Metropolis (1927 film)

Metropolis is a very early science fiction film that was produced in Germany during the brief years of the Weimar Republic. It is set in a futuristic urban dystopia. Released in 1927, it is a black and white silent film created by the famed Austrian director Fritz Lang and was the most expensive silent film of that time, costing approximately 7 million Marks (equivalent to around $200 million today) http://web.archive.org/web/20031209230613/http://members.fortunecity.com/roogulator/sf/metropolis.htm.

Political significance

Metropolis's theme is connected with both Fascism and Socialism - the most powerful political ideologies of that time in Europe. The idea of the film is that the workers are oppressed, and their leader is Maria. In order to destroy the workers, Freder sends a robot who, disguised as Maria, leads the workers to destroy the dam and flood their homes. Some interpret this as an Anti-Communist message, claiming that the Communists, by calling the workers to revolt are leading them to destruction. Maria repeatedly claims that what the workers need is a Mediator. Some interpret this as a reference to Corporate Statism the fascist concept where the ruling party acts as a mediator between the workers and the capitalists.

Related Topics:
Fascism - Socialism - Anti-Communist - Corporate Statism

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There is a rumour that Metropolis was one of the favorite films of Adolf Hitler and he tried to get Fritz Lang to make propaganda films for him. Allegedly Hitler's interpretation of the film saw the oppressors, specifically Fredersen, as being Jewish. This rumour has its roots in a passage in Siegfried Kracauer's book

Related Topics:
Adolf Hitler - Fritz Lang - Siegfried Kracauer

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Joseph Goebbels, the head of the Nazi party's Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda organization became interested in Metropolis, too. According to Lang, "? he told me that, many years before, he and the Führer had seen my picture Metropolis in a small town, and Hitler had said at that time that he wanted me to make Nazi pictures" (Kracauer 164).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Most of Metropolis was filmed at UFA studios at Babelsberg and was enormously expensive. Some sources put the total cost at four times the original budget. The official costs accumulated to 7 million mark (about 200 million dollars now). These cost overruns were a contributing factor in UFA's financial instability through the late 1920s and its subsequent appropriation by Nazi interests.

Related Topics:
UFA - Babelsberg

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~