Examples Of Imagery In Metropolis

The imagery in Metropolis can be observed as very dark, as Ake Bergvall demonstrates in his writings on such. First off, Freder runs into a man named Georgy underneath Metropolis. Freder decides to switch roles with him and see what it is like to be in Georgy’s place and so then Georgy can see what it is like to be in Freder’s place. Having Georgy be a worker underneath Metropolis, he works on the clock machine. When Freder takes his place to work on the clock machine, he eventually succumbs to exhaustion, as he is shown holding the hands of the clock almost visually looking as though he is being crucified. Georgy, in Freder’s place, falls into temptation after finding money in Freder’s clothes and goes to Yoshiwara, the nightclub that

Maria can be seen as a threat to Metropolis, as Fredersen, Freder’s father and the Master of Metropolis, is appalled of her tactics. When Maria first appeared to Freder, she has a group of ragged children along with her, showing Freder the absolute pain and suffering the working class is dealing with. Later on in the movie, Fredersen travels with Rotwang to the catacombs to see Maria preach to the workers of Metropolis. Huyssen believes that Fredersen is upset with the fact he did not know of the existence of the catacombs and shows something has escaped his control. In term, Fredersen wishes the likeness of the robot of which Rotwang constructed to look like Maria. When it comes to why he wants the robot to look Maria, Huyssen says, “It has a lot to do with his fear of emotion, of affection, of nurturing, of all that which is said to be embodied in women.” In the beginning of the film, Freder is carefree and chasing a woman around in the Eternal Gardens. When he sees Maria though, he is mesmerized by her and becomes his object of desire. He wanders underground looking for her, meeting the machines powering Metropolis. Huyssen believes that this first exposure of the machines mirrors his sexual desire for Maria. With the temperature on the machines rising above the danger point and bodies flying all over the place from the blasts the machines are causing, Freder starts to

In a particular sub-plot in the film, Rotwang and Fredersen have a rivalry over a woman whose name was Hel, who was originally Rotwang’s wife but then became the mother of Fredersen’s son who is the titular protagonist Freder. In the original cut of the movie, Fredersen turned to his rival and asked for his assistance in solving a problem. It showed that even though they were rivals, one could admit they needed help from the other. This was cut in the U.S. version and showed more of what Minden believes to be subordination rather than rivalry. According to Minden, “Rotwang is identifiable with the old world of Europe and Fredersen with the new techno-industrial world of the U.S.” This in the end shows that what even though there used to be a sort of relationship with both the old world magical technology and the new world industrial one, the cut simplifies it as simple dominance of the one over the other (Minden 343). Minden also believes this was never intended whatsoever, and that it was just a way to address the American market but in a European artistic language. Fritz Lang, the creator of the movie itself, was inspired by the skyscrapers in New York City and thus created a German like image of the city (Minden 341). Minden also believes that Rotwang’s attempts to take the reality of inner life to machinery and how it is doomed to be chaotic and destructive, can