Metropolis (1927)

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Thea von Harbou (screenplay)
Thea von Harbou (novel)
(more)

Release Date:

13 March 1927 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

There can be no understanding between the hands and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator.

Plot:

In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.

Plot Keywords:

Worker | Vision | Future | Kiss | Death

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Alfred Abel	...	Joh Fredersen
Gustav Fröhlich	...	Freder, Joh Fredersen's son
Rudolf Klein-Rogge	...	C. A. Rotwang, the inventor
Fritz Rasp	...	The Thin Man
Theodor Loos	...	Josaphat
Erwin Biswanger	...	11811
Heinrich George	...	Grot, the guardian of the Heart Machine
Brigitte Helm	...	Maria / The Robot
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fritz Alberti	...	Creative human - man who convinces Babel (uncredited)
Grete Berger	...	Working woman (uncredited)
Olly Boeheim	...	Working woman (uncredited)
Max Dietze	...	Working man (uncredited)
Ellen Frey	...	Working woman (uncredited)
Beatrice Garga	...	Woman of Eternal Gardens (uncredited)
Heinrich Gotho	...	Master of Ceremonies (uncredited)
Dolly Grey	...	Working woman (uncredited)
Anny Hintze	...	Woman of Eternal Gardens (uncredited)
Georg John	...	Working man who causes explosion of M-Machine (uncredited)
Walter Kuehle	...	Working man (uncredited)
Margarete Lanner	...	Lady in car / Woman of Eternal Gardens (uncredited)
Rose Lichtenstein	...	Working woman (uncredited)
Hanns Leo Reich	...	Marinus (uncredited)
Arthur Reinhardt	...	Working man (uncredited)
Curt Siodmak	...	Working Man (uncredited)
Henrietta Siodmak	...	Working Woman (uncredited)
Olaf Storm	...	Jan (uncredited)
Erwin Vater	...	Working man (uncredited)
Rolf von Goth	...	Son in Eternal Gardens (uncredited)
Helen von Münchofen	...	Woman of Eternal Gardens (uncredited)
Helene Weigel	...	Working woman (uncredited)
Hilde Woitscheff	...	Woman of Eternal Gardens (uncredited)

Directed by
Fritz Lang

Writing credits
Thea von Harbou		(screenplay)
Thea von Harbou		(novel)
Fritz Lang		screenplay (uncredited)

Produced by
Giorgio Moroder	....	producer (1984 restoration)
Erich Pommer	....	producer

Original Music by
Gottfried Huppertz
Abel Korzeniowski
Giorgio Moroder		(1984)
Peter Osborne		(1998)
Bernd Schultheis
Wetfish		(1999)

Cinematography by
Karl Freund
Günther Rittau
Walter Ruttmann

Art Direction by
Otto Hunte
Erich Kettelhut
Karl Vollbrecht

Costume Design by
Aenne Willkomm

Art Department
Otto Hunte	....	set designer
Erich Kettelhut	....	set designer
Walter Schulze-Mittendorf	....	sculptor (as Walter Schultze-Mittendorf)
Karl Vollbrecht	....	set designer
Edgar G. Ulmer	....	set designer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Ernst Kunstmann	....	special effects
Konstantin Irmen-Tschet	....	special photographic effects sequences (uncredited)
Erich Kettelhut	....	trick photography (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Jeff Matakovich	....	restoration
Eugen Schüfftan	....	special visual effects
Erich Kettelhut	....	painting effects (uncredited)
Ernst Kunstmann	....	assistant compositing effects artist (uncredited)
Willy Muller	....	model maker (uncredited)
Hugo O. Schulze	....	assistant trick photography (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Karl Freund	....	camera operator
Günther Rittau	....	camera operator (as Gunther Rittau)
Robert Baberske	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Horst von Harbou	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Hermann I. Kaufmann	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Music Department
Berndt Heller	....	conductor: original score: restoration
Berndt Heller	....	score reconstruction: original score: restoration
Otto Harzner	....	conductor: original score (uncredited)

Other crew
Robert Gray	....	English translation: restoration, Kinograph
Martin Koerber	....	restoration director: Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Foundation
Enno Patalas	....	restoration director
Rudi George	....	key production assistant (uncredited)
Erich Holder	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Erich Kettelhut	....	technical consultant (uncredited)
Gustav Püttjer	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Hans Taussig	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Thanks
Rusty Lemorande	....	special thanks (1984 restoration)

Production Companies

• Universum Film (UFA)

Distributors

• Metropol-Verleih (1984) (West Germany) (theatrical) (re-release) (Moroder short version)
• Universum Film (UFA) (1927) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Eureka Entertainment (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• Universum Film (UFA) (2003) (Germany) (DVD) (DeLuxe Edition)
• Vestron Video (1985) (West Germany) (VHS) (Moroder short version)
• Paramount Pictures (1928) (USA) (theatrical)
• Hollywood Home Theatre (1980) (USA) (VHS)
• Vestron Video (1985) (USA) (VHS) (1984 version)
• Lax Video S.A. (1986) (Spain) (VHS) (1984 version)
• Divisa Ediciones (1995) (Spain) (VHS)
• Navarre Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Divisa Home Video (2003) (Spain) (DVD)
• Delta Expedition (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (USA) (video)
• Reel Media International (2005) (USA) (TV)
• SBP (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
• SBP (2005) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Atlantic Film (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Cable Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Forward (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung (2006) (UK) (DVD)
• GoodTimes Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Killiam Collection (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Kino International (USA) (restored version)
• Kino Video (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Kino Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Kino Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Kinokuniya (2006) (Japan) (DVD)
• LS Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD) (two-disc special edition)
• Paramount-Ufa-Metro-Verleihbetriebe GmbH (Parufamet) (2006) (UK) (DVD) (as Parufamet)
• Reel Media International (2007) (USA) (all media)
• Stokey Video (????) (USA) (video)
• Transit Film (2006) (UK) (DVD) (as TF Transit Film)
• Vestron Video International (1986) (Belgium) (video)
• Vestron Video (1985) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Video Yesteryear (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Vivarto (2008) (Poland) (all media)

Other Companies

• Alpha-Omega Digital  digital restoration (as ALPHA-OMEGA, Munich)
• August Scherl Verlag  original book publisher
• Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv Koblenz  film processing: restoration (as Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Berlin / Koblenz)
• Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv Koblenz  restoration carried out by (as Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Berlin)
• Centrimage  digital restoration (as centrimage, Paris)
• Cinémathèque Française  restoration contributor (as Cinémathèque Française, Paris)
• Deutsches Filminstitut (DIF)  restoration carried out together with (member of the Association of Cinematheques) (as Deutsches Filminstitut - DIF, Frankfurt am Main / Wiesbaden)
• Deutsches Filmmuseum Frankfurt  restoration carried out together with (member of the Association of Cinematheques) (as Deutsches Filmmuseum, Frankfurt am Main)
• Filmmuseum Berlin  restoration carried out together with (member of the Association of Cinematheques) (as Filmmuseum Berlin - Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin)
• Filmmuseum Düsseldorf  restoration carried out together with (member of the Association of Cinematheques) (as Filmmuseum der Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf)
• Filmmuseum Munich  restoration carried out together with (as Filmmuseum im Stadtmuseum Munich)
• Fondazione Cineteca Italiana  restoration contributor (as Fondazione Cineteca Italiana, Milan)
• Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung  restoration carried out by (as Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Foundation, Wiesbaden)
• George Eastman House  restoration contributor (as George Eastman House, Rochester)
• Gosfilmofond  restoration contributor (as Gosfilmofond, Moscow)
• Kinograph Inc.  English translation: restoration (as Kinograph, Montréal)
• Modegeschaft Knitze  costume fitting
• Museum of Modern Art, The (MoMA)  restoration contributor (as The Museum of Modern Art, New York)
• National Film and Television Archive  restoration contributor (as National Film and Television Archive, London)
• Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken  original score performed by: restoration
• Schuhgeschäft Breitspecher  men's shoes
• Schuhgeschäft Reiss  women's shoes
• Screensound Australia  restoration contributor (as Screensound Australia, Canberra)
• Studio Babelsberg  sound stages
• Transit Film  world sales: restoration (as Transit Film GmbH, Munich)
• TrickWilk, Berlin  intertitles: restoration (as trickWILK, Berlin)
• Werkstätten der UFA  costumes

Also Known As:

Metrópolis (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Metropolis (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Mitropolis (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

153 min | Germany:147 min (2001 restored version) | Germany:210 min (premiere cut) | Germany:80 min (Giorgio Moroder version) | Germany:93 min (re-release version) | USA:114 min (25 fps) (1927 cut version) | USA:123 min (2002 Murnau Foundation 75th aniversary restored version) | Spain:118 min (DVD edition) | USA:117 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (1995 restored version) | Silent (original release)

Certification:

Germany:12 (video rating) (re-release) | West Germany:16 (theatrical re-release) (1962) | Germany:18 (original rating) (1927) | Germany:o.Al. (DVD re-rating) | Iceland:L | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:G | Chile:TE | Norway:12 (1986) | Peru:PT | Portugal:17 (original rating) | Portugal:M/6 (DVD rating) | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) | Spain:T (DVD rating) | Sweden:11 (re-release) | Sweden:15 (original rating) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Universum Film (UFA)

Trivia:

In the novelization, the robot is described as a woman "of glass and metal," and her name is Parody; Maria's features are sculpted onto its face by Rotwang itself, using Maria as a guide.

Goofs:

Continuity: The lever on the heart-machine pulled by the false Maria to destroy it is pointing upwards and downwards between shots.

Quotes:

Freder: It was their hands that built this city of ours, Father. But where do the hands belong in your scheme?
Joh Frederson: In their proper place, the depths.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Weakest Link: 'Doctor Who' Special" (2007)

Soundtrack:

On Your Own

Heart is the Mediator Between Brains and Muscles – A Futuristic View of the Fight of Classes

In the future, the society of Metropolis is divided in two social classes: the workers, who live in the underground below the machines level, and the dominant classes that lives in the surface. The workers are controlled by their leader Maria (Brigitte Helm), who wants to find a mediator between the upper class lords and the workers, since she believes that a heart would be necessary between brains and muscles. Maria meets Freder Fredersen (Gustav Fröhlich), the son of the Lord of Metropolis Johhan Fredersen (Alfred Abel), in a meeting of the workers, and they fall in love for each other. Meanwhile, Johhan decides that the workers are no longer necessary for Metropolis, and uses a robot pretending to be Maria to promote a revolution of the working class and eliminate them.

"Metropolis" is a fantastic futuristic view of the fight of classes. When "Metropolis" was shot, it was a romantic revolutionary period of mankind history, with socialist movements around the world. Fritz Lang directed and wrote the screenplay of this masterpiece certainly inspired in this historical moment and defending a position of agreement and understanding between both sides, showing that they need each other. I wonder how this great director was able to produce such special effects in 1927, with very primitive cameras and equipment. The city of Metropolis is visibly inspired in New York. The performance of Brigitte Helm is stunning in her double role, and this movie is mandatory for any person that says that like cinema as an art. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "Metropolis"