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:

Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich

Top 250 #89 | 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 | Inventor | Machinery | 

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Taglines:

Fritz Lang's 1927 Masterpiece Now With 25 Minutes of Lost Footage (2010 re-release)

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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

This was the first film ever to be registered in the "Memory of the World-Register" of the UNESCO in 2001.

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Goofs

In the Kino Video DVD, the cityscape shot that ends in Chapter 7 (at 17:00) is cut short. It ends before a dirigible crosses the top of the shot flying from right to left. The dirigible appears in the Madacy Video DVD in Chapter 3 (at 15:21).

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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 Edición Especial Coleccionista: Comparativa: Operación Dragón (2012)
DVD appears on the background

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Soundtracks

"Cage of Freedom"
Music by Giorgio Moroder
Lyrics by Pete Bellotte
Performed by Jon Anderson
Courtesy of Columbia Records
(from the 1984 re-release)

User Reviews

Movie Milestone and Masterpiece!

Metropolis is surely one of the greatest films ever made. Its scope, its reach, its magnitude and its message are truly incredible even by today's standards of film-making. Seen in context of its premier in 1927, Metropolis is a giant of filmdom and film history. Lots of people always ask what makes a movie great, and in particular, Metropolis. A great film is one that stirs the imagination, leaves the viewer with images that will last perhaps forever, forces contemplation of issues dealing with the very essence of life, and achieves a kind of immortality. Metropolis is a film that succeeds with each of these criteria. Metropolis is a film that hailed in a new era of making films with it futuristic settings, halluciatory scenes, and its breadth of spirit and sheer scope, most clearly exhibited by its cast of epic proportions. There are images that blind the viewer with genius such as the beginning scene of the changing of the workers or the creation of the robot Maria. Metropolis challenges its viewers to think about their relationship with society both as a whole and with each individual, as well as contemplate the rationale of divisions amongst peoples and groups. Lastly, Metropolis has stood the test of time. It is a landmark film and an ignitor for the evolution of the science fiction/fantasy film genre. The story itself is simple,a Biblical allegory, about how people with a vision should share that vision in order to make it happen. The film is anything but simple. It is immense, and a rich legacy that director Fritz Lang has left us.