Metropolis (1927)

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

The futuristic city of Metropolis is a utopia. Wealthy citizens live carefree lives free of want and strife. One of its wealthy citizens is Freder Fredersen, son of Metropolis ruler Joh Fredersen. One day, Freder sees a beautiful woman with a group of children. He tries to follow them, but they quickly disappear. Then, to his horror, he discovers an underground world of workers. It turns out that these workers, unknown to him previously, actually work the machinery which keeps the beautiful city above in operation. Yet, despite being solely responsible for the wealthy, beauty, and all-around functioning of the magnificent city above, they live and work in dreadful conditions themselves.

Freder learns that the woman he saw was Maria, an activist amongst the workers who espouses a way forward to a better life. Her programme centers around a single idea; the need to join the "hands" (the workers below) to the "head" (the wealthy and powerful above) by a mediator or the "heart". Freder us taken in by the idealism of it all, and joins the cause. But meanwhile, his father and his henchman, Rotwang, are working to smash the growing movement.

Metropolis is actually a phenomenal film and an important piece of German expressionism, with beautiful cinematography, art work, and sets. The robot is awesome, and many of the scenes are really powerful.

The film faced the danger of being obliterated by fascist censors both in Germany and in Chile, but today has been returned to its (almost) original state and is available on DVD. It's run in with the far-right thought police was due to its "dangerous" political message.

But that's not to say that Metropolis is politically radical or revolutionary. In reality, the clear message of the film is that workers and bosses must cooperate for the common good. It attacks abuse and exploitation, but at the same time it condemns the notion of revolutionary change. Insultingly, it refers to workers as merely "the hands" and laughably refers to bosses as "the head". It promotes the mythical "third way" between capitalist exploitation, and worker-controlled socialism. In other words, it uses science fiction to expose the unfairness inherent in the system, then it tells you that if you behave, maybe things will get better. Not a particularly useful or inspiring message, which is unfortunate for such an otherwise fantastic film.

3 robot clones out of 5
Unrated: contains violence, nudity.