Metropolis, a science-fiction silent film that came out in 1927, is an Expressionist piece from the Weimar Period. The film was made in Germany, who at the time was experiencing the repercussions of their loss in WWI. Fritz Lang, the director of Metropolis, successfully expresses the political and social turmoil Germans felt during the 1920s. The film in its entirety is an expressionist piece. This style can be demonstrated through the deconstruction of a single scene. The revelation of Rotwang’s work to Fredersen in the prelude uses expressionism to demonstrate the prediction of an altered state due to the dangerous technological progress Germany was working toward at the time of the film’s release. The film is set in a futuristic world in which an elite class rules over the working class. The working class is condemned to the so called depths, an underground colony where the sole purpose is the operation of machines vital to the life of the city. Freder, the mediator, and Maria attempt to lead a revolt by rallying those who are oppressed. The city finds peace after the mediator successfully brings the classes together. The film grants the audience a front row ticket into the mind of the rightfully paranoid mind of not only the director, but the people he represented, as the country quickly experienced rapid change in the …show more content…
The scene depicts the theme of progress by Fredersen and Rotwang’s discussion on the machine man and what is considered an acceptable cost for the said progress. As the antagonist of the film Fredersen operates with only production in mind the film’s villain should convey how dangerous their reality was. The result of the movement, along with the presence of social prejudice, were catastrophic by the subsequent decade. The knowledge the modern audience has about WWII makes Metropolis feel not only spot on for the time, but still a possibility