EARLY CINEMA
Metropolis PG
Germany | 1927 153 minutes
DIRECTED BY
Fritz Lang
STARRING
Brigitte Helm|Alfred Abel|Gustav Fröhlich
If you were to choose a single film whose aesthetic had influenced so many that came after, then Fritz Lang's 1927 epic, Metropolis, would be a good choice. The vision of a ziggurat-like urban environment, complete with raised transport corridors and flying cars has re-appeared many times: Blade Runner (1982) is but one example. The idea of an elite living in luxury above the ground, enjoying all modern conveniences and with plenty of leisure time to indulge themselves with sporting and romantic diversions has also been exploited many times since.
Lang's Metropolis is powered by the labours of an underclass, who are forced to live and work literally underground, well away from the elite above them. They are collectively essential, but individually expendable. The imagery in the film of workers tending the massive machines, finishing their shift, exhausted, only to be replaced by another line of labourers has become truly iconic.
The film was ambitious and expensive, requiring huge sets and special effects as well as hundreds of extras, including some 500 children. It's a long film, and this latest restoration is complete apart from a few minutes of footage probably lost for ever. The Eclectic Cinema offers you the opportunity to see this film on the big screen in a form as close as possible to its original release in Berlin almost a hundred years ago.
22 January 2024 MONDAY 13:00 and 19:30
Playhouse Main Screen
Tickets £8.00|£5.00 (up to age 25)