Maschinenmensch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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.

Contents

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 Mittendorff, the robot's designer, described how it was made.[1] 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, Mittendorff 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. The description in the original film script makes an analogy to an Egytpian statue.

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 filmed 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.

For years people have speculated how the light circle animation was made. A British popular science magazine suggested at the time that actual fluorescent lights were used, moved up and down manually by stage hands. In later years Fritz Lang said in interviews that a brightly lit steel ball used as a pendulum was filmed or photographed with a long exposure time in front of a black screen and was then composited onto the image, though this is not consistent with multiple exposure method used.

A single behind the scenes photograph reveals that a number of very brightly lit paper rings were shot over a matte covering the robot's image.

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 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. Different cuts of the film made since the original sometimes offer different explanations of the robot's behaviour (one, for example, saying that Rotwang has in fact lost control of the robot and it is not under anyone's control), or no explanation at all.

[edit] 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.

An official replica, approved by Walter-Schulze Mittendorff's heirs has been made available by the German toy robot manufacturer www.Strenco.de

[edit] References

  1. ^ Eisner, Lotte, Fritz Lang, New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1977 ISBN 0-306-80271-6
  • 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