I remember seeing the first clips of Fritz Lang's Metropolis on the national TV channel when I was around seven. I was too young to understand what it was that I saw, but the images of the Tower of Babel and of the maschinenmensch stayed with me for a long time. I finally saw it completely in my mid-teens, and I was exhilarated, in awe. It was sci-fi and dystopia and fairytales and wonder all wrapped in one inspiring movie. I cherished the experience, and I was in love with the movie.
Then I found out in the late autumn of 2008 that a 16 mm reduction negative of the original cut of the film, which runs over 210 minutes in length, had been discovered in the archives of the film museum Museo del Cine in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
I geeked out.
You see, the original version of the movie was universally panned when it premiered in 1927. Because of this, the film was cut down to 153 minutes for the German release, and even further down to 114 minutes for the US premiere. This meant that a lot of scenes were left out, scenes that were necessary for following the plot and understanding the characters and their motivations. Most copies of the original cut were discarded, and after all the decades - and one World War - the original cut was thought to be lost permanently.
That is, until the curious head of Museo del Cine, Paula Félix-Didier, decided to dig into the storage of the museum. The reels she found there were deemed to be the original cut, and a restoration project began in earnest.
Around the same time all this was announced and became public, Kino International - the company responsible for the 2002 restoration - announced that their 2009 release of Metropolis on BluRay and DVD would include the recently discovered scenes in their full restored glory1.
Now, it is the spring of 2009, and no exact release date has been announced. Still, there's still nine months left of the year, and I'm sitting on my hands, trying not to hound the message boards for any news on the new release. Kino International is keeping mum on this, for now, having only their 2002 restoration for sale at the moment. Still, they promised a new release, with the restored scenes, and I am waiting.
In the meanwhile, though, you can read more about the discovery of the original premiere cut of Metropolis here. And the 2002 restoration is a good buy and comforter. It staves off the worst cravings for the new release.
