Comparing Communism In 1984 And Fritz Lang's Metropolis

George Orwell’s written text 1984 (1949) and Fritz Lang’s expressionist film Metropolis (1927) depict the consequences of an oppressive constitution amongst an individual. Metropolis reflects the distress of the Weimar Republic, post World War I, contrasting the dehumanisation of the working class against the progressing industrialisation of the upper class. Whereas Orwell manages the post-World War II and Cold War aftermath, and the result of authoritarian governments. The message of 1984 becomes didactic as it presents the distortion of politics to reflect the issues Orwell was dealing with in his own time period.
Due to the varying contexts of both the book and film, readers gain insight into the values of individuality, conformity, power,

Cinematic montages of clockwork and machinery are used to accentuate the socio-political distress the society bears whilst panning shots across the vents which leak steam are symbolic of the tensions the underground worker’s feel, much like the tensions of the Weimar Republic. The pressures amongst the worker’s and Fredersen’s vision of the “Moloch” eating its people acts as a catalyst for the worker’s rebellion. Their resistance represents the debt struggles Germany was faced with at the time against multiple nations. “If the heart machine perishes..the entire worker’s city will be laid to waste.” indicates the urgency of industrialisation in Metropolis and it’s dependence on the “heart-machine” to influence the worker’s into submission. Lang exposes the sacrifice of individuality for the growth of

Orwell underlines the use of censorship against an authoritarian system with the use of paradoxical language “has it ever occurred to you that it’s reversible? Slavery is freedom.” When Winston confesses to “crimes..murder..sexual pervert” it portrays the imbalance of power and control over his emotions and with the strong themes of torture Orwell perfectly encapsulates the horrors of tyrannical figures like Stalin. The text focuses on what the negative prospect the submission of the people to the government can be, in contrast to Lang whose film clearly yields an underlying message of understanding and hope.Metropolis displays socialist ideals linking to the Weimar Republic to construct a utopian world whilst a dystopian vision of the suppression of civil rights is illustrated by Orwell to mirror the values of Nazism and Stalinism. Non-diegetic music followed by a series of high-angle shots creates the segregating reflection of the upper class and underground workers. The workers act almost integrated as part of the machinery through their uniform choreography against background imagery of technological equipment. The metaphor of “the mediator between the head and the hands must be the heart” is shown through a mise-en-scene as Joh shakes a workers hand through his son Fredersen, a representation of Lang’s personal ideal of resolution that emphasises the importance