Metropolis 1927 – Film Review

Louis Belden

Before Metropolis, Sci-Fi was a far more whimsical and less

serious genre of movies, with films like ‘A Trip to the Moon’
featuring a light-hearted look at space travel, however the
release of Metropolis changed the world of cinema forever.
Considered by many to be the first true science-fiction epic,
Metropolis is a 1927 German Expressionist film directed by
Fritz Lang.
The picture is set in a dystopian future were the classes of
rich and poor live in separate districts, with the rich living up
in the city and the poor working underground with the
machines. The story shows the struggle between man and
machine and revolves around Freder, son of Jon Fredersen
the wealthy master of Metropolis, and Maria, whose seen as
a saintly pacifist to the workers and aiming to bring them
together.
The Movie has a truly unique visual style combining the
styles of Art Deco, Cubism & Futurism all to create a
towering yet bleak vison of the future, which has ties to a
more ‘primitive’ religious side with its cathedral. From the
forever moving upper city of Metropolis, featuring bustling Figure 1. Metropolis poster (1927)
crowds, cars and planes to the steamy hell like underground, populated by the weary lifeless
workers and the machines. The Art Deco style creates this gothic and dark vison of a city
with a capitalistic type state were only the rich thrive. “The movie was born from my first
sight of the skyscrapers in New York in October 1924”, this statement gives us the knowledge
that the gothic and Art Deco style of New York and the landscape of the city played a big
part in the creation of ‘Metropolis”
There is no doubt that the visual style of the movie was incredibly influential, the journalist
JF Alfaya said, “There is no doubt that Metropolis’ imagery was strongly influenced by Art
Déco and Lang’s use of this movement’s ideas was highly influential, contributing decisively
to the style’s subsequent popularity in Europe and America.” This provides the point how
not only was the films visual style was influenced by the Art Deco movement but also
managed to create further interest in the style.
 Just as I mentioned earlier, like the influence the
visual style had on the world of design the movie
in general has had a huge
impact on cinema and
popular culture. Not
surprisingly Metropolis
had a huge impact on
Figure 2. Original Ralph McQuarrie C3-PO concept art
one of if not the most
famous science fiction
series of all time, Star Wars. One of the most obvious similarities is
the relationship between the design of the robot In Metropolis and
as seen in Figure 2 the original concept art of See-Threepio,
however this is not where the similarities between the film and the
saga end. One of the other big things in common is this idea of
rebellion and revolution over a tyrannical reign. Other relationships
that could be drawn is the design of Coruscants towering
architecture and flying cars, the singular glove worn by Rotwang in
‘Metropolis’ mirrors the theme of singular gloves covering artificial
hands in the Skywalker family and finally the style of absurd dancing
that Maria as the robot does is reminiscent of the dancers that entertain Jabba the Hutt in
‘Return of the Jedi’. Filmmaker Bryan Young stated, “One of the things George Lucas is best
at is making you believe the machines being manipulated on screen are real and work when
operated by characters and since Metropolis seems to be the first example of this in cinema,
it seems like an easy thing to connect the dots.” This further demonstrates that Lucas was
not only inspired by the picture on a narrative and design standpoint but also through the
cinematography the film used also demonstrating how ‘Metropolis’ influenced the world of
cinema and by doing this allowed for one of the most iconic series to be what it is today.
There is no doubt that Fritz Lang’s ‘Metropolis’ biggest accomplishment, even more so than
its ahead of its time use of practical sets and effects, is its influence and impact it has had on
the landscape of cinema and design in general, of which can still Figure 3. Metropolis Poster
be appreciated and continues to influence and inspire to this day.
Illustration list
 Figure1:
https://www.antikbar.co.uk/original_vintage_posters/cinema_posters/metropolis_fri
tz_lang/PC0931/
 Figure2:
https://www.starwars.com/news/the-cinema-behind-star-wars-metropolis
 Figure3:
https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/metropolis-most-expensive-movie-poster

Bibliography

 Bryan Young. (2016). THE CINEMA BEHIND STAR WARS: METROPOLI.Available:

https://www.starwars.com/news/the-cinema-behind-star-wars-metropolis. Last
accessed 27/09/2018.

 JF Alfaya. (2014). The influence of the Art Deco movement in Fritz Lang’s
Metropolis. Available: http://www.decimononic.com/blog/the-influence-of-the-art-
deco-movement-in-fritz-langs-metropolis Last accessed 27/09/2018.

 N/A. (2016). Industrial meets art deco – How Metropolis helped design the
future. Available: https://www.pooky.com/inspiration/light-and-shade/industrial-
meets-art-deco-how-metropolis-helped-design-the-future. Last accessed
27/09/2018.