Maschinenmensch
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The Maschinenmensch from Metropolis, played by German actress Brigitte Helm in both her robotic and human incarnations, is one of cinema's most famous icons. The haunting blank face and pronounced female curves have been the subject of disgust and fascination alike.
The Maschinenmensch has many names given her through the years : Parody, Ultima, Futura, Robotrix, (false) Maria and Hel.
The novel version
The Maschinenmensch's back story is detailed in Thea von Harbou's original 1927 novel. It is described as a very delicate, but faceless, transparent figure made of crystal flesh with silver bones and its eyes filled with an expression of calm madness. Rotwang addresses it as "Parody". When Fredersen asks what it is, he calls her "Futura ... Parody whatever you like to call it. Also: Delusion ... In short a woman." Rotwang then explains that Futura is perfectly obedient and that she is the ideal agent-provocateur, able to become any woman and tempt men to their doom. Later, when Rotwang has given it Maria's appearance he instructs her to disobey Fredersen on purpose and foil his plans and ultimately destroy him. Though mention is made of Rotwang's former lover, Hel, they are never directly associated with each other.The film version
The film version is different due to obvious constraints of the practical special effects available at the time. It is a metallic automaton shaped like a woman. In the film version Rotwang proudly proclaims that Hel, Rotwang's former lover is not dead, but alive in the form of the automaton. Hel chose Fredersen over Rotwang, something for which Rotwang never forgave Fredersen.Walter Schultze Mittendorf, the robot's designer, described how it was made.Eisner, Lotte, Fritz Lang, New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1977 ISBN 0306802716 He originally considered making the robot from beaten copper, but it would be too heavy to wear and difficult to achieve. He then discovered a sample of "plastic-wood", a new material which was very easy to sculpt into the required shape. Using a plaster body cast of actress Brigitte Helm, Mittendorf cut large chunks of plastic-wood, rolled flat with a pin and draped them over the cast, like pieces of a suit of armour. The resulting costume was then spraypainted with cellon varnish spray mixed with silvery bronze powder which gave it a very convincing appearance of polished metal.
Unfortunately the cast was made standing up, making movements such as sitting down somewhat difficult and uncomfortable. According to actor Rudolf Klein-Rogge, it was very tight and confining, pinching and scratching the actress despite many attempts by the stage hands to file away all sharp edges. People took pity on Brigitte Helm and slipped coins into slots in the armour, which she collected to buy chocolate in the canteen. The scene where Rotwang presents his creation to Fredersen took nine days to film in January 1926. Director Fritz Lang shot the scene so many times that an exhausted Brigitte Helm asked him why she should play a role nobody would possibly know it was her. Lang answered, "I'd know." Helm's son believes that Lang was trying to teach the 17-year old girl some discipline and mould her in his image, almost in analogy to the characters she played.
The memorable transformation scene was another early miracle of special effects, using a series of matte cutouts of the robot's silhouette and a number of circular neon lights. All effects were flimed directly into the camera rather than edited separately. As a result the film had to be rewound and exposed many tens of times over to include the plates showing the heart and circulatory systems as well as cuts between the robot form and Maria showing her gradual transformation.
When playing Maria's evil twin, Brigitte Helm wore heavy makeup and her expressions, gestures, and poses were strongly exaggerated compared to Maria's normally very composed and demure demeanor.
The Maschinenmensch is a perfect example of the Frankenstein complex, where artificial creations always turn against their creator and go on a rampage. Artificial beings with a malevolent nature were a popular theme at the time, as seen in films such as Der Golem or Marcel Lherbier's L'inhumaine. In a missing part of the film, Rotwang explicitly instructs the robot to pervert Fredersen's orders and help bring down his worst enemy, which helps explain her destructive behaviour.
Replicas
Though some props and costumes from Metropolis did survive, the iconic Maschinenmensch apparently was destroyed during filming, although its actual fate is unknown.Replicas of the robot are found in many museums, notably in the Berlin Filmmuseum, The Cinématheque Francaise in Paris, and the Museum of the Moving Image in London. Oddly enough, almost all versions are silver rather than the original bronze colour.
- One made by Walter-Schulze Mittendorf for Henri Langlois in the 1970's is on permanent display in the Cinémateque in Paris-Bercy
- Forrest J. Ackerman had a replica made by sculptor Bill Malone.
- A replica can be seen at the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, Washington
- The 1996 Deutscher Filmpreis ceremony had the Maschinenmensch (played by actress Elke Berges) distribute the awards
- A replica of the robot can be seen in the film The Bodyguard
- A rather curvaceous version was made for an exhibition in Japan about Osamu Tezuka's Astroboy
- A 1/5th scale display figure was made by Masudaya in 1984 and is highly sought after by collectors
- A costume was made for the London musical at the Piccadilly Theatre by Martin Adams
- A statue points the way to the parking lot at the Babelsberg Filmpark
References
- Metropolis filmprogram, 1927
- Metropolis, Thea von Harbou, New York, Ace Books
- Piccadilly Theatre Program "Metropolis" 1989
- [Interview with Bill Malone]
- [Exhibition in Japan]
- Sky TV "Top ten robots" interview with Matthias Kuhnheim
- "Metropolis", DVD-Studienfassung, Universität der Künste Berlin, 2005
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