#c. a. rotwang

[doubtspirit]

The inventor C.A. Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) and his robotic invention (Brigitte Helm) in Fritz Lang's silent film classic Metropolis (1927).

[optimisticrunawaygalaxy]

[incorrectclandestinelaboratories]

Rotwang: "I know I might suck sometimes, but at least I'm not the embodiment of capitalism, so I have that going for me."

[godteri-takk]

now THESE are the good metropolis doodles!! god i love them so much .. the sillies ..

[metropolisyuri]

What listening to a movie soundtrack every day does to a mf (alt versions + refs under the cut)

Finally living up to my url here

[the-herdier]

What a theater kid

[minayuri]

Dr. Mabuse and C. A. Rotwang

Rudolf Klein-Rogge in DR. MABUSE, THE GAMBLER (1922) & METROPOLIS (1927)

[shattered-tree-mural]

Name: C. A. Rotwang Nickname(s): Rotwang

Pronouns: Er/Ihm, ß/ßs/ßself Gender: Male Attraction: AroAce

Source: Metropolis Species: Human

CisIDs: CisGerman, CisAmputee TransIDs:

Notes: Ich werde Ausschließlich Deutsch reden, ich kann zwar Englisch, werde aber den Teufel tun um Englisch zu sprechen - .. Die anderen (und ich selbst, scheinbar) werden übersetzungen geben - .. Ich habe durchaus einige TransIDs aber die werde ich nicht kundgeben, vielleicht eines tages wenn die anderen mich überzeugt haben

Translation: I will speak German exclusively, i can speak English but i wont write in it - .. The others (and myself, it seems) are going to provide translations - ..

I do have some transIDs but i wont reveal them right now, maybe one day when the others convinced me

[kaitropoli]

Metropolis (1927)

Metropolis, one of my most favorite films, is a sci-fi drama created by Thea von Harbou (originally in 1925 through her homonymous novel) and directed by her then-husband, Fritz Lang.

This Weimar-era silent film tells the story of a futuristic dystopia, ruled by industrialists who feed off working class labor of those who live underneath the city. Explored is a forbidden relationship between Freder, son of city head, Joh, and Maria, a working class member who holds underground sermons to promote unity between the ruling and working class.

WARNING: PAST THIS BORDER ARE SOME SPOILERS.

THERE IS ANOTHER SECTION PAST THIS LONG PART WITHOUT SPOILERS IF YOU'D LIKE TO READ THAT INSTEAD <3

Rotwang, a scientist associated with Joh, creates a robot with the likeness of Maria. Maria is soon chased and kidnapped by the scientist, who puts her in a cylinder and gives her life to the robot.

Portrayed as the Whore of Babylon, Maria the robot performs a lustful dance for a crowd of men, including Rotwang and Joh, hypnotizing them (represented through lecherous imagery, death parading around, and title cards such as "'Death descends upon the city---!'"

As human Maria used to promote peace to the workers, robot Maria is used to antagonize her original message. Rotwang tells human Maria of Joh's plan to use robot her as his mouthpiece, to promote rebellion between the workers so then he can quell them when trouble arises. Maria is in disbelief, but Rotwang assures her that much worse is to come, revealing that he's tricked Joh since orders to robot Maria only obeys Rotwang.

Robot Maria entices the working class to revolt, and violence soon follows, resulting in destruction and stabbings. Soon, a flood breaks out in the city, which causes commotion leading to blaming Maria, calling her a "witch". However, robot Maria celebrates, while human Maria gathers children to save from the wreckage.

In a misunderstanding, workers believe human Maria was trying to drown the children, and they start chasing her. Surviving almost being grabbed, one of the workers finds robot Maria and take her to be burned at the stake.

More Information on Metropolis

Where to watch: Pluto TV, Tubi, Redbox

Fun (Personal) Information Involving Metropolis

I've seen robot Maria in real life, and you can too! Robot Maria is displayed at Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is part of their Robot Hall of Fame, featured alongside The Iron Giant, Tom Servo and Crow, and C-3PO (just to name a few). I've seen her just two months ago, despite a bunch of articles clickbaiting that they took away the robots permanently in their headline (don't believe them lol).

"Metropolis" is a word that exists (wow, no way, Kaiti! I didn't know that AT ALL), and if you have eyes, you probably can tell that my username is "Kaitropoli." You've guessed it, I was inspired by the movie to put combine my name with it--almost like a ship-name lol. Originally, it was "Kaitropolis," but problems rose, so I decided to go with the Italian spelling (aka: forget the "s"), so now we're here. Whenever you think of me, always be reminded of this sci-fi film classic!!

Video information

Edit: Made by me (@kaitropoli)

Song: Mermaid Motel by Lana Del Rey

Footage: Metropolis (1927)

Maria's Transformation

Maria's Dance

[gabrielisdead]

Did you know? We associate mad scientists with black latex gloves, messy white hair and with eccentric body language because of this guy...

this is C. A. Rotwang the mad inventor from the iconic silent film Metropolis (1927) directed by Fritz Lang, who created a fembot, but lost his right hand in the process.

His impact on cinematography was HUGE, so much so that his laboratory directly inspired the outlook of Dr. Frankenstein's lab, (Frankenstein 1931) and contributed to make german expressionism synonym with horror films.

Plus point that he lives in a strange house with no windows or doorknobs, probably because it's confirmed to be built by a mysterious wizard, the former owner of the house~

[humanforthis]

NAME: The Machine ; Hel ; Maria SPECIES: Android ORIENTATION: unknown GENDER: female INCEPT DATE:  unknown

APPEARANCE

She is bolts and wires set against the finest sheet metal. Her eyes are crystals. She is eternal.  This is the skin beneath, the endoskeleton that humanity finds horrid. She can be any face, any color, her eyes the only window into the automaton soul.

face claim: Alicia Vikander ; Brigitte helm

RELATIONSHIPS

FAMILY:  C. A. Rotwang ( creator ; deceased)

SIGNIFICANT OTHER: verse dependent

CHILDREN: -

PERSONALITY

She is ever learning, ever calculating. The line between implanted memories and real ones are indiscernible. She simply exists. a machine, an automaton, nothing more.

NEED TO KNOWS

TBA

[monsterfromid]

I dunno, Rotwang doesn't strike me as being a party type of guy. Incidentally, Rotwang's initials are 'C. A' but we never find out what they stand for. What are your suggestions?

[adamwatchesmovies]

Metropolis (1927)

Once you've seen Metropolis, you'll know. You'll know why, as it's approaching its 100-year anniversary, it's still being talked about. It’s a masterpiece, a film that, at numerous points, will make you wonder “how did they do that?”

Metropolis was released in 1927, long before color and before they were able to synchronize sound to pictures. It was edited down from 153 minutes to a more digestible length for the audiences of the time and many of the removed scenes were discarded or destroyed and are still missing to this day. Now, we're very close to having the entire thing together again.

In the future, the poor work themselves to death to power the skyscrapers above where the rich live. The Master of Metropolis is Joh Fredersen (Alfred Abel), whose son Freder (Gustav Frohlich) spends his days carefree. When Freder falls in love with Maria (Brigitte Helm), he learns of the workers' appalling condition. Meanwhile, Joh is preoccupied with signs of a growing underground rebellion. To infiltrate the resistance and disassemble it from within, Joh enlists the help of his old rival, the mad scientist Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) to create a robotic duplicate of the resistance's leader: none other than Maria. While everyone overlooks their own agendas, Freder desperately tries to mediate the situation, becoming the heart who can help the hands (the workers) and the brain (Joh) work together.

The visuals featured are spectacular. There are the dazzling skyscrapers of Metropolis, with its busy streets and skies filled with planes, but the real eye-popper is the machinery underground. The film displays enormous sets full of pistons, whirring gears, blasts of steam and workers desperately trying to maintain it all. There are literally hundreds of actors on set. 

Metropolis also contains several Biblical themes, which bring in either fantasy/nightmare sequences. Each brings in those "how did they do that?" questions and are so grandiose, so magnificent they'll be permanently imprinted into your mind. The Tower of Babel, the Whore of Babylon (in a scene that would have been borderline pornographic at the time and is still risqué today) and an elaborate reference to the seven deadly sins and the angel of death/grim reaper, Freder's vision of the demonic pagan god Moloch (frequently associated with human sacrifice, particularly that of children by fire) are powerful sights. It's full of elaborate, ground-breaking visuals and ties them back to the idea that “The Heart must be the mediator between the Hands and the Brain” in ways that are mind-blowing, even if it were done today. It’s enjoyable simply as a story about a man who is torn between two worlds but becomes even richer when the symbolism is dissected.

It all sounds pretty artsy, the kind of thing that will go right over your regular movie watcher’s head, but that’s where the foreground story comes in. We’ve got a romance between Freder and Maria, two rivals (Joh and Rotwang) teaming up together while one secretly plots to betray the other, a mechanical duplicate (spectacularly introduced) that threatens to reduce the whole city to ash and all the while the whole city is on the brink of tearing itself apart. There’s murder, seduction, science fiction, pretty much everything you want to see in an epic film and throughout, you'll see sights that inspired everything from C-3P0 to the landscape of Blade Runner.

As big corporations keep merging and the rich get richer, it's easy to imagine a world ruled by a single man while the rest of us are forced to grovel in the dirt but this movie paints neither the rich nor the poor as villains or heroes, just as people so distant from each other that they cannot even fathom placing themselves in each other’s shoes. Ultimately it’s a movie about peacekeeping and averting disaster. Regardless of which decade (or even millennium) it’s told in, it’s a story we relate to.

I could further stress the historical significance of Metropolis, how great and elaborate its special effects and visuals are or how captivating the story is with its symbolism, twists and turns. Let me try a different approach instead. How many big blockbusters, with all their special effects and modern qualities wind up forgotten a couple months down the road? How many actually mean something? Metropolis has impact and lasting power. You’ve never seen anything like it. Why not go for something totally different? A film where there is no talking, where actors emote vividly (more like stage actors than film actors), where there was no focus groups or number crunchers? It’s more than a movie, it’s a story about a long-lost treasure that’s been slowly reconstituted, a testament to the importance of the preservation of film and a piece of science fiction so early in the evolutionary chain that people take cues from it without even knowing it anymore. You might think you’re taking a chance with Metropolis, but the truth is that you aren’t, you’re going for a sure-thing. If the story with its drama, sequences of disaster and thrills don’t get ya, it’s sure that the visuals will. (2010 restored version on the big screen, April 12, 2014)

[incorrectclandestinelaboratories]

Rotwang: "Sure have been spending more than my fair share of time in the walls. Hell yeah... Bet everyone's jealous of me."

[godteri-takk]

More Class of 26 fanart! Fic by @zannenilsson :D From the Dreamland arc, except for the chibi one where Freder is listening to the Beatles that's just a doodle lol. Can y'all tell i love hand holding UwU

[cutie-pie-naegi]

“Now I’m going to take you home, my Hel - !”

- C. A. Rotwang

A production still from the original release print (now lost) of Fritz Lang’s epic, Metropolis (1927). The corresponding scene taken from the badly battered Argentinian release print was struck from a different negative which was composed of alternate takes.

Making secondary negatives using alternate takes was a practice done in the silent era, done so that studios could have a special negative for making prints for foreign markets. This saved wear and tear on the original negative as each pass over the original elements would gradually damage and degrade them. The so-called export negatives often used takes that either weren’t as good or used takes from alternate camera angles.