AMD 1 -Metropolis

Metropolis

To delve into German culture through history I watched about half of Metropolis, a silent film by Fritz Lang. Er ist se gut! This expressionist film was produced in 1927 and took a strong position against capitalism. The film represented a futuristic, capitalist world where the working class slaves away in underground factories with terrible conditions and long hours while their excessively rich masters live luxuriously in the utopia above. Sie (the working class) sind ser unfreundlich und unglücklich. The overarching message of the film is immediately apparent once the conditions of the working class are juxtaposed with those of the upper class. This film expresses the views of Karl Marx in its condemnation of the vast separation between the upper and working classes. I found it quite interesting seeing the political philosophies of some great German thinkers immediately before the rising of the Nazi Reich. What I found most interesting was the filming style of Fritz Lang. The exaggerated enormity of the city, the style of dress, the expressive lighting, the soundtrack, and the lengths and angels of scenes tell much about the emotions of the scenes since there is no dialogue. Ich denke Fritz Lang ist ser intelligente. Land had to incorporate expressive acting with these elements to portray the intended messages. Overall I found this film to be quite interesting to analyze, but admittedly I was not very entertained by it. The film was much to slow for me to derive any sort of connection to the plot, but I am sure that those watching the film back in 1927 would have enjoyed it very much.

http://www.youtube.com/movie?v=8gCeu3BRvuk&feature=mv_sr

-Joey Gurrentz