Editing Metropolis (1927 film) (section)

==Influences==
{{multiple image
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| image1            = NYC skyline 1912.jpg
| caption1          = Manhattan skyline in 1912
| image2            = Metropolis-new-tower-of-babel.png
| caption2          = The New [[Tower of Babel]], Fredersen's headquarters in Metropolis
| image3            = Pieter Bruegel the Elder - The Tower of Babel (Vienna) - Google Art Project - edited.jpg
| caption3          = The Tower of Babel in Maria's recounting of the biblical story was modeled after [[The Tower of Babel (Brueghel)|this 1563 painting]] by [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder|Pieter Brueghel]].{{sfn|Bukatman|1997|pp=62–3}}
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''Metropolis'' features a range of elaborate special effects and set designs, ranging from a huge gothic cathedral to a futuristic cityscape. In an interview, Fritz Lang reported that "the film was born from my first sight of the skyscrapers in New York in October 1924". He had visited New York City for the first time and remarked "I looked into the streets—the glaring lights and the tall buildings—and there I conceived ''Metropolis'',"{{sfn|Minden|Bachmann|2002|p=4}} although in actuality Lang and Harbou had been at work on the idea for over a year.<ref name=bennett /> Describing his first impressions of the city, Lang said that "the buildings seemed to be a vertical sail, scintillating and very light, a luxurious backdrop, suspended in the dark sky to dazzle, distract and hypnotize".{{sfn|Grant|2003|p=69}} He added "The sight of Neuyork [sic] alone should be enough to turn this beacon of beauty into the center of a film..."{{sfn|Minden|Bachmann|2002|p=4}}

The appearance of the city in ''Metropolis'' is strongly informed by the [[Art Deco]] movement; however, it also incorporates elements from other traditions. Ingeborg Hoesterey described the architecture featured in ''Metropolis'' as eclectic, writing how its locales represent both "functionalist modernism [and] art deco" whilst also featuring "the scientist's archaic little house with its high-powered laboratory, the catacombs [and] the Gothic cathedral". The film's use of art deco architecture was highly influential, and has been reported to have contributed to the style's subsequent popularity in Europe and America.{{sfn|Russell|2007|p=111}} The New Babel Tower, for instance, has been inspired by Upper Silesian Tower in [[Poznań]] fairgrounds, which was recognized in Germany as a masterpiece of architecture.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Minęły 92 lata od pierwszych Targów Poznańskich. Zobacz co po nich zostało &#91;UNIKALNE ZDJĘCIA&#93;|url=https://gloswielkopolski.pl/minely-92-lata-od-pierwszych-targow-poznanskich-zobacz-co-po-nich-zostalo-unikalne-zdjecia/ga/905839/zd/1997127|access-date=29 December 2022|website=Głos Wielkopolski|language=pl-PL}}</ref>

Lang's visit to several Hollywood studios in the same 1924 trip also influenced the film in another way: Lang and producer Erich Pommer realized that to compete with the vertical integration of Hollywood, their next film would have to be bigger, broader, and better made than anything they had made before. Despite UFA's growing debt, Lang announced that ''Metropolis'' would be "the costliest and most ambitious picture ever."<ref name=bennett />

The film drew heavily on biblical sources for several of its key set-pieces. During her first talk to the workers, Maria uses the story of the [[Tower of Babel]] to highlight the discord between the intellectuals and the workers. Additionally, a delusional Freder imagines the false-Maria as the [[Whore of Babylon]], riding on the back of a many-headed dragon.

The name of the [[Yoshiwara]] club alludes to the famous red-light district of Tokyo.{{Sfn|White|1995|p=348}}

Much of the plot line of ''Metropolis'' stems from the [[World War I|First World War]] and the culture of the [[Weimar Republic]] in Germany. Lang explores the themes of industrialization and mass production in his film; two developments that played a large role in the war. Other post-World War I themes that Lang includes in ''Metropolis'' include the Weimar view of American modernity, [[fascism]], and [[communism]].<ref>{{Cite book
| title = Shell Shock Cinema: Weimar Culture and the Wounds of War
| last = Kaes
| first = Anton
| publisher = Princeton University Press
| year = 2009
| isbn = 978-0-691-03136-1
| location = Princeton, New Jersey
}}</ref>