Berlin: Symphony Of A Great City

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (German: Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt), alternatively translated as Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis], a 1927 German silent film directed by Walter Ruttmann, co-written by Carl Mayer and Karl Freund, portrays the life of a city.

Berlin-1927 is an avant-garde film, and does not have a plot. However, the events of the film are arranged to simulate the passage of a single day. Shots are cut together based on relationships of image, motion, point of view, and thematic content. At times, a sort of non-narrative commentary can be implied, as in edits that juxtapose workers entering a factory with cattle being beaten and driven into a corral.

I: The first act starts the day, beginning with calm waters and a representation of a sunrise. The film transitions through calm and empty streets, to the gradual process of the city waking up. At first a bit of paper is blowing through an empty street, but soon a few people arise, then more are about, and the activity builds to crowds of workers going to work, pedestrians, trains etc. A hand manipulates a lever, effectively turning on the city, and factory machinery springs to life. Glass bulbs are produced, sheets of metal are cut, molten steel is poured, smokestacks are seen against the sky.

II: The second act shows more of the general life of the city, beginning with the opening of gates, shutters, windows, doors, people busy cleaning, fruit carts, children going to school. Mailmen start their day, shops open. Different classes of people are seen, some mounting buses and streetcars, while wealthy men enter chauffeured private cars. The city is bustling with activity. Office workers prepare to start their day, as roll top desks open, people set out their pens, paper, open books, remove the cases from typewriters, and a bank of typists quickly erupt into activity. A montage of a spinning hypnotists wheel, monkeys biting one another, telephone operators, machinery, and dogs fighting is mixed into the work of the office, building quickly to a crescendo... phone receivers hang up.

III: The third act shows more busy street life, and a variety of people of different classes going about their business. There are industrial workers, construction workers, salespeople, shoppers, etc. There are many crowds, a father and bride arriving at a wedding, some flirtation between people on the street, a coffin on a hearse, a diplomat arrives at a ministry, the Reich President is saluted by police, a conservative students organization is marching with banners, an angry protestor lectures a crowd. Trains and several newspapers held up for display, dissolving over one another.

IV: The fourth act starts with a lunch break. The wheels of a factory slow to a stop. Some transitions intercut a wealthy diner with a lion feeding on meat, and hungry street kids embracing their mother clothed in rags. A paper press churns out newspapers, and a man reads a paper which is held up for our view... words leap up from the page, first "Krise" (crisis), then "Mord" (murder), Börse (markets), "Heirat" (marriage), and then six times "Geld... Geld...Geld" (money, money, money). A storm arises, with the montage of revolving doors, wind, roller coasters and trains, rain, cyclones of leaves, etc. The chaos subsides, and the day winds down, as workers finish their day, and recreation begins, and then finally concludes with a few couples on park benches and the fall of night.

V: The final act is devoted to entertainment at night. Audiences gather in a theater, and a brief glimpse is seen of Chaplins feet and cane at the bottom of a movie screen. The leitmotiv of streetcars continues, and rail workers continue to work through the night. People drink, flirt, and dance in beer halls and cocktail lounges, while card games and roulette are played. The city starts to spin wildly, transitions into a firework display, and thus ends the film.