Metropolis

1927 Directed by Fritz Lang

There can be no understanding between the hands and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator.

In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.

Gustav Fröhlich Brigitte Helm Alfred Abel Rudolf Klein-Rogge Theodor Loos Fritz Rasp Erwin Biswanger Heinrich George Fritz Alberti Grete Berger Heinrich Gotho Georg John Margarete Lanner Hanns Leo Reich Arthur Reinhardt Curt Siodmak Henrietta Siodmak Olaf Storm Rolf von Goth Helen von Münchofen Helene Weigel

Alternative Titles

Метрополис, 大都会, Metropolis - restaurierte Fassung, Μητρόπολις, Metoroporisu, 메트로폴리스, 大都會, Метрополiс, Giorgio Moroder Presents Metropolis, The Complete Metropolis

drama science fiction

153 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Liam Fogarty ★★★★ 13

Reportedly one of Adolf Hitler's favourite films.
A part of me thinks he didn't quite get it...
Review by ScreeningNotes ★★★★★ 18

Decades Project: 1/2 of the 20's
"But the hands that built the Tower of Babel knew nothing of the dream of the head that conceived it. The hymns of praise of one man became the curses of others."
Fun fact: Metropolis is actually just Star Wars in disguise. A rebellious young man joins a group of underdogs and learns the ways of a strange religion while on a quest to overthrow his tyrannical father's evil empire by destroying its greatest creation. That's right, Fritz Lang was secretly a no-talent hack using a time machine to steal ideas from the future.
So if that doesn't make it obvious enough, I'll just come right out and say it: I have a new…
Review by Paul C. Elliott ★★★★★ 3

Possibly the most celebrated director from Germany's school of expressionism, Fritz Lang unfolds Metropolis in a procession of impressive scenes and it’s an undeniable science-fiction classic. Written by Thea von Harbou, in collaboration with Lang, it commenced principal photography in 1925 and evolved unique ideas and techniques for the science-fiction genre.
From the enormous design and scale of the Art Deco sets to it’s governmentally fused medieval themes, along with the remarkable strangeness of the imagery conveyed by the elegant mechanical replicant by Brigitte Helm, it’s the astonishing design of the movie that continues as its genuine distinction, which is even present in the maze-like intricacies of the employees' residence. Fritz Lang creates a haunting conception of industrial industry and it’s accompanied by a beautiful and original score by Gottfried Huppertz.
Review by andrea🌹 ★★★★ 4

me: yeah i'm definitely smart enough to understand the plot of this movie even if it's silent
my inability to tell white men apart: 👁👄👁
Review by SilentDawn ★★★★½ 3

90/100
MKE Film Fest #4
('The Complete Metropolis' with live performance by the Alloy Orchestra)
"For her - all seven deadly sins!"
Truly a dream alive on the screen. Continues to be immensely influential - so much so that naming all the examples could result in its very own click-bait list (I'm sure there's already one out in the wild) - and each frame is lush, crisp, and inventive in a way that is astonishing - even more so today. The final 20 minutes, combined with the tremendous Alloy Orchestra score reverberating within the theater, are as climatic as cinema gets, rising towards the heavens, a hero fully reborn.
Review by Lara Pop ★★★★★ 4

'The mediator between head and hands must be the heart.'
My head is in complete meltdown, my hands shaking from excitement. And my heart... my heart is soaring right now.
@ahwell, you were right. My mouth is dry from being unable to close it for 2.5 hours straight. I feel priviliged to have witnessed this masterclass in filmmaking. Absolutely blown away.

Recent reviews

Review by Omar Ashen ★★★★★

THERE CAN BE NO UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE HANDS AND THE BRAIN UNLESS THE HEART ACTS AS MEDIATOR.
..........................................................................
let's go to 1927, this time film gos on the story of In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences. This is the story 'Cause I've had so much watched science fiction film stuff but I've never seen a story like this because the story frome 1927 and still connect to modern age. Brigitte Helm got wonderful talent, because when you see her dancing on the stage, dame fucking hot ah.!…
Review by Patrick Lee ★★★★★

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Docked half a star because there's no way that the fabled "mediator" between an uber-capitalist and his exploited work force should be the capitalist's own son, who achieved class consciousness after doing one day of actual labour. In fact I resent Lang's entire premise that the "hands" need a "head" at all, that there deserves to be a caste of society whose only role is to tell everybody else what to do and grow fat on the results of their doing it. I'm sure there's some more nuanced historical context here I'm missing — the movie was made in interwar Germany, after all, where questions of class were something of an open wound — but I'm going to have to…
Review by bonestehrens ★★★★

beautiful
Review by MadeOutOfCake ★★★★★

Metropolis is the movie that has defined Science-Fiction. This is truly an unbelievable classic, that was far ahead of its time.
The orchestra sweeps, and you are taken on a journey in Metropolis, a city ruled by Joh Fredersen but kept in motion by humble workers deep underground. A prophecy states a Mediator will rise and unite the Brain and Hands of Metropolis: a Mediator that acts as a real Heart, as opposed to Metropolis' Heart Machine.
It was exciting, it was even creepy, but absurdly beautiful. It has stood the test of time. Not once did I want to hear dialogue; it was simply unnecessary. This is a timeless classic.
And honestly, it really touched my heart. It blew me away. It was so much better than I had the right to think. This film made history and future at the same time.
Anyone who is interested in movies has to watch this!
Review by Mallory37 ★★★★★

Sans doute le plus grand film de
Science-Fiction aux côtés de 2001.
Review by heartnoveau ★★★★★

so full disclosure, i've only ever seen the version of this film that a delightful vimeo user by the name of chris ayers uploaded approximately 9 years ago, which is soundtracked entirely by radiohead songs. so, if radiohead is not your thing, i don't know what to tell you, sorry.
HOWEVER --
if that is in fact your jam/jelly marmalade/preferred fruit preserve, then my god are you in for a treat.
this is one of those concepts that's sort of a "no duh" kind of thing. classic german expressionist science fiction film meets moody and emotive british art rock band, what's not to love? and reader, when this works it really fucking works.
i watched this for the first time…
Review by Amar ★★★★★

fiksi ilmiahnya lang. ahh susah dijelasin lagi, jenius.
Review by imustbedreaming ★★★★

Metropolis(1927) has better visual effects than Terminator Dark Fate(2019).
Review by Luca ★★★★★

an absolute masterpiece

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