Comparing Metropolis And George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four
Fritz Lang’s 1927 German expressionist film Metropolis and George Orwell’s 1949 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) explores the ramifications of mankind’s hubris and hunger for monopolistic control, and its consequences for humanity. Lang excoriates the dictatorial totalitarian regime of the Kaiser and Freikorps, and Weimer Republic Zeitgeist; its industrialised and capitalist values: humanity’s willingness to sacrifice a core human right (i.e. freedom) in exchange for power and materialistic wealth. Likewise, Orwell also excoriates the totalitarian regimes held by dictatorial leaders such as Stalin, Franko, and Hitler, succeeding the Spanish Civil War and World War 2. While Lang expresses an underlying aspiration for reformation via
the reconciliation of the proletariat and aristocrat, Orwell was much more pessimistic; freedom was the only desire and any possibility of amalgamation was eliminated. Nevertheless, based on observations of their own epoch, both composers ultimately capture the imperative need for the abolishment of totalitarianism to prevent a cataclysmic milieu.
the reconciliation of the proletariat and aristocrat, Orwell was much more pessimistic; freedom was the only desire and any possibility of amalgamation was eliminated. Nevertheless, based on observations of their own epoch, both composers ultimately capture the imperative need for the abolishment of totalitarianism to prevent a cataclysmic milieu.