The Complete Metropolis
Friday June 11–Sunday June 20
Detroit Film Theatre
(Germany/1927/directed by Fritz Lang)
The Detroit Film Theatre’s summer season begins with one of the most important cinematic events in the DFT’s history: the complete restoration to date of German director Fritz Lang’s 1927 science-fiction classic, Metropolis. Lang’s visionary work of science fiction redefined the term “super-production,” with its thousands of extras, monstrous sets, and eye-popping special effects, including a cataclysmic, multitude-engulfing flood. This legendary work was previously seen as Lang conceived it only by the very earliest Berlin audiences (“positively overwhelming,” raved Variety after the 1927 premiere) — and then the cutting began, followed by decades of attempts at reconstruction. A 1984 version ran only 87 minutes, while the then-“definitive” 2002 reconstruction edged up the running time to 124 minutes. Finally, in 2008, the Museo del Cine in Buenos Aires came across a print that had been in an Argentinean private collection since 1928. At a private screening in Berlin, “the room got very quiet,” as the select audience witnessed over a thousand shots that were thought lost — bringing the running time to 153 minutes and virtually matching the original shooting script and musical cues. This astounding new version — after considerable restoration work on the well-worn archival print — has been combined with the visually superb 2002 restoration. Presented with the original 1927 orchestral score and projected in a high-definition format, audiences can, at long last, experience Lang’s original Metropolis as the director intended it to be seen.
PURCHASE TICKETS
Friday, June 11th at 8pm
Saturday, June 12th at 8pm
Sunday, June 13th at 2pm
Sunday, June 13th at 6pm
Friday, June 18th at 8pm
Saturday, June 19th at 8pm
Sunday, June 20th at 2pm
Sunday, June 20th at 6pm
Friday June 11–Sunday June 20
Detroit Film Theatre
(Germany/1927/directed by Fritz Lang)
The Detroit Film Theatre’s summer season begins with one of the most important cinematic events in the DFT’s history: the complete restoration to date of German director Fritz Lang’s 1927 science-fiction classic, Metropolis. Lang’s visionary work of science fiction redefined the term “super-production,” with its thousands of extras, monstrous sets, and eye-popping special effects, including a cataclysmic, multitude-engulfing flood. This legendary work was previously seen as Lang conceived it only by the very earliest Berlin audiences (“positively overwhelming,” raved Variety after the 1927 premiere) — and then the cutting began, followed by decades of attempts at reconstruction. A 1984 version ran only 87 minutes, while the then-“definitive” 2002 reconstruction edged up the running time to 124 minutes. Finally, in 2008, the Museo del Cine in Buenos Aires came across a print that had been in an Argentinean private collection since 1928. At a private screening in Berlin, “the room got very quiet,” as the select audience witnessed over a thousand shots that were thought lost — bringing the running time to 153 minutes and virtually matching the original shooting script and musical cues. This astounding new version — after considerable restoration work on the well-worn archival print — has been combined with the visually superb 2002 restoration. Presented with the original 1927 orchestral score and projected in a high-definition format, audiences can, at long last, experience Lang’s original Metropolis as the director intended it to be seen.
PURCHASE TICKETS
Friday, June 11th at 8pm
Saturday, June 12th at 8pm
Sunday, June 13th at 2pm
Sunday, June 13th at 6pm
Friday, June 18th at 8pm
Saturday, June 19th at 8pm
Sunday, June 20th at 2pm
Sunday, June 20th at 6pm
