On Saturday, Feb. 8, “Metropolis Reimagined” was staged as part of MODfest 2025. Held in Skinner Hall of Music, the event involved two performers—Po-Wei Ger on piano and Drake Andersen on modular synth—playing alongside a screening of the 1984 restoration of Fritz Lang’s 1927 film “Metropolis.” An ample number of students, faculty and community members attended, buzzing with intrigue before the show commenced.
As discussed by Assistant Professor of Film Fabio Andrade’s introductory lecture, “Metropolis” has a winding adaptational history. The 153-minute-long original was cut in length for an American release. Giorgio Moroder, the “Father of Disco,” composed a rock-based soundtrack for his 1984 edit, featuring timely appearances by Freddy Mercury and Jon Anderson; other notable changes included his transformation of intertitles into subtitles.
Set in 2026, “Metropolis” examines a strict divide between rich industrialists and the working-class poor, which splits the titular city into a rigid hierarchy. Freder, son of leader Joh Fredersen, grows interested in a woman named Maria, who briefly visits the wealthy’s “Pleasure Garden.” In pursuit of her, Freder journeys into the city’s underworld, where exhausted workers toil in abject conditions. Enlightened by this experience and disgusted with his father’s dismissiveness, the ensuing film follows Freder’s participation in the worker’s rebellion. Visually, “Metropolis” ambitiously combines the Weimar-era aesthetic inclinations of silent film, Art Deco architecture, now-retro futurism, Biblical symbolism, “Frankenstein” type horror and dystopian imagery, culminating in intricate set designs and grandiose staging which contrast with the choice of scoring for two instruments.
“Metropolis Reimagined,” the newest reinterpretation of the original score, is the brainchild of ICEBERG New Music, a collective of 10 composers based in New York City—Drake Andersen, Víctor Báez, Stephanie Ann Boyd, Alex Burtzos, Yu-Chun Chien, Derek Cooper, Jack Frerer, Max Grafe, Harry Stafylakis and Samantha Wolf. The group’s strength lies in each member’s thoroughly unique sound. They hail from across the world and boast an incredibly diverse profile of musical backgrounds and creative philosophies. In an interview with The Miscellany News, ICEBERG composer Stephanie Ann Boyd spoke to the significance of this musical mélange. “I call us sort of like the Spice Girls,” said Boyd. “[Everyone] has vastly different musical styles in their writing. It’s a very well-rounded feast of music.”
In composing “Metropolis Reimagined,” the collective divided the film into 10-minute segments, each member working individually on their respective section. While this method could presumably produce a disjointed, clunky sound, the live effect is quite the opposite. Each composer’s individual piece blends seamlessly into the others, an eerie atmosphere conjured by dual acoustic and electronic instrumentation. Yet, subtle tonal shifts can be distinguished as each composer introduces distinctive acoustic elements throughout. Boyd attributes this cohesive effect to Andersen’s underlying electronic sound: “He is able to seamlessly add this layer over top that really just blends everything together.” As Ger’s notes punctuate, Andersen’s synth buzzes and echoes with static, cavernous electricity.
The collective was tasked with navigating the choppy, mechanical movements of a lower frame rate, characteristic to the hand-cranked cameras utilized in the silent era. With much of “Metropolis” adhering to a hurried, energetic pace, the music needed to move swiftly along with the plot. “The timing is important,” said Boyd. “There’s a little bit less individual tempo freedom. Figuring out how deeply specific to go was the first part of the process.” Thus, the collective toed a tenuous line in creating their piece. Each artist had to generate sound that worked in tandem with the characters’ swift movements and abrupt mood shifts within the film without creating a rhythm too complex for Ger to follow on piano.
After Andrade’s talk concluded, Ger and Andersen entered, occupying the far left and right of the stage respectively. The center was left open for the film’s projection, with the Hall’s pipe organ looming ominously in the background. Andersen was lightly illuminated by the red glow of his electronic setup; Ger’s face was visible from white light shone on his score.
Throughout the film, the two worked in tandem to play nearly continuously. Although the piano often took melodic lead, Andersen’s contributions underscored these moments through subtle ambiance and mechanical noises, mirroring on-screen action. The soundtrack moved through a seamless cycle of stylistic flourishes, whether it being dissonant flutters, plodding terseness or celebratory pomp. The musicians’ intense composure enabled a symbiotic relationship with the screening; when mesmerized by the projection, their presence blended into this visual display.
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
During “Metropolis,” Maria’s preaching promises workers’ the appearance of the mediator, a Messianic figure who will bridge the gap between stratified classes: “The mediator between head and hands must be the heart,” referring to rich planners and poor laborers respectively. At the film’s closure, Freder unsurprisingly falls into the redemptive role; love is triumphant, enabling the foretold salvation. Afterwards, the performer’s physical presence increasingly re-entered the perceptive gaze, aware of the active craft which made this event’s experience possible.
Although the future of economic production depicted in “Metropolis” is often archaically imagined, the film’s central tensions appear unresolved nearly a century after its original inception. “‘Metropolis’ is like this underlying part of the zeitgeist of our culture,” said Boyd, describing the impetus behind the project. Rather than merely re-doing what has been previously attempted, “Metropolis Reimagined” instead operates under new, inherited assumptions reflecting its era of creation, fashioned by the heads and hands Maria describes. In a written correspondence with The Miscellany News, Andrade described its conduciveness to reinterpretation. “The film’s constantly shifting status seems to be the most consistent aspect of its existence, and it is also proof of the film’s timelessness,” he stated, noting the often paradoxical criticism and praise from viewers’ interpretations throughout history. From its dominating cityscapes to the stark dichotomy between power and oppression, “Metropolis” provides a foundation upon which contemporary artists like the ICEBERG New Music collective can continue to build.
Yet, this utopian resolution offered by Lang stands in contrast to a more cynical, perhaps realistic, contemporary perspective. “The possibility that love is not enough,” a fear uttered by Major Briggs in “Twin Peaks,” remains prescient for oneself after the film’s tidy, empathy-driven closure. The heart is able to mediate in “Metropolis”; today, the ambiguous prospect of this reconciliation is no less pressing, if not increasingly tenuous.