Who directed the 1927 silent science fiction film "Metropolis"?

Fritz Lang directed the 1927 silent science-fiction film "Metropolis." Made in Germany during the Weimar period, it is one of the foundational works of cinematic science fiction and German Expressionism.

The film depicts a sharply divided futuristic city: wealthy elites live above ground while industrial workers labor beneath it. Gustav Fröhlich plays Freder, the privileged city master's son, and Brigitte Helm plays Maria as well as her robot double. The screenplay was written by Thea von Harbou, who was Lang's wife at the time, and was based on her novel of the same name.

"Metropolis" is often confused with other influential silent German films, such as Robert Wiene's "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" or F. W. Murnau's "Nosferatu," but those films had different directors. Lang's production was unusually ambitious, taking roughly 17 months to film and requiring elaborate miniatures, sets, visual effects, and crowd scenes.