Metropolis is a beautiful city with highly developed areas, however, beneath its tall towers and bright lights was a another city under it which was dark, dreary and controlled. Most of the story takes places in this city as the upper city was mostly for show until its importance during the climax of the movie. The story revolves around Joh Fendersen and his son Ferder, Joh's partner the genius mad scientist Rotwag and a preacher girl Maria and the evil robotic version of Maria, on how easy we can be easily manipulated and controlled by many different means such as men can be easily intoxicated by the movement of a semi nude lady.
Fig.1 The most famous robot transformation
The special effect and the set was very establishing despite that they may seem very old but dont let that fool you as the set it self led to the film as it matches the story and its effects. Metropolis seems to have taken influences from art especially from the shape and designs of the buildings and the aesthetically pleasing lights and designs of the city.
Fig.2. Metropolis Movie poster
The worker city has also have the same design and style as the city above however it follows a plainer and simpler design and structures especially their houses apart from the lever and statue in the middle of the city. The worker city was dyed with the color grey and black to present uniformity of the workers unlike the ones in the upper city with multicolored design this was just to show that the workers are treated less and that they have to live in a terrible living conditions. As I explained earlier The film deals with Marxist and political issues what was explained very well in this movies such as the separate living of the upper people and the workers as well as their standards. One of the main influences of this film in Germany was because it was after WW1 and the had to suffer of the loss as well as to deal with most of the Germans which are now poor workers which they involved in the influence of the film. Roger Ebert commented on the workers in the film by saying, 'What their doing makes no logical sense, but visually the connection is obvious; they are controlled like hands on a clock.'
All in all Metropolis maybe an old movie but it has set the standards to all of the sci-fi movies.
Illustration list
Lang, F. (1927) Figure.1. http://www.ottens.co.uk/gatehouse/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/Metropolis.jpg
Bibliography
Hall, M, (1927) http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A05E2D8143BE13ABC4F53DFB566838C639EDE (accessed 31/10/2014)
Anderson, k (30/10/2014) http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A05E2D8143BE13ABC4F53DFB566838C639EDE (accessed 10/11/2014)
Hi Marion,
ReplyDeleteOk, a few pointers here = firstly, make sure that you are as clear as you can be when you refer to other influences. For example, you say,
'Metropolis seems to have taken influences from art especially from the shape and designs of the buildings and the aesthetically pleasing lights and designs of the city.'
Yes, this is indeed true - but what sort of art did it take its influences from? You could give a visual example, perhaps, to back up your point...
You are asked to back your discussion up with at least 3 quotes form different sources. When you use a quote, make sure it is in italics, and that it is referenced afterwards with the author's surname and the year, so for example (Ebert, 2010). You actually seem to have forgotten to include Ebert in your bibliography, and I am not sure what input Hall and Anderson have had on your review?
If you are unsure about how to reference work, have another look at the guide here - http://community.ucreative.ac.uk/Harvard-Referencing