Starring Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel and Gustav Fröhlich
Produced by Universum Film (UFA)
In the distant future, a gleaming city pulses with life and energy. Its denizens seem to enjoy a non-stop party. It's seemingly utopia...
...Except that the city depends upon a working class that is sentenced to live underground operating the city's massive machinery. The workers aren't happy, but they are far too busy to even think about a rebellion.
That is, until Maria enters the picture. She is trying to educate both classes that there may be a better way.The path requires the two sides to understand one another, a seemingly impossible task.
Fortunately for her, Freder is enthralled by both Maria's message and her beauty. He's the son of Joh Fredersen, the man who lords over the city, controlling every movement and pulse. Freder switches places with a worker so he can help.
The whispers of revolution are reaching Joh's ears and he takes a desperate action. He throws his lot in with Rotwang, a mad scientist who has created a robot that can look and act human. Joh wants to replace Maria with this Machine Man.
Rotwang agrees, but only because he sees the opportunity for vengeance. Years earlier, the scientist fell in love with Hel, but she chose Joh. He still carries the grudge and now is the perfect time to act by using faux-Maria to cause a riot?
Can the metropolis survive? And will Freder realize his destiny of uniting the upper and working classes?
Metropolis is one of two movies that gave me the confidence to even start these reviews. I have seen this and Nosferatu before starting the 100 Years of Movies, which made me think I knew what I was getting into. Of course the last year and a half has blown every assumption I made out of the water (in the best possible ways).
That said, this was new to me because a) it's probably been over 15 years since I saw Metropolis and b) this is the brilliant extended version with newly discovered scenes so I had not really seen this before.
Most striking for any viewer is the production design which manages the feat of being timelessly futuristic. It's our world years from now and it will seemingly always be our world years from now. The buildings tower over everyone and everything and the subterranean machines are massive enough to swallow up humans whole (literally). There are even small touches like the Gardens we find our hero in at the start of the film that are idyllic and alien.
While the on-screen action follows the romance and political intrigues of Freder and Maria, it's Joh Fredersen and Rotwang's personal struggle that embody everything the film is about. The two men pursued the same woman (Hel), with Joh ultimately winning out. Some tragedy befell Hel after she gave birth to Freder. Joh has never forgiven himself for her death and Rotwand has never forgiven his colleague for both stealing and losing the object of their mutual desire.
Rotwang is clearly the villain of the piece, but I feel a touch of sympathy for the miscreant. He maintains a twenty foot tall shrine to the woman he lost to Joh. He devotes all of his days to creating a robot he can craft into Hel's image, even losing his hand for his efforts. He's clearly mad, but in a delusionally romantic way. Rotwang resents Joh, but he's not about to act on it. In fact, he's starts out bragging to Joh that he will bring Hel back and keep her for himself this time.
What really sets Rotwang over the edge is losing Hel again to Fredersen. Joh decides that the best way to attack the nascent insurgency is by replacing Maria with Rotwang's Machine Man, the robot meant to become the scientist's personal Hel. Rotwang begrudgingly goes along, but hatches his own plan to bring down the city, Joh and his son Freder.
Of course, we have not talked much about Freder who is our on screen hero. Frankly, I find him a bit of a bore. We see him in the Pleasure Gardens at the start of the film, but once he sees the workers being oppressed, he immediately picks a side. There's no conflict. He's just...well, good. And honestly, he's kind of dull. The character hits every beat the story needs him too, I just wish it gave him more to do.
Freder's love of Maria is more like a platonic friendship. He follows her around with puppy dog eyes, but she has a rebellion to foster. However, her approach is more Martin Luther King than Malcolm X. Her protests are non-violent, imploring the rich in the city above to see the workers as their brothers.
Lang's vision is ambitious and his direction is every bit up to the task. I love the editing and shot selection. The way he juxtaposes the glitz and glam of the surface against the grime and monotony of the underground city shows us the flaws of both worlds.
At its core, Metropolis is a potent piece of political subversion packed into a candy-coated sci fi action movie shell. The conclusion of the film is not that the workers and the rich should be equals; it's that they need to connect and understand one another. You don't leave Metropolis feeling like the workers will stop running the machinery, or that the rich will take a few shifts below ground. It's all about understanding the plight of your fellow man and making things better by degrees.
If the movie has any failing, it's in the way it bludgeons you with the whole brain-hand-heart message. It never feels genuine or like real things humans would say.
The other plot contrivance that bugs me is the way every worker leaves their children behind, and then later express genuine surprise when that is pointed out. It's silly and the acting goes over the top to sell us on it. I never buy it.
Still, these are minor concerns. Metropolis is more than a five star film. It makes you wish the scale went higher, or that you could lower every other film by a star. It's not a great silent, but a great and timeless film.
***** out of *****
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