The film, which I watched at the "100 Years of Silent Films - Live Soundtrack" Film Festival in Berlin Babylon late last month, was originally composed by Gottfried Huppertz and accompanied by the Berlin Babylon Orchestra. With the help of the film sources saved in Bologna and the 6-minute clips recovered in previous years, the total length of this version of "Metropolis" is 151 minutes.
A very shocking experience, the live effect is a comprehensive impact of concept, history, visual art and classical music. It shaped the first peak in the history of sci-fi movies, influenced countless lens language and sci-fi backgrounds, and even brought direct inspiration to directors, such as "The Fifth Element" directed by Luc Besson.
But the greatness of "Metropolis" is not only the significance of film history, but also the reflection and observation of German society, politics, culture and Germans. I think it predicts the political tragedy of Hitler's rapid seizure of power after the end of Germany's golden twenties, and is sufficient as a first-hand material for studying the causes of German domestic history during World War II.
The first act of the film describes the setting, symbolizing the social contradictions and stratification of the Weimar Republic. The elites live in the high-rises of the bustling city, are the brains of the city, and enjoy a comfortable life. The workers are the hands of the city, they build the city, but they are deprived of their personal life and name, only the uniform and tired steps, the tedious and dangerous hard work, the empty eyes, and the number on the work cap. Gradually, the workers became dissatisfied with the status quo and gathered underground to seek salvation from the heroine Maria. Tensions between workers and elites intensified over a factory bombing that wasn't handled properly. At this time, the movie hints to the audience that "hands" and "brains" need "heart" to coordinate, and the hero Freder is this heart. He is the son of the master of the city, with an elite background, but with sympathy for the workers, he walks into their lives and leads them in their struggle.
As we all know, "Metropolis" was Hitler's favorite movie. He firmly believes that he is Freder, the male protagonist in the film, and has the dual background of Freder's elite and workers. He believed that he, and only himself, had the ability to expose the hypocritical political deceptions of the Weimar Republic, protect the interests of the workers, and become the salvation and future of German society. From the perspective of latecomers, we certainly know that this argument is untenable. Freder is a character with humanistic concern. As a pacifist, he advocates the role of communication in resolving disputes. Hitler, a believer in violence and killing, brought disaster to Germany. The Axis powers he helped to create caused great harm to ordinary people around the world, not as a means of "saving Germany" as he said. However, we can indeed observe the weak nature of parliamentary democracy in the age of immaturity of the constitution, which is precisely the fundamental political reason why Germany quickly turned to the extreme right in the early 1930s.
The film has a very poignant and ironic look at the Germans. In the climax of the film, workers are motivated by the fake Maria made by Rotwang and rush to the heart of the factory to smash the main power machine. The foreman who guarded the machine warned them that destroying the machine was destroying the city. The workers ignored it and resisted. After smashing the machine, they danced happily around the machine, forgetting that their children were the victims of this disaster. At this time, the city was destroyed, and the underground water came up to cause a huge flood. The children cried for help in the water. Freder and the real Maria rescued them, putting their own lives and safety at the risk of the children's lives. Their lofty humanity was not thanked by their bewildered parents, who clamored to burn Maria, who abetted them. Fortunately, it was fake Maria who was burned at the stake. After she lost her life, she returned to the appearance of a robot, which made the crowd suddenly realize. The violence of the people here has been shown to spare no effort, which seems to indicate that in the next 18 years of Germany, the people brought the dictator to power, and they were keen to carry out a collective trial of innocent people without any rationality and thinking, resulting in irreversible results. Escape yourself into the role of the "bewitched" innocent.
In terms of German culture, the film uses a very representative symbol when reflecting the conflict results: the child. Children have the first and most important meaning for Germans. As the direct bearer of the consequences, they are the yardstick for adults to reflect. This is a profound insight and performance at the cultural level.
The film provides reflections from multiple perspectives, religion, society, politics, culture, aesthetics, and philosophy. This article is only a brief description of the political, social and cultural perspectives. The author does not deny that "Metropolis" inevitably has limitations of the times and some outdated conclusions, but it deserves to be watched and discussed constantly. Although it is a radical observation of German society, it still has universal value and significance, which is why it deserves to be a film and television classic and the first peak of science fiction. Prophetic, religious, absurd, bizarre, three hours in the theater, one hundred years in the world.
Attached are photos of the orchestra and conductor receiving applause and respect from the audience at the end of the performance. Thanks to film artists, musicians, and masters for nourishing the ordinary life of ordinary people and bringing multi-dimensional perception and thinking to ordinary people.
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