Metropolis by Fritz Lang still looks surprisingly good in almost every way.
For a film that’s almost 100 years old, that’s quite an achievement. Eugen Schüfftan was the special effects maestro behind this one, and he definitely earned his paycheck.
From Wikipedia: “The effects expert Eugen Schüfftan created pioneering visual effects for Metropolis. Among the effects used are miniatures of the city, a camera on a swing, and most notably, the Schüfftan process,in which mirrors are used to create the illusion that actors are occupying miniature sets.”
The themes of the movie still resonate as well. Technology has the potential to enslave or liberate us, so long as society’s hand (labor) is connected to the head (the masters of the universe) through heart (love, understanding, and humanistic empathy).
Though even Fritz Lang thought his resolution was naively simplistic, and many critics at the time thought Metropolis was too eager to demonize technology and offer simplistic solutions to the woes of industrialization and the class struggle. Also, Nazis really dug the film’s advocacy of a labor force seamlessly merged with the state. That didn’t end well.
But seriously, this was a serious movie that seriously advanced cinema, and it’s definitely worth a gander!