Expressionist Elements in Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis”

      This paper seeks to analyze the visual expressionist elements in Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” as well as the impact that they may have on the overall experience of the audience, while providing background information regarding the movie and the director, Fritz Lang.

According to encyclopedia Britanica, expressionism is defined as” the artistic style in which the artist seeks to depict not objective reality but rather the subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse within a person.” This is often achieved through the depiction of pessimistic visions of social collapse, the use of doubles in order to show the duality of the human nature and its appetite for destruction as well as the portrayal of non-realistic but rather symbolic sets to show the fine line between reality and dreams. It is also of note that Fritz Lang, the director of “Metropolis”, is considered a pioneer in expressionism and one of the greatest representatives of German Expressionism.

 Born in December 5^th 1890 at Vienna, Austria-Hungary Lang was widely known for his ability to use expressionistic suspense and strong visual composition in order to depict the inability of humans to escape their fate. All of his works are considered as “noirish masterpieces of menace” or “tone poems of fear and fate” (Britannica) even today and had such a great influence on the German audience that Joseph Goebbels himself asked Lang to organize the Nazi propaganda, despite his Jewish heritage. Lang decided to flee to America that very day, leaving everything behind including his wife Thea von Harbou, who later became one of the major writers and directors of Nazi propaganda. His career in America is still considered as a letdown by many due to the great changes that he made to his directing style, making “Metropolis” his last trademark film.

Much like his career in America “Metropolis” had a polarized reception either being hailed as a technical masterpiece or heavily criticized even by the renowned author H. G Wells from suffering of "foolishness, cliché, platitude, and muddlement about mechanical progress and progress in general.”(Wells). Either way, “Metropolis” can compensate for any narrative flaws, or unconvincing acting with its great use of technical means such as photography and sound; however these elements will be discussed later on.

Before dwelling into the analysis of the more complex expressionist elements it is important to highlight that they are evident even in the plot of the movie. Metropolis revolves around a future society, divided in the working class and the elite thus depicting the polarization of a utopian/dystopian society. Furthermore the romance developed between Freder, the son of the mastermind of the society with a working class woman foreshadows the imminent social collapse, enhancing in that way the expressionistic elements of the film. The deliberate lack of sound, in order to appeal to a wider audience accounts for the over theatricality of the actors since their movements and expressions are over the top, however it is uncertain up to this date whether this is due to Lang’s directing style or the lack of professional training.

Having discussed the general expressionistic elements of the film, we should focus on the wide variety of the visual elements used in “Metropolis”.  As mentioned above, a wide variety of technical means is used in order to enhance the overall emotions caused by the film as well as its expressionistic character. One of the trademark techniques used by Lang is the use of a static camera. A concrete example of this technique is when Freder tries to save Maria from Rotwang. Although the scene is filled with suspense and revolves around his agony to find his lover, the camera has limited movement with most of the frames depicting empty corridors or halls and the protagonist just walking in and out of the frame shots thus giving the feeling of constant surveillance.  The theme of surveillance is also evident in other scenes mainly due to the use of extreme camera angles. For instance the scenes when the workers carry out their daily routine or when Freder, as a twisted version of the Vitruvian man, operates the heavy machinery are shown from an objective and omniscient point of view.

Another concrete example of the surveillance theme in combination with the extreme camera angles is when Freder sneaks into the city of the workers, which is depicted from a birds eye perspective. Unexpected switch of camera angles, more specifically from worms-eye view to bird’s eye view, is also used in order to depict the grandeur of the Metropolis during Freder’s encounter with his father. Another one of the prime expressionist elements used in “Metropolis” is the use of chiaroscuro lightning. Chiaroscuro, the strong antithesis of black and white, can be traced in various scenes throughout the film. One of the most important ones is when Rotwang examines Maria in order to make the so called Machine man. The Contrast gives depth to the frame, while showing clearly the intentions of the characters. The mad scientist is portrayed in black, leaving only his face in its normal color, while the innocent savior is shown in pure white. The most important scene however is the one in the Yoshiwara nightclub, where the mechanical Maria starts dancing. The extended use of Rembrandt lighting is spectacular even up to this date and considering the technical means available at the time of the movie it is an admirable feat.  

Last but not least the symmetry is an important element of Lang’s direction since almost all of his shots are considered as perfectly balanced with the most striking of them being the first time where the heart of the machine is depicted with all the workers being completely synchronized like gears of the machine.

To sum up “Metropolis” poses a generic expressionistic scenario with a polarized society on the verge of collapse. Fritz Lang’s direction on the other hand is unique including all of the elements that have made him beloved to the wider audience: Strong mise-en-scène composition featuring vast shadow and light contrast. Furthermore the use of unexpected camera angles causes a feeling of awe to the audience towards the magnitude of his futuristic Utopia, while also putting them in the place of an omniscient narrator. Concluding, Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis”, raised several juxtapositions regarding its quality as a movie both technically and plot wise, however it is undoubtedly one of the most characteristic expressionist films and a must see for all the fans of the genre.

Bibliography

·          Expressionism. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/198740/Expressionism

·         Fritz Lang. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/329603/Fritz-Lang/313528/Films-of-the-1950s

·         Kreimeier, Klaus (1999). The Ufa story: a history of Germany's greatest film company, 1918–1945. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-22069-2.

·         Minden, Michael; Bachmann, Holger (2002). Fritz Lang's Metropolis: Cinematic Visions of Technology and Fear. New York: Camden House. ISBN 978-1-57113-146-1.