Metropolis (1927 film): Difference between revisions

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Silent [[German Expressionism|German]] Sci-Fi film from 1927, directed by [[Fritz Lang]]. Considered one of the [[Ur Example|forerunners]] of the genre and one of the most expensive films ever made.

* [[Leitmotif]]: Pretty much each character and event.

* [[Laser-Guided Karma]]

'''Thin Man''': {{spoiler|Tomorrow, thousands in this city will be asking the same question, in fury and desperation: "Joh Fredersen, where is ''my'' son?"}} }}

* [[Leitmotif]]: Gottfried Huppertz's original score, as reconstructed and recorded in 2003 (and again in 2009), features these significantly. Freder, his father, Rotwang, Maria, Robot Maria, the machines of Metropolis, the nightclub-goers in Yoshiwara, and the uprising workers all have their own recurring themes.

* [[The Morlocks]]: [[H. G. Wells]] got one up on ''Metropolis'' with this plotline, but [[Fritz Lang]] is more sympathetic.

* [[Necromantic]]

'''Rotwang''': She isn't dead for me, Joh Fredersen! For me, she lives! [''gesticulates wildly''] }}

* [[Nightmarish Factory]]

* [[Tower of Babel]]: referenced, with significant alterations. Maria's retelling alters the facts and changes the moral. The hubris is inverted ("And on the pedestal these words appear: 'Great is the world and its Maker, and great is Man!'") and retribution comes from paying too much attention to the idea and ignoring the workers. There is no confusion of tongues, but another clever inversion ("The praises of one became the curses of another. Although they spoke the same language, they could not understand one another's words"). The New Tower of Babel at the heart of the city is {{spoiler|absolutely untouched by the destruction and the divided classes are reunited.}}

* [[Two Guys and a Girl]]: The backstory of {{spoiler|Rotwang, Hel, and Joh.}} It didn't end well.

'''Rotwang''': ''([[Milking the Giant Cow|shaking a fist in Fredersen's face]])''I only ever forgot one thing in my life: that Hel was a woman and you a man! }}

* [[Unfortunate Name]]: Oh, poor [[In My Language, That Sounds Like...|Rotwang]]. A child with a name like that was doomed to become evil. (Needless to say it probably wasn't the case when the film was made, but today...)