Metropolis is a monumental work. On its release in 1925, after sixteen months'
filming, it was Germany's most expensive feature film, a canvas for director
Fritz Lang's increasingly extravagant ambitions. Lang, inspired by the skyline of
New York, created a whole new vision of cities. One of the greatest works of
science fiction, the film also tells human stories about love and family.
Thomas Elsaesser explores the cultural phenomenon...