The first time I saw Fritz Lang’s Metropolis was three years ago when a proposed remake was supposedly in the works. That remake hasn’t been heard from since, but this 1927 classic continues to make noise and the noise got louder in 2008 when 25 assumed-to-be-lost minutes were found at the Muso del Cino in Buenos Aires.
The news was massive as this was footage that hadn’t been seen since the film opened in 1927 and was thought to never be seen again. Now, not only can you see it, you can watch it in the highest form of home video entertainment available and Kino has done a fantastic job delivering the film as best as possible. But that isn’t to say this Blu-ray is perfect. In fact, outside of the film, it is a bit lacking.
First off, the film is presented in its “complete” version (some scenes still remain lost and are still described by intertitles). Originally I thought I may have a hard time picking out what footage was new from what I had seen in the past, but that is not the case. It’s entirely clear.
The new footage was found on a 16mm negative, which was reduced to this format from a 35mm print. The transfer is assumed to have been done in 1973 or ’74 by private collector Manuel Pena Rodriguez. For anyone that saw Inglourious Basterds you’ll understand what I mean when I say the transfer was done because the 35mm print was a highly dangerous nitrate print, and Rodriguez transferred it to 16mm acetate safety film. Unfortunately, this means the transfer was done to a lesser format, cropped and with it came all the damage from the 35mm print, which is pretty much irreversible.
This is to say, the new footage will appear smaller on your screen than the rest of the film and the damage to the footage was only able to be corrected to a certain extent. Don’t get me wrong, it is still entirely watchable, but it isn’t in the nearly pristine quality of the rest of the film, which, if I’m not mistaken, was last restored in 2001 and looks remarkable.
Where I have a problem is the fact the film is not able to also be played without the discovered footage. I don’t want this version because it’s better, but because it would be nice to have for comparison sake. If Fox can release Avatar in three different lengths on the new Collector’s Edition Blu-ray, I would think Kino could make it possible to watch the shortened version of the film as well as this new “complete” version on one disc. It isn’t additional information, just additional software coding.
Also, Kino missed a major opportunity here with the advancement in Blu-ray technology as evident by the nearly 55-minute documentary included on this disc. Inside the documentary we see still photos from scenes, some are extremely high quality looks at the newly found footage and others featuring Lang directing his cast that directly compare to the scene that was ultimately shot. These stills could have been utilized with a picture-in-picture feature that could have played along with the film. While this is a feature you traditionally see on studio films and probably costs more to produce, it almost feels like it’s necessary for this film and the possibilities missed don’t end there.
The picture-in-picture could have been best utilized by playing the known alternate shots of some scenes that crop up in different versions of Metropolis in existence. Such examples are shown in the documentary as American and German versions of the film are played side-by-side, showing different takes being used or the same take that was shot from a different angle with a second camera. These comparisons could have been shown using an in-movie feature where the comparing scene would be shown in a small picture box along with the scene in the film. Like I said, a MAJOR opportunity missed.
The documentary I’m referring to, however, is fantastic. It’s titled “Voyage to Metropolis” and it runs 54:42 minutes. You’ll learn facts such as the film was shot from May 1925 to August 1926. It was originally budgeted at 800,000 Reichsmark and ended up costing over 3,500,000 Reichsmark. Lang shot 620,000 meters of negatives and he had 1,300,000 meters of positive film developed.
The main focus of the doc is to follow its path from production, to release, to restoration and finally to this final “complete” product. Most interesting is watching how they pieced the new film together using an original censor card found in Stockholm as well as the film’s original musical score. The one area I wish the doc had touched upon more, or they should have included a secondary documentary, is a focus on the films and art Metropolis has inspired since its release.
“Voyage to Metropolis” opens with a look at Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, drawing a comparison to the architecture of Scott’s future and Lang’s Metropolis. It also shows snippets of Madonna’s music video “Express Yourself” as directed by David Fincher (watch to the right), a clear homage to Metropolis to the point it includes text directly lifted from the film. The art that has been inspired by Metropolis doesn’t end there, but the documentary does. I just wish there had been something more in this regard.
The only other feature included is a short 9:31 minute interview with Paula Felix-Didier, head of film museum Museo del Cine in Buenos Aires. Felix-Didier was the one that found the uncut version of the film and gives greater insight as to how she came across it in 2008, why it’s in the condition it’s in and shows us where it was found. It’s a solid interview, but a short one.
Overall, it’s nice to have the complete version of Metropolis available and Kino’s presentation is as good as you are going to get with an included DTS-HD Master 5.1 track featuring the Gottfried Huppertz score, which was performed by the Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, Berlin and conducted by Frank Strobel in 2010. Unfortunately the audio commentary by David Kalat and Jonathan Rosenbaum included on the UK’s Masters of Cinema edition is not available, nor is the 56-page booklet that edition includes, instead there is a six-page booklet with this release.
I feel Kino may be holding out for something bigger in the future, something of an Ultimate Edition, but for now Metropolis fanatics will have to settle for this, or wait it out. You decide.
