Berlin: Symphony of a Great City
A kinetic silent portrait turns one day in Weimar-era Berlin into a modernist symphony of crowds, factories, trains, labor, and leisure.
Overview
A mesmerizing visual journey through the heart of Berlin, capturing the city's vibrant pulse.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Breakneck
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- kinetic
- poetic
- observational
- historical cinema study
- silent film screening
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as an important and visually compelling German city symphony whose historical age does not erase the power of its rhythmic urban montage.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film proceeds from Berlin's sunrise through work, leisure, and late-night activity in five acts.
Seamless jump-cuts, double exposures, and perpetual motion connect workers, machinery, transport, and entertainment.
Factories, trains, workers, and industrial machinery dominate the film's vision of Berlin's daily circulation.
The film explicitly juxtaposes rich and poor, beauty and ugliness, and human labor with heavy machinery.
Films like Berlin: Symphony of a Great City, and why
Man with a Movie Camera
shared city symphony form, modernist editing, and documentary portrait of urban motion
A Propos de Nice
shared avant-garde documentary approach, industrial imagery, and rhythmic montage
Rain
shared black-and-white modernist city portrait and poetic observational documentary style
The Crowd
shared silent-era experimental form, urban spectacle, and fascination with machinery
Movie Details
- Director
- Walter Ruttmann
- Release Date
- 1927-09-23
- Runtime
- 69 min
- Rating
- 7.5 / 10 (131)
Cast
- Paul von Hindenburg
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- HBO Max Amazon Channel, GuideDoc, IndieFlix, HBO Max, IndieFlix Shorts Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Berlin: Symphony of a Great City about?
- A kinetic silent portrait turns one day in Weimar-era Berlin into a modernist symphony of crowds, factories, trains, labor, and leisure.
- What is Berlin: Symphony of a Great City like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Berlin: Symphony of a Great City as breakneck, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Berlin: Symphony of a Great City violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Berlin: Symphony of a Great City.
- What did critics think of Berlin: Symphony of a Great City?
- Critics broadly regard the film as an important and visually compelling German city symphony whose historical age does not erase the power of its rhythmic urban montage.
- Which films are like Berlin: Symphony of a Great City?
- Films with a similar feel include Man with a Movie Camera, A Propos de Nice, Rain, and The Crowd.
- How long is Berlin: Symphony of a Great City?
- Berlin: Symphony of a Great City runs 69 minutes.
- Where can I watch Berlin: Symphony of a Great City?
- In United States, Berlin: Symphony of a Great City streams on HBO Max Amazon Channel, GuideDoc, IndieFlix, HBO Max, IndieFlix Shorts Amazon Channel.
