Berlin, Symphony of a Great City

This silent, black-and-white portrait of 1927 Berlin shows daily life in the city for an entire day, from early in the morning until late at night. At the beginning, an early train arrives in Berlin, in a display of speed in which railroad ties, trees and bridges whiz past. Next, deserted streets slowly fill up with the first workers, and a little later the masses march to the factories, where close-ups of machinery sing the praises of mechanical motion. The film moves back and forth between man and machine, which together determine the image of the modern city. At the same time, the film is a social portrait of Berlin's populace as it works, eats and plays sports. Rich and poor live side by side, like the old beggar woman next to a shop window full of jewellery. Some scenes were clearly dramatised, like an argument between two men and the stylised suicide of a woman jumping off a bridge. But most of the time the camera just records: children playing outside, animals in the zoo, and the many faces of Berlin nightlife. Always edited in quick tempo in a "symphony" of rhythm and contrasts, sometimes in a quiet cadence and neatly arranged, sometimes at a high speed in almost abstract close-ups.