Beautiful, interesting, incredible cinema.

See what’s playing
Berlin: Symphony of a Great City
Berlin: Symphony of a Great City
8.4
/10
1,797 Ratings

BERLIN: SYMPHONY OF A GREAT CITY

Berlin, die Sinfonie der Großstadt

Directed by Walter Ruttmann
Germany, 1927
Documentary, Silent

Synopsis

An emblematic ‘city symphony’ film structured to follow the life of Berlin and its inhabitants across the course of a single day, from dawn to dusk, to create “a symphonic film with the thousandfold energies that make up the life of a great city.”

Synopsis

An emblematic ‘city symphony’ film structured to follow the life of Berlin and its inhabitants across the course of a single day, from dawn to dusk, to create “a symphonic film with the thousandfold energies that make up the life of a great city.”

Our take

With a storytelling style influenced by Sergei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov, Walter Ruttman’s ruminative film (a.k.a. “Symphony of a Metropolis”) provides a unique view of Berlin, capturing an erstwhile era and a specifically meaningful moment in time, just before the beginning of World War II.