Machines Like Us: Desires and Technology in German Cinema
Metropolis
Director: Fritz Lang
Germany | 1925/26 | 149 mins | In German with English subtitles | DCP | B&W
*Introduction by Dr Derek Lam. Conducted in Cantonese.
Awards:
Special Award, New York Film Critics Circle Awards 2002
Nominated for Best International Film, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (USA) 2011
Between the head and the hands must be the heart
In the city of the future, Metropolis, Joh Fredersen rules it from high above while the workers are non-stop plodding underground. Fredersens' son Freder falls in love with Maria, the workers' leader. At the same time, Rotwang, the inventor, creates a steel robot and is instructed by Fredersen to model it after Maria. The fake Maria then instigates the workers who leave their machines and thus cause the flooding of the city. How to overcome the vast gulf that separates classes and bring people together?
Metropolis was one of the most monumental and expensive films of Germany and is among the first features of the sci-fi genre. Inspired by the New York skyline, the film is a canvas of futuristic and dystopic extravaganza, which also embodies director Fritz Lang’s trailblazing ambition in filmmaking.
