Metropolis (1927)

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Thea von Harbou (screenplay)
Thea von Harbou (novel)

Release Date:

13 March 1927 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

There can be no understanding between the hands and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator.

Plot:

In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.

Plot Keywords:

Worker | Vision | Future | Kiss | Death

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Alfred Abel	...	Joh Fredersen
Gustav Fröhlich	...	Freder, Joh Fredersen's son
Rudolf Klein-Rogge	...	C. A. Rotwang, the inventor
Fritz Rasp	...	The Thin Man
Theodor Loos	...	Josaphat
Erwin Biswanger	...	11811
Heinrich George	...	Grot, the guardian of the Heart Machine
Brigitte Helm	...	Maria / The Robot

Runtime:

153 min | Germany:147 min (2001 restored version) | Germany:210 min (premiere cut) | Germany:80 min (Giorgio Moroder version) | Germany:93 min (re-release version) | USA:114 min (25 fps) (1927 cut version) | USA:123 min (2002 Murnau Foundation 75th aniversary restored version) | Spain:118 min (DVD edition) | USA:117 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (1995 restored version) | Silent (original release)

Certification:

Germany:12 (video rating) (re-release) | West Germany:16 (theatrical re-release) (1962) | Germany:18 (original rating) (1927) | Germany:o.Al. (DVD re-rating) | Iceland:L | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:G | Chile:TE | Norway:12 (1986) | Peru:PT | Portugal:17 (original rating) | Portugal:M/6 (DVD rating) | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) | Spain:T (DVD rating) | Sweden:11 (re-release) | Sweden:15 (original rating) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Universum Film (UFA)

Trivia:

In the novelization, the robot is described as a woman "of glass and metal," and her name is Parody; Maria's features are sculpted onto its face by Rotwang itself, using Maria as a guide.

Goofs:

Continuity: The lever on the heart-machine pulled by the false Maria to destroy it is pointing upwards and downwards between shots.

Quotes:

Freder: It was their hands that built this city of ours, Father. But where do the hands belong in your scheme?
Joh Frederson: In their proper place, the depths.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Weakest Link: 'Doctor Who' Special" (2007)

Soundtrack:

On Your Own

Heart is the Mediator Between Brains and Muscles – A Futuristic View of the Fight of Classes

In the future, the society of Metropolis is divided in two social classes: the workers, who live in the underground below the machines level, and the dominant classes that lives in the surface. The workers are controlled by their leader Maria (Brigitte Helm), who wants to find a mediator between the upper class lords and the workers, since she believes that a heart would be necessary between brains and muscles. Maria meets Freder Fredersen (Gustav Fröhlich), the son of the Lord of Metropolis Johhan Fredersen (Alfred Abel), in a meeting of the workers, and they fall in love for each other. Meanwhile, Johhan decides that the workers are no longer necessary for Metropolis, and uses a robot pretending to be Maria to promote a revolution of the working class and eliminate them.

"Metropolis" is a fantastic futuristic view of the fight of classes. When "Metropolis" was shot, it was a romantic revolutionary period of mankind history, with socialist movements around the world. Fritz Lang directed and wrote the screenplay of this masterpiece certainly inspired in this historical moment and defending a position of agreement and understanding between both sides, showing that they need each other. I wonder how this great director was able to produce such special effects in 1927, with very primitive cameras and equipment. The city of Metropolis is visibly inspired in New York. The performance of Brigitte Helm is stunning in her double role, and this movie is mandatory for any person that says that like cinema as an art. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "Metropolis"