It’s impossible to deny the influence Fritz Lang’s Metropolis has had on both cinema and overall popular culture since its 1927 release. A silent German film that combines elements of science fiction, political parable, religious overtones and flat-out escapist entertainment, Metropolis really is that good.
Whether you’re an old hand at the film and grew up watching either the original release or the ‘80s Giorgio Moroder restoration, there’s a good chance you’ve never seen the film quite like the version released on Blu-ray by Kino International.
Resorting nearly half an hour of footage thought lost after the original German film was edited down for international release, the new restoration of Metropolis is the perfect way to be either introduced or reintroduced to a must-see film for any movie fan.
Set sometime in a futuristic mega-city, Metropolis looks at the disparity in the lives of two different social classes: the upper-class idea men who work and play high above the Earth’s surface in sprawling art deco skyscrapers and the humbled working class who shuffle to and fro every day as they keep the city running in hellacious giant factories.
While the working class put their blood, sweat and tears into keeping the city running, the sons of Metropolis’ upper class chase women around the Eternal Gardens, a hedonistic paradise for the sinful.
Freder is one of these playboys — the son of city founder Joh Fredersen. Awoken from his idyllic yet pointless playboy life after following a pretty girl into the underground world of the working class, Freder decides to devote his life to helping the working class.
His father, on the other hand, is more concerned with crushing what he believes to be a brewing revolution. Turning to an old rival, Joh Fredersen commissions Metropolis’ resident mad scientist to build him a robot that can infiltrate the revolution and spread discord. Unfortunately, the mad scientist has still not forgiven Joh for stealing the love of his life, Hel. He agrees to help Joh but secretly has other, more sinister plans in mind — plans that will nearly lead to the destruction of Metropolis.
The film’s visual acumen is probably Metropolis‘ biggest legacy. A mix of German expressionism, art deco design and architectural modernism, Metropolis manages to maintain a futuristic look despite the fact special effects have grown and matured greatly over the past eighty years. Lang fills his film with an overload of details and care. From the futuristic city of Metropolis with its multilayer highways and shining metallic towers to the film’s flashback to the Biblical Tower of Babylon that inspired Joh’s creation, audiences are always treated to a visual revelation with Lang’s work. To put it simply, the movie looks amazing even today. Especially today, in fact.
With the homogenization of Hollywood growing, it’s refreshing to see a film that has such obvious fingerprints from a true artist.
Clocking in at nearly two and a half hours, the restored cut of Metropolis is a long film. The plot, though, is densely packed with some superbly plotted twists and turns. Amazing for today’s standards, Metropolis‘ story is told with the bare minimum of words. A silent film, the movie uses only enough stills and intertitles to advance the plot in ways mere body language and emotive acting cannot. But don’t doubt the power of the human body to express story.
Brigitte Helm, the actress who does double duty as Maria, the saint of the working class, and the robot infiltrator who threatens to topple the city, is a revelation. The way she is able to use facial expressions and posture to play two totally different characters that happen to look exactly alike is the stuff of legend. Also impressive is Gustav Fröhlich as Freder. As the playboy with a heart of gold, Freder may have been prompted towards social action by lust but his drive and heart-born desire to act as a mediator between the two social classes is beautifully expressed by Fröhlich.
Presented in 1080p, Kino’s transfer of Metropolis is mostly visually stunning. The newly discovered footage has unfortunately aged poorly — with film streaked with scratches and a fuzzy diluted image. Better that than nothing at all, I suppose. The rest of the movie is taken from a mixture of early 35mm negatives and early prints and looks spectacular. Sharp detail and a definite lack of noise gives the film a fresh make-over without the jarring plasticization of grain reduction seen with most Hollywood restorations. There’s an extraordinary amount of detail present in the film’s transfer — enough to easily make-up for some of the footage’s poor aging. This is the best you’re likely to see the film.
Despite the newly discovered footage, there are some scenes still missing. Text frames help fill the story’s gaps.
A new recording of Gottfried Huppert’s 1927 score is presented in both DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround and LPCM 2.0 stereo. The soundtrack sounds amazing and makes full use of the various stereo channels. As percussion comes from your front surround speakers, a bombastic bellow emits from your central speaker. The result is a pitch-perfect accompaniment to the film. It’s a little disappointing to see any other options for alternate scores, though. I guess Kino has just spoiled us with previous releases.
Voyage to Metropolis — A high-definition documentary by Artem Demenok, this nearly hour-long look at the making of the film also explores the movie’s post-premiere editing and the recent restoration to add back in the exorcised footage.
Interview with Paula Felix-Didier — Also in high-definition, this ten minute interview is with the curator of the museum that discovered the lost footage.
2010 Re-release Trailer — A high-definition trailer for the recent theatrical release of the restored Metropolis.
Metropolis is a film that has been celebrated endlessly by critics and audiences since its release and the movie deserves every single one of its accolades. Timeless in a way few films ever are, Metropolis is a well-stuffed film full of story, memorable characters and some genuinely inspired art design. The restored cut is something worth seeing yesterday. If you’ve never seen the film, do yourself a favor and blind-buy the Blu-ray. You won’t regret it.
Kino International presents The Complete Metropolis. Directed by: Fritz Lang. Starring: Alfred Abel, Brigitte Helm, Gustav Frohlich and Rudolf Klein-Rogge. Written by: Thea von Harbou. Running time: 148 minutes. Rating: N/A. Released on Blu-Ray: November 23, 2010.
