Gerlach, Neil, and Sheryl N. Hamilton. "Preserving Self in the City of Imagination." Review. Canadian Review of American Studies 2004: 115-34. Project Muse. 21 Nov. 2008 <http://proxy.library.upenn.edu:2298/journals/canadian_review_of_american_studies/v034/34.2gerlach

This article discusses the way the metropolis shapes the film Dark City.  Neil Gerlach and Sheryl Hamilton, the authors of the article, delve into the ways in which a large city affects the mood and the theme of the film as well as past films that influenced the prominent use of the city in Dark City.  The two also highlight the human psyche of the city and how it leads to the alienation of its citizens as well as the seedy, unnatural feeling of a large metropolitan area. 
Dark City, with clear ties to Metropolis, acts as a modern day example of the ways a city’s architecture can drive a films plot as well as reveal facets of characters motivation and drive.  Hamilton and Gerlach both give credit to Metropolis for revolutionizing the idea of using a city landscape as a reflection of the film’s motif: for Metropolis that would be the dehumanization of humanity through technology.  As seen in the characters of Frederson, who lives high up on the building of the city, the further away he is removed from the ground, the further he is from the human soul and loses the very essence of humanity.  This is exactly what Gerlach and Hamilton discuss in the article, concluding with the idea that most protagonist of these films, which rely upon the architecture of the cities to convey their moral, attempt to return to nature.  In Metropolis’s case, this would be Freder choosing to be with Maria, the character who represents motherly, earthy nurturing.