Concrete Playground

Long beloved by film fans, Fritz Lang’s 1927 masterpiece Metropolis is coming to the Opera House. Showing as part of the Screen Live series, this digitally restored silent classic has been re-scored by South Australian musicians the New Pollutants (aka Mister Speed and DJ Trip). Accompanied by vocalist Astrid Pill and cellist Zoe Barry, they will lend their modern talents to Lang’s futuristic dystopia in a dramatic live performance.

Set in 2026, Metropolis portrayed a gleaming civilisation divided into the above-ground elite and the nameless workers toiling below. In crafting his provocative parable, Lang blended his architectural background with the contemporary expressionistic aesthetic; the result is a truly groundbreaking work of science fiction that expanded the language of cinema and became one of the first (and enduring) icons of the art form.