Metropolis (1927)

Director: Fritz Lang
Stars: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Frohlich
Runtime: 153 minutes

Verdict: I decided not to do a traditional review for this movie simply because it came out in 1927, and I thought it would be unfair to compare it to more recent films. "Metropolis" is considered to be the godfather of the Sci-Fi genre, and is one of the first pictures that proved that with a camera and a few tricks, anything is possible. This silent classic is set in the year 2026 and depicts a city where the gap between the working class and the city planners is more than ever apparent, causing tensions and riots in the city of Metropolis. What baffled me most while watching the movie was how much, 91 years later, it still holds up. The clear message the film successfully delivers is one that is still relevant today, and the subject it tackles features one of the first and most famous artificially intelligent humanoids, which is still something very much discussed in today's technological world. Contrastingly, the times in which the classic was made are very much apparent, as the poor quality of the picture and the clear difficulties encountered when trying to recover the film (about 70% of movies during that time are considered lost today) make it one that truly looks almost a century old, thus also classing it in the category of movies that were ahead of their times. Fritz Lang's ambitious project is one that belongs in a museum, and is a must for every film lover out there. 

Final Grade: 10/10