Metropolis
| December 20, 2007 at 6:00 pm | Category: Movie Spotlight |
| by hollywoodjoker | |
Story :
Metropolis is a 1927 silent science fiction directed by the talented director Fritz Lang. Set in a “futuristic” urban setting, it deals with the subject of division between labour and management in a capitalistic society and the resulting conflicts. It is interesting to see how the “futuristic” society of 2000 was portrayed on screen at that time.
Society has been divided into two rigid groups: one of planners or thinkers, who live high above the earth in luxury, and another of workers who live underground toiling to sustain the lives of the privileged. The city is run by Fredersen. The beautiful and evangelical figure Maria (Brigitte Helm) takes up the cause of the workers. She advises the desperate workers not to start a revolution, and instead wait for the arrival of “The Mediator”, who, she says, will unite the two halves of society. The son of Fredersen, Freder (Gustav Fröhlich), becomes infatuated with Maria, and follows her down into the working underworld. Shocked at the workers’ living conditions, he joins her cause.
Maria Robot
Meanwhile his father Fredersen learns of the existence of the robotic gynoid built by the scientist Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) and orders Rotwang to give the robot Maria’s appearance. By doing so he wants to spread disorder among the workers.
The film features special effects and set design that still impress modern audiences with their visual impact.
Starring :
Alfred Abel as Joh Fredersen
Brigitte Helm as Maria
Gustav Fröhlich as Freder
Movie Gossip :
H. G. Wells unimpressed : While this film is highly regarded by modern film critics, when it was released “The Times” carried a review by H. G. Wells, who accused it of “foolishness, cliche, platitude, and muddlement about mechanical progress and progress in general.” He faulted Metropolis for its premise that automation created drudgery rather than relieving it, wondered who was buying the machines’ output if not the workers, and found parts of the story derivative of Shelley’s Frankenstein, Karel Capek’s robot stories, and his own The Sleeper Awakes.
Inspirations : The creators of Superman, named the fictional base of the superhero’s operation to be Metropolis as a tribute to this great masterpiece. Batman’s Gotham City, as designed by the late Anton Furst for the 1989 Tim Burton Batman movie, borrows significantly from the noirish, art deco mood of Metropolis. Superman’s Metropolis is a comic book trilogy from DC Comics in which Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman inhabit the world of German Expressionist cinema, including Metropolis
Youtube Trailer and Videos :
Movie Ratings :
Hollywood Jokes Rating : 9/10
Box Office :
no information
Popularity: 11%
