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Metropolis

Teachers' Notes

Transcript

This resource is aimed at students of Film and Media studies at GCSE, A Level and equivalent with particular relevance for WJEC GCE Film Studies FM4. The resource could also be used with Art and Design, History and Politics students.

This site features film clips, stills and two supporting documents Themes and context and Further study. Covering gender, cinematic style, theme and legacy these materials provide a social, historical and political context to the film and other German and Soviet films of the 1920s. The tasks can be used as a starting point for exploration of themes contained in the film, or for developing further close study of Metropolis.

Synopsis

Drawing on – and defining – classic sci-fi themes, Metropolis depicts a dystopian future in which society is thoroughly divided in two: while anonymous workers conduct their endless drudgery below ground their rulers enjoy a decadent life of leisure and luxury. When Freder (Gustav Fröhlich) ventures into the depths in search of the beautiful Maria (Brigitte Helm in her debut role), plans of rebellion are revealed and a Maria-replica robot is programmed by mad inventor Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) and master of Metropolis Joh Fredersen (Alfred Abel) to incite the workers into a self-destructive riot.

Additional information is available on the film's official website.