Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) Is a German expressionism spectacle, that soon became a successful kick-start for future sci-fi and disaster movies to follow. It was a ground breaker for this time, with its special effects and wild, visual interpretation of a futuristic city.
The film is symbolic of a number of things, one of which is class which is a fairly obvious and clear element. The city of Metropolis stands tall, underneath it lies an underground city, with workers assigned to machines that keep the city functioning. The people living above the ground are rich, and the people underground are the opposite, they appear more as slaves than actual workers. At the beginning of the film they are seen walking in sync in single file lines, switching shifts with the next lot of workers. They are prisoners to the functioning of the city and surely seem like their lives have been sucked out of them, and forged into the city to create the beauty that it is. The poor workers represent low class, and the rich are high class. Simply, this is represented by where both are located in the city, in terms of altitude for one. The high class are high up, and the low class are low down, quite literally.
There is also a massive difference in their lifestyles, considering the poor are working past the point of exhaustion, and the upper class are living in this luxurious utopia exquisitely. It shares this representation of class on another level, when not just focusing on a division of two classes. "They are slaves to the industrial system and are portrayed literally almost as cogs in a machine, everything is mechanistic. Even the accountants in Joh Fredersen’s office are as much slaves to the system, they are simply higher up on the ladder." (Patrick, 2011) Joh Fredersen (Alfred Abel) is the Master of Metropolis, and of course is aware of the overworked souls beneath the city. When asked where the people below the city are, he answers "where they belong." His son Freder, (Gustav Fröhlich) is oblivious to the pain endured by the workers underground. (Until he discovers it for himself) A number of times throughout the film, a metaphor is given for both the workers and the people above ground. The workers are referred to as the hand, and the high class are called the head. A heart is required in order to bring them together, the heart in this case is Freder. The fact this one individual is the heart and nobody else is, emphasizes the ignorance of civilization towards the class food chain, which is present to this day.
Fig 1. 'Moloch' still.
A powerfully interesting scene is where Freder first sees the workers underground, early in the film. (See fig 1) He visions the people being eaten by a large mechanical face. "At one point, the machine is compared to Moloch, the ancient Semitic deity honored by human sacrifices." (VigilantCitizen) Moloch goes back years and years, and is known as "a Canaanite deity associated in biblical sources with the practice of child sacrifice." (Britannica, 2017) The fact that it is shown in the film portrays quite a strong message, expressing the extreme sacrifices that are made. The workers are sacrificing their own lives and souls to keep this city going, which is the God itself. Visually in this scene the workers being sacrificed are in fact adults and not children, so Lang including this to be of relevance is to show that the workers, (whether adult or child) are metaphorically equal to children when categorized in class as opposed to age. Maybe comparing the workers to children being sacrificed was a more raw method to broaden the message about the idea behind class.
Smaller indicators are included in the film about class if considered enough. One is where Freder firsts meets Maria (Brigette Helm) She comes up bringing poor children above ground, which Freder sees. All the walls, floors and scenery here are mainly white and bright colours. The door she comes through is black, giving an insight of the darkness that follows through that door leading down to the underground. When showing the machinery based environment, there is a lot of smoke in the area. At times there is so much that everything can be difficult to see or make out, this alone could be displaying the ignorance or in fact the blindness towards the troubles of lower class by civilization.
Undoubtedly, the higher class are reliant on the lower class in this movie. When the lower class loses its grips the whole city does, causing intense destruction to everyone. This tells the importance of class and perhaps is intended to be a wake up call to all, that union will keep us alive, and most certainly not division.
Illustration List
Figure. 1. Robinson, G. Metropolis still.
http://www.scoop.it/t/intertitles/p/4003519353/2013/06/20/the-top-10-intertitles-from-silent-movies
(Accessed on 09/10/17)
Bibliography
Britannica. (2017) At https://www.britannica.com/topic/Moloch-ancient-god
(Accessed on 08/10/17)
Patrick. (2011) At: https://sites.nd.edu/moderncrises/2011/11/07/metropolis/
(Accessed on 08/10/17)
ViligantCitizen. At: https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/vigilantcitizen.com/musicbusiness/the-occult-symbolism-of-movie-metropolis-and-its-importance-in-pop-culture/amp/
(Accessed on 08/10/17)
The film is symbolic of a number of things, one of which is class which is a fairly obvious and clear element. The city of Metropolis stands tall, underneath it lies an underground city, with workers assigned to machines that keep the city functioning. The people living above the ground are rich, and the people underground are the opposite, they appear more as slaves than actual workers. At the beginning of the film they are seen walking in sync in single file lines, switching shifts with the next lot of workers. They are prisoners to the functioning of the city and surely seem like their lives have been sucked out of them, and forged into the city to create the beauty that it is. The poor workers represent low class, and the rich are high class. Simply, this is represented by where both are located in the city, in terms of altitude for one. The high class are high up, and the low class are low down, quite literally.
There is also a massive difference in their lifestyles, considering the poor are working past the point of exhaustion, and the upper class are living in this luxurious utopia exquisitely. It shares this representation of class on another level, when not just focusing on a division of two classes. "They are slaves to the industrial system and are portrayed literally almost as cogs in a machine, everything is mechanistic. Even the accountants in Joh Fredersen’s office are as much slaves to the system, they are simply higher up on the ladder." (Patrick, 2011) Joh Fredersen (Alfred Abel) is the Master of Metropolis, and of course is aware of the overworked souls beneath the city. When asked where the people below the city are, he answers "where they belong." His son Freder, (Gustav Fröhlich) is oblivious to the pain endured by the workers underground. (Until he discovers it for himself) A number of times throughout the film, a metaphor is given for both the workers and the people above ground. The workers are referred to as the hand, and the high class are called the head. A heart is required in order to bring them together, the heart in this case is Freder. The fact this one individual is the heart and nobody else is, emphasizes the ignorance of civilization towards the class food chain, which is present to this day.
Fig 1. 'Moloch' still.
A powerfully interesting scene is where Freder first sees the workers underground, early in the film. (See fig 1) He visions the people being eaten by a large mechanical face. "At one point, the machine is compared to Moloch, the ancient Semitic deity honored by human sacrifices." (VigilantCitizen) Moloch goes back years and years, and is known as "a Canaanite deity associated in biblical sources with the practice of child sacrifice." (Britannica, 2017) The fact that it is shown in the film portrays quite a strong message, expressing the extreme sacrifices that are made. The workers are sacrificing their own lives and souls to keep this city going, which is the God itself. Visually in this scene the workers being sacrificed are in fact adults and not children, so Lang including this to be of relevance is to show that the workers, (whether adult or child) are metaphorically equal to children when categorized in class as opposed to age. Maybe comparing the workers to children being sacrificed was a more raw method to broaden the message about the idea behind class.
Smaller indicators are included in the film about class if considered enough. One is where Freder firsts meets Maria (Brigette Helm) She comes up bringing poor children above ground, which Freder sees. All the walls, floors and scenery here are mainly white and bright colours. The door she comes through is black, giving an insight of the darkness that follows through that door leading down to the underground. When showing the machinery based environment, there is a lot of smoke in the area. At times there is so much that everything can be difficult to see or make out, this alone could be displaying the ignorance or in fact the blindness towards the troubles of lower class by civilization.
Undoubtedly, the higher class are reliant on the lower class in this movie. When the lower class loses its grips the whole city does, causing intense destruction to everyone. This tells the importance of class and perhaps is intended to be a wake up call to all, that union will keep us alive, and most certainly not division.
Illustration List
Figure. 1. Robinson, G. Metropolis still.
http://www.scoop.it/t/intertitles/p/4003519353/2013/06/20/the-top-10-intertitles-from-silent-movies
(Accessed on 09/10/17)
Bibliography
Britannica. (2017) At https://www.britannica.com/topic/Moloch-ancient-god
(Accessed on 08/10/17)
Patrick. (2011) At: https://sites.nd.edu/moderncrises/2011/11/07/metropolis/
(Accessed on 08/10/17)
ViligantCitizen. At: https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/vigilantcitizen.com/musicbusiness/the-occult-symbolism-of-movie-metropolis-and-its-importance-in-pop-culture/amp/
(Accessed on 08/10/17)
Excellent discussion around the portrayal of class here, Frankie :)
ReplyDeleteI might have also liked to see a bit more about the influence that this film has had on future films; you say it "soon became a successful kick-start for future sci-fi and disaster movies to follow." At this point you could have maybe made some visual comparisons (maybe the influence that the machine-man had on the design of C-3PO for example...)
All-in-all, a very interesting read though :)