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Metropolis is a German silent film directed by Fritz Lang and released in 1927. It tells the story of the main character Freder living in a world divided into two classes: the elite and the workers. While the elite lives a wealthy and carefree life, the workers struggle for a living. The main character falls in love with a woman who is one of the workers, and this becomes part of his motivation to make changes to the existing system. The inventor Rotwang has his own plans regarding the revolution and creates a robotic clone of Maria, that calls the workers to rebel. This leads to a protest of the workers, which destroy the machine.
The status quo is not restored at the end of the film as the elite and the workers come to a new type of relationship. It can be supposed that this new type of relationship will provide workers with a better life and make the elite more connected and respectful to those who are at the foundation of the system (Lang, 1927). The conclusion seems satisfactory as the conflict deescalates as sides talk and come to a consensus regarding their mutual future. This consensus lies in the connection between them, as it must be present.
The religious references in the film contrast with the technological modernity of Metropolis. The architecture of some buildings and their interior resembles the cathedrals. Besides this, there are multiple scenes that have similarities with religious contexts. One of them is the robot that pretended to be Maria being burnt in front of a crowd this reminds a viewer of the inquisitions executions of witches, and the workers call this robot a witch as well. Moreover, there is a moment where the narrative text refers to the Bible, preparing a viewer for the upcoming scene. It takes place in Freders dream, where he sees a skeleton playing flute, and on his sides, there are characters representing seven deadly sins. For the audience of that time, these references, perhaps, amplified the meanings that the author was trying to implement in certain scenes. The message of the iconography in the film might be that even in the future, religion is still an important part of society and affects its behaviors. Therefore, it can be concluded that these messages had an additional function to the scenes.
The romantic aspects of the movie and the relationships between Maria and Freder seem to be a situation within the context of a bigger picture, and not the main topic. The film is dedicated to the concerns of what the development of technology might lead to. This problem is well-developed in other pieces of art, and the main points emphasized are similar in Metropolis. People serving the machine instead of the opposite, and the problems brought to society because of technological progress are common topics for such pieces. Yet, this is not the only issue that is developed in the film. The second subject addressed is the difference in life quality between classes. Whereas the elite lives a luxurious and wealthy life, the workers are struggling in poverty. This is one of the reasons why violent actions started to take place. Workers were not satisfied with how they were treated and them destroying the machine was an attempt to make changes. It is important to mention that such a situation would not be possible without the machine, and therefore, it is still related to the modernist aesthetic concerns.
The urban future shown by Metropolis perhaps was believable for audiences in 1927. The main reason for this is the way technology is represented in the movie in terms of it being strongly related to the existing technologies of that time. Electricity was the latest significant invention of the time, yet electronics were not developed. This leads to an understanding of the future based strongly on electricity and not on complex computing systems. Though, the similarity with the present is defined by the dependence of civilization on electricity. It is still a catastrophe in the modern world when the sources of electricity in cities become unavailable. One of the things that is yet to come in the future that already exists in Metropolis is robots with artificial intelligence developed enough to act like humans. An example of one is the robotic clone of Maria that initiates the protest of the workers. Perhaps, such artificial intelligence will be developed in the future, and they will resemble humans, but there are none at the moment.
The depiction of contemporary urban society in George Groszs painting Metropolis slightly resembles the elite society in the film. The main similarity is that there are no places in the picture dedicated to labor (Grosz, 1917). Everything in the painting is related to wealth, rest, and entertainment. The architecture of buildings on the sides is in a contrasting style with ones in the middle of the painting. They resemble historical and religious structures, and a similar contrast is present in the film as well.
In conclusion, the movie develops the topics of societal issues related to technological progress. It shows the development of the conflict between the workers and the elite. In its context, the religious symbolics are used in architecture and the events occurring in the movie, and the relationships between Freder and Maria are an important part of the story as well. The opposing sides come to a consensus based on the necessity of their connection for the structure of the society to be stable and satisfy both classes.
References
Grosz, G. (1917). Metropolis [painting]. Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain. Web.
Lang, F. (1927). Metropolis [Film]. UFA.
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