Metropolis 1927 film: Encyclopedia II - Metropolis 1927 film - Political significance

Metropolis 1927 film - Political significance

Metropolis's theme is connected with both fascism and communism - the most powerful political ideologies of that time in Europe. The idea of the film is that the workers are oppressed, and their leader is Maria. In order to destroy the workers, Freder sends a robot who, disguised as Maria, leads the workers to destroy the dam and flood their homes. Many people see the film as being anti-capitalist, showing how the rich exploit the efforts of workers. This is supported by the fact that the rich live high above in a shining city while the working class lives in misery underground. Indeed, we're led to believe that there is little to no chance for the workers to move up in society due to their wealthy oppressors. Others interpret this as an anti-communist message, claiming that the communists, by calling the workers to revolt are leading them to destruction. Some see the film as a critique on both capitalism and communism, calling for a third option. Maria repeatedly claims that what the workers need is a Mediator. Some interpret this as a reference to the fascist concept of Corporate Statism, in which the ruling party acts as a mediator between the workers and the capitalists.

There is a rumour that Metropolis was one of the favorite films of Adolf Hitler and he tried to get Fritz Lang to make propaganda films for him. Allegedly Hitler's interpretation of the film saw the oppressors, specifically Fredersen, as being Jewish. This rumour has its roots in a passage in Siegfried Kracauer's book From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film:

Most of Metropolis was filmed at UFA studios at Babelsberg and was enormously expensive. Some sources put the total cost at four times the original budget. The official costs accumulated to 7 million mark (about 200 million dollars now). These cost overruns were a contributing factor in UFA's financial instability through the late 1920s and its subsequent appropriation by Nazi interests.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Political significance", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki