METROPOLIS

Year: 1927 (2002) (2010)
UK: Eureka Entertainment (2010)
UK: Eureka / Arrow Films (2002)
Cast: Alfred Abel, Gustav Frohlich, Brigitte Helm, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Fritz Rasp, Theodor Loos, Heinrich George, Fritz Alberti, Grete Berger, Erwin Biswanger, Olly Boeheim, Max Dietze, Ellen Frey, Beatrice Garga, Heinrich Gotho, Lisa Gray, Anny Hintze, Georg John, Walter Kuehle, Margarete Lanner, Rose Lichtenstein, Hanns Leo Reich, Arthur Reinhardt, Olaf Storm, Erwin Vater, Helen von Munchofen, Helene Weigel, Hilde Woitscheff
Director: Fritz Lang
Country: Germany
UK: 150 mins (2010 version includes 25 mins of previously lost footage)
UK: 123 mins
UK Certificate: PG contains mild horror and violence
UK Release Date: 10 September 2010 (Re-release)
UK Release Date: 17 January 2003

Synopsis (2010)

With its dizzying depiction of a futuristic cityscape and alluring female robot, METROPOLIS is among the most famous of all German films and the mother of sci-fi cinema (an influence on BLADE RUNNER and STAR WARS, among countless other films). Directed by the legendary Fritz Lang (M, DAS TESTAMENT DES DR MABUSE, THE BIG HEAT), its jaw-dropping production values, iconic imagery, and modernist grandeur remain as powerful as ever.

Drawing on - and defining - classic sci-fi themes, METROPOLIS depicts a dystopian future in which society is thoroughly divided in two: while anonymous workers conduct their endless drudgery below ground their rulers enjoy a decadent life of leisure and luxury. When Freder (Gustav Frölich) ventures into the depths in search of the beautiful Maria (Brigitte Helm in her debut role), plans of rebellion are revealed and a Maria-replica robot is programmed by mad inventor Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) and master of Metropolis Joh Fredersen (Alfred Abel) to incite the workers into a self-destructive riot.

A "Holy Grail" among film finds, METROPOLIS is presented here in a newly reconstructed and restored version, as lavish and spectacular as ever thanks to the painstaking archival work of the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung and the discovery of 25 minutes of footage previously thought lost to the world. Lang's enduring epic can finally be seen - for the first time in 83 years - as the director originally intended, and as seen by German cinema-goers in 1927.

Extras (2010):

150-minute feature film (including 25 minutes of footage previously thought lost to the world).

Fritz Lang's 1927 DIRECTOR'S CUT available to cinema audiences for the first time in 83 years. Official reconstruction and restoration by the highly respected Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung.

Immaculate 2K digital projection, as screened at the 60th Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival) 2010 world premiere.

New 2010 symphony orchestra studio recording of the original 1927 Gottfried Huppertz score.

Newly translated English subtitles as well as the original German intertitles.

One of the key works of master director Fritz Lang (M, DAS TESTAMENT DES DR. MABUSE [THE TESTAMENT OF DR MABUSE], DIE NIBELUNGEN, THE BIG HEAT, etc.).

Among the most iconic and influential films of all time, a cinema classic with a huge cult following. The mother of all sci-fi films and a major influence on Ridley Scott (BLADE RUNNER), George Lucas (STAR WARS), and pop culture in general (referenced by Madonna, Beyonce, and countless others).

METROPOLIS will be released on DVD and Blu-ray as part of the Masters of Cinema Series later in 2010

Synopsis (2002)

Fritz Lang's classic science-fiction epic is set around the year 2,000 (then a lifetime away in the future), a mammoth city is ruled by the super-efficient industrialist Joh Fredersen (Alfred Abel) and, on the surface, appears to be a utopian dream with wealthy inhabitants living in palatial apartments set in colossal glass and concrete spires.

But underground it's a different story; armies of slaves work gruelling shifts to maintain the luxurious lifestyles of their masters. The workers, a sub-human species of sluggish creatures are led by the 'saintly' Maria (Brigitte Helm), who urges them not to rebel but to wait patiently for the arrival of the 'Mediator'. Frederson kidnaps Maria and orders mad scientist Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) to create a robot replica to take her place. His plan is doomed when the evil mechanical Maria incites the massed workers to revolt and destroy everything in sight.

Taking sixteen months to film, and with a cast of 37,383 and costing over $2 million at 1920's prices, everything about this epic German science-fiction film, which was inspired by the towering Manhattan skyline, is gigantic. Although director Fritz Lang hated the ending of this film, it was an instant hit with Adolf Hitler and Goebbels, who first saw it in a small German town. When they came to power in 1933, they asked Lang to make prestige pictures for the Nazi party. He packed his bags and left for Hollywood the same day. On its first release it was a box-office flop and nearly bankrupted its financiers UFA, Germany's largest film production company.

METROPOLIS is now a monument to Fritz Lang's artistic vision and film craftsmanship, this newly restored, digitally remastered version is the closest yet to the director's original version.