Metropolis (Synopsis) Power & Power Struggle in Metropolis, Strike & Caligari

Metropolis clearly displays a power struggle between workers and bosses. The nature of power here is distant and uncaring, largely through ignorance of the workers suffering. There is a movement established by Maria which acknowledges the need of the workers for spiritual values as opposed to the materialistic hedonism of the ruling elites. These values are represented by a symbolism that is treated very differently to Eisensteins treatment of religious imagery, in which he links Christian imagery to pagan symbols through montage technique and suggests there is little difference. In Metropolis the Christian symbols retain their power and represent the opposite to the values of the ruling class. Maria is represented as a Latter-day Saint through lighting (halo effect) and cinematography (shot from below). The alternative Maria is depicted the Hoar of Babylon (character from Revelations the final book of the Bible in which
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the apocalypse is described). This religious imagery is all taken very seriously here, not dismissively as in empowered in Metropolis not simply through organisation and leadership, but through appeal to higher spiritual values. The ruling class is condemned also through a lack of spiritual values represented by the seven deadly sins. So in these ways power is displayed as corrupt distant & dangerous. However the possibility of reconciliation is clearly displayed as Joh Friedersons son takes on a kind of Christ like identity as the mediator. The mediator is able to bring together the two warring factions once the true evil in the shape of Rotwang is vanquished. This all might be seen as a bit of a cop out if like Eisenstein you believe in the corrupt nature of the Bourgeoisie. Eisenstein of course never imagined reconciliation between these two classes as possible or desirable. In Caligari however the nature of power is problematic because of the framing sequence which reduces Franciss perspective to the demented ravings of a madman.
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Without the framing sequence the film would have been much more subversive. Interestingly the framing approach to the narrative was suggested by Fritz Lang who of course directed Metropolis.

Women in Caligari, Metropolis & Soviet Montage

Women in Caligari are of course represented most strongly by Franciss imagined girlfriend Jane. In our first introduction we see her as a ghostlike presence unaware of her surroundings, when the film ends we understand that this was the Jane of the lunatic asylum. During Franciss story however Jane remains unattainable to Francis because of the involvement of another man. This problem is of course solved by the murder of the other suitor, but Jane remains the mysterious object of desire. Jane appears to us like Jungs Anima the archetypal feminine in her white flowing robes and mysterious dark locks. This is a very bourgeois view of women and has no place in Eisensteins world view where women are depicted as strong revolutionary leaders and mothers. In Eisensteins Strike the bourgeois women (bottom right) are portrayed as shallow and pointless, a bit like Jane you might say if you were being unkind.

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