Metropolis

The Resource Metropolis
Label
Metropolis
Statement of responsibility
Kino International ; Kino Lorber ; Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung ; in association with ZDF and ARTE ; Transit Film ; an UFA production, distributed by Parufamet ; director, Fritz Lang ; screenplay, Thea von Harbou
Title variation
Complete Metropolis
Creator
Contributor
Actor
Composer
Director
Distributor
Screenwriter
Subject
Genre
Language
  • eng
  • ger
  • eng
Summary
The future. Metropolis is a wonderful city, high above the ground its towers stand. The people prosper, the economy is flourishing, the suspended streets are busy. But Metropolis also has a great secret, so hidden that not even Freder Fredersen, son of founder Joh Fredersen knows about it. He is spending his free time in the Eternal Gardens, when suddenly a woman shows up, with what looks like a class of children. They're from the City of Workers, in the depth, Freder learns. "These are your brothers," she tells the children, before she is forced to leave. Freder is so intrigued he follows them into the depth and doesn't like what he sees. The workers are exploited, they must do labor like robots. Freder tries to convince his father to change, while the woman tries to keep workers' morale high by predicting a man will stand up that will mediate. Someone that will use both hands and head, someone that will be the heart. Soon after its premiere, Metropolis was severely shortened and altered. Since then, more than a quarter of the film was assumed to have been lost. In 2008, an almost complete version of the film was discovered in Buenos Aires. The material was heavily damaged and, because it had been printed on 16mm film stock, does not have the full-aperture silent picture ratio. Utilizing the footage from Argentina, a virtually complete Metropolis has been reconstructed and its proper editing has been restored. The text of the intertitles was taken from German censorship records and has been translated into English. In order to maintain the scale of the restored footage, the missing portion of the frame appears black. Black frames indicate points at which footage is still lost. Intertitles in a different typeface have been added to summarize the contents of the missing scenes
Related
Cataloging source
TEFMT
Characteristic
videorecording
Credits note
Camera, Karl Freund, Günther Rittau ; original score by Gottfried Huppertz, performed by the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, an ensemble of the Rundfunk Orchester und Chöre GmbH ; conductor, Frank Strobel ; instrumentation of missing portions, Marco Jovic ; restoration, Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, Wiesbaden, jointly with Deutsche-Kinemathek - Museum für Film und Fernsehen, Berlin, in association with Museo del Cine Pablo C. Ducros Hicken, Buenos Aires ; edition, Martin Koerber, Frank Strobel, Anke Wilkening
Dewey number
791.4372
Language note
Silent film with English intertitles and music score
LC call number
PN1997
LC item number
.M48 2010
PerformerNote
Alfred Abel, Brigette Helm, Gustav Fröhlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Runtime
148
Technique
live action
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