We Need Each Other: A Close Reading of Metropolis
This essay analyzes a late sequence in the original release of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis . A Marxist analysis of this sequence reveals a surprising codependency between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, represented by Johann Fredersen and the workers respectively. Marx himself may not agree with this portrayal, but Althusser’s ideas concerning the lasting power and reproductive needs of a capitalist system bring the interclass relationships in Metropolis into focus. This point in Metropolis finds us in the midst of the workers’ revolution. While the workers have been destroying the machines, Maria, Freder Fredersen, and one of Freder’s petit bourgeois allies have been saving their children. The sequence opens with a long shot of the children running up and embracing their three saviors. The main purpose of this shot is to show the compassion of Freder and Maria, as Lang is preparing Freder to assume the mantle of the mediator in a few short minutes. ...