which was written as a treatment). It stars Gustav Fröhlich, Alfred Abel, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, and Brigitte Helm. Erich Pommer produced it in the Babelsberg Studio for Universum Film A.G. (UFA). Metropolis is regarded as a pioneering science-fiction film, being among the first feature-length ones of that genre. Filming took place over 17 months in 1925–1926 at a cost of more than five million Reichsmarks, or the equivalent of about €21 million. Made in Germany during the Weimar period, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city master, and Maria, a saintly figure to the workers, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes in their city and bring the workers together with Joh Fredersen, the city master. The film's message is encompassed in the final intertitle: "The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must Be the Heart". Metropolis met a mixed reception upon release. Critics found it visually beautiful and powerful – the film's art direction by Otto Hunte, Erich Kettelhut, and Karl Vollbrecht draws influence from opera, Bauhaus, Cubist, and Futurist design, along with touches of the Gothic in the scenes in the catacombs, the cathedral and Rotwang's house – and lauded its complex special effects, but accused its story of being naïve. H. G. Wells described the film as "silly", and The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction calls the story "trite" and its politics "ludicrously simplistic". Its alleged communist message was also criticized. The film's long running time also came in for criticism. It was cut substantially after its German premiere. Many attempts have been made since the 1970s to restore the film. In 1984, Italian music producer Giorgio Moroder released a truncated version with a soundtrack by rock artists including Freddie Mercury, Loverboy, Bonnie Tyler, and Adam Ant. In 2001, a new reconstruction of Metropolis was shown at the Berlin Film Festival. In 2008, a damaged print of Lang's original cut of the film was found in a museum in Argentina. Footage from this print and a second one archived in New Zealand was restored and re-integrated into the film, bringing it to within five minutes of its original running time. This version was shown on large screens in Berlin and Frankfurt simultaneously on 12 February 2010. Metropolis is now widely regarded as being one of the greatest and most influential films ever made, ranking 67th in Sight and Sound's 2022 critics' poll, and receiving general critical acclaim. In 2001, the film was inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World International Register, the first film thus distinguished. On 1 January 2023, the film's American reserved copyright expired, and the film entered the public domain in the U.S. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
Agitated Women (1927)
The Tragedy of a Lost Soul (1927)
Small Town Sinners (1927)
Fräulein Raffke (1923)
People to Each Other (1926)
The Mistress (1927)
Earlier Relationships (1927)
Professor Imhof (1926)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.