Artistic Typography in Metropolis

By Callie Leuck
If Metropolis was meant to be an art film, it thin transitions that are especially apparent in the
would be a shame to overlook using font and following letters:
typography artistically. Since Fritz Lang’s 1927
film Metropolis was a silent film, the written word
played a large role in story comprehension.
This article will investigate the use of font and Figure 2: Letters from intertitles

typography in Metropolis, specifically artistic
use. It will specifically focus on the design of
the intertitles used for dialogue and narration
throughout the film but will also briefly touch
upon in-story writing such as notes, numbers, and
labels.
Intertitles are the black screens with white text
that display dialogue or narration in silent films.
Because the technology to attach sound to film had
not been developed in 1927, film was very different
than it is today.
Actors used more extreme gestures and facial
expressions than in movies today. Necessary
information was conveyed to the audience through
means of the intertitles. As a result, the font and
typography could play a large role in the film.
The thick/thin transitions and the stylized
serifs give the font an artistic feel. Intertitles are
important in silent film—Metropolis particularly
would be very difficult to understand without
the on-screen narration and dialogue. Therefore,
it becomes necessary to give the audience
information through text, and that text should be
both appealing and readable.
It is somewhat curious that the font chosen for
the Metropolis intertitles is so artistically stylized,
given that the storyline is about a futuristic city,
and not a more straight-lined, austere font;
however, Metropolis was not created as a science
fiction film, which is a genre it inspired, but as an
art film, so it makes sense to use the intertitles
artistically as well.
It is not only the intertitles that are in an artistic
style: numbers and text in the film’s city use the
same—or at least a very similar—stylized font.

Figure 1: An intertitle from Metropolis with inverted colors

and lines added by the author to indicate the baseline, x-height,
and ascender line
Figure 3: The workers’ clock
The font that was chosen or developed for Figure 3 shows highly stylized numbers on
Metropolis has an x-height that is only slightly the clock depicting the 10-hour workday. These
larger than half the height of the ascenders. The numbers are indicative of the style used in numbers
font has serifs and the strokes have obvious thick/ throughout Metropolis.
 Figure 6 shows Josaphat’s address on a note
written by Freder. This may be the only instance of
handwriting shown in the film, and it is apparent
that it contains the similar typographic elements
as are used in the film’s intertitles.
The same name is used in an intertitle that can be
used to compare the typography of the two fonts.
Figure 4: The inscription on the bust of Hel If the name “Josaphat” in the note (Figure 6) is
Figure 4 shows part of the inscription on the bust compared to the name “Josaphat” in the intertitle
of Hel. This font is in all capitals, so it is difficult (Figure 7) it is true that they are not the same. The
to immediately compare to the font used in the “J” in the note is nearly as wide as it is tall, while
intertitles. The font used for the title “HEL” is the “J” in the intertitle is perhaps four times as tall
blockier with 90-degree angles and smaller, more as it is wide.
stylized serifs than the Metropolis intertitle font. However, the thin/thick transitions are similar
in the note and in the intertitles. The note looks to
be written in calligraphy, so it is possible that the
thick/thin transitions in the intertitle font were
inspired by calligraphy. As the film was intended
Figure 5: An intertitle in all capitals to be an art film, it would be sensible to use a
To see the difference between the text font on the font inspired by a form of writing that is often
inscription on the bust of Hel and the Metropolis considered to be a beautiful art form.
intertitle font, look specifically at the letters “R” The typography used in Metropolis intertitles
and “D” (Figures 4 and 5). Compared to the creates an artistic yet readable effect that is
intertitle font, the bust text font has less sharp pleasant to look at while not frustrating audiences
angles. The loop of the “R” and the “D” is not as who must read it in order to be able to follow the
equal as in the intertitle font—it slopes differently storyline. The font exhibits stylized serifs, thick/
on the descent. The bust text font is slightly tilted thin transitions, and an x-height that is only
to the right, possibly italicized, while the intertitle slightly larger than half the height of the ascenders.
font is very vertically straight. It jives with and adds to the overall feel of the film
as a piece of art because the font itself is art.

References
Metropolis. Dir. Fritz Lang. Writ. Thea Von Harbou. Perfs.
Gustav Fröhlich, Brigitte Helm. Purdue Convocations & The
Long Center Theatre Organ Society, Sept. 18, 2009.

TheTark. “I have put the entire 1927 silent Science Fiction

Figure 6: A note Freder wrote
film to the music of Pink Floyd. Watch all the parts to enjoy
the whole movie.” 14 December 2008. Online video clip.
YouTube. Accessed on 23 September 2009. <http://www.
youtube.com/profile?user=TheTark&view=videos&query=
metropolis>

Chisholm, Brad. “Reading Intertitles.” Journal of Popular

Figure 7: “Josaphat” in an intertitle Film and Television. 15:3 (1987:Fall) p.137.