Metropolis Film Analysis
Period of stability
Metropolis directors are left wing
Rubric
In your answer you will be assessed on how well you: demonstrate understanding of the meanings of a pair of texts when considered together evaluate the relationships between texts and contexts organise, develop and express ideas using language appropriate to audience, purpose and form
Compare:
Values,
Beliefs
Attitudes
METROPOLIS
Social (Economic)
Technique
Evidence
Effect
Contrast of colour
Within the film the rich and wealthy are shown with a brighter light and the poor working class are shown with a dark lighting.
The composer of the film expresses this contrast of colour to define the social context of the time. This great divide between the wealthy and the working …show more content…
class during Germany’s Weimar Republic highlights the economic hardships that faced the nation.
Powerful visual imagery/symbolise
March of the workers at shift change time. They shuffle in the same gait, in precise rows looking barely human.
These images symbolises conformity and service, which are main motifs in the film. These motifs allude to the time of uncertainty that was present in the working class after the country was hit with hyperinflation.
The workers are being fed to the “Moloch” as human sacrifices
The workers labor in a monstrous machine, a hellish industrial complex where they must accomplish repetitive and dehumanizing tasks. At one point, the machine is compared to Moloch, the ancient Semitic deity honored by human sacrifices. The tasks assumed by the workers are purely mechanical, needing absolutely no brain power, making them nothing more than an extension of the machine.
Cultural
Technique
Evidence
Effect
Personification of the machine/ mid close up camera angle
One of the workers is trying to handle contain the anger of the machine by wrestling with the buttons and dials. A mid close up shot of the temperature rising alludes to the idea that the worker is being defeated by the machine and is unable to contain the breakdown
This scene serves as a warning for its audience. Not only about the dystopian social arrangements, the nation had started to embrace technology at a time when rapid industrialisation was changing culture. It suggests that the machines we have made to work for us are now working us, that we are being consumed by our own creation.
Historical (Political)
Technique
Evidence
Effect
Dystopian social arrangement based on inequality of citizens. This serves as a warning that these characteristics were becoming more evident in the world in the 1920’s.
Scene 2: non diegetic music
When Josephat enters
Sets a sinister tone and mood, and foreshadows Josaphat being “sent below” the close up of his face with a tear streaming down his cheek alluding to his inherent compassion which allows the responder to associate Josaphat with the protagonist Freder. This contrsts friederson as the theocratic dictator who shows no emotion and exemplifies the absence of compassion. (indusrialists). Alludes to the absolute horric working conditions of the workers.
Grots hunched posture and black clothing (body language)
Darkness represents the emptiness of his human spirit at the hands of his extensive oppression. Gorts physicality is far superior to that of frederson, however the power and intellect emitted by the stature and hierarchical position of Frederson subjects grot to psychological oppression. Showcasing the inherent power of the human mind over the body. This idea highlights that the mediator between the head and the hands must be the heart as to combat the convention of human nature that those on top will inevitably oppress those below them.
Grot placed central in mid shot
The immediate central positioning of Grot invokes a sense of disorientation in the responder in accordance to the ‘rule of thirds’.
Corresponding to the ‘rule of thirds’ the central positioning of Grot in the perspective of Frederson invokes a sense of disorientation in the responder. Foreshadowing the doom that is to come and manipulating the viewers perspective to immediately set the mood for the remaining duration of the scene.
Friederson positioning on screen
Back to the audience
Faceless as in the context people in the height of the Weimar Republic were questioning the existence of a higher power. As Frederson in this text attempts to displace God as the theocratic ruler, Lang subsequently villainies this character as he is making comment that those who try and rule in the power of God disturbed natural order of God’s will
The social context of the time during the period of stability is used as a catalyst for which Lang generates the themes of the film.
He uses a contrast of colour within the film the rich and wealthy are shown with a brighter light and the poor working class are shown with a dark lighting. The composer of the film expresses this contrast to define the social context of the time. This great divide between the wealthy and the working class during Germany’s Weimar Republic highlights the economic hardships that faced the nation. In addition, he uses powerful visual imagery during the start of the film. It starts of showing the workers during shift change. They are shown dressed alike, walking in sync, holding their heads down in submission, resignation and desperation. These images symbolise conformity which is a main motif in the film. It alludes to the Treaty of Versailles and the impact it had on the country. By signing this treaty Germany had accepted the guilt of World War 1 and was to pay reparations as part of the reconciliation process, leading to spiralling inflation. By showing the workers in submission and slavery it alludes to the economic context during the Weimar …show more content…
Republic
Metroplis's themes are connected with the political themes of that time- capitalism and communism, workers revolution against the privileged elite class, etc.
The film also reveals hopes and fears and enthusiasm for technology. Much of the technology presented in the film (such as "M-machine" and "Heart Machine") is unexplained and bizzare." Machine Human", the female robot, is the ultimate expression of techology in the film. Special effects and designs featured in the film, still impress modern audience.
One of the most famous scenes, commonly referred to as the Moloch scene, is where Freder sees an industrial accident that kills a number of workers. He then imagines the machine turning into a devil that is fed countless numbers of slaves. Those that have been sacrificed are then immediately replaced with more workers emphasizing the unstoppable nature of the machine and the meaninglessness of the workers’ lives.
1984
Social
Technique
Evidence
Effect
Cultural
Technique
Evidence
Effect
Historical
Technique
Evidence
Effect
http://1984metropolis.weebly.com/1984.html
http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3189151/horror-education-of-the-week-double-feature-1984-and-metropolis/
Metropolis directors are left wing
Rubric
In your answer you will be assessed on how well you: demonstrate understanding of the meanings of a pair of texts when considered together evaluate the relationships between texts and contexts organise, develop and express ideas using language appropriate to audience, purpose and form
Compare:
Values,
Beliefs
Attitudes
METROPOLIS
Social (Economic)
Technique
Evidence
Effect
Contrast of colour
Within the film the rich and wealthy are shown with a brighter light and the poor working class are shown with a dark lighting.
The composer of the film expresses this contrast of colour to define the social context of the time. This great divide between the wealthy and the working …show more content…
class during Germany’s Weimar Republic highlights the economic hardships that faced the nation.
Powerful visual imagery/symbolise
March of the workers at shift change time. They shuffle in the same gait, in precise rows looking barely human.
These images symbolises conformity and service, which are main motifs in the film. These motifs allude to the time of uncertainty that was present in the working class after the country was hit with hyperinflation.
The workers are being fed to the “Moloch” as human sacrifices
The workers labor in a monstrous machine, a hellish industrial complex where they must accomplish repetitive and dehumanizing tasks. At one point, the machine is compared to Moloch, the ancient Semitic deity honored by human sacrifices. The tasks assumed by the workers are purely mechanical, needing absolutely no brain power, making them nothing more than an extension of the machine.
Cultural
Technique
Evidence
Effect
Personification of the machine/ mid close up camera angle
One of the workers is trying to handle contain the anger of the machine by wrestling with the buttons and dials. A mid close up shot of the temperature rising alludes to the idea that the worker is being defeated by the machine and is unable to contain the breakdown
This scene serves as a warning for its audience. Not only about the dystopian social arrangements, the nation had started to embrace technology at a time when rapid industrialisation was changing culture. It suggests that the machines we have made to work for us are now working us, that we are being consumed by our own creation.
Historical (Political)
Technique
Evidence
Effect
Dystopian social arrangement based on inequality of citizens. This serves as a warning that these characteristics were becoming more evident in the world in the 1920’s.
Scene 2: non diegetic music
When Josephat enters
Sets a sinister tone and mood, and foreshadows Josaphat being “sent below” the close up of his face with a tear streaming down his cheek alluding to his inherent compassion which allows the responder to associate Josaphat with the protagonist Freder. This contrsts friederson as the theocratic dictator who shows no emotion and exemplifies the absence of compassion. (indusrialists). Alludes to the absolute horric working conditions of the workers.
Grots hunched posture and black clothing (body language)
Darkness represents the emptiness of his human spirit at the hands of his extensive oppression. Gorts physicality is far superior to that of frederson, however the power and intellect emitted by the stature and hierarchical position of Frederson subjects grot to psychological oppression. Showcasing the inherent power of the human mind over the body. This idea highlights that the mediator between the head and the hands must be the heart as to combat the convention of human nature that those on top will inevitably oppress those below them.
Grot placed central in mid shot
The immediate central positioning of Grot invokes a sense of disorientation in the responder in accordance to the ‘rule of thirds’.
Corresponding to the ‘rule of thirds’ the central positioning of Grot in the perspective of Frederson invokes a sense of disorientation in the responder. Foreshadowing the doom that is to come and manipulating the viewers perspective to immediately set the mood for the remaining duration of the scene.
Friederson positioning on screen
Back to the audience
Faceless as in the context people in the height of the Weimar Republic were questioning the existence of a higher power. As Frederson in this text attempts to displace God as the theocratic ruler, Lang subsequently villainies this character as he is making comment that those who try and rule in the power of God disturbed natural order of God’s will
The social context of the time during the period of stability is used as a catalyst for which Lang generates the themes of the film.
He uses a contrast of colour within the film the rich and wealthy are shown with a brighter light and the poor working class are shown with a dark lighting. The composer of the film expresses this contrast to define the social context of the time. This great divide between the wealthy and the working class during Germany’s Weimar Republic highlights the economic hardships that faced the nation. In addition, he uses powerful visual imagery during the start of the film. It starts of showing the workers during shift change. They are shown dressed alike, walking in sync, holding their heads down in submission, resignation and desperation. These images symbolise conformity which is a main motif in the film. It alludes to the Treaty of Versailles and the impact it had on the country. By signing this treaty Germany had accepted the guilt of World War 1 and was to pay reparations as part of the reconciliation process, leading to spiralling inflation. By showing the workers in submission and slavery it alludes to the economic context during the Weimar …show more content…
Republic
Metroplis's themes are connected with the political themes of that time- capitalism and communism, workers revolution against the privileged elite class, etc.
The film also reveals hopes and fears and enthusiasm for technology. Much of the technology presented in the film (such as "M-machine" and "Heart Machine") is unexplained and bizzare." Machine Human", the female robot, is the ultimate expression of techology in the film. Special effects and designs featured in the film, still impress modern audience.
One of the most famous scenes, commonly referred to as the Moloch scene, is where Freder sees an industrial accident that kills a number of workers. He then imagines the machine turning into a devil that is fed countless numbers of slaves. Those that have been sacrificed are then immediately replaced with more workers emphasizing the unstoppable nature of the machine and the meaninglessness of the workers’ lives.
1984
Social
Technique
Evidence
Effect
Cultural
Technique
Evidence
Effect
Historical
Technique
Evidence
Effect
http://1984metropolis.weebly.com/1984.html
http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3189151/horror-education-of-the-week-double-feature-1984-and-metropolis/