During the inspection of the Cyberpunk subculture, I was intrigued by its relevance to historical films, its ties to its context and social and political messages. While reflecting on these themes, I remembered Fritz Lang's Metropolis, which surprisingly ticks all the cyberpunk themes but predates any mainstream technology. So how does Lang's 1927 Silent, black and white German film reflect elements of cyberpunk?
Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction with a significant focus on dystopian settings and the combination of low life and high tech. Much of cyberpunk is rooted in the new wave science fiction movement of 1960, when authors and writers examined the effects of drug culture and technology. While this subgenre was prominent mid-20th century, Fitz Lang's 1927 silent film 'Metropolis' is globally recognised as the first cyberpunk film.
Lang's Silent, German film 'Metropolis' explores social and political upheaval post WWI, displayed through the social class divide. Created in a futuristic New York, Metropolis makes for a relevant Marxist critique of how unrestrained capitalism and dystopian technology will increase the divide between social classes. Lang imagines a world where the inevitable "rise in economic inequality has led to the disappearance of a middle class and the dehumanisation of workers" (Prahlad, S. 2020).
While it predates mainstream technology, Metropolis is universally acknowledged as one of the first cyberpunk films, incorporating themes of unethical technology, dystopian earth, mega-corporations, and societal collapse.
Cyberpunk's most prominent theme, unethical technology, is captured through Fritz Lang's depiction of Robot Maria. The fear of technology and sexualised women is linked to the machine vamp, which threatens all men and, ironically, to the technology itself. Robot Maria inspires the kind of awe and fear evoked by industrial machinery.
This fear is reinforced when she extends her metallic hand to Fredersen, and we see him recoil in fear and horror.
Ultimately, Robot Maria is seized by the people of lower Metropolis and is burnt at the stake for her crimes. Like the Salem witches, her scorching fate reveals the fear of an industrialised society.
This idea of progress regarding technology gives rise to worker enslavement and the class divide in Metropolis. This prominence of robot maria is the main ingredient that determines Metropolis as cyberpunk. She represents unethical technology, as she functions to seduce, corrupt, and destroy.
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Robot Maria is the most blatant symbol in Metropolis of the evil and dystopian future that comes with technology and the rise of a capitalist society.
Fritz Lang also captures cyberpunk themes through the combination of low life and high tech, with Molcoh acting as a symbol of industrialised evil. As a result of the context and German expressionism in 1927, Lang's film can be interpreted as a commentary on the inability of technology to liberate humankind and the idea that technology could give rise to worker enslavement rather than empowerment.
The audience witnesses the beginning of Moloch's consumption of the workers through the eyes of Freder. This portion of the Moloch scene consists of a single, extreme long shot that prevents the audience from getting close to the victims as the situation becomes dire. This scene's climax allows the audience to sympathise with the workers and the victims of industrialisation.
The word Moloch appears on a title card, and the allegorical intent of this sequence is made plain as the machine transforms into a gigantic monster. This scene not only foreshadows the apocalyptic destruction of the Heart Machine later, but it also re-enforces the theme of industrialisation as evil but necessary.
In contrast to this scene, the city's surface displays a thriving Metropolis, vast skyscrapers, flying cars and pleasure gardens. Here, technology is an empowering tool that benefits human purposes while it burdens workers in lower Metropolis.
JP Telotte said the vocation of the film is to explore the pros and cons of technology, providing us with a
"Double vision that allows us to see both the potential benefits of a technological utopia and the dystopian source of its power."
(Telotte, JP. 1995)
This scene not only displays the effects of technology that Lang is warning about but is one of the most significant factors making Metropolis a Cyberpunk film.
Metropolis is an influential and distinctive film. Not only does it warn the communities in 1927 about technology based in the post-WWI period, but it also warns future communities about very realistic and relevant topics before the technology had been made and commercialised. What does this fear say about our future and how technology will further impact our lives? This film and other Cyberpunk material warn us that these threats of our invention are crucial and must be taken seriously.
On a positive note, though, while this text is symbolic of the fears of the future, capitalism and technology, it can also be seen as inspiring. Metropolis was years before its time and may allow blossoming students to see their ability and promise to create influential and different works that break the bounds of traditional media.
