Booker’s Metropolis – Fritz Lang (1927)

(from a Dystopian literature: a theory and research guide)

pg 347 – Depiction of a dehumanized urban population enslaved to the machines they tend at the behest tyrones.

– German Expressionism

pg 348 – Inspired by New York City.

– Reminiscent of H.G Wells’s when the sleeper awakes

N.Q over exaggeration of capitalism with “masters” (lives of extravagant and hedonistic pleasure) , and workers.

pg 348. – oppressed workers are kept from rebelling by their reverence for maria, a charismatic leader who preaches a doctrine of moderation and compassion.

– Jon Frederson, fascinated with Maria descends to the machine room […] becomes sympathetic to the worker’s cause

pg 349 – Metropolis is far more important for its striking visual images of modern anxiety  over technology & urbanization than for its plot.

Related articles

• Fantastic explanations of the movie trickery in Fritz Lang’s ‘Metropolis,’ 1927 (dangerousminds.net)
• Metropolis (1927) (timneath.wordpress.com)
• Film Noir and German Expressionism (jozeru.wordpress.com)
• Industrial futures: Lang’s Metropolis (btbennett.wordpress.com)

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• exaggeration
• German Expressionism pg
• Jon Frederson
• oppressed workers