Metropolis

[J.A.F._Doorhof]

From: Kino on Video

For immediate release
June 5 2002

Kino International To Release Digitally Restored Metropolis With Orchestral Soundtrack

Kino International has licensed North American distribution rights in all media to the digitally restored 35mm presentation of Metropolis from Transit Films Munich. The film premieres on July 12th at the Film Forum in New York, expanding nationally shortly thereafter.

Drastically cut within three weeks after its 1927 release in Germany, Fritz Lang's visionary silent film has been painstakingly researched and digitally restored from positive prints, dupe negatives and camera originals assembled from around the world. This definitive presentation of Metropolis was made possible by the Murnau Foundation, Munich Film Archive and Deutches Kinemateque, bringing us as close as possible to the German premiere version.

Due to the inclusion of many additional intertitles, recovered shots and one additional short scene, this new version is significantly longer than any previous theatrical or video release of the same film. Gottfried Huppertz's score was also re-recorded by a sixty-five-piece orchestra and, for the first time since the film's opening, it will accompany Metropolis now on the soundtrack.

Moreover, all 1257 scenes have been scrupulously digitally restored to a breathtaking clarity and richness, recalling the film's original photographic detail and removing traces of time, scratches and splices. This version premiered as a work in progress at the 2001 Berlin Film Festival with the final reel of footage still unrestored. Kino International's presentation marks the U.S. theatrical premiere of the now completed restoration.

In the far off year of 2026, the towers of Metropolis reach up to the skies and are the home of a privileged elite who callously rule the entire city. This mighty architecture of the future is in reality a spatial expression of a caste system which forces enslaved workers to maintain the city's vast underground machine complex.

When Maria (Brigitte Helm), an inspired young woman from the "lower city" brings a group of workers' children to the "eternal gardens," she coincidentally meets Freder (Gustav Fröhlich), the son of Metropolis' ruler Joh Fredersen (Alfred Abel). Immediately entranced with Maria's dazzling beauty, Freder follows her to the lower city and witnesses the deplorable conditions of the machine rooms, finally understanding the underlying reality of Metropolis.

Lang's monumental fable of class struggle, occultism and science in a towering city of the future (inspired by his first look at the Manhattan skyline on a visit in 1924), is a unique instance of the disparate cinematic and architectural developments that shaped Germany between the wars and a singular example of personal filmmaking expanded to ambitiously epic proportions.

Despite its history of drastic cuts and incomplete restorations, Metropolis has been treasured as both the film that advanced science fiction from its cinematic infancy and as a cherished well-spring of inspiration for generations of film visionaries and pop-culturists.

Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, Tim Burton's gothic Batman cityscapes, Star Wars' robot C3PO and David Fincher's Madonna video Express Yourself testify to the inexhaustible inspiration that continues to emanate from the unforgettable images and haunting moods of Metropolis.

Kino International's new version, the most complete and pristine since Metropolis' premiere in 1927, will re-define the continued fascination this classic film has had on every generation since its release, and is certain to command the same allure for future audiences.

Kino International, the New York based distributor of art and classic films, celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Recent theatrical releases include The Cherry Orchard, starring Charlotte Rampling and Alan Bates, The Piano Teacher, starring Isabelle Huppert and Benoit Magimel, and the Academy Award nominated Himalaya.

Martin Koerber, head of Metropolis' archival restoration team, will be in New York for interviews on June 23rd, 24th and 25th.

[Lynxxx]

Hmmm.. misschien interessant om te vermelden dat sinds enige tijd een andere film op de markt is die toevallig ook "Metropolis" heet.

Deze film is emaakt door mijn grote vriend Otomo Katsuhiro, beter bekend van anime klassiekers als Spriggan, Akira, Roujin Z en Memories (mega cool!).. het gaat hierbij om een volledig nieuwe film op basis van ouderwetse cel animation en hi-tech 3d computer animatie..
Mooie verhaallijn, bijzondere animatie en characters en een waanzinnige bigband achtige soundtrack.

zeer de moeite waard om aan te schaffen.. met name de 2 disc dts special edition.

Deed denken aan AI, Bladerunner en Ulysses 31 bij mekaar