Most closely related to the original short story press release released to publications written by Thea von Harbou. First Excerpts: A portion of the outline for the novel Metropolis and its narrative was serialized in 1924 in the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung, a popular German illustrated magazine. The serialization helped create public interest in the story before it was fully developed for the film.
In the towering cityscape of Metropolis, a world divided by wealth and oppression unfolds. The elite reside in towering spires, while the workers toil in the depths of the city’s mechanized underworld. Freder, the privileged son of Metropolis’ oligarch, stumbles upon Maria, a prophetic figure advocating for unity between the clasts. As he descends into the worker’s realm, he uncovers a grim truth: humanity is shackled by its own technological ambitions, and revolution looms on the horizon. Meanwhile, the enigmatic scientist Rotwang constructs a machine-human hybrid—an eerie doppelgänger of Maria—to manipulate the masses, plunging Metropolis into chaos.
