Metropolis - Softcover

Von Harbou, Thea

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1497566363 ISBN 13: 9781497566361

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014

Synopsis

This is Metropolis, the novel that the film's screenwriter -- Thea von Harbou, who was director Fritz Lang's wife, and a collaborator in the creation of the film -- this is the novel that Harbou wrote from her own notes. It contains bits of the story that got lost on the cutting-room floor; in a very real way it is the only way to understand the film.

About this title

About the Author:

Thea Gabriele von Harbou (27 December 1888 – 1 July 1954) was a German screenwriter, novelist, film director, and actress. She is especially known as the screenwriter of the science fiction film classic Metropolis and the story on which it was based. Von Harbou collaborated as a screenwriter with film director Fritz Lang, her husband, during the period of transition from silent to sound films. Thea von Harbou was born in Tauperlitz, Bavaria, in 1888, into a family of minor nobility and government officials, which gave her a level of sophisticated comfort. As a child she was educated in a convent by private tutors who taught her several languages as well as piano and violin. She was a child prodigy. Her first works, a short story published in a magazine and a volume of poems published privately, focused on perceptions of art, subjects considered unusual for a girl of thirteen. Despite her privileged childhood, von Harbou wanted to earn a living on her own, which led her to become an actress despite her father's disapproval. Von Harbou often developed her screenplays into full length novels, with their publication scheduled to coincide with the release of the film, though this was not the case with Metropolis (1927), one of her most famous works. Von Harbou was a central player in producing Metropolis, and this epic film became not only one of Fritz Lang's best known films, but one of significance to German cinema. Besides writing the novel and the screenplay, and developing the distinct moral ending of Metropolis, she discovered Gustav Fröhlich, who played the lead role of Freder Fredersen.

From the Back Cover:

This city of the future encompasses two worlds: that of the hedonistic ruling class and that of a segregated subculture, toilers in a mechanized underworld who labor to provide the rich with their pleasures. When a charismatic leader arises, she seeks a savior to unite the disparate social orders. "Between the brain that plans and the hands that build," she declares, "there must be a mediator―the heart."
Thea von Harbou, creator of the screenplay for Fritz Lang's iconic 1927 film, wrote this novel to expand upon the movie's ideas and concepts. Vivid in description, rich in characterization and symbolism, the story draws upon ancient myths to form a compelling vision of the future. Noted science-fiction authority Forrest J. Ackerman hailed the book as "a work of genius," and a century after its initial publication Metropolis continues to captivate readers.
Dover (2015) republication of the edition originally published by Ace Books, New York, 1927.
See every Dover book in print at
www.doverpublications.com

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1497566363
• ISBN 13: 9781497566361
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192