"Maybe you’ve heard the buzz about Metropolis," reads a newsletter from the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. "The incredible discovery of long-lost footage from director Fritz Lang’s masterpiece. Found in a vault in Buenos Aires, the complete film has been reconstructed and restored by the F.W. Murnau Foundation." The restored 1927 silent classic starring Alfred Abel, Brigitte Helm, and Gustav Fröhlich had its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on February 12.
Come next July, SFSFF will screen the restored version as part of its 15th anniversary festival. The screening will be accompanied by the Alloy Orchestra.
Back to Metropolis at the Berlin Film Festival: The sold-out screening at the Friedrichstadt Palace was beamed simultaneously to about 2,000 fans at the snowy Brandenburg Gate. The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra provided live musical accompaniment for the film.
"The extra footage (totalling 30 minutes) had been transferred to 16mm so the new scenes could not be restored to the same aspect ratio of the 35mm original," explains Kaleem Aftab in The Independent. "Consequently, in the latest restored version there is a slight resizing of the picture when the newly inserted scenes are shown and they are marked with black lines, in contrast to the pristine restoration of 35mm footage. This does not detract from the overall film. Holes in the story have been plugged and the added footage rachets up the tension dramatically. There are far more reaction shots throughout, whole new sequences and a fresh pacing which emphasises the feeling of the perils to come."
Photos: Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung / Museo del Cine