In 1927, German director Fritz Lang produced one of the most breathtaking science-fiction films of its time, the silent classic “Metropolis.” This film, which featured a futuristic struggle between the working class and the elite class, as well as the creation of a female sexy robot to corrupt the working class, has inspired filmmakers for generations since (for example, there are plenty of similarities in the design of C-3PO and of the Metropolis robot Maria).
Metropolis was originally released at a nearly 3 hour running length, but was eventually edited down upon various releases and re-releases. It fell into public domain in America, and was available on several low-budget videotapes for years.
In 1984, music producer Giorgio Moroder released a new version of Metropolis – the black-and-white imagery was color-tinted, and the optional orchestral soundtrack was replaced with rock music from Freddie Mercury, Pat Benatar and Bonnie Tyler. There has been a raging debate between movie purists over the two versions of Metropolis – whether the Moroder version was a complete slap in the face to the original Fritz Lang version, or whether the Moroder version complimented the Lang version.
Well, it looks as if both versions have been restored to a new glory.
A print of the 1920’s Metropolis, which featured 30 minutes of lost footage, was found in a Buenos Aires film vault. Several different film restoration companies worked over a two-year period to restore the Buenos Aires prints, and to re-insert the missing footage into the best available print of the 1927 film as possible. Last Friday, that restored Metropolis made its debut, as thousands of German movie fans saw the full three-length version as it was projected on big screens at Germany’s Brandenburg Gate. The presentation was augmented with a full-sized live orchestra, playing the original musical score that accompanied the film so many decades ago. More information on the German premiere can be found here.
As for the Moroder version of Metropolis, well, that also received a full-scale restoration. Gilchrist Anderson, a film buff who totally appreciated Moroder’s version of the film, spent two years cleaning and re-tinting a copy of the 1980’s Metropolis (which he calls “Metropolis Redux”). His copy is available for American film fans as a fully-detailed DVD, which can be ordered through this website.
Personally, I’m looking forward to watching both versions on DVD at some point – just to compare what it took, both in 1984 and in 2010, to rebuild a silent classic to as near to the original airing as was possible. Fun stuff.
Chuck The Writer 