The 1927 German expressionist science fiction classic directed by Fritz Lang.

In Lang’s influential science-fiction he presents a highly stylised futuristic city where a cultured utopia exists above a bleak underworld. When the privileged youth Freder discovers the grim scene under the city, he becomes intent on helping the mistreated workers.

One of the most seminal and iconic films in all cinema history, Metropolis both responded to the previous decade of German revolutionary praxis and foresaw what was to come in the 20th century and beyond. With elites living in the stratosphere above a spectacular high-rise concrete megalopolis, workers toil subterraneously and discontent brews, this is the ultimate portrayal of late capitalist society in megacities such as New York, Dubai, Shanghai or London. In its depiction of masses being led to a Moloch-like fire, it resembles the most monstrous aspects of World War 2. The film is rich in formal and thematic ideas that would characterise the German expressionist cinema and remains today the benchmark of cinematic production design.

Screening on 35mm.

Past Futures curatorial notes —
What futures were past filmmakers imagining for our present world? And did those sci fi prophesies come true? All dreamers and designers start from a place of deep imagining.

In Past Futures we look at imagined dystopias and utopias that made their way into the collective conscious – into the design of now – and consider what might be in the making to come.

Presented by The Capitol as part of Melbourne Design Week 2021, an initiative of the Victorian Government in collaboration with the NGV.