For all of its classic film
status, I am fairly new to Metropolis, only seeing it for the first time last
year during a festival screening at the Queen’s Film Theatre. It was a case of
love at first sight, for Fritz Lang’s silent dystopian epic remains, nearly ninety
years on, an extraordinary work. The production design, inspired by futurist
architecture, is still ahead of its time, while technically, in terms of
cinematography, editing and the pioneering special effects by Eugen Schufftan,
in short, the whole look of the film, is meticulously crafted and distinctive.
The emotional power resonates from the stirring compositions of Gottfried
Huppertz, the labyrinthine machinations of the story (if released today, it
would probably end up something like Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight films),
brilliantly expressed by the lead actors, Gustav Frohlich, Alfred Abel, Rudolf
Klein-Rogge and specifically Briggite Helm in her captivating dual performance
as Maria and her robot double. A truly unique work of cinematic art.
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