Metropolis (1927 film)

Metropolis (1927) is a German silent science-fiction film from the Expressionist movement. Directed by Fritz Lang, it was co-written with Thea von Harbou, who adapted it from her own 1925 novel (originally written as a treatment). The cast includes Gustav Fröhlich, Alfred Abel, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, and Brigitte Helm. Erich Pommer produced the film at Babelsberg Studio for Universum Film A.G. (UFA). It is considered a landmark in science-fiction cinema, as one of the earliest feature-length films in the genre. Production took seventeen months in 1925–1926 and cost over five million Reichsmarks—roughly equivalent to €21 million.

Set in a futuristic urban dystopia during Germany’s Weimar period, the story follows Freder, the wealthy son of the city’s master, and Maria, a worker’s advocate, as they try to bridge the vast class divide and unite the laborers with Joh Fredersen, the city’s ruler. The film’s central message appears in its final intertitle: “The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must Be the Heart.”

Upon release, Metropolis received mixed reviews. Critics praised its visual beauty and power—the art direction by Otto Hunte, Erich Kettelhut, and Karl Vollbrecht drew from opera, Bauhaus, Cubist, and Futurist styles, with Gothic touches in scenes set in catacombs, a cathedral, and Rotwang’s home—and admired its complex special effects. However, they found the story naïve. H. G. Wells called the film “silly,” and *The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction* described the plot as “trite” and its politics “ludicrously simplistic.” Its alleged communist message also drew criticism.

The film’s long runtime was another point of complaint. It was heavily cut after its German premiere. Since the 1970s, many restoration attempts have been made. In 1984, Italian music producer Giorgio Moroder released a shortened version with a soundtrack by rock artists such as Freddie Mercury, Loverboy, Bonnie Tyler, and Adam Ant. A new reconstruction was shown at the 2001 Berlin Film Festival. In 2008, a damaged print of Lang’s original cut was discovered in an Argentine museum. Footage from that print and another archived in New Zealand was restored and reintegrated, bringing the film to within five minutes of its original length. This version was screened simultaneously on large screens in Berlin and Frankfurt on 12 February 2010.