METROPOLIS [DVD] [RESTORED AUTHORIZED EDITION (2002)]

Description: Additional Information from InnerSleeve Product Description There are so many different editions of Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) in circulation that audiences could be forgiven for being confused as to which one is preferable -- until Kino International released this DVD. After that, there is no real "competition," only cheaper, infinitely poorer-quality versions of Metropolis out there, which are no bargain, for reasons you'll see below. Kino's release starts out working from the fullest, finest restoration of the movie ever attempted (without making the mistakes that were made on the Giorgio Moroder version), which was done jointly by the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, the Munich Filmmuseum, and the Deutsches Filminstitut in Wiesbaden. The current restoration, utilized by Kino, avails itself of every source of film and all information available about the complete plot and the missing scenes and intertitles -- it also restores the original takes of scenes approved by Lang for use, where the latter had been replaced by outtakes in a later stopgap edition of the negative. Metropolis is still not complete, and probably never will be; the chances of the lost quarter of the movie -- nearly 30 minutes of visuals -- ever turning up after more than 75 years are next to nonexistent. But this is the best presentation Metropolis has ever had in America, or virtually anywhere since the original run of the film in early 1927 Germany. The movie looks new, like it could have been shot yesterday -- in black-and-white, of course, but cleaner and sharper than one would expect of a silent movie (especially this oft-abused title), with skin textures and even the weave in the fabrics of people's clothing discernible. Every frame has seemingly been cleaned up, and the contrast and density of the image balanced, so that this 1927 movie glistens and shines like it was made 50 years later that it was. Projected at the proper speed, it's also a very serious and very dazzling movie, dramatically as well as visually. After a few minutes, one forgets that it is a silent movie. Oh, and it isn't silent, either -- the producers have restored Gottfried Huppertz's original 1926 orchestral score, which has the lushness and expressiveness of Richard Wagner's work and the gentle accessibility of Franz Schubert at his most genial, with elements of Bruckner, Liszt, and Schumann also evident. It makes a world of difference to see this movie with the score that Fritz Lang approved -- the one with which he intended it be shown. Indeed, the use of the proper intertitles, with corrected translations, and the restoration of the original plot elements (particularly the personal rivalry between Fredersen and Rotwang) are likely to make viewers feel as if they are watching Metropolis for the first time, even if they are familiar with the film. Everything described up to this point would make a disc worth owning, but Kino has also added a full-length commentary track by film historian by Enno Patalas. This isn't a wall-to-wall commentary -- it seems more like strung-together remarks than a full-on monologue discussion, and Patalas sometimes has a tendency to describe what we're seeing onscreen and tell us what we could deduce by watching closely -- but overall, he does provide some helpful observations. It is also refreshing to hear a commentary by someone who respects the printed word as well as the 35 mm print, for he provides a contrast between Lang's movie and Thea von Harbou's novel, which was filled with more symbolic language than even this restored cut of the movie contains. Patalas even mentions Thomas Pynchon's novel Gravity's Rainbow and its use of Metropolis as an image from German popular culture. This might not be the best film commentary anyone has done, but it will be a learning experience for a lot of film lovers and others. The supplements include the 43-minute featurette "The Metropolis Case" (a clever play on a Janacek opera title, +The Makropolis Case), which gives a nicely full history of German cinema of the 1920s and the expressionist movement. After an account of Lang's early career that encompasses interview material with the director, the featurette becomes a making-of account, complete with an analysis of how the special effects were devised (even the design of Brigitte Helm's robot costume). It even offers a blow-by-blow account of how the movie was altered for American release. The documentary is so charming and informative that it alone would justify much of the cost of the DVD -- one only wishes that it ran longer. Also present among the special features is a before-and-after account of the restoration of the movie, which constitutes a fairly amazing tale of a frightfully expensive process that has yielded, as we see throughout this disc, astonishing results. There are also extensive production stills, shots depicting scenes that were cut from the premiere version of the movie and which are still missing, architectural design sketches for the settings of the movie, and costume sketches from which the designers worked. Also included are more than a dozen extensive bios and filmographies on those in charge of the creative side of the movie's production; the only complaint about these is that Kino used a slightly too small font size for the filmographies, which makes the titles a bit difficult to read. Otherwise, this release is perfect, and a wonder -- all packaged in a multi-layered disc and triple-layer menu that's very easy to maneuver around. About InnerSleeve We offer unbeatable prices, quick shipping times and a wide selection of vinyl. Purchases come with a 30-day Satisfaction Guarantee (minus Shipping & Handling fees) on all unopened products. All items are from licensed Distributors. We do not deal with any Bootleg or Used items!

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End Time: 2024-12-22T20:15:01.000Z

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