If the transparent amount of effort put into the crystal clear restoration doesn't hint at this film's cinematic relevance, its scope does. In spite of its highly stylised, theatrical sets (exemplary of German Expressionism), the intricately imagined and the vast city of Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) is truly believable, its cityscape vistas conveying a very strong sense of a massive metropolitan interior (see fig. 1.), used repeatedly to show characters moving great distances across the city. At no point in the film do you see a horizon, or any suggestion of the city's limits. In the viewers mind it is infinite, expanding far beyond the screen; this is one of the first examples of a film that doesn't simply plonk down scenes to tell a story, but builds a world. No expense was spared on the production; although sources disagree on the true total, between 25000 (Ebert, 1998) and 37000 (Hall, 1927) extras were employed in the production of Metropolis in order to truly present a densely populated mega-city.
Fig. 1. Metropolis cityscape (1927) |
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Although the film ends on a rather weak note, rampantly high emotions mysteriously settled by the wholly underwhelming Freder, as Roger Ebert noted, Metropolis is "Considered the first great science fiction film" (Ebert, 1998). It serves as a basis for much of modern Sci-Fi. For example, traces of the scene in which the heroine Maria's likeness is replicated onto der maschinenmensch (see fig.4.) can be found in nearly every significant sci-fi film to date, from the electrode cap on her head - Matthew Vaughn's Xmen: First Class (2011) when Charles Xavier dons the prototype electrode cap of Cerebro, to the machine Maria is bound in - Luc Besson's The Fifth Element (1997) when Leeloo is fabricated out of thin air by genetic reconstruction, even down to the act of fabricating a human facade for a machine - Chris Columbus' Bicentennial Man (1999) wherein Andrew, a robot, is furnished with a human facsimile by a prosthetist (in fact the entire premise of Bicentennial Man hinges on the idea that a robot could appear convincingly human).
Fig. 4. Maria is held captive by Rotwang, strapped into a machine about to replicate her likeness onto der maschinenmensch (1927) |
Fig. 5. Charles Xavier connects his mind to Cerebro (a machine) by donning an electrode cap (2011) |
Fig. 6. Leeloo lies strapped down immediately following her genetic reconstruction (1997) |
Fig. 7. Andrew's original robotic face alongside his human face (2000) |
Metropolis is responsible for a series of impressive cinematic firsts, but it was almost overly ambitious and it shows. The grandious visual ambition seemingly resulted in a neglectful approach to the story itself; Metropolis, with the exception of Maria, suffers from weak character development and a sometimes baseless narrative which could have easily derailed it, but as Roger Ebert concluded - "The gaps and logical puzzles of the story (some caused by clumsy re-editing after the film left Lang's hands) are swept away by this torrent of images. ... Even when the plot seems adrift, the movie itself never lacks confidence: The city and system are so overpowering they dwarf any merely logical problems." (Ebert, 1998). As a result of it's visual strength there is little doubt about the pervasive influence it has had, and continues to have on Sci-Fi in film. Jonathan Romney states, "Rotwang's creation is not the first film robot,
but it was the first to be sexy and streamlined." (Romney, 2010). Metropolis spawned
not only the future-dystopic megacity, but the idea that robots could be sleek, agile, human. Without Fritz Lang's
vision of der maschinenmensch George Lucas' Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
would have been without C3PO, there wouldn't be the Replicants of
Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982), and we would have struggled to empathise with any of the robotic characters in the film adaptations of Isaac
Asimov's 'Positronic Brain' stories, if indeed they still existed at all i.e. Bicentennial Man, and Alex Proyas' I-Robot (2004).
Bibliography
Ebert, Roger. (1998) Great Movies: Metropolis. At: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-metropolis-1927 (Accessed on 27.09.16)
Hall, Mordaunt. (1927) 'A Technical Marvel.' In: The New York Times [online republication] At: http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A05E2D8143BE13ABC4F53DFB566838C639EDE (Accessed on 27.09.16)
Romney, Jonathan. (2010) 'Metropolis, Fritz Lang, 145 mins, (PG): Back to the ravishing and dystopian future' In: Independent, The [online] At: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/metropolis-fritz-lang-145-mins-pg-2076981.html (Accessed on 27.09.16)
List of Illustrations
Figure 1. Untitled. (1927) From: Metropolis, UFA. Directed by: Fritz Lang. [Film still: Metropolis cityscape] At: http://abload.de/img/metropolis84isbi.png (Accessed on 03.10.16).
Figure 2. Untitled. (1980) From: Pacman, Namco. Created by: Toru Iwatani [Game Still: Pacman Arcade Game] At: http://www.gourmet.com/images/food/2008/09/foar_videogames_pacman608.jpg (Accessed on 03.10.16).
Figure 3. Untitled. (1987) From: Final Fantasy, Square. Created by: Hironobu Sakaguchi [Game Still: Final Fantasy for the NES] At: http://allgamesplayed.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/ff1.jpg (Accessed on 03.10.16).
Figure 4. Untitled. (1927) From: Metropolis, UFA. Directed by: Fritz Lang. [Film still: Maria is held captive by Rotwang, strapped into a machine about to replicate her likeness onto der maschinenmensch] At: http://photos.bravenet.com/272/478/925/3/4BD11C8AE4.jpg (Accessed on 03.10.16).
Figure 5. Untitled. (2011) From: Xmen: First Class, 20th Century Fox. Directed by: Matthew Vaughn [Film still: Charles Xavier connects his mind to Cerebro (a machine) by donning an electrode cap] At: https://lukebenjamenkuhns.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/x-men-first-class-original.jpg (Accessed 03.10.16).
Figure 6. Untitled. (1997) From: The Fifth Element, Buena Vista International. Directed by: Luc Besson [Film still: Leeloo lies strapped down immediately following her genetic reconstruction] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9OBbsLYGOE (Accessed 03.10.16).
Figure 7. Bicentennial Man. (1999) From: Bicentennial Man, Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group. Directed by: Chris Columbus [Film Poster: Andrew's original robotic face alongside his human face] At: http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w780/gG0DNBGo2zZv6lLkvI9VUwP4kAW.jpg (Accessed on 03.10.16).
Bibliography
Ebert, Roger. (1998) Great Movies: Metropolis. At: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-metropolis-1927 (Accessed on 27.09.16)
Hall, Mordaunt. (1927) 'A Technical Marvel.' In: The New York Times [online republication] At: http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A05E2D8143BE13ABC4F53DFB566838C639EDE (Accessed on 27.09.16)
Romney, Jonathan. (2010) 'Metropolis, Fritz Lang, 145 mins, (PG): Back to the ravishing and dystopian future' In: Independent, The [online] At: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/metropolis-fritz-lang-145-mins-pg-2076981.html (Accessed on 27.09.16)
List of Illustrations
Figure 1. Untitled. (1927) From: Metropolis, UFA. Directed by: Fritz Lang. [Film still: Metropolis cityscape] At: http://abload.de/img/metropolis84isbi.png (Accessed on 03.10.16).
Figure 2. Untitled. (1980) From: Pacman, Namco. Created by: Toru Iwatani [Game Still: Pacman Arcade Game] At: http://www.gourmet.com/images/food/2008/09/foar_videogames_pacman608.jpg (Accessed on 03.10.16).
Figure 3. Untitled. (1987) From: Final Fantasy, Square. Created by: Hironobu Sakaguchi [Game Still: Final Fantasy for the NES] At: http://allgamesplayed.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/ff1.jpg (Accessed on 03.10.16).
Figure 4. Untitled. (1927) From: Metropolis, UFA. Directed by: Fritz Lang. [Film still: Maria is held captive by Rotwang, strapped into a machine about to replicate her likeness onto der maschinenmensch] At: http://photos.bravenet.com/272/478/925/3/4BD11C8AE4.jpg (Accessed on 03.10.16).
Figure 5. Untitled. (2011) From: Xmen: First Class, 20th Century Fox. Directed by: Matthew Vaughn [Film still: Charles Xavier connects his mind to Cerebro (a machine) by donning an electrode cap] At: https://lukebenjamenkuhns.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/x-men-first-class-original.jpg (Accessed 03.10.16).
Figure 6. Untitled. (1997) From: The Fifth Element, Buena Vista International. Directed by: Luc Besson [Film still: Leeloo lies strapped down immediately following her genetic reconstruction] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9OBbsLYGOE (Accessed 03.10.16).
Figure 7. Bicentennial Man. (1999) From: Bicentennial Man, Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group. Directed by: Chris Columbus [Film Poster: Andrew's original robotic face alongside his human face] At: http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w780/gG0DNBGo2zZv6lLkvI9VUwP4kAW.jpg (Accessed on 03.10.16).
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