Metropolis

Metropolis is a 1927 German science fiction futurist film. Portraying what we would now consider a retro futurist dystopia, a highly class-stratified society features an oppressed working class living in the city below a well-off ruling elite.

The film is based on a 1925 Novel of the same name written by German author Thea von Harbou.

Plot

The protagonist journeys through the world of Metropolis, encountering a young woman Maria who is taking care of many of the children from the working class and the dangerous conditions of the workers, coming quickly to see the injustice and inequality which had previously been hidden from him.

The situation is further complicated when the woman turns out to be the leader of a non-violent worker's revolution in formation, only to be replaced by an android replica, apparently serving the interests of the city's ruler, but secretly obeying its mad scientist creator.

The robot turns the revolution violent, leading the workers to smash their machines, and the people do not at first realise this will flood their homes and families. The robot is burnt as a witch, its true form finally revealed, the mad scientist killed in a struggle, and all parties apparently agree on a mediated approach towards the future equitable governance of Metropolis.

External links

• Metropolis (1927 film) on Wikipedia