What do a silent movie and a full-length ballet have in common? Both are packed with drama, main characters like: a hero, a heroine, a villain, a great supporting cast, and uplifting symphonic music. All of these components make it worth reading, plus a somewhat good story that’s not too complicated.
German director Fritz Lang’s silent film would be classified as a ballet if it only incorporated dancers playing the roles rather than actors. Each scene quickly moved on to the next. The beginning of the film’s doors opened when a shift of workers came walking in unison towards an elevator. On the other side of them, the workers left after their shift ended in similar unison. Their heads lowered and their shoulders hunched forward like a chorus of dancers. Steam whistles sounded as the machines moved up and down, liking the action of a moving modern work of art.
The city far above the level of the underground workers was inhabited by the elite and those who served them. Technology made life easier for them and they enjoyed the pleasures of their youth and beauty. While they were far below, the workers worked and lived in inhumane conditions.
But love and compassion prevailed between Freder, the son of Joh Fredersen, and Maria, an angelic woman. He brought in some working children to see how the upper class lived as they saw Freder being chased by some women. Maria left him in the embrace of one of them. Freder followed her into the caverns below. Where, to his horror, he discovered how the workers operated their machines. The heart machine was the most important. It kept intact the electricity and water that reached the buildings above.
He approached one of the Georgy workers number 11811 and changed places with him. He discovered a plan in the man’s pants pocket. Georgy posing as Freder went to the waiting chauffeured car. Meanwhile, Freder’s father learned of the plot and plotted with Rotwang’s help a mad scientist to take revenge. However, Rotwang’s jealousy of Joh’s long-dead marriage to Hel created a robotic creature in his image. He needed a female body to bring him to life. Which would later resemble Mary, in the form of a Babylonian dancer used to entertain Joh’s friends.
The film was written by Fritz Lang and his wife Thea Von Harbou. The film showed a lot of action from the worker riots, the flood when the heart machine exploded, the rescues, the fighting, the fires, as well as references to Babylon, The Apocalypse, the conditions of the workers, the seven sins and the good and evil. The entire human spectrum unfolded to a surprise ending. It was then and still is one of the best science fiction movies of all time.