One Week Only! Newly Restored!
The Most Complete Version Ever!
Starts Friday, June 11 at the Chez Artiste Theatre
Fritz Lang's science fiction masterpiece has been restored to its most complete version ever, with 25 minutes of lost footage not seen since the film’s debut in 1927. Seldom has the rediscovery of a cache of lost footage ignited such widespread curiosity as did the announcement, in July 2008, that an essentially complete copy of Fritz Lang's Metropolis had been found. When it was first screened in Berlin on January 10, 1927, the sci-fi epic ran an estimated 153 minutes. After its premiere engagement, in an effort to maximize the film's commercial potential, the film's distributors drastically shortened Metropolis, which had been a major disappointment at the box office. By the time it debuted in the states later that year, the film ran approximately 90 minutes. Metropolis went on to become one of the cornerstones of science fiction cinema, foreshadowing Blade Runner and The Matrix to name just two recent examples. Testament to its enduring popularity, the film has undergone numerous restorations in the intervening decades, but none have been as celebrated as this new 147-minute version, which also features Gottfried Huppertz’s magnificent original score.
