Last night I had the opportunity to see Metropolis as it should be seen: in a cinema. As it is one of the two key films I’ll be focusing on in my thesis, I really wanted to be able to study this film as I watched it. I had seen the film before, but I hadn’t enjoyed it, perhaps due to my lack of knowledge in the area at the time. With this screening I was going in to watch it with several months of studying that could be used for better interpretation. I’m going to briefly write on my thoughts from the film. I’m not going to go into ideas I’ve gathered from text, rather just what first came to my head when watching.
The story focuses around the central themes of technology, religion, and sexuality. The film also touches on the ideas of the heart, and control of the masses. Whether or not these were present ideas and themes of society during the 1920’s in Germany can only be told through the studies done since the films release, but I also believe the film being a flop upon premiere can also give an indication of whether or not it was reflective on the audience. However, this could either be due to the quality in which the film was made, whether the audience disagreed with the ideas portrayed, or if they just didn’t want to accept it was the truth, when deep down they knew it was. The film really shoves the ideas of religion and sexuality into the story, to the point where it is almost ridiculous and comical. The theme of technology is portrayed perfectly, with the opening montage of machines demonstrating just how advanced society has become.
“There can be no understanding between the hand and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator.” – Maria
Beneath all these themes I found a continuous sign of death. Technology causes the death of workers during an explosion, religious personifications of death come to Freder during a dream sequence and “Robot Maria” uses her sexuality to cause workers to riot, and thus kill. One thing that really stood out for me was the character “Thin Man”. The screening I saw had the found footage, and through this footage came a completely different perception on Thin Man. Initially he is hired by Joh Frederson to follow Freder around, however after mistaking Freder for someone else, the spying seems to draw to a close. This is where the found footage really works in the characters favour. The dream sequence for Freder has the Thin Man turn into a personification of death, as he reads to Freder passages from the bible about the apocalypse. Thin Man also seems to be present at a lot of situations where death is feared or wanted. For example, when Joh Frederson fears that his son may be dead, Thin Man just stands beside him, barely contributing to the situation. While I need to read more into this, I really perceive Thin Man to be a personification of death.
My favourite sequence from the film is definitely when Freder is battling against the clock machine. It demonstrates a battle against technology and time, which can be related back to the people of Germany. Signs and language of cinema really come through in this sequence, and in a way it is a perfect summary of what Metropolis is trying to say.
The last thing I want to discuss is the way in which the film portrays humans, in particular the scenes towards the end of the workers rioting and thus causing the flood. The workers seem to be easily influenced, listening to “Robot Maria’s” ideas from the bible, and immediately act out on what she says. When the flood happens and the workers realise they left their children behind, they point the blame to technology for allowing such a thing to occur, as well as the Biblical ideas put in their heads by “Robot Maria”. They burn “Robot Maria” at the stake on top of cars (perhaps pointing to Henry Ford and the Americanisation of industrial Germany), and when she turns back into her true form, they point the blame to social class. However, throughout all these events they should really be pointing the blame to themselves, as they were the ones foolish enough to forget their own children. Perhaps this was reflective of Germany in the 1920’s? Perhaps it was society’s fault for putting the politicians in power, and listening to their every word during the Weimar Republic.
These are my immediate thoughts. I’m not saying they are accurate, and they most certainly need more research and refining. However, I enjoyed the film a lot more second time around, and really gained more of an appreciation for the Expressionist ideas and how they translate to film. I need to do more thinking into the semiotics and techniques. However, it’s late and I never write at this time. I’ll leave it at a sequence which looked beautiful on the big screen, especially in the high quality, digitised version I saw. The fountain behind him appears to look like angel wings, portraying Freder’s kind nature, and (more) religious symbols.
Caligari and Metropolis: The Language of Weimar 