Maschinenmensch
Encyclopedia
The Maschinenmensch from Metropolis
, is a gynoid
played by German actress Brigitte Helm
in both her robotic and human incarnations (named Maria
in the film). 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, Machina, Futura, Robotrix, (false) Maria and Hel. The intertitles of the 2010 restoration of Metropolis refer to her as the "Machine-Man".
'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.
Walter Schulze-Mittendorff, the robot's designer, described how it was made. 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 Egyptian statue.
The 2010 restoration of Metropolis revealed a previously unseen scene where Rotwang is confiding with the robot telling her about his plans. The shot is unusual because it reveals part of the back of the robot, mostly the back of her head and shoulders.
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 costume allowed little freedom of movement. To help Brigitte Helm get up from the throne made of sheet metal, a wooden rig was constructed, so that a stage hand could give her a push. Behind the scenes stills show the rig and the hinged plate on the seat, visible on stills.
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. The magazine Science and Invention suggested at the time that fluorescent lights were used as a purely practical effect, moved up and down manually on invisible wires 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.
According to Erich Kettelhut, a glass plate was positioned halfway between the robot and the camera. The silhouette of the robot and throne were carefully drawn onto a piece of plywood to be used as a matte
Using a pair of circular neon lights of a diameter corresponding with the matte's silhouette. By covering the glass plate with grease and filming the moving lights through it the illusion of a light circle moving up and down was created.
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 an archetypal 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.
In the end, after the robot has incited the workers to riot and destroy the city's machines, they think it has caused their children to die by flooding the workers city. They capture it and burn it at the stake, destroying it, though it reverts back to the machine form just before its destruction.
for C-3PO
in Star Wars
were largely based on the Maschinenmensch, albeit in a male version. The design was later refined, but retains clear Art Deco
influences. Fashion designer Thierry Mugler
created several outfits in silver metal and transparent plastic for one of his collections in the 1990s. Pop singers Beyoncé
, Madonna
, Kylie Minogue
and Lady Gaga
have used outfits inspired by the Maschinenmensch and Janelle Monae
was directly influenced by the concept of the Maschinenmensch in the creation of her Metropolis suite album.
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 golden
-bronze
colour.
Metropolis (film)
Metropolis is a 1927 German expressionist film in the science-fiction genre directed by Fritz Lang. Produced in Germany during a stable period of the Weimar Republic, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and makes use of this context to explore the social crisis between workers and...
, is a gynoid
Gynoid
A gynoid is anything which resembles or pertains to the female human form. It is also used in American English medical terminology as a shortening of the term Gynecoid ....
played by German actress Brigitte Helm
Brigitte Helm
Brigitte Helm was a German actress, best remembered for her dual role as Maria and her double, the Maschinenmensch, in Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film Metropolis.-Career:...
in both her robotic and human incarnations (named Maria
Robot Hall of Fame
The Robot Hall of Fame was established in 2003 by the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. It is designed to honor both achievements in robotics technology and robots from science fiction that have served as creative inspiration in robotics...
in the film). 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, Machina, Futura, Robotrix, (false) Maria and Hel. The intertitles of the 2010 restoration of Metropolis refer to her as the "Machine-Man".
The novel version
The Maschinenmenschs back story is detailed in Thea von HarbouThea von Harbou
Thea Gabriele von Harbou was a German actress, author and film director of Prussian aristocratic origin. She was born in Tauperlitz in the Kingdom of Bavaria.-Early work:...
'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
Rotwang
C. A. Rotwang is a fictional character in Fritz Lang's 1927 science fiction film Metropolis. Rotwang was played by Rudolf Klein-Rogge.- Character overview :...
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
Hel
Hel may refer to:* Hel , a location in Norse mythology* Hel , ruler of Hel, the location* Hel , a Swedish Viking rock band* Hel, Poland, a town on the Polish Baltic coast* Hel Peninsula, the peninsula on which the town is situated...
, 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 Schulze-Mittendorff, the robot's designer, described how it was made. 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 Egyptian statue.
The 2010 restoration of Metropolis revealed a previously unseen scene where Rotwang is confiding with the robot telling her about his plans. The shot is unusual because it reveals part of the back of the robot, mostly the back of her head and shoulders.
Unfortunately the cast was made standing up, making movements such as sitting down somewhat difficult and uncomfortable. According to actor Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Friedrich Rudolf Klein-Rogge was a German film actor. Klein-Rogge is known for playing sinister figures in films in the 1920s and 1930s as well as being a main-stay in director Fritz Lang's Weimar-era films.- Biography :...
, 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
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
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 costume allowed little freedom of movement. To help Brigitte Helm get up from the throne made of sheet metal, a wooden rig was constructed, so that a stage hand could give her a push. Behind the scenes stills show the rig and the hinged plate on the seat, visible on stills.
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. The magazine Science and Invention suggested at the time that fluorescent lights were used as a purely practical effect, moved up and down manually on invisible wires by stage hands. In later years Fritz Lang said in interviews that a brightly lit steel ball used as a pendulum
Pendulum
A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced from its resting equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position...
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.
According to Erich Kettelhut, a glass plate was positioned halfway between the robot and the camera. The silhouette of the robot and throne were carefully drawn onto a piece of plywood to be used as a matte
Matte
Matte may refer to:In film:* Matte , filmmaking and video production technology* Matte painting, a process of creating sets used in film and video* Matte box, a camera accessory for controlling lens glare...
Using a pair of circular neon lights of a diameter corresponding with the matte's silhouette. By covering the glass plate with grease and filming the moving lights through it the illusion of a light circle moving up and down was created.
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 an archetypal example of the Frankenstein complex
Frankenstein complex
In Isaac Asimov's robot novels, the Frankenstein complex is a term that he coined for the fear of mechanical men.-History:Some of Asimov's S.F...
, 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
The Golem: How He Came Into the World
The Golem: How He Came Into the World is a 1920 silent horror film by Paul Wegener. It was directed by Carl Boese and Wegener, written by Wegener and Henrik Galeen, and starred Wegener as the golem. The script was adapted from the 1915 novel The Golem by Gustav Meyrink...
or Marcel Lherbier's L'inhumaine
L'Inhumaine
L'Inhumaine is a 1924 French drama-science fiction film directed by Marcel L'Herbier. It was notable for its experimental techniques and for the collaboration of many leading practitioners in the decorative arts, architecture and music...
. 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.
In the end, after the robot has incited the workers to riot and destroy the city's machines, they think it has caused their children to die by flooding the workers city. They capture it and burn it at the stake, destroying it, though it reverts back to the machine form just before its destruction.
Popular culture
The Maschinenmensch 's appearance and concept has influenced many artists over the years. It was depicted on the 1977 album Live! In The Air Age by Be-Bop Deluxe. The still displayed on the album is of the climactic scene where the soul of Maria is being installed into the robot and rings of light are circling around the robot's body. Original designs by Ralph McQuarrieRalph McQuarrie
Ralph McQuarrie is a conceptual designer and illustrator who designed Star Wars , the original Battlestar Galactica , E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Cocoon, for which he won an Academy Award....
for C-3PO
C-3PO
C-3PO is a robot character from the Star Wars universe who appears in both the original Star Wars films and the prequel trilogy. He is also a major character in the television show Droids, and appears frequently in the series' "Expanded Universe" of novels, comic books, and video games...
in Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
were largely based on the Maschinenmensch, albeit in a male version. The design was later refined, but retains clear Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
influences. Fashion designer Thierry Mugler
Thierry Mugler
Thierry Mugler is a French fashion designer and creator of several perfumes.-Childhood:Mugler was born in Strasbourg, France on 21 December 1948. His passion led him to focus more on drawing than on school and at the age of 9, he began to study classical dance...
created several outfits in silver metal and transparent plastic for one of his collections in the 1990s. Pop singers Beyoncé
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
, Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...
and Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
have used outfits inspired by the Maschinenmensch and Janelle Monae
Janelle Monáe
Janelle Monáe is an American R&B/soul musician signed to Bad Boy Records and Atlantic Records.Monáe debuted with a conceptual EP, Metropolis: Suite I ...
was directly influenced by the concept of the Maschinenmensch in the creation of her Metropolis suite album.
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
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
Filmmuseum, The Cinématheque Francaise
Cinémathèque Française
The Cinémathèque Française holds one of the largest archives of films, movie documents and film-related objects in the world. Located in Paris, the Cinémathèque holds daily screenings of films from around the world.-History:...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and the Museum of the Moving Image in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Oddly enough, almost all versions are silver
Silver (color)
Silver is the metallic shade resembling gray, closest to that of polished silver.The visual sensation usually associated with the metal silver is its metallic shine. This cannot be reproduced by a simple solid color, because the shiny effect is due to the material's brightness varying with the...
rather than the original golden
Gold (color)
Gold, also called golden, is one of a variety of orange-yellow color blends used to give the impression of the color of the element gold....
-bronze
Bronze (color)
At right is displayed the color bronze.Bronze is a medium brown color which resembles the actual alloy bronze.The first recorded use of bronze as a color name in English was in 1753...
colour.
- One made by Walter-Schulze Mittendorff for Henri LangloisHenri LangloisHenri Langlois was a French film archivist and cinephile. A pioneer of film preservation, Langlois was an influential figure in the history of cinema...
in the 1970s is on permanent display in the Cinémateque in Paris-Bercy. The Bibliothèque du Film attached to the Cinématheque set up a very detailed website about its replica. - Forrest J AckermanForrest J AckermanForrest J Ackerman was an American collector of science fiction books and movie memorabilia and a science fiction fan...
had a replica made by sculptor Bill Malone. - A replica can be seen at the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, WashingtonSeattle, WashingtonSeattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
- The 1996 Deutscher FilmpreisDeutscher FilmpreisThe Deutscher Filmpreis is the highest German movie award. From 1951 to 2004 it was awarded by a commission, since 2005 the award has been given by the Deutsche Filmakademie...
ceremony had the Maschinenmensch (played by actress Elke Berges) distribute the awards - An official replica of the costume by Kropserkel Inc. and WSM Art Management (the family of Walter Schulze-Mittendorff) is being constructed at a dedicated web page.