‘What if one day those in the depths rise up against you?‘
Ahh Metropolis. My white whale. The ultimate film-that-I-should-have-already-seen. Fritz Lang’s impressionist masterpiece is probably the movie that has been sat on my watchlist for the longest amount of time. And who can blame me? To quote Fast Show “One, it was in black and white, two, nobody got shot, three, there were no car chases, four, nobody got their kit off and five… I’ll get mi coat”. Not only do all of those things apply to Metropolis, it is also a silent film. This being an area of cinema that remains utterly unexplored by yours truly (and yet, I have seen many different Transformers flicks…). What Metropolis does have however is a compelling story, incredible cinematography and a series of jaw dropping performances.
In a futuristic city (Metropolis is set in the uncertain future of the year 2000), a dystopian hellscape is separated into two groups: workers, who live below the city in the ‘depths’, and the city planners who sit with their trotters up above ground. This all changes when Freder (Gustav Fröhlich), the son of Joh Frederson (Alfred Abel), the master of Metropolis, starts a rebellion alongside Maria (Brigitte Helm) – an idealistic hero of the working classes – and Josaphat (Theodor Loos), a spurned former employee of the Master.
Given that it was released in 1927, the visuals and effects are genuinely spectacular. With Metropolis, Lang has created a living, breathing city that almost stands as a character within itself. The industrial, mechanical aesthetic has influenced everything from the Matrix trilogy to Spirited Away, and the city still looks incredible even now. Having never experienced silent film before, I was taken with just how expressive the cast could be without words, particularly Fröhlich and Helm, who deliver a pair of performances for the ages.
If, like me, you have never got round to Metropolis because you expect it to be a slog, I can assure you that isn’t the case. I was fully immersed in the story from start to finish and I can confidently state that Fritz Lang’s masterpiece is deserving of the name. One of the most important films ever made.