The Complete Metropolis (1926/Kino Blu-ray)

 

Picture: B     Sound: B     Extras: B+     Film: A+

 

 

Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1926, though also credited as 1927) is the first film we ever reviewed on this site and turned out to be a great launching title for us.  Besides that is it one of the greatest films and most influential films ever made, it continues to be popular and all successful and well known a silent film as any ever made.  Here was our original coverage:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1/Metropolis+(1926/Kino+DVD/2002+Restor

 

 

At the time, we knew a large part of the film was missing, so the older print included stills to show us just what was missing.  When it was revealed that 25 minutes of this film was found in a vault in Argentina, the discovery sent shockwaves through the film community and big fans were especially excited. 

 

Now, the film proves to be an even bolder masterpiece than expected.  For those unfamiliar with the story, a shiny new city is alive and exists with wealth, power, technological progress and is the future man has always dreamed of, but its dark secret is that its foundation is oppressed slave labor that lives underground and is being used.  When the son (Gustav Frolich as Freder) of the owner (Alfred Abel as Joh Fredersen) and ruler of this supposed utopia finds out, her intends to do something about it, inspired by a female mediator (Brigitte Helm) named Maria who brings hope to the workers that he meets when he finds himself underground.

 

However, something even darker is in the works in the hands of a mad scientist named Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) whose devious new invention will be his bid to take over the city and it will be the end of life as all of them know it. 

 

The most expensive production of the German movie studio Ufa they ever made, Director Fritz Lang put all the money on the screen, but it was too expensive and the film was cut down into many versions.  Some to be able to get more paid screenings out of it, some (like U.S. distributor Paramount) cut it into a B-movie and removed much of its ideological weight and many other countries cut pieces out for their own censorship purposes.  The result has been a lost film.

 

Though the 2002 restoration was shorter, it finally showed Lang’s intents and the film received a whole new life after endless (and endlessly bad) video copies were turning up all over the place.  But the newly added footage is very telling of why the film was cut up so badly.

 

Omissions include more footage of the real Maria more physical and pro-active that might have been considered to pro-woman or feminist, a shot of black actors briefly shows up in which they are also labor and turned into statues of said slavery, Freder’s bravery as a good son and hero was scaled back by the cuts, scenes where the workers and high society are in each other’s space was cut and anything else that was considered ideologically subversive was trimmed.  As you watch, this will become more and more apparent, even when it is a few seconds.

 

 

The 1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer mixes the originally restored 35mm materials from the 2002 version with the newly discovered 16mm footage that shows us what was missing.  The 16mm can be scratched and very scratched, but it is also a reduction missing original frame space form the 35mm print (especially noticed when cut into superior 35mm film) so that footage has black bands where footage is missing including where it was obscured by a soundtrack band.  The audio commentary on the DVD is not here, but the rerecorded score (now expanded here) is available in DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless and PCM 2.0 Stereo versions, far outperforming the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on the previous DVD release.

 

It should be noted again that this does not include the music score recorded in 1984 by ace music producer Giorgio Moroder, whose own version ran only 80 minutes (!) and was created when so much more of the film was missing, though I wonder what he would do now if he had all this footage.

 

Extras are different here than on the Kino DVD as expected and include a 2010 re-release trailer, 50-minutes-long Voyage To Metropolis documentary on the film’s current restoration and overall history, Interview with Paula Felix-Dilder who found the missing footage, a terrific lenticular slidecase for the Blu-ray case with the Robot Maria being energized and a booklet inside the Blu-ray case with an essay about the history of the film, stills, illustrations and technical information.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo