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Jonas 2022-04-20 09:01:34

Expressionist mise-en-scène is unrivaled in the history of cinema, namely the set, lighting, costumes and performances. From this came the existence of many visually-defining nouns, which have been inherited and used repeatedly in films for a hundred years. It is also interesting to see the diversity of interpretations of the film, with two diametrically opposed interpretations for and against the Nazis appearing. Later, Fritz Lang, who fled to the United States, was against the Nazis, and his wife, who was also the screenwriter of the film, supported the Nazis. Hitler and Goebbels liked the film very much at first, and even asked Fritz Lang to be the film minister, but then their attitude changed 180 degrees. Later critics linked Expressionism to Nazism, and now the film and M is seen as a prescient anti-populist masterpiece. The alternative Tower of Babel story in the film is the key to interpretation: the film compares the capitalist to the brain and the worker to the hand. The brain conceives the brilliant Tower of Babel but can only complete it with the hands. The lack of communication between the two makes the hand unable to understand the purpose of the brain. , destroyed the Tower of Babel. The story itself is an abbreviated version of the entire plot, and puts religion and class contradictions together. The ruler of the metropolis is God and the brain, the worker is the human being and the hand, the son of the ruler is Jesus and the heart, and of course Mary is the Virgin. The film has two dualistic presuppositions, one is that there are only two opposing classes in society, namely capitalists and workers, and the other is that class contradictions can only be resolved in two extreme ways, that is, violence or peaceful resolution. Capitalists have the idea of ​​creating a new world and are justified. False Maria is Marxist and Nazi a few years later in German society; Real Maria is for peaceful settlement, which Fritz Lang naively thought would work. The criticism of the Nazis in this film and "M" only existed in Fritz Lang's subconscious. At that time, the Nazis had not even arisen. Lango fulfilled a great prophecy out of thinking about the chaotic German society. If Expressionism was a product of the desperate German society before the rise of the Nazis, then the film follows Expressionism in form while avoiding slipping into the abyss of Nazism in theme. This is what makes Fritz Lang even greater. .

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Extended Reading
  • Melyssa 2022-03-21 09:01:40

    Stripped of the mighty sci-fi or comic art, Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" and Lubitsch's "The Corner Shop" tell the same story: the bosses (capitalists) are good-natured but inevitably human. The weakness is used by the villains around him, and he is angry with the male protagonist (son or regarded as a son) in the film. A model labor representative (foreman or runner) saves the boss at a critical moment. The boss resolutely changed his mind and changed his mind, and was fair to the male protagonist. Justice is done, the villain is punished for losing power, labor and capital are harmonious again, and the corner shop or the metropolis is revived!  … It's natural to know that: Metropolis is not a dystopia at all! It is a conspiracy and sinister plot at a terrible price after the cruel truth of the world's operation is told to warn the people who are eager to act daringly, in order to avoid the disaster. As for the so-called solution of "connecting hands with hearts", it doesn't really matter whether it is naive and effective. The key is the "be safe, don't be impatient and think about the long term" released by the work. Ironically, however, with the rapid rise of the Nazis, the kind of social stability Lang favored was disrupted, forcing him to turn to the Dark Mabus series again. My brain is broken, I don't want to talk.

  • Theresa 2022-01-27 08:06:45

    A classic of the silent film era, Fritz Lang's German expressionist science fiction religious film, the 2010 restored version is great. Acting, graphics, science fiction, action drama, and connotative ideology are all ahead of an era! A magical film that can be interpreted almost infinitely. Christian fables, dystopias, reflections on the age of machines, future cities, mobs and populism, labor-management contradictions, etc. are all in one go! It is worthy of being a world cultural heritage movie. (9.0/10)

Metropolis quotes

  • Freder: What if one day those in the depths rise up against you?

  • 11811 - Georgy: - the machine!... Someone has to stay at the machine!