One of the highlights of this cinematic year was the theatrical re-release of Fritz Langs seminal Metropolis, and now comes the DVD and Blu-Ray release. Yes you might have it already, but this new version is definitely worth buying with its 25 minutes of lost footage, plus a brand new excellent documentary, which is worth the price alone. If you dont already own it, well, just one thing to say call yourself a film fan? Not only is this one of the truly classic pieces of silent cinema, no serious collection of films is complete without it Citizen Kane, Casablanca, Nosferatu and this are pretty much essential purchases.
The reason for the re-release was a discovery in a small museum in Buenos Aires of 25 minutes of footage long thought to be lost after the original print was butchered by Paramount for the US release. The lost footage has been re-inserted it is dotted throughout the film rather than one sequence and as a result some of the visuals are grainier than others. This whole process is explained in a fantastic documentary Die Reise nach Metropolis, which is an excellent accompaniment to the film.
It not only shows how the restoration was collated from a knackered 16mm print found in Argentina, but how the pieces were put together from the original written score, which was the only thing that survived, Langs script being long since lost. The doc also shows in some detail Langs visual influences, including going to New York in the 20s, moving into a smart modernist flat in Berlin and even German architecture of the time. Its a really thrilling piece of documentary making, and doesnt shy away from showing the cheesier spin-offs of Langs masterpiece a Madonna video for example, and the dreadful colourised version with the Moroder soundtrack.
The other additional features for this release is the new recording of the original score by Gottfried Huppertz, and newly-translated subtitles which are much clearer than before.
All of this adds up to a simply thrilling release which still marvels on every viewing. Langs film is set in a nightmarish future world in which worker drones drive huge, seemingly pointless steam machines, while an elite live in beautiful art deco apartments and leive decadent lives of leisure. The industrialist Joh Fredersen, seems to run the show, but when his son Freder meets a mysterious woman the facade cracks. Freder, a dandy if ever there was one, follows Maria down into the bowels of the machine-driven city and, shocked by the repetitive, soul-sapping labour he sees, he starts what is basically a workers revolution. When Fredersen gets wind of this he orders a mad inventor to turn his robot into a vision of Maria the famous transformation scene.
Its amazing how influential the film has become over the years. Langs cityscape, with trains and cars zooming across a giant, glass-fronted tower of Babel, still takes the breath away, as does the interior design. Fredersens office is a state of the art Art Deco classic and, if his desk still exists, it should be in the Design Museum. Then theres the robot has a sexier metal beast ever been seen in the cinema? The opening montage, of the worker drones being replaced, marching heads down along prison-like corridors, is much-imitated but never bettered this was 1927, for goodness sake. Freders cry, after taking the place of a drone, of has 10 hours ever passed so slowly has been echoed by every factory worker since.
The only criticisms are the corny ending, but that has been generally aimed at Langs wife Thea von Harbou for her insistence on a slightly too neat compromise he divorced her in unhappy circumstances a few years later. The only other real piece of mud slung at the film was it was one of Hitlers favourite films. Joseph Goebbels, hugely impressed by Langs technical genius, offered him the post of head of film in Germany. Lang said he fled to Paris overnight, but this has been disputed what is certain is that Lang never took up the role and did eventually flee to America, where he made several classic film noirs. Superb though some of these were, it is perhaps Metropolis that he will always be associated with.
Overall Verdict. An excellent releast and with its additional 25 minutes, it makes a lot more sense storywise, and so is as near to Langs vision as we are ever likely to get.
Special Features:
Audio commentary
53-minute documentary
2010 re-release trailer
54-page booklet
Reviewer: Mike Martin