Metropolis by Fritz Lang - Essay Example

Metropolis by Fritz Lang and Nowhere in Africa by Caroline Link Introduction Metropolis is a German expressionist film of 1927. It is a science fiction film that was produced in Germany during the stability period of the Weimar Republic that was established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of Government that administered the nation. It is set in a future time, in an urban dystopia and uses this setting to make use of the context to explore most of the social crises that exist between owners and workers under a system of capitalism. It is a reflection on how human beings may be forced into automated systems that they forget themselves but at the same time erupt because of oppression1 Nirgendwo in Afrika, German for Nowhere in Africa, on the other hand, is a German film of 2001 that is based on an autobiographical novel written by Stefanie Zweig by the same name.2 It is the story of a Jewish family that emigrates to Kenya during the Second World War to escape the Nazi regime in Germany. It shows the effects of denial or acceptance of ones position in the society. Metropolis has a very strong relation with the music an sounds of the industrial age. The fascination with the Russian “machine sounds” of the time, the locomotive engines , large factory machines and the amazing wonders of the industrial age were the heart of the film to express the future that was yet to be. It is no wonder the movie tends to be associated with this effects. Nowhere in Africa, contrasts this with the music of the contemporary 21st century society. One significant difference that is observable in these two films is the fact that Metropolis is a silent film. Nowhere in Africa presents its gist to the audience through dialogue and music, Metropolis on the other hand it is only the music and the emotions that can express to the audience the characters feelings. Each and every person who views it interprets it in the best way he or she understands it. In addition to this fact, the two movies present a paradox of each other. For instance, Metro is a film that was made in 1927. It is however a flash forward science fiction depicting a future date in which it is set. It tries to reveal the fears that were in the hearts of the society at the time it was being made and what they harbored. The dystopia in which it is set develops from a capitalist society that is scary to them and portends unimaginable hardships. Nowhere in Africa on the other hand is set in retrospect. It is based on an autobiographical novel is a society that knows what has already happened, and can appreciate the gist of the movie. It was made in the twenty first century and reveals the horrors of years past, of a regime that is infamous and the effect that it had on one particular family. Uprooted from their homeland, the community that they were used to and the status that they really enjoyed, they find themselves in a distant place in Africa, running a farm in Kenya, a colony which does not give them the same status, facilities, utilities and amenities that their high class lifestyle was accustomed to. Metropolis and Nowhere in Africa present several similarities too. For instance, the former is considered the last among several great adventures of the silent screen during the time. It had a series or serious and ambitiously absurd plotting that attacked the society’s view of the future. The movie was created in a Germany that was changing, and changing rapidly. The imperialist administration had died and several people were afraid, almost paranoid, about what the future held for them. This is why the director of the film presented similar sentiments and prophetic looks as to a future that lay before them, the fear of capitalism. Nowhere in Africa has also won several accolades in its time. It also draws comparisons from the Metropolis. Set retrospectively, the movie shows the fears that the contemporary have come to understand. While in a way it also presents its fears for a communist society it also show how a large population that feels oppressed may react in a society where the minority high class run and own things that the low class needs and uses to pursue their happiness. It is the consequence o such feelings that of oppression that ultimately sees to the hatred that develops several years later after the Metropolis is made. It is this same hatred that led to the death of millions of Jews in Germany and the forcible transfer of several other millions; and forms the backdrop for the movie. Metropolis presents the fear of human beings turned to automated robots and therefore puppets of the administrative high class machinery. This theme of manipulation and the fear that it brings could be said to be a prescient of the arrival of Hitler. It illustrates clearly the classist society that developed. The people moving the cogs of the economies driving the country and lining the pockets of the high class tireless are looked down upon as they strive to make ends meet. This projected high class is what the family in Nowhere in Africa, lands and the passion and pain that was illustrated in a science fiction movie comes to catch up with them several years later, when the Nazi regime gets into power. It is also evident that the upper class in both movies does not want anything to do with the lower classes. It is for this reason that the wife finds it easier to leave a lonely life rather than interact with the Africans that she has been force to live with. It is also important to note that Nowhere in Africa presents us with the material attachment that this class has with their possessions. The wife sees it easier to pack expensive China and cutlery when they are uprooted from Germany and have to leave without warning as the Jews are killed by the regime. She does not opt for the essential things that she would really need or would be fundamental to their existence. This attachment to material possession is also shown in Metropolis. While in Metropolis there is an actual mind control system which is expressly intended to control laborers and ensure that they continue breaking their backs for their masters through the repetitiveness of the clock, the trudge to the beat of the murderous heart machine, Nowhere in Africa, presents a different form of mind control. For one, the Africans know and they have accepted their position as second class citizens after the whites. Their position is predetermined by the imperialist government that is colonizing them and they can only make a living by serving their white masters. However, they are not the only ones whose minds are controlled by the systems that the society has created. The wife is also controlled. She is detached from the rest of the world and the society. She harbors the belief that engaging with them will lower her status and her class. It is no wonder that she felt that keeping her possessions, those that reminded her of a life that she had lived, that she could live, would ensure that such a status was maintained. She totally refuses to enjoy her stay in Africa, to enjoy her life and appreciate the fact that there were millions of people like her who did not even make it out with anything more than the clothes that they had on their backs and others not even with their lives. The expressionist nature of the two films, and the views through the two directors, presents the viewer with a society in despair. Through the characters \a viewer not only understands the fears that they hold or the story that they are trying to tell but tries to appreciate the circumstances that are incumbent. Metropolis for instance is presenting a situation where the Weimar Republic seems to be losing the ability to have a self conscience. It seems not to understand why or why not certain things are happening or being caused to happen. These things that are happening are not only affecting it but also its population. It is this same self-conscience that the wife seems to be losing in Nowhere in Africa. She is miserable and dislikes the lower class through most of the movie. She has also refused to adapt to the new status of lifestyle that the society has thrust upon her. Most of her perceptions and decisions remain superficial and are founded on the basis of emotions as a consequence. In some instances for example, the cook has to do certain chores that in the community are to be done exclusively by women. While this may appear as a gender issue, he is forced to accept the insults by women at the well. Such a matter is of no consequence to his boss because as far as she is concerned, it is his duty and that is where he belongs. She also looks down upon all the other women in her community and can only look up to the wife of a British farmer. More so, the value that is place on being on the upper class is clearly illustrated by the fact that people in this category do not want any association with the lower classes. It is considered an embarrassment and a lowering of status. This view shows a lack of concern or care for anything that a person in a lower class, a laborer has to undergo, as long as the master is satisfied and the job is done to a level that is expected. This detachment seems to be witnessed both ways, while it is the wife who refuses to be part of the community that she is now in, it is Frederson in Metropolis who establishes an “am not really part of them” ego. It is this distinction which later develops in the actual lives of the Germans, and grows to the extent that Hitler is able to use to fan hatred and uses to kill millions of Jews by fanning the frustrations of the low class citizen and the family survives. This shows how status has become a very fundamental aspect of every day life of not only Germans but even Africans themselves. The movies may have been set in different eras but they ultimately present a common theme: classism. Regardless of the time, or the place or the culture that a person is used to they will always pursue the goal of accumulating wealth and possession. It is for this reason that the laborers will diligently go to work in industries or farms for their masters. It is for the same reason that those who consider themselves to belong to a higher class will look down upon those who are considered to be in a lower class. However, everyone seems to be wandering in the same miasma and the pursuit of happiness. In conclusion, it is also worth noting that the convergence of the two films at concept of frustrated people exploding is significant to the two films. In Metropolis, this occurs at the end of the movie, while in Nowhere in Africa occurs at the beginning. In both, the majority cry foul, they scream of oppression and bay for blood. Those of high status in the country who looks down upon them become their mark. While in the end, there is a chance to happiness in both films, the concept of classism does not actually die. Read More