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IMDbPro

Metropolis

  • 19271927
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 2h 33m
IMDb RATING
8.3/10
172K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
2,469
203
Brigitte Helm in Metropolis (1927)
Metropolis Trailer
Play trailer2:01
2 Videos
99+ Photos
  • Drama
  • Sci-Fi
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... Read allIn 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.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.
IMDb RATING
8.3/10
172K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
2,469
203
  • Director
    • Fritz Lang
  • Writers
    • Thea von Harbou(screenplay)
    • Fritz Lang(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Brigitte Helm
    • Alfred Abel
    • Gustav Fröhlich
Top credits
  • Director
    • Fritz Lang
  • Writers
    • Thea von Harbou(screenplay)
    • Fritz Lang(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Brigitte Helm
    • Alfred Abel
    • Gustav Fröhlich
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 533User reviews
    • 220Critic reviews
    • 98Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Top rated movie #115
    • Awards
      • 6 wins & 7 nominations

    Videos2

    Metropolis
    Trailer 2:01
    Metropolis
    'The Platform' & Future Films From the IMDb Top 250
    Clip 4:04
    'The Platform' & Future Films From the IMDb Top 250

    Photos169

    Metropolis (1927)
    Metropolis (1927)
    Brigitte Helm and Horst von Harbou in Metropolis (1927)
    Brigitte Helm in Metropolis (1927)
    Gustav Fröhlich and Theodor Loos in Metropolis (1927)
    Metropolis (1927)
    Brigitte Helm and Horst von Harbou in Metropolis (1927)
    Brigitte Helm in Metropolis (1927)
    Metropolis (1927)
    Gustav Fröhlich in Metropolis (1927)
    Metropolis (1927)
    Brigitte Helm in Metropolis (1927)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Brigitte Helm
    Brigitte Helm
    • Mariaas Maria…
    Alfred Abel
    Alfred Abel
    • Johann (Joh) Fredersenas Johann (Joh) Fredersen
    Gustav Fröhlich
    Gustav Fröhlich
    • Freder Fredersen - Joh Fredersens Sohnas Freder Fredersen - Joh Fredersens Sohn
    Rudolf Klein-Rogge
    Rudolf Klein-Rogge
    • Erfinder C.A. Rotwangas Erfinder C.A. Rotwang…
    Fritz Rasp
    Fritz Rasp
    • Der Schmaleas Der Schmale…
    Theodor Loos
    Theodor Loos
    • Josaphatas Josaphat…
    Erwin Biswanger
    • 11811 - Georgyas 11811 - Georgy
    Heinrich George
    Heinrich George
    • Grot -Wärter der Herzmaschineas Grot -Wärter der Herzmaschine…
    Fritz Alberti
    • Schöpferischer Menschas Schöpferischer Mensch
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    Grete Berger
    Grete Berger
    • Arbeiterinas Arbeiterin
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    Olly Boeheim
    • Arbeiterinas Arbeiterin
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    Max Dietze
    • Arbeiteras Arbeiter
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    Ellen Frey
    • Arbeiterinas Arbeiterin
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    Beatrice Garga
    • Frau der ewigen Gärtenas Frau der ewigen Gärten
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    Heinrich Gotho
    • Zermonienmeisteras Zermonienmeister
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    Dolly Grey
    Dolly Grey
    • Arbeiterinas Arbeiterin
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    Anny Hintze
    • Frau der ewigen Gärtenas Frau der ewigen Gärten
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    Gottfried Huppertz
    • Man Playing Violinas Man Playing Violin
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Fritz Lang
    • Writers
      • Thea von Harbou(screenplay) (novel)
      • Fritz Lang(screenplay) (uncredited)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Much to Fritz Lang's dismay, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels were big fans of the film. Goebbels met with Lang and told him that he could be made an honorary Aryan despite his Jewish background. Goebbels told him "Mr. Lang, we decide who is Jewish and who is not." Lang left for Paris that very night.
    • Goofs
      When Freder and Josaphat are climbing down into the miner's city, Freder is barefoot. When they are taking the children up the stairs, he has shoes again.
    • Quotes

      Maria: HEAD and HANDS need a mediator. THE MEDIATOR BETWEEN HEAD AND HANDS MUST BE THE HEART!

      Worker #1: But where is our mediator, Maria - ?

      Maria: Wait for him! He will surely come!

      Worker #2: We will wait, Maria...! But not much longer - - !

    • Crazy credits
      Restoration based on the version in the Filmmuseum Munich and material preserved in the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv
    • Alternate versions
      A version restored by the German Democratic Republic in the eighties runs 115 minutes (still shown on German TV sometimes).
    • Connections
      Edited into Il volo (1975)

    User reviews533

    Review
    Top review
    9/10
    Watch the Kino DVD!
    Technically speaking, I have seen this Fritz Lang silent sci-fi before, but this was the first time I saw it in any shape by which I could fairly evaluate it. I had previously watched Metropolis on a public domain VHS from the 80s. The print was terribly scratched and while there were a few memorable images, the story was so incoherent that their context was usually unclear. Though this was clearly not the best way to see Metropolis, I was still left with an impression of this supposed classic as a dusty museum piece that was praised by critics because they were expected to like it. So finally seeing a restored and expanded copy was as much as a revelation as seeing Once Upon a Time in the West letter boxed in how it led me to reevaluate my opinion of the movie. The movie is a strange mixture of political speculation political parable, apocalyptic fantasy, and religious allegory. It depicts a futuristic city that is divided between the wretched workers, who toil in the depths tending the machines, and the upper classes, who dwell in luxury up in the skyscrapers. The hero, the idle, pampered son of the city's supervisor Joh Fredersen, changes his ways and becomes concerned with the plight of the lower classes after catching a glimpse of Maria, the Madonna of the workers. His father, meanwhile, is plotting to thwart Maria with the help of the mad scientist Rotwang, who has discovered how to create robot replicas of human beings. One of the most surprising things about watching this version is just how much I didn't see. In addition to restoring scenes to the film, the DVD also includes inter titles to explain pieces of the plot that cannot be found in any version. With these changes, the story becomes much clearer, particularly the machinations of Rotwang and the master of Metropolis. Perhaps most importantly, a whole new subplot is added involving the hero's dead mother Hel, who was loved by both his father and Rotwang. With this clarification of the back-story, the close but adversarial relationship between Rotwang and Fredersen becomes much clearer. In some ways it recalls the family back-story of the Star Wars movies. Of course, the real strength of Metropolis isn't the story, which is pretty silly and probably wouldn't have worked in anything but a silent film, but its amazing visuals, which in their scale and ambitiousness look forward to 2001 and Blade Runner. Actually, though in most respects silent films now look primitive, one area in which they have the edge over modern film-making is in their frequently grandiose production design. Metropolis employs huge sets to show the hellish factories of the subterranean world. The models of the city's towering skyscrapers are also surprisingly convincing for a 1920s film. Even beyond the expansive production design and (for the time) special effects, Lang's visuals are all consistently inventive. The robot Maria provides some of the movie's most iconic images, including her transformation into a human being. In a later scene, she performs for upper-class men in a nightclub, and as she performs a striptease that in 1920s Germany was apparently seen as very decadent, the screen is filled with wet staring eyeballs. A sign of Lang's visual lavishness, and the studio's, that he doesn't hesitate to throw in lavish dream and hallucination sequences to drive home a point or illustrate a character's state of mind. For instance, when the hero first enters the subterranean city and sees rows upon rows of workers toiling on huge machines, he imagines the furnace transforming into a monstrous idol's head into which the workers are being sacrificed. At another point, while he's sick in bed he imagines statues of the Seven Deadly Sins coming to life and advancing out from a wall in a cathedral. When Maria preaches her message of peace and understanding to the workers, she tells them the story of the Tower of Babel of a management vs. labor parable, and Lang gives us spectacular images of the tower's construction and fall. In a sound film many of these scenes would have seemed redundant and over-literal, but they're what silent cinema does best -tell a story without the advantage- or obstacle- of dialogue. The story is a little slow to start, but once it picks up Metropolis becomes one of the most directly involving silent films that I've seen. In addition to being a pioneering example of the cinematic possibilities of science fiction, Metropolis also has to be one of the earliest disaster films, as the workers riot and sabotage the machines, endangering the entire city. Lang creates a sense of rising fury and nihilism in the last hour that in a strange way reminded me of what was going to happen to Germany in less than 20 years.
    helpful•167
    23
    • ignatz928
    • Apr 25, 2005

    FAQ4

    • Is "Metropolis" based on a book?
    • How did they shoot the rings around the machine when it was transforming into the guise of Maria?
    • What are the differences between the 2001 Restoration and the 2010 Restoration?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 13, 1927 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Germany
    • Official site
      • Official North American site for 2002 restoration
    • Languages
      • German
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Complete Metropolis
    • Filming locations
      • Berlin, Germany
    • Production company
      • Universum Film (UFA)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • DEM 6,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $1,236,166
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $19,386
      • Jul 14, 2002
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,349,711
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 33 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Silent(original release)
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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