It was evident from the start that there was a class divide (the haves and have nots) through the use in the architecture of the two different worlds: the underground workers city (very straight, boxed in and regimented) and the world above (in particular the Colosseum and then the garden area where curves were heavily incorporated). This could be seen to represent the small romantic notion of freedom within higher classes. Through visually showing this at the start, it clearly introduced the theme to the audience allowing them to then focus on how this relates to the plot.
And one cant not mention the cityscape use of perspective and the air planes. It created a futuristic experience as an audience member but also added portrayed this idea of high spec technology which increased the contrast between the classes drastically.
The use of deadly sins and and in the dance scene very much reminded me of the Danse Macabre programmatic music when the fiddler is calling all the dead to rise up and it interesting to see this inspiration within this scene.
Another side of the architecture I want to highlight in this reflection was the inventor's home. In comparison to the other sets, it was very warped (reminiscent of german expressionism). There was some of the curves in the shelves that I thought were very angular once again leaning towards expressionism.
On his front door there was a star which commonly represents magic. However, when watching this film from a contemporary perspective, the use of positioning and symbol reminds me of how the Nazi's used the star of David during the holocaust: to label them as "outcasts" The inventor in this film could also be viewed as an outsider to society as he does not belong in either worlds: the underground workers and the businessmen of the Fredersen empire. I know this film was made pre-Holocaust and the star on his door is not the star of David, but nevertheless I found it a haunting parallel, especially as it is a German film made by a director whose mother is Jewish.
Director: Fritz Lang
Image source: https://www.boweryboyshistory.com/2010/10/new-metropolis-for-our-metropolis-at.html
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