Metropolis (1927)

METROPOLIS RESTORED & RECONSTRUCTED (Blu-ray)

Release date: November 22nd 2010
Certificate: PG
Running time: 150 minutes

Director: Fritz Lang

Cast: Alfred Abel, Brigitte Helm, Gustav Fröhlich and Rudolf Klein-Rogge

Following its recent cinema run, Metropolis Restored & Reconstructed now arrives on Blu-ray, making it the very first time the Director’s Cut has been available on a home release!

Featuring 25 minutes of recently discovered footage which was initially removed by Paramount (US) and Ufa (Germany) in an attempt to re-market the film after the bad reviews it received back in 1927, this version has also been re-mastered to highest quality for a Blu-ray release.

Set in a dystopian future where society is divided between the proletariat who live and work underground and the bourgeois who live above in the towering city in decadence, luxury and excess, Metropolis is ruled by Joh Fredersen’s (Alfred Abel). When his son Feder (Gustav Frölich) falls in love with Maria (Brigitte Helm), the mystical and beautiful teacher who lives below the city, Joh plots to snatch her from him and use her to overthrow the proletariat movement against him. With the help of mad scientist Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge), a robot version of Maria is created and let loose on Metropolis, but unknown to Fredersen, Rotwang has own motives.

Metropolis Restored and Reconstructed offers a more complete narrative than its previous reconstruction ever did. Characters such as 11811, Feder and Josephat are given more screen time, we see more of Robot Maria’s crazed dancing as she creates havoc among the bourgeois. There’s also more of the fight between Josephat and The Thin Man. These are just a few examples though and the restored scenes are very easy to spot because they are heavily scratched and are in high contrast to the immaculate footage.

The reconstructed footage comes from one of the most remarkable finds in cinema history took place in a small museum in Buenos Aires. Several dusty reels of Metropolis footage were discovered containing 25 minutes of footage previously thought to have been lost to the world!

As a Blu-ray release; the picture and sound quality are very good. Considering the film is as old as it is, there’s only so much the restoration can achieve. The new symphony orchestra studio recording of the original 1927 Gottfried Huppertz score adds makes the experience all the more fresh.