Fritz Lang's Metropolis. (1927)In 2026, the populace of this "metropolis" is divided into two groups: one of planners and thinkers, who live above ground in luxury, and another of workers who live underground running the machines to sustain the city for those who live above.
The imagery in this film is breathtaking, and not just with the special effects or the massive sets, but also with the emotionally exaggerated performances. The opening scene for this film is amazing: we see a shift change of workers, "the day shift," the movie explains - hundreds of workers begin trudging forward; their movements in sync with one another, rhythmic, almost machine like. Their heads down, shoulders slumped, a real sense of despair, and from this an understanding that these are broken men.
Videos are unfortunately no longer available
My interest in this movie stems partly from its shear visual power, but also its exploration of the human condition and social division of the worker and elite classes in the film. Though it's clearly a theatrical and fictitious piece of science fiction, the imagery (such as the workers) still holds quite an emotional punch. With my own work I've looked at various aspects of society, from things we ignore, to leftovers on a plate, to individual portraiture that explores who, or what a person is like. While I'm more interested in aspects of individuality, Metropolis looks more at an entire society and the conflict that stems from the social division within the city, but what I hope to take from Metropolis (in small doses) is the theatrics. I love portraiture that reveals something unique and truthful about a person, but sometimes a bit of theatrics, a bit of direction, can help someone loosen up and possibly in the end show more of who they really are, and create more powerful imagery.
More on Metropolis
This film is a marvel of technical achievements, it was astonishingly ahead of its time, I have to keep reminding myself that this movie was released in 1927 when admiring the visuals, and I keep asking myself "how the #&*!! did they do that!" For the opening sequence Director Fritz Lang got over 1,000 extras with shaved heads to play the workers. The whole movie employed over 37,000 extras. Below is a link to a trailer for the most recently restored version of the film.
Videos are unfortunately no longer available
Metropolis Trailer
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1 comment:
Apt choice with Lang. I can see this, even based on the limited amount of your work I have seen. The cinematic seems to play a pivotal role in your work. I haven't seen the film in a couple of years. I will have to make it a point to watch it again this term.
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