Metropolis

“One of the most important film archival discoveries in history!”—Roger Ebert

“For years audiences have wondered how good (Metropolis) might have been had it not been edited. It turns out that it’s better than anyone could have ever expected.”—The Independent (London)

A legendarily ambitious film from the moment it was first released in Germany in 1927, Metropolis has since secured a reputation as one of the most visionary films in cinema history. But this sci-fi epic of a nightmarish future where workers are grist for a maniacal industrialist’s smoke-belching machinery has been edited down and hacked apart since its premiere screening. Even the “definitive” restoration in 2002 was missing substantial footage (thought to be lost) and, for all its glories, didn’t do full justice to the magnificence of Lang’s vision.

Then in 2008, the Museo del Cine in Buenos Aires found a 16mm print of Metropolis that had been in Argentine private collections since 1928. That astounding version contained 25 minutes of missing footage and virtually matched up with the shooting script and original orchestral score for the film. Based on the 2002 restoration but with the “lost” footage inserted, this new, complete version (which uses the original score as its soundtrack), lets you experience Lang’s spectacular Metropolis as close to his original intent as has been possible for 80 years. (147 mins., video)