the complete "metropolis"
Category: Narrative Feature
Country: Germany
Year: 1927; reconstructed and restored 2010
Run Time: 148:00
Language: Silent, with live music accompaniment by Alloy Orchestra
Director: Fritz Lang
METROPOLIS takes place in 2026, when the populace is divided between workers who must live in the dark underground and the rich who enjoy a futuristic city of splendor. The tense balance of these two societies is realized through images that are among the most famous of the 20th century, many of which presage such sci-fi landmarks as 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and BLADE RUNNER. Lavish and spectacular, with elaborate sets and modern science fiction style, METROPOLIS stands today as the crowning achievement of the German silent cinema.
The discovery of an original copy of METROPOLIS in the archives of the Museo del Cine (Film Museum) in Argentina, and two years of miraculous restoration, places one of the biggest gems in silent film before spectators' eyes once more and almost exactly as Fritz Lang brought it into the world in 1927. The 2010 restoration includes more than twenty-five minutes of infamously cut material, including entire sequences never seen in the last 83 years.
The Complete METROPOLIS debuted in February 2010 at the Berlin Film Festival, and has become, internationally, one of the must-see film events of recent years. The American premiere took place in April in Los Angeles, where it was the closing night attraction of the first TCM Classic Film Festival.
"The effect was superbly augmented by a thunderous accompaniment from the veteran Alloy Orchestra; there’s only three of them, but with keyboard, accordion and clarinet, and an array of various percussion instruments they created a wonderful, clamorous score with pulsating tom-tom rhythms building the climax to a pitch of intensity that was almost physical. The cumulative effect surpassed expectations: a joyful, thrilling evening, and a truly triumphant restoration."
--Tom von Logue Newth, www.screencrave.com
