Metropolis (1927)

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Thea von Harbou (screenplay)
Thea von Harbou (novel)
(more)

Release Date:

13 March 1927 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Fritz Lang's 1927 Masterpiece Now With 25 Minutes of Lost Footage (2010 re-release)

Plot:

In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.

Plot Keywords:

Worker | Children | Future | Labor | Inventor

Awards:

3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Alfred Abel	...	Joh Fredersen
Gustav Fröhlich	...	Freder - Joh Fredersen's Son
Rudolf Klein-Rogge	...	C.A. Rotwang - the Inventor
Fritz Rasp	...	The Thin Man
Theodor Loos	...	Josaphat
Erwin Biswanger	...	11811 - Georgy
Heinrich George	...	Grot - the Guardian of the Heart Machine
Brigitte Helm	...	The Creative Man / The Machine Man / Death / The Seven Deadly Sins / Maria
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gisele Eve Schittenhelm
Fritz Alberti	...	Creative Human - Man who Convinces Babel (uncredited)
Grete Berger	...	Working Woman (uncredited)
Olly Boeheim	...	Working Woman (uncredited)
Max Dietze	...	Working Man (uncredited)
Ellen Frey	...	Working Woman (uncredited)
Beatrice Garga	...	Woman of Eternal Gardens (uncredited)
Heinrich Gotho	...	Master of Ceremonies (uncredited)
Dolly Grey	...	Working Woman (uncredited)
Anny Hintze	...	Woman of Eternal Gardens (uncredited)
Georg John	...	Working Man Who Causes Explosion of M-Machine (uncredited)
Walter Kuehle	...	Working Man (uncredited)
Margarete Lanner	...	Lady in Car / Woman of Eternal Gardens (uncredited)
Rose Lichtenstein	...	Working Woman (uncredited)
Hanns Leo Reich	...	Marinus (uncredited)
Arthur Reinhardt	...	Working Man (uncredited)
Curt Siodmak	...	Working Man (uncredited)
Henrietta Siodmak	...	Working Woman (uncredited)
Olaf Storm	...	Jan (uncredited)
Erwin Vater	...	Working Man (uncredited)
Rolf von Goth	...	Son in Eternal Gardens (uncredited)
Helen von Münchofen	...	Woman of Eternal Gardens (uncredited)
Helene Weigel	...	Working Woman (uncredited)
Hilde Woitscheff	...	Woman of Eternal Gardens (uncredited)

Directed by
Fritz Lang

Writing credits
Thea von Harbou		(screenplay)
Thea von Harbou		(novel)
Fritz Lang		screenplay (uncredited)

Produced by
Giorgio Moroder	....	producer (1984 restoration)
Erich Pommer	....	producer

Original Music by
Gottfried Huppertz
Abel Korzeniowski		(2004)
Giorgio Moroder		(1984)
Peter Osborne		(1998)
Bernd Schultheis
Benjamin Speed		(2005/2011)
Wetfish		(1999)

Cinematography by
Karl Freund
Günther Rittau
Walter Ruttmann

Art Direction by
Otto Hunte
Erich Kettelhut
Karl Vollbrecht

Costume Design by
Aenne Willkomm

Art Department
Otto Hunte	....	set designer
Erich Kettelhut	....	set designer
Walter Schulze-Mittendorff	....	sculptor (as Walter Schultze-Mittendorf)
Karl Vollbrecht	....	set designer
Edgar G. Ulmer	....	set designer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Ernst Kunstmann	....	special effects
Konstantin Irmen-Tschet	....	special photographic effects sequences (uncredited)
Erich Kettelhut	....	trick photography (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Jeff Matakovich	....	restoration
Eugen Schüfftan	....	special visual effects
Erich Kettelhut	....	painting effects (uncredited)
Ernst Kunstmann	....	assistant compositing effects artist (uncredited)
Willy Muller	....	model maker (uncredited)
Hugo O. Schulze	....	assistant trick photography (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Karl Freund	....	camera operator
Günther Rittau	....	camera operator (as Gunther Rittau)
Robert Baberske	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Horst von Harbou	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Hermann I. Kaufmann	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Music Department
Berndt Heller	....	conductor: original score: restoration
Berndt Heller	....	score reconstruction: original score: restoration
Otto Harzner	....	conductor: original score (uncredited)
Frank Strobel	....	conductor (uncredited)
Frank Strobel	....	restoration (uncredited)

Other crew
Robert Gray	....	English translation: restoration, Kinograph
Martin Koerber	....	restoration director: Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Foundation
Enno Patalas	....	restoration director
Rudi George	....	key production assistant (uncredited)
Erich Holder	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Erich Kettelhut	....	technical consultant (uncredited)
Gustav Püttjer	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Hans Taussig	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Thanks
Dieter Kosslick	....	special thanks (2010 restoration)
Rusty Lemorande	....	special thanks (1984 restoration)

Production Companies

• Universum Film (UFA)

Distributors

• Paramount-Ufa-Metro-Verleihbetriebe GmbH (Parufamet) (1927) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Universum Film (UFA) (1927) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1928) (USA) (theatrical)
• Hollywood Home Theatre (1980) (USA) (VHS)
• Metropol-Filmverleih (1984) (West Germany) (theatrical) (re-release) (Moroder short version)
• GoodTimes Home Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Vestron Video (1985) (West Germany) (VHS) (Moroder short version)
• Vestron Video (1985) (USA) (VHS) (1984 version)
• Vestron Video (1985) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Lax Video S.A. (1986) (Spain) (VHS) (1984 version)
• Vestron Video International (1986) (Belgium) (video)
• Divisa Ediciones (1995) (Spain) (VHS)
• Navarre Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Divisa Home Video (2003) (Spain) (DVD)
• Eureka Entertainment (2003) (UK) (DVD)
• Kino International (2003) (USA) (DVD) (digitally restored version)
• Universum Film (UFA) (2003) (Germany) (DVD) (DeLuxe Edition)
• Delta Expedition (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Kino Video (2004) (USA) (DVD) (on "Fritz Lang Epic Collection")
• Madman Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (USA) (video)
• Reel Media International (2005) (USA) (TV)
• SBP (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
• SBP (2005) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Kinokuniya (2006) (Japan) (DVD)
• Kino Lorber Films (2011) (USA) (theatrical)
• Wardour Films (1927) (UK) (theatrical)
• Atlantic Film (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Cable Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Divisa Home Video (2010) (Spain) (DVD) (2010 new version)
• Forward (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• Killiam Collection (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Kino Lorber Films (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Kino Lorber (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray)
• Kino Video (2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Kino Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• LS Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD) (two-disc special edition)
• Living Colour Entertainment (2010) (Netherlands) (DVD) (restored version) (two-disc special edition)
• MK2 Éditions (2004) (France) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (USA) (all media)
• Stokey Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Video Yesteryear (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Vivarto (2008) (Poland) (all media)

Other Companies

• Alpha-Omega Digital  digital restoration (as ALPHA-OMEGA, Munich)
• August Scherl Verlag  original book publisher
• Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv Koblenz  film processing: restoration (as Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Berlin / Koblenz)
• Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv Koblenz  restoration carried out by (as Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Berlin)
• Centrimage  digital restoration (as centrimage, Paris)
• Cinémathèque Française  restoration contributor (as Cinémathèque Française, Paris)
• Deutsches Filminstitut (DIF)  restoration carried out together with (member of the Association of Cinematheques) (as Deutsches Filminstitut - DIF, Frankfurt am Main / Wiesbaden)
• Deutsches Filmmuseum Frankfurt  restoration carried out together with (member of the Association of Cinematheques) (as Deutsches Filmmuseum, Frankfurt am Main)
• Filmmuseum Berlin  restoration carried out together with (member of the Association of Cinematheques) (as Filmmuseum Berlin - Deutsche Kinemathek, Berlin)
• Filmmuseum Düsseldorf  restoration carried out together with (member of the Association of Cinematheques) (as Filmmuseum der Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf)
• Filmmuseum Munich  restoration carried out together with (as Filmmuseum im Stadtmuseum Munich)
• Fondazione Cineteca Italiana  restoration contributor (as Fondazione Cineteca Italiana, Milan)
• Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung  restoration carried out by (as Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Foundation, Wiesbaden)
• George Eastman House  restoration contributor (as George Eastman House, Rochester)
• Gosfilmofond  restoration contributor (as Gosfilmofond, Moscow)
• Kinograph Inc.  English translation: restoration (as Kinograph, Montréal)
• LISTO Videofilm  digital restoration: grading, film recording and digital cinema mastering (2010) (digitally restored version)
• Modegeschaft Knitze  costume fitting
• Museum of Modern Art, The (MoMA)  restoration contributor (as The Museum of Modern Art, New York)
• National Film and Television Archive  restoration contributor (as National Film and Television Archive, London)
• Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken  original score performed by: restoration
• Schuhgeschäft Breitspecher  men's shoes
• Schuhgeschäft Reiss  women's shoes
• Screensound Australia  restoration contributor (as Screensound Australia, Canberra)
• Studio Babelsberg  sound stages
• Transit Film  world sales: restoration (as Transit Film GmbH, Munich)
• TrickWilk, Berlin  intertitles: restoration (as trickWILK, Berlin)
• Werkstätten der UFA  costumes

Also Known As:

"The Complete Metropolis" - International (English title) (restored version)

Runtime:

153 min | Germany:210 min (premiere cut) | Germany:93 min (re-release version) | USA:114 min (25 fps) (1927 cut version) | USA:123 min (2002 Murnau Foundation 75th aniversary restored version) | 119 min (DVD edition) (2002 Murnau Foundation 75th aniversary restored version) | 80 min (Giorgio Moroder version) | 145 min (2010 restored version)

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White (tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (1995 restored version) | Silent (original release)

Certification:

Germany:12 (video rating) (re-release) | West Germany:16 (theatrical re-release) (1962) | Germany:18 (original rating) (1927) | Germany:o.Al. (DVD re-rating) | Iceland:L | Netherlands:12 (DVD rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:G | Chile:TE | Norway:12 (1986) | Peru:PT | Portugal:17 (original rating) | Portugal:M/6 (DVD rating) | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) | Spain:T (DVD rating) | Sweden:11 (re-release) | Sweden:15 (original rating) | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Universum Film (UFA)

Trivia:

The latest cut of the film, incorporating the extra material from the Argentinian print, premiered at the Berlinale Festival in Berlin on 12th February 2010. It utilises the original Gottfried Huppertz score.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Freder first sees the statues of the Seven Deadly Sins, there is almost imperceptible movement by the actors playing some of them, notably 'Eitelkeit'.

Quotes:

Maria:There can be no understanding between the hand and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Urusei yatsura: I Want a Bride! The Fox's Love Adventure! (#9.9)" (1985)

Soundtrack:

Cage of Freedom

Restored Kino DVD changed my view of this film.

I doubt that I'd ever seen anything resembling a "complete" version of METROPOLIS before, though certain of its scenes were familiar to me, if only as used and abused in such films as Diane Keaton's HEAVEN (1987). In any case, whatever I had seen before had nothing like the clarity and beauty of the Kino restoration. I expected to be distracted by the restoration's technique of concise written descriptions of missing sequences, but the narrative coherence that these provided was definitely worth it. As "exaggerated" as the style of acting seems by contemporary standards, some performances, such as the Master of the city, are amazingly nuanced and layered, and Brigitte Helm is stunning as both Maria and her evil clone. The meticulous design of the film, the unerring camera placement and Lang's muscular choreography of the crowd scenes are breathtaking. I'd thought of METROPOLIS as a curiosity ("important" = "dull") but now I've come to appreciate it as the seminal work it has always been.