BFI Watchlist - Metropolis (1927)

Metropolis - 1927

Directed by Fritz Lang. Starring Brigitte Helm, Gustav Fröhlich and Alfred Abel.

So I logged onto my BFI account and searched for Metropolis, and it was possibly the longest description/summary I had ever read. So instead of making you, my dear readers read it. Here’s a screenshot of it that I copied into my notes app. Read it if you want, I wouldn’t bother though, it only made me confused.

Before the film even started, a series of german slides with a translation were featured, which basically explained that when the film was first released in 1927 audiences complained about how long the film was, (it’s 150 minutes). So after it premiered people complained that it was so long that people basically butchered the film and removed several of Lang’s scenes. And then over the years many attempts to restore the film were made but it wasn’t until 2009 that this was possible.

Before I started the film I was in the mind set of “two and a bit hours is easy, I’ve sat through two hour long films before”.

I was wrong…

The first hour of the film dragged on and on to the point where I thought for a minute that my wifi was buffering… it wasn’t.

However, one technique used by Lang, that I thought was very clever, was the use of (what seemed to be) paper and miniature sets. One of the first scenes was the workers entering the lift as they descended into the factory/work house under the city. This scene was done through (what I believe to be) a paper set. The workers in the lift was a sketch and then there was moving paper behind which gives the illusion of a moving lift. 

  

That is probably the only positive thing I could say about the first hour of the film.

AND THEN SUDDENLY…

The films pace goes from snail to rollercoaster. As soons as the pace changed I was hooked, the last hour and 30 minutes were extremely entertaining.

Brigitte Helm’s performance as the fembot as well as Maria is amazing. Her use of physical theatre to portray the differences between Maria and her fembot are extremely clever and entertaining.

Gustav Fröhlich’s performance was good too, but he was rumoured to be a Nazi sympathiser, so I didn’t pay much attention to his performance.

All the films action is in the second half. To summarise the second half - the fembot tricks the working class to revolt against the upper class. However, when all the workers leave their homes to trash the machinery that keeps the entire city of metropolis running, they seem to forget that by doing this they will flood the lower levels of the city where they live with their CHILDREN.

You mean to tell me that not a SINGLE ONE of these parents seemed to remember that they all have children that they need taking care of… weird flex but okay.

However, at the same time I was still very invested in the plot at this point. I even started shouting at the screen. Screaming at the two main protagonists to hurry up and save the children. I think my words were somewhere along the lines of “have your reunion later, save the children first you idiots”

Even after I had finished the film and gone to bed, I lay awake for a good hour thinking how on earth all those parents could just leave their children to DROWN!

One thing I really do admire is the portrayal of two strong female characters… even if one was an evil robot.

Both the women, Maria and her fembot were extremely influential. Maria influenced the workers to join together and find a way to demand better work conditions. Her fembot influenced the workers to revolt and fight against the upper class. Despite the chaotic results, it still shows her powerful influence.

Many “old” films that I have watched seem to portray women as these weak, fearful, dependent on men creatures. Yet Lang manages to show just how powerful and influential a women can be - which is pretty cool when you remember that this film came out in 1927. Women in Germany (the country where Metropolis was made) had still only had the right to vote for less than a decade and women in England under the age of 30 still couldn’t vote.

But perhaps that just the feminist in me trying to find some positive in what seemed to be the longest film I had ever watched… even Titanic’s pace seemed quicker and the majority of that film’s time is spent watching a BOAT SINK!

To summarise, I enjoyed the set design, Brigitte Helm’s acting and its portrayal of strong influential women.

Would I watch it again?

Absolutely not, unless it was for educational purposes.