Synopsis

In a futuristic city divided between wealthy planners above ground and exhausted workers below, Freder, the ruler's son, discovers the brutal machinery sustaining their privileged world. After falling in love with Maria, a worker who preaches reconciliation, Freder becomes caught between his father and the inventor Rotwang, whose creation of a robotic double threatens to plunge Metropolis into chaos.

Factoids & Trivia

• The screenplay was written by Thea von Harbou, whose 1925 novel was developed in connection with the film.

• Filming lasted approximately 17 months during 1925 and 1926. The production became so expensive that it contributed to serious financial difficulties for UFA.

• Eugen Schufftan's visual effects combined actors, miniature buildings, and reflected images through the Schufftan process. The technique helped create the film's vast futuristic cityscapes.

• The rigid costume for the robot version of Maria was uncomfortable to wear. Brigitte Helm later recalled suffering cuts and bruises during the long filming process.

• The film premiered in Berlin on January 10, 1927, in a version running approximately 153 minutes. It was shortened and re-edited for many foreign releases soon afterward.

• For decades, substantial sections were believed lost. A damaged 16mm print discovered in Buenos Aires in 2008 contained much of the missing material and formed the basis of the nearly complete 2010 reconstruction.

• Metropolis was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register in 2001.

• Its robot Maria, monumental city, and imagery of industrial exploitation became major influences on later science-fiction films, including Frankenstein, Blade Runner, and Brazil.