Metropolis and German Expressionism

     

      I watched the classic 1927 film Metropolis for the second time yesterday on my DVD copy. It had a much larger impact on me the second time I watched it than the first, I don't know why, but it lead me to research it a bit and I found at some interesting stuff surrounding the film and what followed for the key individuals involved. Now I should state that the version I have is the 1984 restored, a lot of the film was deemed lost forever until the music producer Giorgio Moroder conducted a search to piece together missing elements of the film into a worthwhile picture, he did this and synced the film with music from the biggest stars of the 80's. Some of the music doesn't fit to well but it doesn't have too much of an impact. This version of the film was re-released by Kino I believe in the late 2000's in a nice tin to newer audiences. There are other versions available, another restored version in 2002 and 2010 further discovering the film's lost pieces.
      I'll quickly summarise the film's plot and give a short review. The film surrounds the separation between the workers in the depths who keep the city above, Metropolis, working for its inhabitants. When Maria, a religious preacher played by Brigitte Helm, prophesies a savior to come forth and save the workers, the master of Metropolis tries to prevent this using the mad scientist Rotwang and his latest creation. But the masters son Freder played by Gustav Frolich falls in love with Maria and tries to fight for the workers and has to cross his father to do so. The tale ends in destruction but ultimately, resurrection. For me the film could be made today for modern audiences and it would still portray relevant morals and gain a wide audience. The set design is amazing, the story is suspenseful and captures you completely. It's worth every penny they spent on it ($200million!) and every penny you spend on buying it. The acting is phenomenal and there is so many classic moments it's hard to count. A must see for any movie enthusiast.
      This film was made during the German expressionist era. This was a time when the German's were excelling in the film industry, it wasn't until the war and the rise of the Nazi's when German directors emigrated to Hollywood to show-off there new found style which they'd already be carrying out for over a decade. Other films in this era apart from Metropolis would be The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and Nosferatu (1922) which showcase the German expressionist style. At the time of the early expressionist films Germany was under economic struggle due to the events post World War I. This lead to low budget film making where sets were geometrically out of place and where painting on walls was the source of everything like shadows and lights.
      On to Metropolis, some interesting pieces of trivia would be that the film had one of the highest extra counts in history with 37,000 and the film took a year and half to shoot due to Fritz Lang's demand for numerous re-takes. It was also supposedly one of Adolf Hitler's favorite films. In fact, Joseph Goebbels offered Fritz Lang the job of being head of the studio UFA (Which was almost sent into bankruptcy on the production of Metropolis), Lang left for Paris the very same night. However, his wife Thea von Harbou, the writer of Metropolis stayed in Germany because she was was a supporter of the Nazi regime. Brigitte Helm left for Switzerland in 1935 and left the film industry behind, she didn't grant any interviews regarding her film career. She was even offered the title role in Bride of Frankenstein (1935) but Elsa Lanchester was cast instead. All in all, Metropolis is one of the most groundbreaking films in history matched by the unique style of the German expressionists.