“METROPOLIS”

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 391, 27 June 1928, Page 16

“METROPOLIS”

OPENS AT EVERYBODY’S TO-MORROW “Metropolis,” the latest prouuuaon to come from the U.F.A. studios, is an astounding example of cinema excellence. One loses control of one’s typewriter keys in trying to convey an idea of the stupendous settings and the almost incredibly magnificent mechanical effects. The story itself is melodramatically moral. “Metropolis,” which will open at Everybody’s Theatre to-morrow, is immense. The backgrounds are a riot of imagination. In one allegorical sequence is photographed the erection and destruction of the Tower of Babel. Another sequence shows the catacombs—weird, tortuous passage-ways. And what with the factory scenes and those in the scientist’s laboratory and the views of the crowds, Fritz Lang, the director, proves himself a genius. The story points out the fact that efficiency without soul leads to revolution and destruction. It is a prophetic warning to this age that is living in a world of material achievement. Writers all over Europe are now predicting a general decline—so it isn’t to be wondered at that this picture, made in Berlin, carries the same pessimistic trend of thought. “Metropolis,” as a motion picture, is beyond description. It is colossal. It must be seen.