MediaInvestigation

Eliza Davies

By the end of the First World War, Germany was a nation in crisis strongly feeling the social, economic and political repercussions of their loss in battle. Its economy was unstable, plagued by hyperinflation and debt, Its government in tatters - frequently fluctuating from party to party, and its people betrayed and shamed by their nation they once held to pride. Society wanted escape from the chaos of every day life, and cinematographers were the ones who were able to provide them with such means. The asymmetrical camera angles, the consistent and heavy contrast of light and dark, curved buildings and slanted rooves; all these elements along side the lack of communicated audio can be somewhat hindering to a modern audience, yet there is such film that can be appreciated without a full comprehension of its plot, because of its beautifully constructed style. That style is German Expressionism and Metropolis was the last of its kind. Expressionism in art was well since established before the start of the First World War, but the German film industry was not. Artists like Van Gogh used the form, with its distortion, vivid colours and asymmetric atmosphere to express the emotions of the artist, as well as evoke an emotional response from the viewer. German Expressionist films were prevalent during the 192 0s, some of the most notable being Nosferatu (Murnau, 1922) and Metropolis (Lang, 1927). These films- unified by unbalanced and eerie camera angles, overly stylized visuals, use of surrealist aesthetic and distorted architecture, jarring contrasts between black and white and consistent use of shadows all exist as a commentary on their production context. The narratives match the visuals in terms of darkness and disorder; broadcasting worlds of crime and corruption, with an overbearing sense of panic and paranoia. German Expressionism became an answer to chaos that was post-war Germany, it became a way to represent the clutter and disorder that was reality, a way to present the existence of a reality few could imagine. Depression, corruption, a government no longer accountable to its people and a society in revolt- betrayed by its leader: these quintessential elements of the expressionist style are reinforced throughout the 1927 film, Metropolis. Set in a futuristic, dystopian city, segregated by a social hierarchy of thinkers and workers the elite in luxury and the dehumanized masses in labour-, the film preoccupies itself around the struggles between the two classes and the inevitability of failure for a society that cannot function with such an opposition. The preoccupations of the strong political disregard and negative portrayal in the film are reflections to how Weimar Germany (1920), felt about its own society, its government that had betrayed them after the war, but the film also exists to foreshadow where Germany was headed if it continued on the path it was leading: a future of revolt and disregard. The opening sequence to the film shows the workers all dressed alike in worn, grey uniform, walking in sync, with expressions of desperation, submission and exhaustion and their municipality, which is located deep below the earths surface. Throughout the movie, the workers are depicted as being worn out and weary, drained of all life as they walk in masses not unlike that of livestock. The workers labour over the consistent requirement to keep the gigantic machine they reside in operating, regardless of the repetitive and dehumanizing tasks that require it to do so, stripping the workers of their humanity. These tasks, such as turning the clock face, reinforce the notion that the workers require no brainpower, no education; they are nothing more than an extension to the machines in which they operate. The portrayal of these workers in the film by Lang again reflects back to the reoccurring attitudes of the production context, by now the Nazi party has over 24 seats in the Reichstag (the equivalent of our senate), the ideas of segregation and strong social division have began entering the minds of a society weak after the devastation of war, easily deceived not unlike the workers in Metropolis, who are influenced effortlessly by an evil robot the portrayal of the workers correlates further with the infamous quote by the leader of the Nazi party, Hitler; How fortunate for leaders that men do not think.

Contrasted to the representation of the lower class in Metropolis, the elites or The Thinkers live in a modern utopia, an architecturally magnificent city, commenting on the achievement of the educated and the obvious supremacy of the higher class, with their dominating constructions, whose buildings reach up to the sky, a setting of artificial aesthetic and a surrealist representation of Langs influence, New York City. The cities founder, Joh Fredersen is the creator and only ruler of his material city, Metropolis. Fredersen is referred to as the master and has absolute control over the city. Fredersen is depicted as a monster, his characterisation reflecting the not uncommon representation of the authority figure in German expressionist film, whose terrible characters and their sinister natures add another level of darkness and depth to the already sombre films. The needs of the workers are unimportant to Frederson; he expects them as the lower class- to work and provide without complaint for the upper classes, highly surreal in the way it contrasts the two class divisions, the film employs the elements of expressionism to present an uncanny, surreal representation towards the emerging ideas of marginalization prevailing in Germany at the time, as well as reinforcing the way the German peoplemany of whom were hit hard by taxes and the weakened economy and forced to go into work to not only provide for themselves but to fuel the ever diminishing economy felt towards their current government: that they were disregarded by those who were there to lead them, working jobs to pay back the reparations of a war the elites had caused, living in misery and hardship just to support the executive. This is evident in the way that the shinning city of Metropolis could not continue to function, nor exist without the Machine and its herd of workers. And yet, there would be no use for the Machine without a shinning city to sustain. Here we see Lang portray two opposing bodies, whose existence depends on the existence of the other, showing the importance of all social classes and the need for unity between the two. This unity comes from no other than Fredersons son himself, Freder Frederson, who despite his life of luxury and pampering loses his naivety when he discovered the harsh reality of the workers down below. Rather than disregard and shake off what hes seen, Freder instead wishes to experience the reality of the workers down below, and trades places with one of the workers. By doing this, Freder, a man reinforcing the strong contrasts between light and dark in expressionism, not only by his actions but by his character portrayal (Blonde hair, full white clothing and overly-stylized makeup, whose black lined lips and eye shadowed eyes add to the eerie nature of the film), becomes a Christ-like figure a savoir- who literally descends from above, an example of the strong religious connotations in the film, such as Freder Fredersons aid, Maria, the charismatic, a saint like woman admired by her fellow workers. Maria, with her biblical name (European version of Maria) is dressed in white to further signify the good in the two characters, also tells the story of The Tower of Babel. This intertextual reference not only acts to present the film with further religious undertones. Upon learning that the workers are planning an uprising, Joh Frederson seeks the advice of Rotwang, an inventor and mad scientist. The mad-scientist archetype is prevalent through not only Expressionist film, but as well through gothic literature (Mary Shelleys Frankenstein, 1818) and other artistic movements that preceded the genres. There is a sinister feel to Rotwang, who despite utilizing the latest in modern technology, inhabits a house descending to an ancient catacomb, with a pentagram plastered to its front door. Rotwang also assumes a god-like significance, when he creates life from his robot. This occult symbolism, not only acting to add a further sense of fear and unsettlement to the film acts also as a religious allegory, by crafting the stereotypically evil character to hold such anti-Christian ideologies sends to an audience the attitude that pagan practices are sinful and immoral, not an uncommonly renowned attitude prevalent in a devout European society, not unlike that of 1920s Germany. The inventor creates for Fredersen a Machine-Man, considered to be Man of the Future, which Rotwang is instructed to give the likeness of Maria in order to use her credibility and charisma to spread his messages of corruption among the workers, reinforcing the dishonesty and decomposition of the elite ruling figures. Robot-Maria, the exact opposite to her human counterpart, mesmerizes the public through erotic dance, causing men to fight, to lust, to be envious, to commit the seven deadly sins. She acts against the best intentions of the public and for the interests of the elite, not unlike Joh Frederson. Maria as an evil robot is significant to its connections of the corruption of Metropolis, a city literally driven by technology and industry, by machine and the metal-creation. Lang portrays the robot as evil, and thus comments on the nature of technology itself, causing nothing but trouble and hardship. This idea, that man will slowly become consumed by machine and the negative attitudes

towards industry and technological advancement, was prevalent in the late 1920s, influencing the artistic movement Dadaism. Despite its abstract portrayal of reality,, some parts of Metropolis attempt to leave the real world: trees and flowers made out of paper money, Robots that can function as humans and take on the identity of a real woman, the statue of Death that can come to life: all ways of depicting components of reality through the use of surrealism and expressionism, Lang communicates an alternate-universe of unreality. The sets in expressionism are all constructed on studio stages, so that reality cannot interfere with the creation of the filmed world. The sets are elaborate, deliberately artificial, to represent a state of mind rather than a place