Metropolis

To me, the most notable aspects of Metropolis were the high contrasts; visually and contextually.  The proletariat working class all stood in drab, dimly-toned uniforms, with drury head-hung looks upon their faces.  Te thinkers on the other hand, wore nice suits and held their heads up high, never sulking.  The aesthetics of both groups paired perfectly with their respective emotions.  Even geographically, the Thinkers resided way up high in their skyscrapers, while the workers retreated back to their own separate domiciles far below ground level.  The contrasts of these two groups were as plain as can be with very little ambiguity.  It was black and white.  I think it's interesting how such a highly dramatic movie like Metropolis could be simplistic in form.  Maybe its also an attribute of silent films in general.  There's little room for ambiguity in that sort of narrative because every emotion needs to be expressed without sound.  I think that is also why there is rampant over-acting in most earlier films.  Just to be clear, I'm not mentioning this to serve as some sort of detriment to the film, in fact just the opposite.  I think that such high contrasts focus your attention more on what is happening sub textually.  Because there is not much ambiguity in the story-telling, it opens up your analytic eye to examine the consequences of the actions taking place in the movie.