Fritz Lang, Metropolis, & Narratology

Fritz Lang born in Vienna, Germany, 1890 -- the son of an architect; he dropped out of college to fight in the Great War (WWI).

• After the war, Lang met producer Erich Pommer who worked for the movie company Declar
• Later Declar becomes UFA (the largest film company in Europe)
• 1919 - Lang directs his first film “Halbblut” (the Half-Caste)
• 1920 - Meets writer Thea von Harbou, marries her in 1922

Thea von Harbou wrote all of Lang’s films (including Metropolis) until 1933 when they divorced.

• 1925-1926 - Lang makes the film Metropolis which is drastically cut and distributed over the world Lang forms his own production company; Thea is his main writer
• 1931 - Lang directs M (with actor Peter Lorre)
• 1932 - The Testimony of Dr. Mabuse (banned because it criticized the Nazi party)
• 1933 - Immigrated to the U.S.
• 1934 - Offered a contract by David Selznick, producer at MGM. He goes on to make several films (mixing styles), ends up going blind and dying in 1975.

MAJOR FILMS: Halbblut (Half Caste) (1919) Dr. Mabuse (1922) (serial) Die Niebelungen (Siegfried; Kriemhild's Revenge) (1924). Metropolis (1926) Spies (1928) M (1931) The Last Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1932) Fury (1936) You Only Live Once
(1937) Western Union (1941) Man Hunt (1941) The Ministry of Fear (1944) Cloak and Dagger (1946) Secret Beyond the Door (1948) The Big Heat (1953) Moonfleet (1955) While the City Sleeps (1956). Die Tausend Augend des Dr. Mabuse ("The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse") 1960

Film analysis:

1. Write about the effective use of special effects (including titles and music to affect tone); You may look here for further help in writing your paper.
2. Write about the effectiveness of the cinematography (the shots, angles, lighting, composition of the shots, mise-en-shot, mise-en-scene, etc.) and the editing (see post on editing to help you examine this point: Feb. 26)
3. Write about the effectiveness of the plot, film script, and story elements or narratology of the film: Frequency, Narration, Story, Plot, Order, Narrative Format, Sequence, classical or formalistic, etc.
4. Write about the film as a historical vehicle. Answer: how is Metropolis the epitome and culmination of the Golden Age of silent film? You will need to comment on #'s 1-3 above with this question as it involves acting, special effects, editing, and narratology.

Your paper should be between 3-5 pages, double spaced.