Tuesday 14 September 2010

'Metropolis' - latest restored version

It was encouraging to see a large cinema about 80% full as early as 11 a.m. today for this showing of the 1926 Fritz Lang film - newly restored at 2 hrs 25 mins to almost original length, following the discovery of a near-complete, but damaged, copy of the film in Buenos Aires. Of course one can nowadays smile at the absurd melodrama, the histrionic gestures (though as it's a silent film, that's understandable) and the simplistic portrayal of 'mad', and see the film as little more than a museum-piece, but visually it really does retain its grandeur - and now with a consistent orchestral soundtrack added, which I found much preferable to that rather odd, though not totally unsympathetic, electronic backing by Giorgio Moroder when a shorter version of the film was released in 1984 (which I actually saw in Munich). But this new version is likely to be the closest we'll ever get to Lang's original conception. It finished this morning to general, well-deserved applause. A rare and memorable cinematic experience. Great stuff!

5 comments:

  1. I used to have a video copy of it, although I never got round to watching it in its entirity!

    There's another screening here in Bristol next month, though, and I had thought about going to that.

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  2. Andrew, if you can go with an open mind, I think the experience of seeing it on a proper cinema screen, and in the company of other cineastes, it will be a truly rewarding experience.

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  3. Very envious(but happy) you got to see the full version. The common/short version is one of our favorite silent films. I'm looking forward to Nov. 16th, when we can buy the restored/full version.

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  4. You won't regret the acquisition, Kyle. A definite 'must' for anyone who really appreciates the world of cinema and its history. Enjoy!

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