Metropolis Film Analysis Essay

Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, is a futuristic dystopian film that depicts a stark contrast between social classes within a society. The scene takes place underground and shows the shift change of the workers within the working class, a perfect example of the societal differences. In this film sequence using staging, cinematography and editing, Fritz Lang is able to express a hyperbolic representation of dominant ideologies revolving the working class.
The setting and space in the sequence emphasizes the bleak atmosphere in the workers lives. Filming in studio allotted more room for stylization to hyperbolize the workers’ bleak shift change and city. Props such as the two clocks highlight class differences. The small clock on top represents societies schedule, however the enormous clock on the bottom runs on ten hour intervals instead of the societal norm of twenty-four. The difference in proportion shows how the workers need only be concerned with when their shifts start and stop. Gears are shown as a symbolic representation of the workers, and how they are all essentially cogs in the big picture that support society. The lack of ornamental objects leaves an impression of emptiness and an allusion of cold surroundings, which creates an …show more content…
The director utilized cuts for transitions rather than more gradual transition changes. Cuts create a straight forward meaning that goes right to the point, which accentuates the workers one track mind. The pace workers’ is slow, especially when they are changing shifts, in order to reflect the bleak attitudes of workers as they drag their feet to and from work in shifts every day. However, the gears shown in the beginning of the sequence are fast paced with a momentum that cannot be stopped, revealing the workers’ inability to stop their daily schedules and