HumHonCultureCon Movie Event: Metropolis (1927)
- When
- Tuesday, November 10, 20263:30 PM – 6:00 PM PSTAdd to calendarGoogle Calendar
- Where
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library 225150 E. San Fernando Street, San Jose, CA 95112Open in Maps
- Hosted by
- Advanced Institute for Ethical Technology
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About
Over the 2026–27 school year, the SJSU's Humanities Honors Program is pleased to bring you the Humanities Honors Cultural Connections film series — or HumHonCultureCon, for short! — FREE movie events open to the campus community and general public that explore the interconnectedness of global cultures and that relate to material taught in Humanities Honors courses.
Each HumHonCultureCon event will feature extras and surprises. This one is a joint event and is also part of the Campus Reading Program's I, Robot film series.
Film and Event Format
Metropolis, Fritz Lang’s iconic 1927 science-fiction masterpiece and one of the greatest movies of the silent film era, presented a chilling vision of a city of the future where the rich live high in the sky while the poor toil far below.
This monumentally influential film has it all: robots capable of assuming any human form, flying cars, a wealthy master planner plotting to repress a workers’ rebellion, and a deranged inventor who became the visual model for Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. At the center of it all stands a pair of unlikely lovers (Brigitte Helm and Alfred Abel), one from the city above and one from the city below, whose burgeoning romance could either heal this divided world or accelerate its rush to catastrophe.
Famed for its architectural vision of the modern city and its imaginative mixture of science-fiction technologies with motifs from mythology and folklore, Metropolis is a foundational work that directly influenced such varied classic films as Blade Runner, Star Wars, and Dr. Strangelove.
HumHonCultureCon and the SJSU Campus Reading Program have teamed up to present this “silent” film as it was originally meant to be experienced, featuring:
restored 2010 edition of the film with footage previously believed lostlive music provided by members of the SJSU Saxophone Studiofree popcorn (courtesy of the Office of Undergraduate Education)introduction to the film and its world by Professor Anthony Raynsford, acting chair of the SJSU Department of Art & Art HistoryThe official novelization of the film, written in 1926, described it as a look ahead one hundred years, to the world of 2026 AD.
So join us, and as you watch, ask yourself — are we there yet?
Reviewer Quotes