I watched this movie for the first time last night. Mine was the restored length of roughly 170 minutes. In case you don’t know, most of this was thought to be lost until a rather badly damaged 16mm version was found in Buenos Aires in 2008.

The film is obviously showing it’s age so if you want a up-to-date sci-fi epic, try something else. But for it’s time, it has some very strong iconography; the eponymous Metropolis of endless sky-scrapers, surrounded by snaking layer upon layer of grid-locked motorways and railways; the robot-woman, Maria; the towering machines of the underworld; and the epic chiaroscuro street scenes reminiscent of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

The story is basically about the uprising of Workers, who live in a city far below Metropolis, some time in the future. The ruler of the City lost his wife, when she gave birth to his son, who has grown into an athletic star of the elite class. But the ruler has no idea that his son is about to rebel and take up the cause of the Workers. Meanwhile, a genius inventor has found a way to create androids in any likeness and the ruler wants one made to look like his long-dead wife. Or at least, that was my take. Little does he know that not only is the inventor still in love with the dead wife but that a girl called Maria is her spitting-image and the religious leader of the Workers. She ends up becoming the pawn of both these men but also the lover of the hero. Continue reading “Film Review: Metropolis – Fritz lang (1922)” →