Lost Footage of "Metropolis" Found

ram.loss writes "According to a Reuters article, a long version of Metropolis has been found at a cinema museum in Argentina, by a newly appointed archivist. The reels have been authenticated by the Murnau foundation at Germany. 'Although estimates of its original length vary depending on the speed at which it is shown, Possmann said "Metropolis" was conceived as a film lasting just over 2-1/2 hours. Around 20 to 25 minutes of footage that fleshes out secondary characters and sheds light on the plot would be added to the film pending restoration, he added. But around 5 minutes of the original were probably still missing, he said.'"

Comments

I have nothing insightful to add but

[cptnapalm]

Metropolis is an excellent movie and now there will be more of it for me to see. This is pretty damn cool.

Re:I have nothing insightful to add but

[thermian]

Admit it, you're just hoping the new footage has nude shots of Maria.

I mean, she got me hot.....

Re:I have nothing insightful to add but

[cptnapalm]

Please don't tell anyone...

Re:I have nothing insightful to add but

[hedwards]

I'm not sure how a frosty piss can be redundant, but this is /..

Anyways, a while back I was bemoaning the large amount of footage missing from this masterpiece. 5 minutes being lost is actually pretty good for a film of this vintage to be missing.

I'd still love for the rest of it to be found, but being missing only 5 mins., would put it more or less in line with what you usually see on TV.

The German film makers during the silent era made some pretty amazing films, it's surprising how good they were at conveying mood with just poor footage and a piano in most cases.

Re:I have nothing insightful to add but

[MightyMartian]

It's probably the most influential "futuristic" movie ever made, and not just influencing future movies (like Blade Runner or Star Wars), but likely being a major inspiration of Asimov's Trantor in the Foundation Series. It's a touchstone for that genre of film, and it's a pretty amazing story too. I haven't seen it since the last restoration in the late 1980s (they had recovered a lot of stills and used it to fill out the plot as much as possible), and I'm really keen to see a version that comes so close to Murnau's original vision.

Re:I have nothing insightful to add but

[MightyMartian]

Doh! Not Murnau (another great German director), I meant Lang. There goes my marks in film history.

Re:I have nothing insightful to add but

[Dogtanian]

The German film makers during the silent era made some pretty amazing films, it's surprising how good they were at conveying mood with just poor footage and a piano in most cases.

What? You mean Giorgio Moroder's synthpop soundtrack wasn't on the original version? I'm shocked, SHOCKED!

Re:I have nothing insightful to add but

[smittyoneeach]

Who is pleased easily is pleased often.

Re:I have nothing insightful to add but

[niktemadur]

Ah yes, Fritz Lang's Metropolis - the banned Director's Cut!

Ever heard of Eveready Harton?
You have been warned, it links to YouTube and the cartoon is Extremely Unsuitable For Work, albeit a fascinating artifact of the same era.
The Roaring Twenties were weirder than we can suppose.

Re:I have nothing insightful to add but

[ConceptJunkie]

We'll forgive you since Murnau's name was in the story.

My 12-year-old is fascinated with early cinematography, especially how they did special effects. We just watched "Metropolis" again a few days ago, and it's exciting to hear there's a whole new chunk of the picture to see. I imagine there are probably no hot 'n' fancy special effects in the "new" footage, but filling in details of the story would be greatly welcomed.

Re:I have nothing insightful to add but

[Anonymous Coward]

In the longer versions currently available, you DO get to see Maria dancing topless in the club scene.

Re:I have nothing insightful to add but

[accessdeniednsp]

Except Star Wars wasn't in the future. It happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

Re:I have nothing insightful to add but

[tacocat]

It's 25 minutes restored with a probable 5 minutes remaining from the original 2.5 hours that will be lost. RTFA.

Re:I have nothing insightful to add but

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, I gotta say, that new fangled Japanese hentai has nothing on good old American animated porn.

Re:I have nothing insightful to add but

[bill_mcgonigle]

albeit a fascinating artifact of the same era.

Zoiks! Some enterprising CS student should work out a program to deal with the wildly fluctuating brightness levels.

Good lord

[Anonymous Coward]

Now I can sit and be bored even longer at my artsy friend's house.

Re:Good lord

[JustOK]

merging/blending GTAIV and the movie would be some sorta cool, tho.

Re:Good lord

[imipak]

Go watch Robinson in Space and discover the mystic land that lies beyond the Ocean of Boredom.

Re:Good lord

[Anonymous Coward]

Not all black and white silent films are lousy. I think some of Keaton's old movies are quite ok to watch even today. For example 'Seven Chances' which has some really good scenes in it. Try it! :-)

Re:Good lord

[smittyoneeach]

But steer clear of The Saragossa Manuscript
If Quentin Tarantino ever gets the idea of doing a recursive-descent plot, I predict an immanentization of the eschaton.

Re:Good lord

[Anonymous Coward]

I find it interesting to find out the locations of where each scene was filmed and to see what the location looks like on Google maps. Sometimes, whole blocks have been completely replaced. Othertimes, it looks more or less the same.

Re:Good lord

[MightyMartian]

I agree. Boooooriinnng. Most black and white movies suck actually. And if they are silent, you might as well shoot yourself if some pompous "friend" has condemned you to an evening of watching it.

Ah yes, those that deprive themselves of great enjoyment because they don't like black and white films.

A few years ago I rented Rules of the Game from the library. I have to say that I can see why it sits right behind Citizen Kane in most critics lists. What an extraordinary film.

Films like Casablance, Psycho, Treasure of the Sierra Madre and NIght of the Hunter are enthralling films. In fact, I'd say in the case of Night of the Hunter and Psycho, they wouldn't be nearly as effective in color.

Re:Good lord

[VValdo]

Most black and white movies suck actually. And if they are silent, you might as well shoot yourself.

I know you're just trolling, but go watch City Lights and The General, then come back to apologize.

W

Re:Good lord

[Anonymous Coward]

Ah yes, the pompous ass who thinks that something called "opinion" is universal law.

Re:Good lord

[Anonymous Coward]

In fact, I'd say in the case of Night of the Hunter and Psycho, they wouldn't be nearly as effective in color.

And Hitchcock would agree with you. "Psycho" was made in 1960, well into the era of color ("The Wizard of Oz" and "Gone With The Wind" were both fully in color.... in 1939). Like "Manhattan" (1979), "Ed Wood" (1994), "Sin City" (2005), "Schindler's List" (1995), etc. sometimes filmmakers actually elect for black and white even though color is available.

The IMDB says about Psycho:

One of the reasons Alfred Hitchcock shot the movie in black and white was he thought it would be too gory in color. But the main reason was that he wanted to make the film as inexpensively as possible (under $1 million). He also wondered if so many bad, inexpensively made, b/w "B" movies did so well at the box office, what would happen if a really good, inexpensively made, b/w movie was made.

Re:Good lord

[Laxitive]

To add to your list, two films whose names are numbers, and two dark masterpieces:

Fellini's "8 1/2".
Aronofski's "Pi".

Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove"
"Man bites dog" (a Belgian flick I rented on a whim, was both deeply disturbed and blown away by, don't know the director).

Re:Good lord

[jedidiah]

The problem with the old silent films wasn't so much that they
were in black & white but the fact that the pacing of the film
is trashed by the mid titles.

I can't really see why you're even mentioning talkies in the same discussion...

Re:Good lord

[driftingwalrus]

And Nosferatu. I'm still looking for a copy of The Sheik, though.

Re:Good lord

[grub]

Most black and white movies suck actually.

1) Get stoned
2) Put on 3 Stooges videos
3) ???
4) Laughter.

Re:Good lord

[tacocat]

If you want to list effective Black and While films you must add Plan 9 from Outer Space.

Actually, no, it might suck even more if it had full color. It was so bad I had to watch it twice. I think it should be mandatory in film classes so people can understand two things:

• What not to do when making a film.
• How simple it can be to make an effect.

I found Metropolis years ago and found it to be a remarkably good story and being a non-talky film makes the message better.

Re:Good lord

[dodecalogue]

I don't get why Fellini's so known for 8 1/2, it kind of makes me think there's something to be said for the hoity-toity artster. Roma FTW! and La Strada is really nice.

Re:Good lord

[Captain DaFt]

Compared to Manos: the Hands of Fate http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060666/, Plan 9 looks like Citizen Kane!
Easily the worst movie ever!

Re:Good lord

[triso]

I agree. Boooooriinnng. Most black and white movies suck actually. And if they are silent, you might as well shoot yourself if some pompous "friend" has condemned you to an evening of watching it.

Ah yes, those that deprive themselves of great enjoyment because they don't like black and white films....

Most B+W films require more restoring to look as good as they did about 60 years ago. Too many have grainy images and washed-out contrast. I can see why the young'uns avoid them.

Re:Good lord

[HTH NE1]

But don't they get a new copyright for restoration of the missing footage?

George Lucas-esque...

[iamapizza]

And, coincidentally, it had been digitally remastered, with a new soundtrack.

Re:George Lucas-esque...

[ciaohound]

Please, oh please don't tell me that Freder shoots first.

Re:George Lucas-esque...

[Anonymous Coward]

yeah and there was also a slight tweak to the plot. Its now set underwater and explores the themes of workers in a genetically engineered paradise that starts to go wrong. Hey there little sister...

Re:George Lucas-esque...

[lobiusmoop]

Somehow, I don't think we'll be seeing a Director's Cut though...

Re:George Lucas-esque...

[westlake]

And, coincidentally, it had been digitally remastered, with a new soundtrack.

Silent movies were never silent.

The big budget production would be scored for a full theater orchestra.

There would at minimum be suggestions for the piano or organ of a smaller house.

Re:George Lucas-esque...

[dodecalogue]

but my Home Theater doesn't come equipped with an orchestra!!

Don't give them any ideas...

[ActusReus]

If they include dancing CGI creatures, or replace shotguns with walkie-talkies, I'll be PISSED.

Re:Don't give them any ideas...

[OldManAndTheC]

I wouldn't mind any of those things, but if this inspires a remake starring Will Smith or Keanu Reeves, I might just throw myself into an art deco steel foundry that has an odd resemblance to Moloch...

P.S. did anyone else see the trailer for The Day the Earth Stood Still?

Jennifer Connelly does Patricia O'Neal: Mmm. OK, that could work.
Keanu Reeves does Michael Rennie: WTF?! No, no, NO! Why, God, Why!?!?

Screencaps

[Chris Pimlott]

German newspaper Die Zeit has an article online with a gallery of images from the recovered print.

Re:Screencaps

[Conspiracy_Of_Doves]

Very scratchy, but someone on the IMDB forums suggested that it's possible to clean them up. That the scratches are just in the film coating, not in the image itself.

Thank you very much for this link, btw.

Re:Screencaps

[Elektroschock]

As far as I understand there are a few missing scenes. What however is true is that it was always very difficult to understand the plot.

More informations means also better quality.

Has anyone build a Metropolis scenario for an ego shooter?

Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[MichaelCrawford]

As was the practice with many silent films: a live pianist would play the music during the film.

The first time I saw it, in a theatre, that piano score was on the soundtrack, and it added a great deal to the whole film. It was very clear that the music was carefully composed to work with Fritz Lang's vision.

Later, a colorized version came out with a modern Heavy Metal score. I didn't care for it at all. It's not that I dislike Heavy Metal, but that the music chosen really didn't work for the film.

I read somewhere that Adolf Hitler was really into Metropolis, and that he held it up as an example that all filmmakers should strive for. Food for thought.

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[msuarezalvarez]

I read somewhere that Adolf Hitler was really into Metropolis, and that he held it up as an example that all filmmakers should strive for. Food for thought.

What kind of thought? The kind that goes evaluates X along the line of ÂY had a good/bad opinion of it, and Y is good/bad?, therefore X is good/bad? for various possible choices of the several alternatives?

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[Peter H.S.]

I read somewhere that Adolf Hitler was really into Metropolis, and that he held it up as an example that all filmmakers should strive for. Food for thought.

I really don't think so. Fritz Lang was Jewish, his films were banned when Hitler came to power in 1933, and Fritz Lang himself emigrated from Germany allready in 1934. There was a rumor that Goebbels gave Fritz Lang the option of making film for the regime. Whether this were true or not is uncertain, but the offer was extremely unrealistic in any case; He would have ended up in a KZ camp sooner or later.

--
Regards

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[iluvcapra]

As was the practice with many silent films: a live pianist would play the music during the film.

This is partially true, but most modern scholarship on the subject suggests that all but the smallest houses had at least a four-piece ensemble. Large city houses would have entire orchestras, and even hire actors to read the intertitles in character from behind the screen. Metropolis had an entire orchestral score composed, which can be heard on most available DVDs nowadays, and the sheet music sent to most venues would either be the full score or a reduction.

Later, a colorized version came out with a modern Heavy Metal score. I didn't care for it at all. It's not that I dislike Heavy Metal, but that the music chosen really didn't work for the film.

This is the Giorgio Moroder version, alternately ignored and despised; some of the "lost footage" from the original version was present in this cut however, not in its actual form but mocked up with illustrations from the pre-production that were animated on a rostrum camera. Particularly jarring in this version are the extended stadium-rock-inspired lyrics, in English no less.

I read somewhere that Adolf Hitler was really into Metropolis, and that he held it up as an example that all filmmakers should strive for. Food for thought.

Hitler and Goebbels personally sought out Lang to ask him to make films for the government, essentially to take the job eventually given the Leni Riefenstahl. Lang caught the first boat out of the country; he could see that it'd be impossible to work outside of the government in the years to come. But his wife, Thea von Harbou, who wrote the original novel of Metropolis, had Nazi sympathies and stayed in Germany to work for the regime.

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[Anonymous Coward]

Ha! Godwin! Oh, we're not doing that?

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[Anonymous Coward]

Reductio ad Hitlerum

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[JoeCommodore]

I really liked the Moroder edit, and it was very Pop 80's Rock, not heavy metal, unless you think Queen, Adam Ant, Bonnie Tyler, Cycle V, etc. are heavy metal bands.

It used subtitles instead of having the dialog cards pop up and was amd much more watchable. The music did well to set the tone.

I'll keep my VHS copy as I doubt I'll ever see a DVD of that edit.

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[Anonymous Coward]

No doubt Hitler liked Metropolis. It's a fantastic movie, but it's politics is harsh and I have a hard time watching the film for that reason.

Let's see, the workers tear down their own factory without thinking about the fact that the factory ensures that their own living quarters aren't flooded. Consequently, the workers' own innocent children are about to drown by the thousands. Only too late do the workers realise what they have done, and they are powerless to save them. The factory owners' son saves the children in the nick of time, and subsequently brings together the owner and the worker and reestablishes the status quo ante. Revolution has been safely averted, and the workers recognize their need for adult supervision.

I don't know of any film that is a more effective anti-socialist political statement than Metropolis. Strangely this seems to be lost on our day's audiences -- I have watched this film during a street a festival in a solidly arty/left-wing/indy-everything Canadian neighbourhood, and the audience was enthusiastic.

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[pfaffa]

It was also anti-capitalist too, the message is about the inherent flaws in both systems

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[Anonymous Coward]

Later, a colorized version came out with a modern Heavy Metal score. I didn't care for it at all.

Actually, at the time the movie was made is was common for every scene to be displayed on celluloid of a different tint.

However, that meant that every copy would have to be spliced again which was time consuming and expensive, so eventually all copies ended up on untinted celluloid.
(Except for the 80s music) the visual style of the Moroder version is closer to the original release than any black and white copy of it.

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[quitte]

I read somewhere that Adolf Hitler was really into Metropolis, and that he held it up as an example that all filmmakers should strive for. Food for thought.

That's not food for thought, it just makes you and now me loose the argument by Godwin's law.

Just because Hitler did/liked/said/wrote something doesn't automatically attach a moral value to that something.

Hitler ate food. makes you think, doesn't it?

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[GWBasic]

This is the Giorgio Moroder version

Working link: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002380/. (The original link is only for paying members of IMDB.)

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[westlake]

Hitler and Goebbels personally sought out Lang to ask him to make films for the government, essentially to take the job eventually given the Leni Riefenstahl. Lang caught the first boat out of the country; he could see that it'd be impossible to work outside of the government in the years to come

Fritz Lang's credits - simply as a director - are amazing.

Here you'll find the archetypes of Science Fiction - The Spy Thriller - The Technicolor Western - Film Noir

1927 Metropolis
1928 The Spy
1929 Rocket to the Moon
1931 M
1941 Western Union
1941 Man Hunt
1952 Rancho Notorius
1953 The Big Heat
1956 While The City Sleeps

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[Anonymous Coward]

I was lucky enough to see this in college with a live score performed by the Alloy Orchestra. Definitely not the original, but a great match for the film.

They really should release a RiffTrax-like version so everyone can enjoy it.

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[Ian Alexander]

Hitler was also a vegetarian and wanted to outlaw smoking. Food for thought.

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[driftingwalrus]

Hitler was a vegetarian, and didn't drink. Food for thought as well! :p

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[Anonymous Coward]

While Fritz Lang didn't flee Germany the very day of his meeting with Goebbels, when he was offered the chance to become 'official' filmmaker for the Third Reich, his half-Jewishness was not an issue for the Nazis, with Goebbels apparently saying that "we decide who is Jewish and who is not"

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[Elektroschock]

The author of the film T. Harbou was right wing. The twenties are difficult and Berlin was a melting pot of modernism.

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[STrinity]

I read somewhere that Adolf Hitler was really into Metropolis, and that he held it up as an example that all filmmakers should strive for. Food for thought.

And he offered a job to Lang as head of film production for all Germany, at which point Lang bought a ticket to France and then Hollywood. Just because a creep likes a film doesn't mean the guy who made the film is a creep.

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[STrinity]

Fritz Lang was Catholic, though he had some Jewish blood. Hitler claimed that Jewish ancestry was the same as being a Jew, but he wasn't beyond making exceptions for people that were useful to him. If Lang had agreed to make propaganda films, it's likely his ancestry would've been overlooked.

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[piltdownman84]

I took a class on Fritz Lang when I went to University, and if I remember correctly it was Joseph Gerbils who was Fritz Lang's big fan. There are many 'untrue' stories about Lang and the Nazi party circulating though so who knows what is true. One untrue story is that Gerbils offered Lang a high ranking job in the Nazi party, but he turned it down and fled without any of his fortune during the night to France. In truth he lived in Germany for five months after this meeting was said to happen, and brought all his possessions, including a 20k volume library, with him when he did leave.

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[Peter H.S.]

Fritz Lang was Catholic, though he had some Jewish blood. Hitler claimed that Jewish ancestry was the same as being a Jew, but he wasn't beyond making exceptions for people that were useful to him. If Lang had agreed to make propaganda films, it's likely his ancestry would've been overlooked.

First of all, I really do think that the OP is wrong about Hitler liking Metropolis. It is so out of character for Hitler, and it is likely that the OP confuses Hitler with Goebbels. While the Goebbels story is probably untrue, it is not completely out of character that a more intellectual nazi like Goebbels could appreciate Metropolis. A little googling seems to confirm my suspicion. The only Hitler-Lang connection I can find is the allegation that Hitler liked Langs filmatization of the "Die Niebelungen" which I find much more plausible.

Regarding whether Langs Jewish ancestry would have hindered a career as a loyal propagandafilm maker for the regime, I really do think the answer is yes. I know the regime tolerated some "mischlinge" like E. Milch from the Luftwaffe, but they where few. It is also known that Hitler had lists compiled of these mischlinge so they could be dealt with after the war was over- (See B.M. Rigg).

--
Regards

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[billstewart]

Hitler wasn't a vegetarian because of ethics about killing animals or the ecological effects of grain-fed meat - he was a vegetarian because he had trouble digesting meat and it gave him gas. He'd make exceptions if he was in the mood for dead flesh.

Hitler was also an unsuccessful painter, so if you haven't filled your Godwin's Law quota for the day, do you know who else was an unsuccessful painter?....

Re:Metropolis was distributed with a piano score

[kalirion]

I read somewhere that Adolf Hitler was really into Metropolis, and that he held it up as an example that all filmmakers should strive for. Food for thought.

I read somewhere that Joseph Stalin thought sunrises were beautiful. Food for thought.

Rock Opera a bad idea that keeps going.

[dalek_killer]

Gee this means that they are going to have to add more music to the rock sound track that was put out in the 80's.

Torrent please

[fyoder]

Argh. I want to see this now, but according to the article:

Due to the poor condition of the film stock, it was too early to say how long restoration would take, Possmann said.

"It's taken several years with similar films," he added.

I guess there are some things you can't just download. Not for awhile anyway.

Re:Torrent please

[prelelat]

discovered the canisters containing them earlier this year and brought a DVD of the contents to Germany for analysis.

Apperently they made a dvd of the movie to send to germany for analysis, I suspect that was just a copy of the movie onto the dvd that could show up on the internet. The Restored version will have all the deterioration removed and discoloration(if there is any) as well as some artifacts.

I'm hoping they release a dvd of the un restored copy, or at least it doesn't take 7 years to clean it up.

Re:Torrent please

[ximenes]

Kino has already stated that they intend to include this footage on their new DVD/BluRay release of the movie in 2009. However, its not totally clear yet if it will be incorporated into the film or as a supplement.

Re:Torrent please

[prelelat]

Just so you know apparently it will be out next year http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents but I hope it will be spilled on the net soon.

Re:Torrent please

[Eudial]

Bah. It's already been YouTubed: here.

Rick Astley was in Metropolis? Man, that guy is EVERYWHERE!

Re:Torrent please

[TheoMurpse]

The modding down was soooooo worth it.

Re:Torrent please

[xtracto]

hey kid, you I think you clicked the wrong link, this is not digg.

fleshes out secondary characters?

[p_quarles]

Given how painfully bad the characterizations in the extant footage are, I can't imagine more minutes of "fleshing out secondary characters" would make it any better. The movie is amazing for its cinematographic innovations, not for its plot or characters. If the restored footage only offers the latter, it will be primarily of academic interest (and I say that as an academic).

Re:fleshes out secondary characters?

[MightyMartian]

Metropolis is, to my mind, like 2001: A Space Odyssey or Mon Oncle, they were primarily visual films. As critics have often pointed out, the latter are, for all intents and purposes, silent films, so I think they fit well with Metropolis.

I don't think anyone should watch Metropolis looking for a plot line. It's not a story in that sense. It's an impressive visual accomplishment, one of the first great special effects films. It's also important because it has so inhabited the imaginations later generations of filmmakers that it's dystopian vision of the future is overwhelmingly invoked by those making futuristic films. Whatever you think of the film, it must certainly rank as being one of the most influential films in history.

Re:fleshes out secondary characters?

[STrinity]

Which version have you seen? The film was completely rewritten when it premiered in the US, with a simplistic capital vs labor plot and 90 minute run time, which is what many DVDs are based upon. The two hour version on the Kino disc is much more complex and has better characterization.

Hitler wore khakis.

[johnny cashed]

Food for thought...

Re:Hitler wore khakis.

[Anonymous Coward]

And to add your point against the GP he was a non smoking vegetarian. So that food better involve no animals.

Everything an evil man does or likes is not necessarily evil.

Modern footages are lost forever

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks to the advances of DRM, modern studios can never recover lost revenues associated with today's lost movie footages, which happened during the recent Hollywood studio fire[1].

[1] http://www.cbc.ca/arts/film/story/2008/06/01/universal-fire.html

Metropolis is really good

[fermion]

I really wish the silent film shown more. It really forced the creative team to utilize what is special about film, i.e. the images, rather than make a movie that is radio with images. Nothing wrong with the later, I actually prefer good dialoque to pretty picture, but have great respect for movies that have both good writing and good cinematography. Action does not hurt either.

Metropolis has action, it is what I would consider the original speculative fiction flick. The original action flick would, I think, be Zorro. Both have plots are driven by sequential credibly related events. Character are stylized, but that is what happens in a yarn. This is kind of different from movies that just degenerate into sequences of special effects driven by some arbitrary plot device. This, in my mind, is really p0rn. Again, not bad, but not film. For instance, I saw the preview to Journey to the Center of the Earth. It seemed to be this kind of random movie. Eye candy.

I am glad the found an original cut of Metropolis, and hope they release it on DVD at some point in the near future. Hopefully it will show up for rental. Highly recommended. For those who can't wait, the current release is on DVD.

Re:Metropolis is really good

[GleeBot]

For instance, I saw the preview to Journey to the Center of the Earth. It seemed to be this kind of random movie.

To be fair, that's a lot like how the original Verne book plays out, too.

Re:Metropolis is really good

[KDR_11k]

It really forced the creative team to utilize what is special about film, i.e. the images, rather than make a movie that is radio with images.

That's what all the film critics said until they saw M.

So exactly how long is it?

[nfk]

A little clarification would be good. IMDB shows lots of different runtimes, depending on the release. I watched the German version a few years ago, and I'm pretty sure it was longer than 2 1/2 hours (I even slept a bit through it, even though I loved the movie). IMDB says that version is 210 minutes long. So is it just because of playing speed, or are there differences between the versions? Has anyone else watched any of the versions referenced in IMDB?

Re:So exactly how long is it?

[ximenes]

The additional footage hasn't been seen by anyone in my lifetime, which is why this discovery is such a big deal.

Its possible that you saw one of the longer versions of the film, as it has had several major restorations over the years after new stock is found. Some of these attempt to pad out the missing scenes with still production photos.

Then there is the question of which intertitles were used. If they were in English, they aren't the original ones, and thus they might be on screen for a different amount of time (or there could be more or less of them than in German).

There is also the problem of the correct speed to play this film back at. While modern films are standardized at 24fps, films of this era were generally not intended to be played at that speed. Although the 'standard' silent speed is 16fps, this could actually vary between films. I've even seen some talk that Metropolis was designed to take advantage of hand cranking and thus was intended to have a variable frame rate at different parts.

Depending on what speed your projectionist used, the movie's runtime could vary wildly.

Re:So exactly how long is it?

[nfk]

The intertitles were in German, but now that you mention it, I seem to recall some bits with still photos.

Re:So exactly how long is it?

[Elektroschock]

Yes, but it speed was also not fixed when the film was shown. Which makes it very interesting. what is the "original" speed? How to present it right.

The missing stuff is like a tutenchamun discovery. I hope they will rebuild the original cinema where the film was shown first.

Re:So exactly how long is it?

[canavan]

The film length for those old movies is usually not given in hours or seconds, but meters. The original 1927 release or metropolis was 4198m, the short version 3241m, and the restored version from 2001 that's usually found on DVDs was 3341m.

Since DVDs outside the US and Japan run at 25fps instead of 24fps, there's still another source of difference in running time.

It's going to take a lot of cleanup.

[Animats]

There are a few stills on line. The film is badly streaked. It's going to take a lot of cleanup.

Worse, when you run bad old film through modern video compression, the results are awful, as vast amounts of the bandwidth are sucked up following the artifacts.

The real test of authenticity

[keith134]

So has it made it to bittorrent yet?

Hitler ate bread

[woot account]

Food for eating...

Re:Hitler ate bread

[MarkRose]

Om nom nom nom nomtropolis?

Re:Hitler ate bread

[SeaFox]

Thank you. I know you wont get modded up, but thanks for that.

Marvellous news

[owlnation]

This is excellent! Any chance to see more of Walter Ruttmann's excellent cinematography is greatly appreciated.

For those that haven't, check out "Berlin: Die Symphonie der Großstadt" It's public domain and widely available in pieces on YouTube. (though obviously at shitty YouTube quality). It's an amazing movie for its time, incredible shots in it.

I Wonder

[FurtiveGlancer]

If there's a viable Superman and Lois Lane joke with this Metropolis? Naaaaa.

Re:I Wonder

[RDW]

Kim Newman gets a lot of mileage out of this joke in a (rather good) short story (warnings: link contains spoilers):

http://blaklion.best.vwh.net/ubermensch.html

A voyage into zzz

[Anonymous Coward]

On related news the directors cut of 2001 was redrawn earlier this day since it left viewers in a state of coma.

Can we donwload?

[leomekenkamp]

It is a bit sad that this is one of the only few movies we can freely share that can give us insight of how society has been looked at from the past and that may even have formed our society. I mean, is the money that goes to all the copyright holders (who had relatively little to do in the creative process of the film, and creativity is important in arts) in a lot of other films really so important that we should not be able to freely share films our parents saw so many years ago?

Why are 30 year old films still protected by copyright? Is there any reason to think that if one company did not make enough money of one single work in 30 years in this fast-pace global market, things will look different after those 30 years? IMHO, no. Great films like Langs Metropolis should, after a time a lot shorter than 70 years, be more freely shared throughout civilization, for the benefit of all, and not for the 2% extra revenue for a few companies.

I downloaded Metropolis from the Pirate Bay. It was a version that was made to be as close to the original as possible, even with markers where it was cut because else the story would be "to difficult" for the viewers. I wish a lot more films would be legally obtainable that way.

Re:Can we donwload?

[John Hasler]

A major function of insanely long copyrights is to prevent material from entering the public domain soon enough to compete with newly-released stuff. If the Dr. No movie was in the public domain where it belongs you might download and watch it instead of spending $20 on the latest piece of crap.

Re:Can we donwload?

[ximenes]

Metropolis was in the public domain, but became copyrighted again in 1998.

However, keep in mind that even if the original film itself were in the public domain today, acquiring a copy of this would be quite difficult. The restored versions are covered under separate copyright, as is the music. Since this particular film has had a lot of (positive) restoration work performed, the value of having its original pre-restoration version in the public domain is pretty minor.

Re:Can we donwload?

[John Hasler]

Much, perhaps all, of the restoration work may not be covered by copyright in the US.

Re:Can we donwload?

[Elektroschock]

Isn't it covered by German German laws that were not prolonged? I guess you will also find some declaration that invalidated german copyright with the beginning of the WWII.

In my opinion restoration is a public benefit activity. what is it worth if the film is not made available for free afterwards.

Re:Can we donwload?

[KDR_11k]

In my opinion restoration is a public benefit activity. what is it worth if the film is not made available for free afterwards.

Who pays for the restoration?

Re:Can we donwload?

[STrinity]

Keep in mind, though, that the companies that release public domain films rarely have access to the original negatives, which are necessary for high quality transfers, and often have to rely on scratched up 16mm copies. So even if Dr. No were in the public domain, the official MGM release would be preferable to any other.

Re:Can we donwload?

[Elektroschock]

Well this is a cultural heritage task, no money making exercise.

Re:Can we donwload?

[oddtom]

Silent film restorations run in the vicinity of $30,000 or more, depending upon the state of the silver nitrate stock and general interest of the film itself. Companies such as Kino or Masters of Cinema take a substantial risk, as the intended market is extremely niche and the necessary higher cost for an "old" film on DVD may dissuade all but affecianados.

Given the investment, I can see why they want to copyright the restoration. Nothing stops anyone, however, from ponying up the funds to access, copy, and restore the original preserved stock and not copyrighting it and placing it in public--aside from pragmatism, I suppose.

If I ever win the lottery, I'll do it.

Re:Can we donwload?

[Elektroschock]

It's preservation of national cultural heritage, so clearly a matter where the government can drop some 10 millions pocket money. You can

Sign me up for YASE (yet another special edition)

[Kazoo the Clown]

I bought the recently restored version which is far better quality than what was available before, and saw that one locally as well when they came to town to talk about the restoration-- but I'll no doubt be buying a new longer restored version as well when it comes out. Incredibly great movie, and the new restoration provided a far higher quality picture than I'd ever seen. There are so many memorable scenes in the movie it's hard to say what's my favorite, but what first comes to mind is robot-Maria's dance where the eyes are superimposed...

That said, the first time I saw it was at the old Fox Venice theater in the 1970s, and the soundtrack it had was a very interesting Jazz score that I really liked-- the beginning portion where the workers are entering the elevators like lemmings had this piano part that alternated between two low notes and was very stark-- matched the film perfectly I thought. Since then I've always been looking for a copy of it with that soundtrack, but to no avail-- I bought a couple of VHS copies when they were first available, and all were poor quality picture with either an ancient classical track or something else-- when the Giorgio Moroder version came out in the '80s, that's all you could find anywhere, so it really dashed my hopes of finding the obscure jazz version I first saw... Oh well, that's the breaks-- someone obviously spent some time on the version I first remember, but I guess I'll never know who now, and of course it wouldn't match the new lengths of the film since then anyhow...

Re:Sign me up for YASE (yet another special editio

[domatic]

My wife and I love that jazz soundtrack as well. We have a copy with that soundtrack on VHS but the print is far from remastered......

3 1/2 hrs *not* 2 1/2 hrs

[Alomex]

From the AP wire.

Soon after its initial release at the height of Germany's Weimar Republic, distributors cut Lang's three-and-a-half-hour masterpiece into the shorter version since viewed by millions worldwide.

But a private collector carried an original version to Argentina in 1928, where it has stayed, Felix-Didier said.

The fact that there was once a longer version is legend among film buffs.

They weren't prudes in the 20's...

[Joce640k]

Even Movies like "Wings" (1927) have totally gratuitous topless scenes in them.

American Prudism came later.

Re:They weren't prudes in the 20's...

[mazarin5]

It's not so much that people weren't prudes in the 20s, they very much were. It's just that a large portion of the populace wasn't, and these are a lot of the same people who were involved in and around films. People in art and theater, and wealthy Californians and New Yorkers. This is the same era of jazz nightclubs, a miniature sexual revolution, early feminism, and prohibition.

It's not that there were no prudes, but that early films were so bad by popular standards, that it led to an industrial whitewashing that lasted decades.

Re:They weren't prudes in the 20's...

[niktemadur]

American Prudism came later.

Yep, but not much later. The official name was The Hays Code, and was enacted in 1930.

Re:Fritz Lang's Metropolis - the banned Director's

[infonography]

The reason they banned it is it had Jar Jar Binks in it.

I guess Lucas wasn't as original as we though.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CPzDjaA03ts

Re:Hitler wore khakis and watersports

[Anonymous Coward]

Hitler liked for his niece to squat and pee on his face, but I'm not certain what Der Fuhrer's tastes in anything have to do with the film . . .

Not that your typical /.'er wouldn't like to play with the freaky niece, but who really cares.

Hey - - there's an idea for a poll.

Damn!!!!

[WCVanHorne]

...now I have to buy yet another version!!!

Irony

[Ranger]

Interesting that something German was found hiding in Argentina.

I love reverse psychology!

[ActusReus]

Something cracks me up about modding a post "5, Insightful" when the title clearly states, "I have nothing insightful to add".

Re:I love reverse psychology!

[cptnapalm]

As you will notice, the poster was correct. There was nothing insightful about the post.

Re:Hitler wore khakis and watersports

[grub]

Hitler liked for his niece to squat and pee on his face

Tsk tsk, insulting Hitler's good name like that.

Re:Hitler wore khakis and watersports

[Hortense Yaya]

I always wondered why no one names their children Adolph anymore.

Re:Sign me up for YASE (yet another special editio

[Kazoo the Clown]

Are there any credits on the soundtrack? I'd sure like to know who did it, and which VHS release you found it on...

Been a long time since I saw it.

[objekt]

Over 80 years!

Will be interesting to see if it's as good as I remember it ;-)

Renoir?

[hicksw]

I assume you speak of Jean Renoir's "La Règle du Jeu" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031885/).

You might want to try his "Grand Illusion" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028950/).
It is a bit of an anti-war and class-bashing polemic, but the interaction of the two officers is fascinating.

Re:Sign me up for YASE (yet another special editio

[domatic]

I'd have to dig it out of the closet to be sure but I think we recorded it from cable.

I don't think it will make it any better

[JumperCable]

Sorry but it isn't that great.

Is this the "big plan" for movie companies?

[Hektor_Troy]

Get copyright extended to such ridiculous lenghts, that once a movie is out of copyright, the only way to see it again is a restored version, which is then covered by copyright again?

Re:Is this the "big plan" for movie companies?

[triso]

Get copyright extended to such ridiculous lenghts, that once a movie is out of copyright, the only way to see it again is a restored version, which is then covered by copyright again?

It is for Disney.