Fritz Lang's showstopper 1927 silent film Metropolis screens with a live score, April 6
Shadbolt Centre for the Arts presentation of retro-futuristic sci-fi classic is accompanied by music from duo Beautiful Violence
Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927).
Shadbolt Centre for the Arts presents Fritz Lang’s Metropolis with live music by Beautiful Violence on April 6 at 7:30 pm
FRITZ LANG’S SILENT picture Metropolis inarguably ranks among the most influential science-fiction films of all time. Released in 1927, it boasts stunning imagery of a futuristic cityscape with Art Deco-style architecture, created through unparalleled production design for its time.
The urban dystopia-set story sees the city of Metropolis divided into two classes: below ground, workers labour away in dangerous conditions to power machinery, while above ground, wealthy industrialists in colossal skyscrapers reap the benefits of their productivity. When the lives of the city master’s son Freder and underground dweller Maria become deeply intertwined, the future of Metropolis is put into question.
Metropolis was released during the Weimar Republic period, amid the German-expressionist film era that flourished in the aftermath of World War I. Director Lang, an Austrian-German with Jewish ancestry on his mother’s side, was conscripted into the Austrian army in 1914. After suffering four battle injuries and losing his vision in one eye, he spent a year recovering in hospital, where he took up an interest in cinema and screenwriting that would ultimately define his career.
The screenplay for Metropolis was written by Thea von Harbou, Lang’s second wife, whom he later divorced in 1933 due to her infidelity and sympathy with the Nazi party. Fearful of the Nazi regime’s growing power due to his family heritage, Lang fled to Paris later that year. He accepted a job offer in Hollywood the following year, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1939, and remained in the U.S. until his death in 1976. His lifetime of film achievements landed him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
As part of the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts’s Cinematic Poetry for Dark Days series, Metropolis will be presented accompanied by a sonically expansive live score from U.K.–founded, Vancouver-based duo Beautiful Violence. Musicians Simon Dobbs and Jon McGovern use a signature blend of electronic production, guitars, and synths to create ambient music and noise.
From a metallic Maschinenmenschrobot to exploding machinery, the film holds up as a showstopper. Catch the screening on April 6 in the Studio Theatre Reserved—tickets are selling quick. 
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