Metropolis (1927)

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.

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

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

Stars:

Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge

Top 250 #90 | 3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
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 - Georgy
Heinrich George	...	Grot - the Guardian of the Heart Machine
Brigitte Helm	...	The Creative Man / The Machine Man / Death / The Seven Deadly Sins / Maria

Storyline

Sometime in the future, the city of Metropolis is home to a Utopian society where its wealthy residents live a carefree life. One of those is Freder Fredersen. One day, he spots a beautiful woman with a group of children, she and the children who quickly disappear. Trying to follow her, he, oblivious to such, is horrified to find an underground world of workers, apparently who run the machinery which keeps the above ground Utopian world functioning. One of the few people above ground who knows about the world below is Freder's father, Joh Fredersen, who is the founder and master of Metropolis. Freder learns that the woman is Maria, who espouses the need to join the "hands" - the workers - to the "head" - those in power above - by a mediator or the "heart". Freder wants to help the plight of the workers in the want for a better life. But when Joh learns of what Maria is espousing and that Freder is joining their cause, Joh, with the assistance of an old colleague and now nemesis named ...

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Plot Keywords:

worker | children | future | savior | garden | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official North American site for 2002 restoration

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

13 March 1927 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Complete Metropolis

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

DEM 6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,070 (USA) (8 August 2003)

Gross:

$26,435 (USA) (11 November 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universum Film (UFA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

153 min 210 min (premiere cut) 93 min (re-release) 114 min (1927 cut) 123 min (2002 Murnau Foundation 75th aniversary restored) 119 min (DVD edition) (2002 Murnau Foundation 75th aniversary restored) 80 min (Giorgio Moroder) 145 min (2010 restored)

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Unemployment and inflation were so bad in Germany at the time that the producers had no trouble finding 500 malnourished children to film the flooding sequences.

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Goofs

Towards the close of the film, as Freder is grabbed by the mob, his shirt is pulled open. When next seen, it is fastened up again.

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Quotes

Maria: "We shall build a tower that will reach to the stars!" Having conceived Babel, yet unable to build it themselves, they had thousands to build it for them. But those who toiled knew nothing of the dreams of those who planned. And the minds that planned the Tower of Babel cared nothing for the workers who built it. The hymns of praise of the few became the curses of the many - BABEL! BABEL! BABEL! - Between the mind that plans and the hands that build there must be a Mediator, and this must be ...

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Crazy Credits

Restoration based on the version in the Filmmuseum Munich and material preserved in the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv

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Connections

Referenced in Invasion for Flesh and Blood (1994)

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Soundtracks

"The Legend of Babel"
Written by Giorgio Moroder
Performed by Giorgio Moroder
Courtesy of Columbia Records
(from the 1984 re-release)

User Reviews

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"