Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” is considered to be the first feature-length science fiction film ever made. Its influence can be felt in many modern genre classics: “ Blade Runner ,” “ The Fifth Element ,” “ The Matrix ” — basically anything set in a megacity of the future owes a little something to Lang’s masterpiece. While its plot and characters may have been lost to the public memory, the film’s lineage is so significant that it’s worth talking about, even 98 years later.

“Metropolis” presents a vision of a city of the future, purposely built and split into two levels: above ground, grand and opulent, full of the well-off, and below ground, or “The Worker’s City,” where a lower class toils on machines to create the city’s wealth. Metropolis is mechanized, full of towering enginery

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