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1
00:00:21,368 --> 00:00:27,034
More than a quarter of the film
must be regarded as irretrievable lost.
2
00:00:29,009 --> 00:00:33,002
Few other films have been so
systematically changed, mutilated,
3
00:00:33,046 --> 00:00:38,416
corrupted as this one. Shots and titles
have been omitted and changed
4
00:00:44,558 --> 00:00:48,551
However, of no other such mistreated film
do we know so well
5
00:00:48,595 --> 00:00:51,564
what the film originally looked like.
6
00:01:02,976 --> 00:01:07,072
Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou,
different-sex Siamese twins.
7
00:01:07,114 --> 00:01:10,106
Just like their film.
8
00:01:22,529 --> 00:01:28,126
The novel: Thea von Harbou's film
behind the, under Fritz Lang's film.
9
00:01:43,116 --> 00:01:47,143
At this point, the music started
during the first screening...
10
00:01:47,187 --> 00:01:50,179
The Metropolis theme.
11
00:01:50,357 --> 00:01:53,349
A fanfare motif...
12
00:01:53,593 --> 00:01:56,426
the orchestra follows...
13
00:01:56,463 --> 00:01:59,523
a column of sound emerges.
14
00:02:05,839 --> 00:02:09,138
Thea von Harbou's message,
Lang didn't believe in it.
15
00:02:09,176 --> 00:02:12,270
He said: "I am fascinated by machines."
16
00:02:16,049 --> 00:02:21,282
Metropolis, the mother city,
city of mothers, mother of all cities.
17
00:02:31,798 --> 00:02:35,165
The city, the film...
they too are machines.
18
00:02:36,369 --> 00:02:38,360
Flywheels,
19
00:02:38,872 --> 00:02:40,863
a crankshaft,
20
00:02:42,008 --> 00:02:43,999
an eccentric disk,
21
00:02:44,811 --> 00:02:48,303
A machine without Workers,
devoid of function,
22
00:02:48,849 --> 00:02:51,875
pure movement...
rotating, thrusting...
23
00:02:52,319 --> 00:02:56,551
a machine of desire. Round shapes
and jerking movements become one
24
00:02:56,590 --> 00:02:59,150
within the image of two clocks.
25
00:03:04,064 --> 00:03:07,056
One 12-hour and one 10-hour clock.
26
00:03:16,376 --> 00:03:22,178
Day shift and night shift, 10 hours each,
mark the Metropolis working day.
27
00:03:22,215 --> 00:03:26,083
Two groups of Workers,
uniformed, in rows of six,
28
00:03:26,386 --> 00:03:30,948
march in unison,
the exhausted half as fast as the fresh.
29
00:03:32,125 --> 00:03:37,085
"They moved their feet,
but were not walking", reads the novel.
30
00:03:38,064 --> 00:03:42,160
The way people move or are moved
is always highly significant
31
00:03:42,202 --> 00:03:45,194
throughout the film.
32
00:03:50,577 --> 00:03:53,546
The Workers' theme - a funeral march.
33
00:04:11,798 --> 00:04:14,562
The night shift enters a cage...
34
00:04:15,502 --> 00:04:18,494
the grate is raised,
35
00:04:19,005 --> 00:04:22,099
the cage sinks, and with it the camera.
36
00:04:28,915 --> 00:04:31,577
A title picks up the movement.
37
00:04:34,087 --> 00:04:38,114
"Even the titles", the young Luis Bu�uel
wrote in his review of the film,
38
00:04:38,158 --> 00:04:42,151
"how they rise and fall,
blend with the movement as a whole,
39
00:04:42,195 --> 00:04:45,392
become pictures themselves."
40
00:04:45,832 --> 00:04:49,825
The title's movement is carried through
to the movement of the picture.
41
00:04:49,869 --> 00:04:54,033
The Workers: now just a painted
silhouette rising in the background,
42
00:04:54,074 --> 00:04:57,441
the design of the
Underground Workers' City.
43
00:04:58,545 --> 00:05:02,481
Elevators transport the Workers
up and down between the machine halls
44
00:05:02,515 --> 00:05:06,246
and their living quarters.
A new musical theme:
45
00:05:06,519 --> 00:05:09,488
the Theme of the City of the Workers.
46
00:05:21,835 --> 00:05:26,067
The main square of the Workers' City.
Simply a transit area for the Workers
47
00:05:26,106 --> 00:05:30,042
returning to their quarters.
In the centre a gong,
48
00:05:30,143 --> 00:05:33,340
again a kind of alarm clock.
49
00:05:44,924 --> 00:05:49,088
The downward scroll of the title
is answered by a rising,
50
00:05:49,129 --> 00:05:52,223
equilateral triangle pointing skywards.
51
00:06:02,342 --> 00:06:04,333
The Sports stadium,
52
00:06:04,411 --> 00:06:08,404
the contrast is stark between
its openness under sweeping skies
53
00:06:08,448 --> 00:06:12,851
and the cramped City of the Workers -
just as stark as the contrast between
54
00:06:12,886 --> 00:06:16,982
the liberated and carefree movements
of the youths, dressed in white,
55
00:06:17,023 --> 00:06:21,016
and the dull lethargy
of the darkly clothed Workers -
56
00:06:21,061 --> 00:06:25,054
and the self-determined horizontal
movement versus the downward ride
57
00:06:25,098 --> 00:06:28,226
of the Workers in the lift.
58
00:06:38,778 --> 00:06:42,145
A light-hearted waltz,
no musical leitmotiv,
59
00:06:42,215 --> 00:06:45,810
accompanies this scene.
An artificial grotto,
60
00:06:45,885 --> 00:06:50,515
columns like stalactites,
young women in rococo carnival costumes,
61
00:06:50,557 --> 00:06:53,185
Orient-inspired head adornments.
62
00:07:06,806 --> 00:07:09,536
The tricorn is of Venetian origin.
63
00:07:13,980 --> 00:07:17,973
In contrast to the straight course
of the young men -
64
00:07:18,017 --> 00:07:21,953
animated turns - anticlockwise -
65
00:07:22,055 --> 00:07:25,024
directed by a ringmaster - clockwise.
66
00:07:45,779 --> 00:07:49,579
A playground is the pleasure garden
of the sons, an infantile idyll.
67
00:07:49,783 --> 00:07:53,184
Nature, sex,
eroticism in chaste playfulness -
68
00:07:53,219 --> 00:07:56,985
like the water in the fountain:
a transparent dome
69
00:07:57,023 --> 00:08:00,015
masking a statue of a siren.
70
00:08:12,939 --> 00:08:17,876
The youth in white breeches and the girl
with the Cul de Paris play hide and seek.
71
00:08:17,911 --> 00:08:20,505
Their game a dance, a pas-de-deux.
72
00:08:25,251 --> 00:08:29,244
allusion, yet so intensely innocent
73
00:08:29,289 --> 00:08:32,986
that we do not actually expect
a real kiss.
74
00:08:34,060 --> 00:08:36,324
Instead an expectant glance -
75
00:08:38,498 --> 00:08:44,095
musically accompanied by a new theme,
let us call it the Love Theme...
76
00:08:58,885 --> 00:09:04,118
answered by an apparition, " dressed in
light grey", it reads in the screenplay,
77
00:09:04,157 --> 00:09:08,150
"from the smallest of d�collet�s
rises a head with solemn eyes
78
00:09:08,194 --> 00:09:11,186
and glowing blonde hair".
79
00:09:13,233 --> 00:09:17,226
"The austere countenance of the virgin,
the sweet countenance of the mother",
80
00:09:17,270 --> 00:09:18,862
reads the novel.
81
00:09:22,242 --> 00:09:25,234
The mother without a man...
Freder's dream.
82
00:09:32,952 --> 00:09:35,921
New to the music is the Freder Theme,
83
00:09:35,989 --> 00:09:41,086
it describes him as a light-hearted,
harmless soul - A pure fool.
84
00:09:41,995 --> 00:09:46,364
The subject of her glance is Freder,
the brother, the son of Fredersen,
85
00:09:46,399 --> 00:09:52,269
the nothing-more-than-son. All names
in Metropolis are steeped in meaning.
86
00:10:01,781 --> 00:10:05,774
Heralded by the clarinet -
a new chorale based theme,
87
00:10:05,818 --> 00:10:10,983
which from now on will accompany
the entrances of the young woman.
88
00:10:44,390 --> 00:10:47,917
A door closes,
communication is interrupted.
89
00:10:48,962 --> 00:10:52,955
This will be repeated at several
decisive moments throughout the film,
90
00:10:52,999 --> 00:10:58,164
providing the impetus for further action
on the part of its heros.
91
00:11:08,915 --> 00:11:12,908
"Nothing could help him - nothing",
the novel states at this point.
92
00:11:12,952 --> 00:11:17,048
"In a tortuous, ecstatic omnipresence
stood before his eyes the vision,
93
00:11:17,090 --> 00:11:21,083
a countenance:
the austere countenance of the virgin,
94
00:11:21,127 --> 00:11:24,096
the sweet countenance of the mother."
95
00:11:35,541 --> 00:11:39,841
Later, we learn that Freder
lost his mother at birth.
96
00:11:50,123 --> 00:11:52,114
Freder runs.
97
00:12:00,099 --> 00:12:04,092
Where will Freder search for the virgin,
the mother?
98
00:12:07,106 --> 00:12:13,306
Not in the Workers' City, as one would
think. Freder arrives in a machine hall.
99
00:12:19,118 --> 00:12:23,111
In this film, we can never be sure
whether what we see,
100
00:12:23,156 --> 00:12:27,149
what the characters see,
actually represents reality
101
00:12:27,193 --> 00:12:33,257
or is a hallucination, a vision, a dream
which sometimes becomes a nightmare.
102
00:12:36,502 --> 00:12:40,438
Freder searches for a woman -
and finds a machine.
103
00:12:46,045 --> 00:12:51,108
In the novel, he now comes face to face
with a machine of his own construction.
104
00:12:51,150 --> 00:12:55,382
He strokes it, feels its limbs,
presses his face to its bulk.
105
00:12:55,421 --> 00:12:59,414
In the film, the machine is also
a living organism.
106
00:12:59,826 --> 00:13:04,820
Freder in the novel: " Tonight I shall
allow myself to be embraced by you,
107
00:13:04,864 --> 00:13:09,494
pour my life into you and discover
whether I can give you life."
108
00:13:09,535 --> 00:13:13,562
Blood pressure and temperature
of the film machine rise.
109
00:13:13,773 --> 00:13:17,766
"Perhaps I will feel your trembling
and the sprouting of pulse
110
00:13:17,810 --> 00:13:21,803
in your rigid body. Perhaps I shall
experience the intoxication
111
00:13:21,848 --> 00:13:26,080
with which you hurl yourself into
your vast element, bearing me,
112
00:13:26,119 --> 00:13:29,111
the man who made you."
113
00:13:31,791 --> 00:13:35,090
But Freder also knows,
Freder in the novel:
114
00:13:35,228 --> 00:13:39,221
"Nothing in this world is more vengeful
than the jealousy of a machine
115
00:13:39,265 --> 00:13:42,257
that feels neglected."
116
00:13:48,241 --> 00:13:52,109
In the film, the machine is called
the M Machine.
117
00:13:53,012 --> 00:13:56,004
M as in mother?
118
00:13:59,452 --> 00:14:02,080
M as in Moloch.
The Moloch theme -
119
00:14:03,389 --> 00:14:05,880
a threatening musical gesture.
120
00:14:16,102 --> 00:14:21,062
The film of the future is also a film
of Antiquity, a biblical film.
121
00:14:21,107 --> 00:14:25,134
Moloch, the God of the Ammonites, to whom
the Israelites also sacrificed children,
122
00:14:25,178 --> 00:14:29,877
to the chagrin of Moses and his God.
The film is littered with associations
123
00:14:29,916 --> 00:14:33,249
to the Old and New Testaments.
124
00:14:51,137 --> 00:14:56,336
In the music, the Moloch Theme switches
to the Theme of the Workers' City.
125
00:14:56,375 --> 00:15:00,573
Platoons of Workers, in rows of six,
march into the mouth of Moloch,
126
00:15:00,613 --> 00:15:03,878
which transforms back into the machine.
127
00:15:18,030 --> 00:15:22,023
A machine, which produces nothing,
which requires the tribute
128
00:15:22,068 --> 00:15:26,061
of the dead and injured -
like the bloody battles of the war,
129
00:15:26,105 --> 00:15:30,439
which occurred only ten years before
the film was made.
130
00:15:57,203 --> 00:15:59,603
Freder runs again...
131
00:16:22,094 --> 00:16:25,461
"Towering structures",
it says in the novel,
132
00:16:26,132 --> 00:16:30,125
"packed together in blocks,
tower up either side of the streets -
133
00:16:30,169 --> 00:16:34,162
more like mountain ranges than homes,
stone cliffs interspersed
134
00:16:34,206 --> 00:16:38,199
with glass-and-concrete buildings -
wide pavements rise above
135
00:16:38,244 --> 00:16:41,771
car-only streets -
and long-distance trains,
136
00:16:42,014 --> 00:16:45,575
electrical express trains
intersect the streets,
137
00:16:45,785 --> 00:16:49,016
aeroplanes hover..."
And in the background
138
00:16:49,221 --> 00:16:52,816
"the New Tower of Babel,
towering above all."
139
00:17:14,180 --> 00:17:17,843
In the music,
the Fredersen theme portrays him
140
00:17:18,217 --> 00:17:22,244
as a self-confident autocrat.
Joh Fredersen, Joh with h -
141
00:17:22,288 --> 00:17:25,746
Jehova!
He is both monopolist and dictator.
142
00:17:31,297 --> 00:17:35,290
In Thomas Pinchon's novel
"Gravity's Rainbow", Franz P�kler,
143
00:17:35,334 --> 00:17:39,134
a kind of Wernher von Braun,
remembers the film,
144
00:17:39,372 --> 00:17:43,934
which he saw as a student in Berlin,
"Great movie." Exactly the world P�kler,
145
00:17:43,976 --> 00:17:47,969
and evidently quite a few others,
were dreaming about,
146
00:17:48,013 --> 00:17:52,211
a corporate City-State, in which
technology was the source of power,
147
00:17:52,251 --> 00:17:56,449
and in which engineers worked closely
with administrators,
148
00:17:56,489 --> 00:18:01,051
and ultimate power
lay with a single leader at the top..."
149
00:18:18,010 --> 00:18:22,003
No sooner had Freder entered this room,
according to Thea's novel,
150
00:18:22,047 --> 00:18:28,316
"than he was once again a boy of ten".
Nothing more than the son of this father.
151
00:18:33,125 --> 00:18:38,427
The music, the Moloch theme, tells us
what Freder is speaking about.
152
00:18:45,171 --> 00:18:51,508
The gestures of the son, unlike those of
the father, display trust, seek contact.
153
00:19:14,467 --> 00:19:19,097
Fredersen looks past him,
his gaze rests on the secretary.
154
00:19:31,050 --> 00:19:36,010
Fredersen's glances are orders,
as are his words, his gestures.
155
00:20:03,983 --> 00:20:08,818
Camera movements are rare in Metropolis
and are always significant.
156
00:20:08,854 --> 00:20:12,847
Here, the camera is guided
by the movements of the actors,
157
00:20:12,892 --> 00:20:17,090
the pace of the discussion
moves the camera, stops it,
158
00:20:19,932 --> 00:20:21,923
moves it on...
159
00:20:22,868 --> 00:20:25,860
first it progresses...
160
00:20:31,143 --> 00:20:34,135
Then it pans with father and son.
161
00:21:16,021 --> 00:21:22,017
It is in the children, not the adults,
that Freder recognises his siblings -
162
00:21:24,096 --> 00:21:27,463
himself as the infant prodigy
of the virgin,
163
00:21:27,900 --> 00:21:30,027
the motherly,
164
00:21:30,069 --> 00:21:33,061
a kind of infant Jesus.
165
00:21:54,827 --> 00:21:59,355
Fredersen is not only ruler
but also builder of Metropolis.
166
00:22:02,501 --> 00:22:05,265
His city - an architectural dream,
167
00:22:06,338 --> 00:22:09,307
a dazzling futuristic city,
168
00:22:09,341 --> 00:22:12,242
constructivist towering structures -
169
00:22:12,444 --> 00:22:16,437
as the urban crownof the New Tower of Babel.
170
00:22:54,486 --> 00:22:57,512
First from the strings,
then the horns,
171
00:22:58,390 --> 00:23:01,427
allegro alla marcia,
the Theme of the Uprising begins.
172
00:23:01,427 --> 00:23:02,519
allegro alla marcia,
the Theme of the Uprising begins.
173
00:23:31,190 --> 00:23:34,159
A video telephone on the wall behind.
174
00:23:34,226 --> 00:23:38,890
Fredersen's office is the control,
communication and command centre.
175
00:23:38,931 --> 00:23:42,298
His power is based on information.
176
00:24:08,494 --> 00:24:14,228
Above Fredersen on the wall, the lower
edge of the 10-hour clock is now visible.
177
00:24:14,266 --> 00:24:20,398
Fredersen's power lies in his ability
to control the time of his subordinates.
178
00:24:41,794 --> 00:24:44,888
The Worker, the capitalist,
179
00:24:44,930 --> 00:24:48,422
the clerk -
the model of modern class society.
180
00:25:07,786 --> 00:25:11,779
The position of the seemingly
privileged employee is, in fact,
181
00:25:11,824 --> 00:25:14,816
the most precarious.
182
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:10,781
Again a door closes behind somebody,
183
00:26:11,917 --> 00:26:14,317
this person's disappearance
184
00:26:14,353 --> 00:26:18,255
motivating Freder to dedicate himself
to this person:
185
00:26:33,105 --> 00:26:37,098
"That people are consumed by
the machines", explains the father
186
00:26:37,142 --> 00:26:41,135
to the son in the novel, " does not prove
that the machines are greedy,
187
00:26:41,179 --> 00:26:45,172
but rather portrays the defective
material of the people themselves."
188
00:26:45,217 --> 00:26:48,550
In industry as well as in war.
189
00:26:54,526 --> 00:26:57,518
Again, Freder runs.
190
00:27:00,365 --> 00:27:01,533
For the father
the door closes behind him.
191
00:27:01,533 --> 00:27:03,524
For the father
the door closes behind him.
192
00:27:36,335 --> 00:27:39,862
Two rooms, two scenes,
screened in parallel,
193
00:27:39,905 --> 00:27:43,466
interrelated, contrasting,
the characters, too,
194
00:27:44,009 --> 00:27:47,877
one commenting on the other -
here the staircase,
195
00:27:49,381 --> 00:27:55,581
there Fredersen's office - this becomes
one of the film's narrative techniques.
196
00:28:15,507 --> 00:28:17,998
Freder has followed Josaphat -
197
00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:26,210
Fredersen, on the other hand,
summons "The Slim One".
198
00:29:12,831 --> 00:29:15,527
Fredersen in right profile.
199
00:29:22,307 --> 00:29:26,971
The Slim One in left profile.
Take note of just how differently
200
00:29:27,012 --> 00:29:29,742
Lang stages dialogue.
201
00:29:37,055 --> 00:29:41,185
Freder again heading downstairs
- "into the depths" -
202
00:29:51,870 --> 00:29:55,397
- and again in an act of viewing.
203
00:30:07,519 --> 00:30:11,956
Once again he is confronted with the
spectacle of a machine. In the novel,
204
00:30:11,990 --> 00:30:15,983
it is called "the Paternoster machine"
- so let's keep it so -,
205
00:30:16,027 --> 00:30:20,020
it keeps the elevator system
in the New Tower of Babel moving.
206
00:30:20,065 --> 00:30:25,298
In the film it has no obvious function,
it is purely metaphorical -
207
00:30:29,908 --> 00:30:32,900
an allegorical machine, if you like.
208
00:31:33,405 --> 00:31:39,071
The change of clothing manifests
Freder's rebellion against the father.
209
00:31:44,049 --> 00:31:48,042
This is the beginning of the incarnation
of the son of Jehovah, his passion.
210
00:32:17,282 --> 00:32:22,276
This cut is, up to now, the most serious
intervention carried out by the adaptors.
211
00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:26,313
The critic Roland Schacht
praised the missing sequence:
212
00:32:26,358 --> 00:32:30,351
illusions similar to that
of the Yoshiwara pleasure palace,
213
00:32:30,395 --> 00:32:34,388
which distract Georgy from fulfilling
his task, have been used
214
00:32:34,432 --> 00:32:38,596
in French avant-garde films -
"but never to such tremendous,
215
00:32:38,803 --> 00:32:42,569
synthetic, characteristic effect
as in this false,
216
00:32:42,841 --> 00:32:46,038
dazzling 'wax make-up' way".
217
00:32:50,815 --> 00:32:54,273
In ancient times, reads the novel,
a magician from the Orient
218
00:32:54,319 --> 00:32:57,311
built the house in seven days.
219
00:33:01,259 --> 00:33:04,422
Then, from a far distance
came Rotwang and,
220
00:33:04,462 --> 00:33:08,330
overcoming great resistance,
took it for his own.
221
00:33:11,469 --> 00:33:16,304
The Rotwang musical theme
is reminiscent of the Moloch music.
222
00:33:22,447 --> 00:33:28,249
Fredersen is the only person in
Metropolis who respects Rotwang's genius.
223
00:33:43,034 --> 00:33:49,303
The removal of this figure is the gravest
manipulation executed by the adaptors.
224
00:33:49,441 --> 00:33:53,434
The Hel of the Nordic sagas
was the ruler of the underworld,
225
00:33:53,478 --> 00:33:56,538
motherly Goddess of Death.
226
00:34:01,186 --> 00:34:04,246
In Hel, Rotwang has lost his lover,
227
00:34:11,029 --> 00:34:13,259
Fredersen his wife,
228
00:34:14,199 --> 00:34:19,501
Freder his mother - the loss inspires
each of them in their actions.
229
00:34:28,079 --> 00:34:30,980
How Lang stages a dramatic dialogue.
230
00:34:41,459 --> 00:34:44,087
Fredersen in right profile -
231
00:34:49,868 --> 00:34:53,099
Rotwang frontal,
eyes towards the camera -
232
00:34:54,873 --> 00:34:56,238
both,
233
00:34:58,376 --> 00:35:02,312
Fredersen in right profile,
Rotwang in left profile.
234
00:35:11,356 --> 00:35:16,259
The audience alternating, at times
addressee, at times distanced observer.
235
00:35:37,081 --> 00:35:41,575
Curtain up for Rotwang's first scene,
the entry of the mechanical woman,
236
00:35:41,786 --> 00:35:44,152
the New Hel.
237
00:35:44,189 --> 00:35:47,784
On the wall a pentagram,
the magical symbol -
238
00:35:48,226 --> 00:35:52,026
the tip pointing downwards
suggests the satanic.
239
00:35:52,230 --> 00:35:56,257
A metallic phallus with female
physical attributes, with breasts
240
00:35:56,301 --> 00:36:00,795
and on the abdomen, mounted and
exhibited, the genitalia.
241
00:36:16,187 --> 00:36:20,283
The music echoes the most important
components of the Mechanical Woman Theme.
242
00:36:20,325 --> 00:36:25,194
It comprises three motifs, attributed
to the various aspects of the being,
243
00:36:25,230 --> 00:36:29,792
and which at times appear separately,
at times in unison.
244
00:37:27,091 --> 00:37:31,084
Rotwang's artificial limb is steel,
steel from the steel of the creature
245
00:37:31,129 --> 00:37:34,121
to whom he sacrificed his hand.
246
00:38:03,261 --> 00:38:07,391
Another parallel scene -
Freder still at the machine,
247
00:38:08,399 --> 00:38:12,392
Fredersen with Rotwang -
determines the next sequence.
248
00:38:38,329 --> 00:38:41,526
The plan... Fredersen's copy
249
00:38:49,974 --> 00:38:53,273
and the one which Freder finds...
250
00:38:54,012 --> 00:38:58,005
acts as the pivot between
both strands of the plot.
251
00:39:36,254 --> 00:39:39,246
Rotwang's library
- Ancient tomes -
252
00:39:39,290 --> 00:39:45,024
and a neon spiral lamp - Rotwang caught
between Middle Ages and future -
253
00:39:46,230 --> 00:39:50,530
Fredersen in contrast,
with a Chronom�tre Movado on his wrist,
254
00:39:50,568 --> 00:39:53,537
is the epitome of twenties modernity.
255
00:40:37,215 --> 00:40:41,015
Freder's Passion
- the factory is his Golgotha -
256
00:40:41,252 --> 00:40:45,882
his cross the clock,
the Father-God's instrument of power.
257
00:42:23,321 --> 00:42:26,290
The omnipotent is not omniscient.
258
00:42:26,457 --> 00:42:31,485
Lack of information is the motivation
for Fredersen's departure.
259
00:42:37,902 --> 00:42:41,861
For the first time we see him
physically in motion,
260
00:42:41,906 --> 00:42:45,433
moving from one scene to another.
261
00:43:15,439 --> 00:43:19,500
Fredersen and Rotwang descend
- from right to left -
262
00:43:22,346 --> 00:43:26,009
left-right the Workers
- Freder between them -
263
00:43:30,855 --> 00:43:34,154
both groups heading towards
the same scene.
264
00:43:58,382 --> 00:44:02,318
Freder, hand on heart again
- the Love Theme from the garden scene
265
00:44:02,353 --> 00:44:05,880
in the background -,
sees "a type of crypt",
266
00:44:06,090 --> 00:44:11,392
it states in the screenplay,
with " eight or ten tall, rough crosses,
267
00:44:11,429 --> 00:44:14,421
but no crucifix.
268
00:44:15,032 --> 00:44:20,334
Countless niches in the walls, the bones
and skulls of thousands of departed
269
00:44:20,371 --> 00:44:22,931
barely visible in the shadows."
270
00:44:25,276 --> 00:44:30,043
A mixture of early Christian place
of worship (Sienkiewicz's Quo Vadis
271
00:44:30,081 --> 00:44:34,279
had just been filmed with Emil Jannings)
and pagan underworld
272
00:44:34,318 --> 00:44:39,221
is the place where Freder meets
the Virgin, the mother, again.
273
00:44:41,792 --> 00:44:46,320
"Look at me, Virgin, his eyes prayed",
it says in the novel,
274
00:44:46,364 --> 00:44:49,356
"Mother, look at me!"
275
00:44:58,576 --> 00:45:02,808
Both strands of the plot intertwine
in Rotwang's and Fredersen's
276
00:45:02,847 --> 00:45:05,975
glance down into the crypt.
277
00:45:06,250 --> 00:45:09,481
They do not recognise
Freder in the scene.
278
00:45:21,332 --> 00:45:24,358
The preacher is reciting a screenplay,
279
00:45:36,180 --> 00:45:39,206
which Freder turns into a film for us.
280
00:45:43,954 --> 00:45:47,253
The Creative Man, priest,
ruler, architect.
281
00:45:49,360 --> 00:45:55,094
Accompanied by the music, played during
the opening credits of the film.
282
00:46:08,479 --> 00:46:12,472
What here looks like a mammoth
construction in panoramic shot
283
00:46:12,516 --> 00:46:18,318
turns out to be a model, around which
a group of architects has gathered.
284
00:46:22,760 --> 00:46:26,287
New to the music:
the Tower of Babel Theme.
285
00:46:47,351 --> 00:46:51,344
Five groups of Workers, a metaphor:
like the fingers on a hand.
286
00:48:08,332 --> 00:48:12,462
End of the simile, the sermon,
end of the projection.
287
00:48:18,742 --> 00:48:22,234
A look into the camera,
into our eyes.
288
00:48:29,353 --> 00:48:33,346
The epigram.
This is awarded its own musical motif.
289
00:49:05,823 --> 00:49:08,815
Thus we learn her name.
290
00:49:08,926 --> 00:49:12,919
In the novel Freder asks:
"What should I call you?"
291
00:49:12,963 --> 00:49:16,091
She answers: "Mary." He answers:
292
00:49:16,934 --> 00:49:20,199
"Only this can be your name."
293
00:49:40,424 --> 00:49:44,155
Allegro alla marcia:
the Theme of the Uprising.
294
00:49:52,436 --> 00:49:55,462
Fredersen believes he has seen enough.
295
00:50:13,357 --> 00:50:18,351
What Rotwang sees, however, and wants
to prevent Fredersen from seeing,
296
00:50:18,395 --> 00:50:22,058
because a new plan
is germinating in his mind:
297
00:50:27,104 --> 00:50:31,803
A dialogue is opening.
Freder's gaze is searching for Mary.
298
00:50:32,443 --> 00:50:35,435
His hand beckons her,
299
00:50:42,486 --> 00:50:45,478
he begins to speak,
300
00:50:49,893 --> 00:50:52,521
his eyes follow her,
301
00:50:52,563 --> 00:50:57,830
the camera assumes his gaze,
which become one with her movements,
302
00:51:03,907 --> 00:51:08,310
scans her gaze,
sweeps her gaze directly into the camera,
303
00:51:11,348 --> 00:51:14,340
moving gently to him,
304
00:51:15,319 --> 00:51:20,416
unites both in the picture...
the speaker always in semi-profile,
305
00:51:20,591 --> 00:51:23,492
the listener laterally from behind.
306
00:51:39,410 --> 00:51:43,608
An erotic dialogue,
regardless of what the titles say.
307
00:51:51,188 --> 00:51:54,180
The Love Theme is playing
308
00:51:59,029 --> 00:52:01,259
- now stops -
309
00:52:01,298 --> 00:52:05,291
and is replaced by
the Rotwang and Fredersen Themes
310
00:52:05,335 --> 00:52:08,327
in accentuated variations.
311
00:52:39,536 --> 00:52:44,564
The couple is musically threatened
by the Theme of the Uprising.
312
00:53:18,442 --> 00:53:22,310
Will Rotwang give up his project
to recreate Hel,
313
00:53:22,479 --> 00:53:28,475
or will he extend it, if it can be used
to steal his rival's son from him...
314
00:53:37,995 --> 00:53:40,987
the son of Hel,
315
00:53:41,565 --> 00:53:44,261
who he himself expected from her?
316
00:55:15,092 --> 00:55:19,153
Mary's light is candlelight,
natural, soft like her.
317
00:56:25,529 --> 00:56:28,498
The realm of death, the realm of Hel.
318
00:56:29,066 --> 00:56:33,002
Is Freder's dead mother jealous
of her son's love,
319
00:56:33,103 --> 00:56:36,903
is this why she joins forces
with her destroyer?
320
00:56:58,261 --> 00:57:02,197
Rotwang's lamp is a mechanical tool,
like his steel hand,
321
00:57:02,232 --> 00:57:05,531
the entire man
a hybrid of man and machine.
322
00:57:06,236 --> 00:57:11,264
Lucifer, "the bringer of light",
is one of the Evil One's names.
323
00:57:17,814 --> 00:57:21,773
He showed this scene to a
Hollywood specialist, wrote Lang.
324
00:57:21,818 --> 00:57:25,811
"This beam of light which impales
the prey on a sharp needle,
325
00:57:25,856 --> 00:57:29,849
refuses to release it, driving it
before him in relentless pursuit,
326
00:57:29,893 --> 00:57:34,296
onwards into a state of abject panic,
caused the mild-mannered American
327
00:57:34,331 --> 00:57:39,291
to confess naively: 'W e can't do this! '
They could do it", said Lang,
328
00:57:39,336 --> 00:57:43,568
"they just did not think of it", and:
"Light and shadow should not only
329
00:57:43,774 --> 00:57:49,906
be used to convey a mood, but should also
play a decisive role in the action."
330
00:58:39,763 --> 00:58:43,392
The cathedral:
a second piece of the Middle Ages
331
00:58:43,800 --> 00:58:47,793
"Mysticism, gothic, grandeur,
332
00:58:47,838 --> 00:58:51,330
ceremony, incense",
it says in the screenplay,
333
00:58:51,775 --> 00:58:55,768
"in the centre of the scene,
a column reaching towards the heavens
334
00:58:55,812 --> 00:58:59,805
like the trunk of a palm." In the novel
the cathedral harbours a fanatical sect,
335
00:58:59,850 --> 00:59:04,184
the Gothics, who persistently
offer Fredersen resistance.
336
00:59:25,308 --> 00:59:30,541
The adaptors of the film reduced
this strand of the plot even more.
337
00:59:46,196 --> 00:59:50,189
Again, a parallel action which interferes
in the current action,
338
00:59:50,233 --> 00:59:53,566
transforms it into a fantasia.
339
01:00:01,912 --> 01:00:05,848
The music in the cathedral scene:
the "Dies irae",
340
01:00:05,949 --> 01:00:09,043
musical epitome for death and disaster.
341
01:00:09,252 --> 01:00:13,245
In the original version of the film,
the musical leitmotif is intertwined
342
01:00:13,290 --> 01:00:18,956
with the memory of the penitential
sermon of the monk at the cathedral.
343
01:01:11,414 --> 01:01:15,976
This is the longest piece
to have been cut from the film.
344
01:02:25,989 --> 01:02:28,583
The story of Freder, the good boy,
345
01:02:30,060 --> 01:02:34,053
Rotwang, the sorcerer and the abducted
Mary gives Metropolis
346
01:02:34,097 --> 01:02:38,500
the air of a fairytale
in a particularly unambiguous way.
347
01:03:01,357 --> 01:03:05,794
Many fairytales are based on
the abduction of a person.
348
01:03:12,969 --> 01:03:16,769
The evil character
captures or imprisons someone,
349
01:03:16,806 --> 01:03:20,037
he foists another person
onto this person,
350
01:03:20,810 --> 01:03:25,907
he transforms the person into another or
presents another person as the captive...
351
01:03:25,949 --> 01:03:28,782
as Rotwang intends to do with Mary.
352
01:03:29,786 --> 01:03:33,187
The hero, searching for the object
or person he is missing,
353
01:03:33,223 --> 01:03:37,216
reaches the place
where the captive is being held.
354
01:03:47,837 --> 01:03:51,000
The hero, the searcher is shown the way.
355
01:04:26,910 --> 01:04:30,277
"Like the trail of a scent",
says the novel,
356
01:04:30,346 --> 01:04:34,214
"the glow in front of him
led him up the stairs."
357
01:04:54,337 --> 01:04:58,899
The old house sucks Freder in,
it makes him its prisoner,
358
01:04:59,142 --> 01:05:02,339
it draws him into the depths.
359
01:05:35,812 --> 01:05:39,873
The machinery of the old house is like
a model of the narrative mechanism,
360
01:05:39,916 --> 01:05:43,283
which keeps both
hero and audience moving...
361
01:05:44,120 --> 01:05:49,217
always being shown something,
before it quickly disappears again.
362
01:06:18,855 --> 01:06:22,120
Another sign... Mary's scarf.
363
01:06:55,124 --> 01:07:00,289
And once again Freder's call for
the virgin, the mother is answered by...
364
01:07:04,033 --> 01:07:07,025
a vision, a staging.
365
01:07:10,473 --> 01:07:14,466
An earlier concept for the film
presented medieval and modern ages
366
01:07:14,510 --> 01:07:18,037
in different forms.
"Mrs. von Harbou and l",
367
01:07:18,548 --> 01:07:23,212
remembers Lang forty years later,
"included a battle between modern science
368
01:07:23,252 --> 01:07:27,552
and occultism in the screenplay,
the sorcerer was the evil force
369
01:07:27,757 --> 01:07:33,127
behind all events" - but they deviated,
Lang says, from this concept.
370
01:07:36,432 --> 01:07:38,866
Although not entirely:
371
01:07:38,901 --> 01:07:42,894
"Centuries behind, centuries ahead",
it says in the screenplay,
372
01:07:42,939 --> 01:07:47,899
Rotwang's laboratory was " half a quack's
kitchen from the year 1500
373
01:07:47,944 --> 01:07:52,779
and half experimental laboratory
of a man from the year 2000."
374
01:07:52,815 --> 01:07:57,582
In Rotwang's character Harbou and Lang
merged both magic and modernity
375
01:07:57,787 --> 01:08:02,884
in one entity. A hermaphrodite,
like the film in which he appears.
376
01:08:03,292 --> 01:08:07,285
That could have been conceived and staged
by him, just like the transformation
377
01:08:07,330 --> 01:08:11,061
of the mechanical woman
into the image of Mary.
378
01:08:16,172 --> 01:08:20,404
His staging combines both feminine
and masculine form and movement,
379
01:08:20,443 --> 01:08:23,412
translated into a spectacle of light.
380
01:08:23,746 --> 01:08:26,544
A Luciferic act of procreation.
381
01:08:28,751 --> 01:08:32,744
Rotwang endows his machine
with Mary's attributes...
382
01:08:32,789 --> 01:08:36,782
but he also allows the feminine
sexuality, which is repressed
383
01:08:36,826 --> 01:08:40,887
in the figure of the virgin-mother,
to be unleashed in the double.
384
01:08:40,930 --> 01:08:44,923
The chaste Mary, the white and merciful,
the virgin,
385
01:08:44,967 --> 01:08:48,266
and the hot, destructive,
the red, the vamp
386
01:08:48,504 --> 01:08:51,530
are two aspects of the same character.
387
01:09:05,188 --> 01:09:09,181
Rotwang's experimental table,
with Mary as Snow White waiting
388
01:09:09,225 --> 01:09:13,218
in her glass coffin to be awakened,
can be seen as the couch
389
01:09:13,262 --> 01:09:17,392
of Rotwang the psychoanalyst.
Her subconscious manifests itself
390
01:09:17,433 --> 01:09:22,962
in the arcs of light stretching
between her and the mechanical woman.
391
01:09:53,936 --> 01:09:59,306
Freder, like awakening from a nightmare,
sees himself in another one.
392
01:10:09,852 --> 01:10:13,549
Hel's room...
her memorial is behind the curtain.
393
01:10:31,440 --> 01:10:34,466
Mary's Theme, agitato, in a minor key.
394
01:10:57,199 --> 01:11:01,101
The false Mary,
flesh of the flesh of the true Mary,
395
01:11:01,137 --> 01:11:06,097
while at the same time
a remote-controlled machine at the core.
396
01:11:16,519 --> 01:11:20,785
Why is Fredersen so doggedly determined,
to destroy the true Mary?
397
01:11:28,864 --> 01:11:34,029
In the figure of the merciful preacher,
he seems to sense a female challenge
398
01:11:34,070 --> 01:11:39,508
- that of matriarchy - to his patriarchal
principle of absolute power.
399
01:11:41,243 --> 01:11:44,440
Freder's Oedipus experience.
400
01:11:53,923 --> 01:11:58,917
The shock causes Freder to see father
and mother - whom he images as Mary -
401
01:11:58,961 --> 01:12:03,989
rotating around each other. At this point
in the novel Freder chokes his father:
402
01:12:04,033 --> 01:12:08,026
"I want to kill you! I want to
destroy you! I want to murder you!"
403
01:12:08,070 --> 01:12:11,972
In the film, a fall
- "downwards, into the depth" -
404
01:12:12,008 --> 01:12:14,841
into the chasm of his subconscious.
405
01:12:19,081 --> 01:12:21,515
Freder in bed,
406
01:12:21,784 --> 01:12:25,584
the father in tails.
An obvious feeling of helplessness
407
01:12:25,788 --> 01:12:29,087
in front of his father's
aura of authority.
408
01:12:30,459 --> 01:12:34,953
The son remains in the care of the,
in part female, staff.
409
01:12:34,997 --> 01:12:37,522
A sick child.
410
01:13:14,904 --> 01:13:19,807
Freder's unconscious state
again fades into a Rotwang staging.
411
01:13:24,313 --> 01:13:28,306
Can it be that Freder and Rotwang
are not so much rivals
412
01:13:28,350 --> 01:13:33,219
as the alter egos of each other?
They love the same woman, the dead Hel.
413
01:13:33,255 --> 01:13:37,248
The absence of the mother,
the lover provides the inspiration
414
01:13:37,293 --> 01:13:42,060
for Freder's visions just as much as
for Rotwang's stagings.
415
01:13:46,102 --> 01:13:50,095
Rotwang's audience consists
entirely of men, old and young,
416
01:13:50,139 --> 01:13:52,607
fathers and sons.
417
01:13:56,812 --> 01:14:00,373
"Like a blasphemous halo",
says the screenplay,
418
01:14:00,816 --> 01:14:07,016
the diadem on the woman's head appears
in the round opening of the domed roof...
419
01:14:09,759 --> 01:14:12,922
that fades out. Rotwang's show is a film,
420
01:14:14,530 --> 01:14:19,524
another of Rotwang's light productions,
with footlights and counter lighting.
421
01:14:36,385 --> 01:14:40,185
Rotwang's show and Freder's delirium
become one.
422
01:14:44,026 --> 01:14:47,985
An important strand in this mesh,
Freder's reminiscence
423
01:14:48,030 --> 01:14:53,832
of the monk's sermo in the cathedral,
has again been cut by the adaptors.
424
01:15:16,425 --> 01:15:21,192
diverges from the action which was shown:
425
01:15:21,230 --> 01:15:25,223
isolated, edited gestures
and the positions of the dancer,
426
01:15:25,267 --> 01:15:28,259
combined with the picture
of the audience
427
01:15:28,304 --> 01:15:31,330
- groups, singles, only eyes finally -
428
01:15:32,007 --> 01:15:36,535
Rotwang's production becomes Lang's...
pure montage cinema.
429
01:16:10,212 --> 01:16:14,205
Rotwang's show
now clearly becomes Freder's vision,
430
01:16:17,019 --> 01:16:21,149
the memory of the seven deadly sins
in the cathedral,
431
01:16:24,760 --> 01:16:28,161
of the monk's sermon
on the Whore of Babylon,
432
01:16:28,197 --> 01:16:32,224
which he associates with the image
of the false Mary, the New Hel,
433
01:16:32,268 --> 01:16:35,260
the mother-whore...
434
01:16:39,808 --> 01:16:44,768
which becomes one with that
of the Metropolis, the Mother City.
435
01:17:22,117 --> 01:17:25,416
Freder, convalescent, is reading.
436
01:17:26,522 --> 01:17:31,357
A copy of the page which was shown
at this point in the film.
437
01:18:00,789 --> 01:18:06,159
Again, two parallel scenes, the second
once more cut by the adaptors.
438
01:18:06,295 --> 01:18:09,458
The spy reports to the father,
439
01:18:10,299 --> 01:18:13,291
the friend to the son.
440
01:18:20,743 --> 01:18:24,736
Nothing remains of this scene,
but screenplay and score
441
01:18:24,780 --> 01:18:28,773
lead to the assumption
that these takes were repeated here.
442
01:19:12,828 --> 01:19:16,821
Only very few of the Yoshiwara takes
have remained intact,
443
01:19:16,865 --> 01:19:19,891
this one in a copy found in Australia,
444
01:19:20,302 --> 01:19:25,763
incomplete, the end is missing,
as one of the sons shoots the other.
445
01:20:30,172 --> 01:20:33,369
Freder and Josaphat set off,
446
01:20:35,310 --> 01:20:37,938
Fredersen gives Slim an order...
447
01:20:40,949 --> 01:20:45,352
A third reporting situation
is blended in after the other two.
448
01:20:57,166 --> 01:21:00,158
Rotwang tells Mary.
449
01:21:19,354 --> 01:21:22,346
Included in his report,
450
01:21:23,592 --> 01:21:29,030
as a parallel action, is the activity
about which Rotwang is speaking.
451
01:21:29,064 --> 01:21:32,465
Like the group of rich sons
in the dancehall,
452
01:21:32,501 --> 01:21:38,565
the group of Workers in the catacombs,
too, fall under the spell of the vamp.
453
01:22:05,934 --> 01:22:10,234
Like the evil character in a fairy tale,
Rotwang pretends his own child
454
01:22:10,272 --> 01:22:13,264
to be the one he keeps as a prisoner.
455
01:23:06,028 --> 01:23:09,862
Ufa regarded the "red" Mary's speech
as "inciting"
456
01:23:09,898 --> 01:23:14,858
and ordered a milder form for
the second version. Instead of...
457
01:23:14,903 --> 01:23:18,862
the title became:
"Who wants to work himself to death
458
01:23:18,907 --> 01:23:22,240
for the rulers of Metropolis?"
459
01:23:23,011 --> 01:23:25,275
Instead of...
460
01:23:25,547 --> 01:23:29,916
"Who is the life force
of the machines of Metropolis?"
461
01:23:43,131 --> 01:23:45,122
Instead of...
462
01:23:45,167 --> 01:23:50,537
in the revised version it became:
"Who are the slaves of Metropolis?"
463
01:23:55,143 --> 01:23:57,304
And for...
464
01:23:57,913 --> 01:24:01,212
the false Mary had to say:
"Let them rot..."
465
01:24:16,865 --> 01:24:21,996
Freder, who only had visions before,
has gained a critical, perceiving view.
466
01:24:27,809 --> 01:24:30,801
He sees through the double.
467
01:25:49,090 --> 01:25:53,083
The adaptors found the construction with
Rotwang's report as the framework
468
01:25:53,128 --> 01:25:57,121
around the second catacomb scene
too complicated.
469
01:26:32,767 --> 01:26:36,567
Georgy's martyrdom not only seals
Freder's new role
470
01:26:36,771 --> 01:26:40,969
as a critical perceiver,
but also shows him as a future saviour,
471
01:26:41,009 --> 01:26:44,001
as a new Messiah.
472
01:27:07,469 --> 01:27:11,428
The central square of the Workers' City
has become a stage
473
01:27:11,473 --> 01:27:14,533
in the theatre of the revolution.
474
01:27:19,814 --> 01:27:23,841
The first beats of the Marseillaise.
Not only the music is imbued
475
01:27:23,885 --> 01:27:27,878
with the character of a citation.
The way the false Mary whips the crowd
476
01:27:27,923 --> 01:27:32,189
into a frenzy corresponds to her
performance in front of the rich sons.
477
01:27:32,227 --> 01:27:36,220
The gong podium is a tribune for the
performance in which not only she
478
01:27:36,264 --> 01:27:39,256
takes part but an ecstatic ensemble.
479
01:27:53,281 --> 01:27:57,479
The elevators. Earlier we saw the night
shift advancing into the elevators
480
01:27:57,519 --> 01:28:01,455
for transportation into the depths...
now they are being stormed
481
01:28:01,489 --> 01:28:05,516
by men and women, who use them
to go upwards. In a later scene,
482
01:28:05,727 --> 01:28:11,996
the movement accelerated and reversed,
we will see them - empty - crashing down.
483
01:28:27,048 --> 01:28:31,041
In the beginning only men were
present here, now we see women,
484
01:28:31,086 --> 01:28:33,919
the workers' wives, female workers.
485
01:28:34,122 --> 01:28:38,115
The face of the repressed masses
"was male; only with the uprising,"
486
01:28:38,159 --> 01:28:42,994
unleashed, does this face obtain female
traits, does its female base appear,
487
01:28:43,031 --> 01:28:47,365
hitherto oppressed by organisation,
control, discipline.
488
01:28:48,770 --> 01:28:52,001
Again the same venues
as in the beginning,
489
01:28:52,207 --> 01:28:56,200
in reverse order and viewing direction.
At the start the Workers,
490
01:28:56,244 --> 01:29:00,544
silently waiting for the raising
of the grating - now the unleashed mass,
491
01:29:00,582 --> 01:29:04,746
men and women,
deliriously determined to blow it up.
492
01:29:34,983 --> 01:29:39,886
The children, abandoned by their
biological fathers and mothers,
493
01:29:39,921 --> 01:29:45,223
offered for adoption by Mary,
the maternal, and Freder, the brother.
494
01:30:22,464 --> 01:30:25,456
Again two people,
495
01:30:26,367 --> 01:30:29,165
two venues, alternating,
496
01:30:29,204 --> 01:30:33,834
audio-visually bound by the
video-telephone in Fredersen's office,
497
01:30:33,875 --> 01:30:37,936
control and command tool
of the ruler of Metropolis.
498
01:30:43,585 --> 01:30:46,577
Subordinate and superior.
499
01:31:23,925 --> 01:31:29,795
Back to the sounds of the Marseillaise,
the storming of the Heart Machine.
500
01:31:53,988 --> 01:31:57,014
The two Marys, now in parallel action:
501
01:31:57,358 --> 01:32:03,024
the true, the white, finally free
to continue her reconciliation work...
502
01:32:09,771 --> 01:32:14,936
and the false, the red, the force
behind uprising and destruction.
503
01:32:27,789 --> 01:32:31,088
Mary on her way
to the City of the Workers,
504
01:32:31,826 --> 01:32:35,819
to save the children abandoned
by their fathers and mothers.
505
01:32:42,837 --> 01:32:46,796
Like a counter-manoeuvre
to her own creation by Rotwang,
506
01:32:46,841 --> 01:32:51,073
as a light show, electric pyrotechnic
sorcery, the false Mary instigates
507
01:32:51,112 --> 01:32:54,206
the destruction of the Heart Machine...
508
01:32:59,888 --> 01:33:03,255
before leaving the stage
via a back stairway,
509
01:33:03,358 --> 01:33:07,351
a shadow ascending a staircase,
exit to another theatre,
510
01:33:07,395 --> 01:33:10,489
another audience, the sons of the rich.
511
01:33:23,111 --> 01:33:27,104
Arm movements as though in parody
of the rotating of the disk,
512
01:33:27,148 --> 01:33:32,108
still identifying with the machine
even during its destruction.
513
01:34:03,384 --> 01:34:07,115
The elevators now finally descending,
plunging.
514
01:34:30,345 --> 01:34:33,872
The water. "It was said",
records the novel,
515
01:34:34,349 --> 01:34:38,342
"deep under the city there wanders
a stream." Joh Fredersen constructed
516
01:34:38,386 --> 01:34:42,482
a path for the stream when he built
the City of the Workers.
517
01:34:42,523 --> 01:34:46,789
"It was also said that the stream
was feeding a large reservoir
518
01:34:46,828 --> 01:34:50,992
and that there was a pumping station
there, powerful enough, to fill or empty
519
01:34:51,032 --> 01:34:54,001
the reservoir in less than 10 hours."
520
01:34:54,202 --> 01:34:58,195
The subterranean streams had been
channelled, disciplined,
521
01:34:58,239 --> 01:35:02,175
obstructed by Fredersen and coupled
to the machines - as had the people.
522
01:35:02,210 --> 01:35:07,876
Now the unleashed waters of the depths
join the uprising of the humans.
523
01:35:11,285 --> 01:35:15,381
We have seen Rotwang working the levers
in his laboratory and the other Mary
524
01:35:15,423 --> 01:35:19,416
working the levers of the Heart Machine.
Now she is moving the levers
525
01:35:19,460 --> 01:35:23,829
of the gong machine.
The gong podium, the alarm clock,
526
01:35:23,931 --> 01:35:29,028
the tribune hosting the revolt,
is now used to save the children.
527
01:35:47,789 --> 01:35:51,486
The square fills with the water
and the children.
528
01:35:51,793 --> 01:35:55,593
It is almost as if the children
are involved in the flood,
529
01:35:55,797 --> 01:35:59,597
even though their own lives are
in danger, as if they perceive
530
01:35:59,801 --> 01:36:03,737
the absence of adults and breaching
of the banks as a liberation.
531
01:37:13,841 --> 01:37:17,834
The upper city too has been robbed
of electric light through
532
01:37:17,879 --> 01:37:21,872
the destruction of the Heart Machine,
causing Fredersen to reach for
533
01:37:21,916 --> 01:37:25,317
his flashlight...
to receive Slim in its glow.
534
01:38:26,013 --> 01:38:28,504
No more doubt:
535
01:38:35,022 --> 01:38:38,014
A couple of lovers...
536
01:38:47,301 --> 01:38:50,395
but more like a couple of parents,
537
01:38:50,438 --> 01:38:55,000
without act of procreation,
through adoption, by saving the children,
538
01:38:55,042 --> 01:38:58,068
abandoned by their biological parents.
539
01:39:07,755 --> 01:39:10,747
Not just a couple, but three, a trinity,
540
01:39:10,791 --> 01:39:15,455
of which there soon will be more,
with interchanging members.
541
01:39:20,968 --> 01:39:24,961
They take care of the children,
the innocent offspring of the Workers,
542
01:39:25,006 --> 01:39:28,032
who have refused to be rescued by them.
543
01:40:18,426 --> 01:40:21,827
A last climb through the airshaft
from the depths of the Workers' City
544
01:40:21,862 --> 01:40:24,854
to the Club of the Sons.
545
01:40:32,473 --> 01:40:36,432
The flying camera simulates
the pressure of the explosion
546
01:40:36,477 --> 01:40:39,810
which rocks the city to its foundations.
547
01:41:16,484 --> 01:41:18,782
Finale with Mary's theme...
548
01:41:24,892 --> 01:41:27,520
general pause...
549
01:41:29,964 --> 01:41:33,331
then again the Theme of the Uprising,
men and women dancing in two
550
01:41:33,367 --> 01:41:40,000
concentric circles, as though still under
the spell of the machines they destroyed.
551
01:41:44,078 --> 01:41:48,071
Four, actually five venues and actions
with various characters
552
01:41:48,115 --> 01:41:51,107
are now interconnected:
553
01:41:57,425 --> 01:41:59,416
Fredersen's office...
554
01:42:06,801 --> 01:42:08,792
Fredersen, Slim...
555
01:42:11,572 --> 01:42:16,202
then the machine hall
with the destroyed Moloch machine...
556
01:43:17,338 --> 01:43:20,364
This question is musically answered...
557
01:43:24,445 --> 01:43:28,438
by a motif from the
Mechanical Woman's Theme.
558
01:43:33,954 --> 01:43:38,118
Thirdly, the Yoshiwara,
where - to a foxtrot - the false Mary
559
01:43:38,158 --> 01:43:42,151
leads the sons of the rich
to dance on the volcano.
560
01:44:09,757 --> 01:44:12,920
The Workers abandon the scene of action.
561
01:44:29,176 --> 01:44:32,907
Fourthly, the entrance
of the Club of the Sons,
562
01:44:35,983 --> 01:44:41,080
with Freder. Here, a shot with Mary
has been cut by the adaptors.
563
01:44:42,990 --> 01:44:45,584
And the children.
564
01:44:46,126 --> 01:44:49,527
A square beneath this one,
which the Workers,
565
01:44:49,563 --> 01:44:53,294
ascending from the machine halls,
have reached.
566
01:45:02,409 --> 01:45:06,038
And finally, fifthly,
Rotwang's attic room,
567
01:45:06,080 --> 01:45:09,948
where Fredersen's down and out
opponent recovers.
568
01:46:08,042 --> 01:46:12,138
This plot of interwoven strands again
proved too complicated for the adaptors,
569
01:46:12,179 --> 01:46:15,171
they rearranged, they condensed.
570
01:46:35,335 --> 01:46:39,328
They edited the film, giving the
impression that the false Mary
571
01:46:39,373 --> 01:46:44,777
is the only victim of the witch-hunt
and that the true Mary is in no danger.
572
01:46:44,812 --> 01:46:49,215
By readjusting this shot
the true Mary becomes the other.
573
01:47:03,097 --> 01:47:06,828
Only when you carefully look,
you see - here! -
574
01:47:07,101 --> 01:47:11,731
Mary running across the screen
escaping from her pursuers,
575
01:47:12,039 --> 01:47:15,065
who manage to couple her double.
576
01:47:38,298 --> 01:47:43,531
Fittingly, the Workers construct
a stake in front of the cathedral.
577
01:47:47,775 --> 01:47:51,472
The stake is made from metal,
the wrecks of cars,
578
01:47:51,779 --> 01:47:54,942
partly with their headlights
illuminated.
579
01:48:06,860 --> 01:48:10,057
The false Mary tied to the stake.
580
01:48:10,264 --> 01:48:14,963
She who was created by electrical sparks,
totally in her element,
581
01:48:15,002 --> 01:48:18,096
in a display of masochistic lust.
582
01:48:37,257 --> 01:48:40,249
Josaphat and Freder separated.
583
01:49:16,330 --> 01:49:19,788
Rotwang had awakened,
it says in the novel,
584
01:49:19,900 --> 01:49:23,529
"but he knew he had died.
And this realisation filled him
585
01:49:23,737 --> 01:49:27,730
with the deepest satisfaction.
He only wanted his Hel.
586
01:49:27,774 --> 01:49:31,767
Upon finding Hel he would no longer
have reason to quarrel
587
01:49:31,812 --> 01:49:33,803
with anything on earth."
588
01:49:37,951 --> 01:49:41,512
"Hel", he says in the novel.
"I am not a ghost,
589
01:49:41,955 --> 01:49:45,948
although I have died,
I had to die to come to you."
590
01:49:52,866 --> 01:49:57,200
Mary, the virgin, and her double,
both in mortal danger,
591
01:49:57,371 --> 01:50:00,363
a mirror image in one scene.
592
01:50:03,143 --> 01:50:07,045
The red Mary at the stake,
the white in the cathedral,
593
01:50:07,080 --> 01:50:10,072
pursued by Rotwang.
594
01:50:27,301 --> 01:50:30,896
The bells of the cathedral
come to her aid...
595
01:50:33,941 --> 01:50:36,933
beckoning the saviour,
596
01:50:37,477 --> 01:50:40,878
like the gong before
in the Workers' City.
597
01:50:54,928 --> 01:50:59,262
As Freder watches, the fire burns away
the flesh of the false Mary
598
01:50:59,299 --> 01:51:02,234
revealing her mechanical core,
599
01:51:02,469 --> 01:51:06,769
musically triumphant, accompanied by
one of the Mechanical Woman motifs
600
01:51:06,807 --> 01:51:09,571
in vibrant major.
601
01:51:18,952 --> 01:51:22,945
The scene on the cathedral roof
is reminiscent of Victor Hugo's
602
01:51:22,990 --> 01:51:29,122
"Hunchback of Notre Dame". The novel had
recently been filmed with Lon Chaney.
603
01:51:30,030 --> 01:51:33,193
An unmistakable reference:
the gargoyles.
604
01:51:38,939 --> 01:51:42,898
After the demise of the evil
half of the female double pair,
605
01:51:42,943 --> 01:51:45,935
the final battle between
the two male rivals
606
01:51:45,979 --> 01:51:49,142
is enacted on the roof of the cathedral.
607
01:51:57,324 --> 01:52:01,556
Freder, the naive fool, has learnt
through his passion to differentiate
608
01:52:01,762 --> 01:52:06,062
between truth and lies. Then in the face
of the needs of the children
609
01:52:06,099 --> 01:52:10,092
he has ripened to an active person,
now he is capable of dealing
610
01:52:10,137 --> 01:52:13,129
with his antagonist.
611
01:52:19,946 --> 01:52:24,280
Fredersen kneeling...
he too maturing through suffering.
612
01:52:25,786 --> 01:52:29,347
Slim and Josaphat
- another antagonistic pair -
613
01:52:29,790 --> 01:52:33,123
unite to offer him assistance.
614
01:52:49,009 --> 01:52:53,002
And finally Grot, the foreman,
less class-conscious
615
01:52:53,080 --> 01:52:56,072
than loyal to his rulers.
616
01:53:25,479 --> 01:53:30,178
In Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow",
P�kler remembers how Rotwang carried Mary
617
01:53:30,217 --> 01:53:34,210
onto the roof of the cathedral.
He was " taken by Klein-Rogge
618
01:53:34,254 --> 01:53:39,157
playing the mad inventor,
who he himself and his fellow students
619
01:53:39,192 --> 01:53:42,184
would have loved to be.
620
01:53:44,131 --> 01:53:48,124
Indispensable to those who ran
the Metropolis, yet at the end
621
01:53:48,168 --> 01:53:52,935
the untameable lion who could let it
all crash, girl, State,
622
01:53:52,973 --> 01:53:55,339
masses, himself,
623
01:53:55,375 --> 01:54:00,369
asserting his reality against them all
in one last roaring plunge
624
01:54:00,413 --> 01:54:03,940
from rooftop to street",
so remembers P�kler.
625
01:54:17,898 --> 01:54:22,528
In Harbou's novel the chastened Fredersen
finds comfort with his mother,
626
01:54:22,569 --> 01:54:27,268
who does not appear in the film,
she gives him a letter from his dead wife
627
01:54:27,307 --> 01:54:30,902
who pledges her love
throughout all eternity.
628
01:54:30,944 --> 01:54:33,777
A female trinity has the last word:
629
01:54:33,980 --> 01:54:37,074
Mary, Fredersen's mother, Hel.
630
01:54:37,851 --> 01:54:42,550
In Harbou's screenplay, Mary - acting
on an appeal from the Workers' wives -
631
01:54:42,589 --> 01:54:47,492
calls on Freder to be a mediator.
In the film as shot by Lang,
632
01:54:47,994 --> 01:54:49,396
the women retreat totally into
the underground and background.
633
01:54:49,396 --> 01:54:52,888
the women retreat totally into
the underground and background.
634
01:55:05,879 --> 01:55:09,076
For the finale: the Mediator Theme.
635
01:55:17,824 --> 01:55:21,817
The Workers, as at the beginning
of the film, disciplined,
636
01:55:21,861 --> 01:55:27,390
darkly clothed and uniformed, marching
in unison in triangular formation,
637
01:55:27,434 --> 01:55:32,064
the loyal foreman at the vanguard,
ascend the steps at the cathedral
638
01:55:32,105 --> 01:55:36,166
to meet the triumvirate
awaiting them in the portal.
639
01:55:40,780 --> 01:55:44,272
The Mediator Theme culminates
in a combination
640
01:55:44,784 --> 01:55:47,810
of the Mary and the Metropolis Themes.
641
01:55:49,122 --> 01:55:54,150
The rest is dealt with by the chiefs,
the representatives of State and People,
642
01:55:54,194 --> 01:55:57,186
of Capital and Labour.
643
01:56:01,167 --> 01:56:04,898
The social partners still require
mutual trust.
644
01:56:12,312 --> 01:56:16,942
They need a mediator,
removed from the parties' interests.
645
01:56:26,026 --> 01:56:30,019
Mary, as a woman is permitted
to deliver the cue,
646
01:56:40,473 --> 01:56:43,465
thus completing her task.
647
01:56:44,177 --> 01:56:47,908
A male trinity analogous to the Father,
the Son
648
01:56:48,181 --> 01:56:51,275
and the Holy Spirit has been formed.
649
01:57:35,995 --> 01:57:40,796
Metropolis is a film of superlatives
also insofar as no other film
650
01:57:40,834 --> 01:57:44,793
provoked as much criticism,
analysis and interpretation,
651
01:57:44,838 --> 01:57:49,138
at least not since the nineteen-eighties,
simultaneously and in conjunction
652
01:57:49,175 --> 01:57:53,134
with new versions, new recordings,
reconstruction attempts,
653
01:57:53,179 --> 01:57:55,909
and allusions to this film in new ones.
654
01:57:55,949 --> 01:58:00,784
The film, its metaphors,
its allegory require interpretation.
655
01:58:01,454 --> 01:58:06,084
The interpretation is part of the
film's story, even if contradictory,
656
01:58:06,126 --> 01:58:11,291
bizarre and excessive. There is no need
to believe or accept any of them,
657
01:58:11,331 --> 01:58:16,030
but they should be acknowledged as this
is one of the pleasures the film offers,
658
01:58:16,069 --> 01:58:20,369
which are unthinkable without a certain
degree of light-hearted detachment.
659
01:58:20,407 --> 01:58:24,366
The commentary you have heard
was compiled by Enno Patalas,
660
01:58:24,411 --> 01:58:29,246
read by David Cooke, notes on the music
have been provided by Rainer Fabich.
661
01:58:29,282 --> 01:58:34,185
Subtitles: VICOMEDIA 10/2002
60527
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