Metropolis

Metropolis Literary Elements

Director

Fritz Lang

Leading Actors/Actresses

Brigitte Helm, Gustav Fröhlich, Alfred Abel

Supporting Actors/Actresses

Heinrich George, Rudolf Klein-Rogge

Genre

Drama, Sci-Fi

Language

German

Awards

Date of Release

1927

Producer

Erich Pommer

Setting and Context

Metropolis, a fictional city

Narrator and Point of View

POV is omniscient, but we often follow Freder's narrative

Tone and Mood

Serious, Dramatic, Intense, Futuristic

Protagonist and Antagonist

Protagonist is Freder. Antagonists are Rotwang, and to a certain extent, Fredersen.

Major Conflict

Rotwang creates a robot version of Maria to convince the workers to destroy their own city.

Climax

Rotwang is killed and the robot is destroyed.

Foreshadowing

Maria brings the children into the Pleasure Garden and tells them they are equal to the members of the upper classes, which foreshadows the eventual union between the foreman and Fredersen, and by extension, the workers and the upper class.

Understatement

Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques

The use of miniatures and the Schüfftan process, which uses mirrors to make scale seem larger; this became a common cinematic technique, still in use today.

Allusions

Metropolis as a whole alludes to the ongoing process of modernization and industrialization. There are also numerous allusions to the Bible throughout the film.

Paradox

Parallelism

Though opposed, Maria and the robot are obvious parallels of one another. One represents purity and a gentle femininity, while the other is witch-like and menacing, but both are revolutionary leaders who advocate for the transformation of society.

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