Death and the Seven Deadly Sins

In the film Metropolis, Death and the Seven Deadly Sins constitute one episode in the chapter Freder in the Cathedral. In search of his young love, Maria, Freder is confronted with eight figures in a corner of the cathedral: Death, and his cronies, the Seven Deadly Sins. It is rather an unimposing scene whose subtle meaning often remains unresolved since the viewer is hardly able to grasp its implications in the brief film shot. The episode, moreover, is overshadowed by the fascinating dramatization of the Metropolis Robot transformation, who rests enthroned and wired up, enshrouded in rising and descending rings of light, slowly transforming into a completely human appearance.

These two unlike scenarios correspond with one another. They occur almost simultaneously and on a deeper level their main actors, on the one hand the Metropolis Robot, on the other hand Death and the Seven Deadly Sins, are in a mutual relationship; they are, in a way, each other's counterpart. In its significance for the film, in its consequences for the contents of the drama as well as in its artistic execution, the group of Death and the Seven Deadly Sins is equals to the Metropolis Robot.

(In detail in: Light on Metropolis – Mystical Traces, in preparation)