An amazing vision of the 21st Century, Metropolis is an unforgettable science fiction classic originally penned in 1922, while Thea Von Harbou was married to German film director Fritz Lang. She collaborated with Lang on the screenplay for the film version.
The story is set in the distant future of 2026, in a technologically advanced city, which is sustained by the existence of an underground society of laborers—a futuristic urban dystopia. It follows the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city’s ruler, and Maria, a poor worker, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes of their city.
The novel version of Metropolis contains bits of the story that got lost on the movie’s cutting-room floor. Reading it is the only way to truly understand the film.
Michael Joseph of The Bookman wrote of the novel: “It is a remarkable piece of work, skilfully reproducing the atmosphere one has come to associate with the most ambitious German film productions. Suggestive in many respects of the dramatic work of Karel Capek and of the earlier fantastic romances of H.G. Wells, in treatment it is an interesting example of expressionist literature.... Metropolis is one of the most powerful novels I have read and one which may capture a large public both in America and England if it does not prove too bewildering to the plain reader.”
