Metropolis — Movie Quotes

This line appears as an intertitle at both the very beginning and the end of the film, framing the narrative and explicitly stating its intended message to the audience.

This is the film's central thesis and moral. It argues that logic and labor, or the ruling class and the working class, cannot be reconciled without empathy, compassion, and mutual understanding. It summarizes the entire philosophical message of the story.

Maria says this while addressing the workers in the catacombs deep beneath Metropolis. She uses the biblical allegory to explain their own plight and to instill the idea that a "mediator" is needed to connect the two divided classes.

This quote, part of the retelling of the Tower of Babel story, illustrates the fundamental disconnect between the visionaries and the laborers in Metropolis. It highlights how ambition without communication and empathy for the workforce is doomed to create conflict and suffering rather than true greatness.

The false Maria shouts this to a frenzied crowd of workers, turning their despair into rage. This speech directly leads them to abandon their posts and attack the Heart Machine, which catastrophically floods their underground city.

This quote represents the perversion of Maria's message of peace into a call for violent, anarchic destruction. It is the moment the robot incites the workers to revolution, not for liberation, but for pure chaos. It demonstrates the destructive power of demagoguery and mob mentality.