Metropolis Reconstructed & Restored

Fritz Lang’s 1927 mas­terpiece Metropolis is perhaps the most famous and influential of all silent films—the inspiration for science fiction epics from Star Wars to The Matrix to name just two. However the Metropolis we have seen until now has been incomplete—the product of desperate distributors and overzealous editors in the 1920s. For years, it was believed that the Lang’s original 2½ hour cut had been lost to time. Until 2008, when a cache of film was discovered at Buenos Aires’ Museo del Cine in Argentina.

More than 25 minutes of ‘new’ footage has now been painstakingly restored. Accompanied by a new recording of Gottfried Huppetz’ original score, Metropolis is the crowning achievement of German Expressionist cinema. 84 years after its first release, Lang’s vision of a dystopian future—where the rich live in splendid luxury, while a literal underclass toil in a vast subterranean workshop—can be seen as the director originally intended.

Special Features:

• Fritz Lang's original 150-minute director's cut of Metropolis accompanied by a new recording of Gottfried Huppertz's original 1927 score by the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorches­ter Berlin
• Journey to Metropolis: A documentary about the film and its rediscovery
• 2010 re-release trailer
• Audio commentary by Dr Wendy Haslem & Dr Angela Ndalianis, School of Culture and Communication, University of Melbourne

Critic Reviews:

• " The film has, in consequence, a remarkable pictorial power, and, in spite of its occasional solemnities, is one which will well repay study by those who are interested in the development of a separate cinematographic technique. " – Times (UK) Staff

• " Often enough it is exciting in a broad, elemental way, just as an earthquake or a loud clap of thunder would be exciting; but when individual characters come on to the screen they rouse little Interest for their own sakes. " – SMH Staff

• " For years audiences have wondered how good this film might have been had it not been edited. It turns out that it's better than anyone could ever have expected. " – Kaleem Aftab