The 1927 silent black-and-white film Metropolis critiques the stark inequality between working and wealthy classes to champion Marxism through a science-fictional, dystopian world. The text follows Freder, son of the city master Joh Frederson discovering the underground workers who have suffered under the strict regimen, slaving away on machines that power the city above, hence feeling obligated to save ‘his brothers’. Whilst the disparity between socioeconomic classes is still present today, it is not as exaggerated as in the film. However, Metropolis’s vision is still quite relevant displaying class division, revolution, and the ethical concerns about the advancement of robots. The main thing missing from the introduction is context. Mention the inspiration behind the film. The future that Metropolis envisions is still largely relevant to this day because it raises moral reasons about the ethicality of the prominent robotic manufacturing of the present.
Metropolis warns us to be wary of the rapid development of machines as they could evolve enough to think for themselves and betray us. Although H.G. Wells criticizes the film’s ‘middlemen about mechanical progress’, there is some truth in the underlying message that... The cautionary advice is depicted throughout the film in the very long aerial shots of The New Tower of Babel. Running the tower of Babel was only possible by building huge machines that would power the city above, hence displaying a large dependence on machines. Similarly, in the present there is a huge reliance on machines to operate tasks which will continue and increase in the future, hence the relevance. When Rotwang is revealing to Joh his robot creation, his rhetorical question “Isn’t it worth the loss of a hand to have created the man of the future, the Machine Man?!” implies the mass industrialization that has led to a breakthrough discovery of robots. However, the close-up shot of the robot fusing with the human Maria reveals a hidden wickedness within the robot as she is instructed by Rotwang to disobey Joh’s orders and destroy order in the tower.
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The dramatic irony of the audience knowing that robot Maria is creating chaos between both social classes displays the immoral control of corruptive technology on humanity. Therefore, the film Metropolis still has a relevant vision of the future as the movie questions the ethics of the speedy progress in technology. Metropolis’s vision of the future still largely remains relevant as a result of the distinct class division in society which will only increase. The film exhibits a disparity of treatment and living conditions between the higher and lower classes, shown at the start of the film by high-angle shots of workers entering the factory with stoic faces and marching robotically. The contrast is depicted in the next scene, the Club of Sons is screened, displaying the elite playing and joking around whilst the workers labor away on the machines to power the elite’s city. Moreover, the juxtaposition between the uniformity of the workers and robotic movements when operating the machines in comparison to the elite’s unique dressing styles and individuality dehumanizes the underground workers because of their segregation from the upper class. Similarly, the montage of machinery and workers represents how the workers themselves have been integrated into parts of the machine, hence losing their individualism and humanity. After Freder has swapped identities with Gyorgy, a vignette of flyers advertising the Yoshiwara club fluttering everywhere, girls in fancy club clothing, and Gyorgy clutching his chest wide-eyed reveals his desire to have leisure time. As a result of working ten-hour shifts every day, he has an unbalanced lifestyle and has no time for any pleasures, hence Gyorgy is unable to resist the temptation of going to a nightclub, something that the higher class regularly attends thus revealing the disparity between classes. The point-of-view shot from Freder’s perspective of Josaphat holding a gun to his head and about to press the trigger insinuates the terrifying extent of being demoted and sent down to the depths with the workers.
The lower class isn’t even mentioned, they are all labeled as ‘the depths’, further dehumanizing them, and highlighting the division of class. Therefore, the exploration of class division throughout the film indicates that Metropolis is still relevant to our future. When one group abuses its power too much, the oppressed may find a way to initiate a revolution and rebel. The film explores the idea of a rebellion in an authoritarian environment as the workers strike against the upper class in an attempt to destroy the machines. Freder has a hallucination of Moloch, a Canaanite god associated with sacrifice, eating workers up. After the god has eaten up the workers, the work resumes and new people walk in to replace the deceased workers as if nothing happened. The biblical allusion is a catalyst for Freder to feel obliged to help his ‘brothers and sisters’ from their poor misery, an incentive to start a revolution. Upon confronting Joh Frederson, Freder’s father, he expressionlessly states that the lower classes are “where they belong”. His short truncated sentence implies they are not worth his time and that they are beneath him. Out of fear, Freder asks: “What if one day those in the depths rise against you?” The question foreshadows the tension and strain to follow the rules but to instead riot and overthrow the machines as an act of rebellion, highlighting the dystopian world that Freder lives in. The imperative when robot Maria screams “Death to the machines!” is the turning point for the oppressed workers, they now rebel against their superiors and wreak havoc. The crazed faces and violent behavior of the workers portray their enslaved regime and immense desire to change it. However, H.G. Wells ridicules the film Metropolis as foolish and cliche. While the idea of repressed individuals may spark a revolt to gain freedom, the film presents the idea naively with a communist undertone, reflecting Germany’s many attempts to become a communist country. Therefore, the text’s vision is still relevant to the future through the idea of the oppressed retaliating. The dystopian film Metropolis delineates the concepts of mechanical progress, class division, and revolution to gain freedom. The text is thus relevant as it reminds us to be active in social commentary and fight for our beliefs.
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