Metropolis Background Notes

Major Artists:

Director: Fritz Lang
Producer: Erich Pommer
Production Companies: Universum Film A.G. (UFA), Berlin
Screenplay: Thea von Harbou, Fritz Lang (based on the 1926 novel by Thea von Harbou)
Cinematographer: Karl Freund, Günther Rittau  (Assistants: Robert Baberske, H.O. Schulze)
Editor: Fritz Lang
Music Score: Gottfried Huppertz
Art Director: Otto Hunte, Erich Kettelhut, Karl Vollbrecht
Set Designer: Edgar G. Ulmer, Walter Schulze-Mittendorf
Costumes: Aenne Willkomm
Make-Up: Otto Genath
Assistant Directors: Slatan Dudow
Special Effects: Ernst Kunstmann, Eugen Schüfftan, Konstantin Irmen-Tschet, Erich Kettelhut, Günther Rittau, H.O. Schulze, Helmer Lerski,
Cast: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Heinrich George, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Theodor Loos, Fritz Rasp, Erwin Biswanger, Olaf Storm, Hanns Leo Reich, Heinrich Gotho, Margarete Lanner, Max Dietze, Georg John.

Visual: 

Metropolis movie poster clip


Photo of Gustav Fröhlich


Photo of Brigitte Helm



Audio: 

The film Metropolis (1927), directed by Fritz Lang, is generally considered the first great science-fiction film. It was produced by Erich Pommer, and written by Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou, as it was based off of her 1926 novel. Other important crew members include cinematographers, Karl Freund, and Günther Rittau; art directors,  Otto Hunte, Erich Kettelhut, and Karl Vollbrecht; set designers, Edgar G. Ulmer, and Walter Schulze-Mittendorf;  Aenne Willkomm, Otto Genath, Slatan Dudow, Ernst Kunstmann, Eugen Schüfftan, Konstantin Irmen-Tschet, Erich Kettelhut, H.O. Schulze, and Helmer Lerski.

The film stars Alfred Abel as Joh Fredersen, Gustav Fröhlich as Freder, and Brigitte Helm as Maria and the machine man. In addition, the actors Heinrich George, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Theodor Loos, Fritz Rasp, Erwin Biswanger, Olaf Storm, Hanns Leo Reich, Heinrich Gotho, Margarete Lanner, Max Dietze, and Georg John can all be seen in the film.

Watch For:
Visual:

 Visual of the drab worker's city

Visual of the luxurious, upper class garden

Picture demonstrating the Schufftan process

video clip of the dance scene

Audio:

• Watch for compositional and visual techniques that contribute to the narrative aspect of the story. One of the more common bad critiques of this film is in the story itself, but Lang creates more meaning and depth to it in the mise-en-scene.  Every scene is meticulously thought out to demonstrate an idea, particularly class conflict and man's fascination, but enslavement to machine. Lang stages every scene with the workers living in a city under the earth where all the buildings are colorless and all look the same, as the workers do too. In contrast, when he goes above ground to the upper class, there is no sign of this. There is luxury and beauty, and almost nothing looks drab or too consistent, showing how the upper class are unaware of the mundanity and misery below their feet.
• Watch for the Schufftan process, which is a form of compositing miniature sets into the full-scale shot using mirrors. This process was used by Lang to create a sense of vast scales without having to create even larger sets. The lower floors of the buildings in the "worker’s city", for example, were constructed full-scale in one of the film’s massize sets. The upper floors were mirror image models. Lang used this technique to create a sense of depth in his shots, creating stunning visuals. 
• Watch for a the feeling of chaos and confusion created in the movie, especially during Maria's dance scene. The strange editing done in this scene along with quick cuts from her dancing to the men gawking to Freder, sick in bed, convey a sense of urgency that leaves the viewer slightly dismayed. The scene is kind of comical to anyone watching because it doesn't really make a lot of sense with the abstract imagery that's portrayed in it. But, Lang obviously wanted to create confusion and chaos. He wanted to make the viewer feel that way to get his point across. It starts off slow, with the men waiting for the show to start, then builds and builds until Maria is going wild on stage and the men are going crazy for her, ensuing the chaos that is to come unto the city. 

Critical Essays:

1. Eisner, Lotte H. "The Haunted Screen; Expressionism in the German Cinema and the Influence of      Max Reinhardt." Berkeley: U of California, 1969. Print.

2. Randolph Bartlett, "German Film Revision Upheld as Needed Here," The New York Times 
    (March 13, 1927).

Web Sources:

• http://www.celtoslavica.de/chiaroscuro/films/metropolis/metro.html

• http://unaffiliatedcritic.com/2013/02/metropolis-1927-independent-study-in-world-cinema/

• http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-metropolis-1927

• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017136/

• http://film110.pbworks.com/w/page/12610202/Expressionist%20mise-en%20scene%20in%20Metropolis
• http://metropolisvixfx.blogspot.com/2007/10/schufftan-process.html