Two “Metropolis” From Past to the Future Examining the Similarity between the Ancient City of Metropolis and the future city in “Metropolis”

Abstract

Fritz Lang's 1926 film "Metropolis", one of the most important examples of Science Fiction Cinema, shares some common elements with the city of Metropolis in Anatolia, from which it takes its name. Director Fritz Lang took the audience on a journey to a future city with elements borrowed from antiquity, as if emulating the phrase “There is a Future in the Past”. First of all, “Metropolis” projected the planned city- which was the lifestyle of antiquity- into the future. In film, structures similar to Ancient Greek Temples,with horizontal or vertical elements were designed, instead of hi-tech future cities in the form of transparent capsules. Designs of steam-powered factories, constructivist structures in the city, the Catacomb, the Moloch Machine, the Cathedral and the neighborhoods reflect the grid-planned rationalist urbanization policy of antiquity. In addition, the looks of the female robot in the leading role of the movie is similar to the depictions of Hygeia and Ares from the ancient city of Metropolis. As a matter of fact, robots in the following period of cinema history have had humanoid features besides having artificial intelligence, at least in terms of carrying organic parts. In our work, we examine the connection between the city of Metropolis in the Torbalı district of Izmir and the city of Metropolis in the film, both visually and content.