Metropolis (1927) and 1984 (1949)

Practice Essay 2

Composers of speculative fiction are influenced by the world around them, thus communicating common concerns through their works. Fritz Lang’s German expressionist science fiction film, Metropolis (1927) and George Orwell’s didactic political satire Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) dramatise the impact of repressive governments upon the individual. In the face of oppression by propaganda and indoctrination, masses are silenced in the two dystopian in both worlds. Lang reflects the anxieties of the Weimar Republic of Germany following the first World War, Orwell conversely reflects upon the rise of Communism and Fascism in Europe. 

Socio-economic disparity as a notion is explored within Metropolis due to the rise of a totalitarian government regime paralleling the contextual disparity between wealthy and poor indicating a political perspective. Lang reflects the anxieties of the Weimar Republic of Germany, under the stresses following the First World War, highlighting the consequences of rapid industrialisation and the subsequent disunity between the working and upper classes. Lang’s visual mise-en-scene of their clothing, chiaroscuro lighting and setting emphasises the futuristic soaring skyscrapers and grandiose architecture that are visually juxtaposed against the dark and bleak environments underground, where the underclass workers spend most their time. The elites up top live a hedonistic lifestyle in paradise, as opposed to the controlled existence of the mechanical workers of the underground portrayed in the constantly turning machines and whistles for change of shift. This reflects on Lang’s own world after World War 1 during the rise of the Weimar Republic where poverty was rife in Germany as they were preoccupied with post – WW1 reconstruction and reconfiguration. Freder’s hallucination explores the gross manipulation of humanity as he envisions the M-Machine as Moloch, Canaanite god of sacrifice, consuming workers and slaves as a source of energy or fuel. Frenzied music and exaggerated facial expressions heightens the unjustifiably poor treatment of workers. By highlighting the exploitation of the labour force, Lang epitomizes the inequality that Metropolis was founded upon; an allusion to Germany’s poorly established egalitarian democracy in 1919. This representation of class division is indicative of the social divide that plagued the contemporary Weimar Republic. 

Totalitarian government systems look to exercise their control and power over masses by controlling their emotions and instinctive human sentiments. Orwell, heavily influenced by  the obscene fascism he witnessed in the Spanish Civil War in 1936, sought to expose the despotic truths of totalitarian regimes. Upon being tortured by, Winston is told by O’Brien that the totalitarian regime of the Party seeks to “make the brain perfect, before we blow it out”, Orwell’s ironical antithesis and use of synecdoche distinguishes the distorted ideal of a ‘perfect’ humanity, achieved through the complete emotional disassociation of the sexual desire. The Catholic Church’s Augustinian puritanism is echoed in the Anti-Sex League, as well as the Inner Party’s reduction of the sex act into procreative mechanism or sordid animalism. This is further explored when Orwell writes, “The Party was trying to kill the sex instinct, or, if it could not be killed, then to distort it and dirty it”. This personification of sexual promiscuity is employed by Orwell to emphasise the importance of the retention of humanity as the ultimate rebellion. This concept is similarly explored through Metropolis as Lang emphasises the role of love, therefore human emotions, in the instigation of the worker’s rebellion. However, unlike Metropolis, in 1984 this form of rebellion rarely presents itself, prevented by the metamorphosis of emotions, such as anger and contempt, into loyalty to Big Brother. Winston observes such manipulation through the annual Hate Week, reminiscent of Stalinist rallies and anniversary celebrations of the October Revolution, when he writes, “All this marching up and down and cheering and waving flags is simply sex gone sour”. Through the use of polysyndeton, Orwell exemplifies the manipulation of human emotions and the concept of transferred nationalism, evocative of 20th Century fascist regimes. The exploitation of the sexual desire and human emotions is a complex yet crucial element to the novel’s plotline and overall significance.

Metropolis explores the idea of the suppression of individualism through its depiction of restrictive authoritative powers. The loss of human values resulting from autocracy is most explicitly depicted by the deficit of individualism. Lang dehumanises the workers underground, segregated from the upper class through a series of high angle shots accompanied by accelerando non-diegetic music. The uniformity of the worker’s choreography juxtaposed with the montage of machinery represent how the workers themselves have been integrated into parts of the machine, losing their humanity and reflecting the hardships of Germany after the First World War. Lang further explores the repression of the proletariat in the portrayal of the daily, monotonous shift change. The worker’s faces are directed to the floor, thus depriving the audience of a sense of identity. The solemn music, mechanical actions and dark shadowy atmosphere, synonymous of the German Expressionist movement, add supplementary details to the audience’s understanding of the oppressed social class. Both composers additionally convey the prevention of expressing individualism through the disallowance of personal identification. Similar to the Ingsoc term “comrade”, Lang’s workers are regarded only by a number, for example “Worker No. 11811”, accentuating the sense of anonymity. The absence of identity and the prevention of individualism further perpetuate the dystopian notion of a collective obedient society.