A German news coverage of the Metropolis find in Buenos Aires shows footage from the original, unedited Fritz Lang film. Even though the clip is in German, you can still see some of the special effects used in this 1927 film.
I took a gander at Ain’t It Cool News and discovered that the site posted some of the lost images of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. As you recall, I posted about the finding of the images in Bueno Aires this week.
The images are mesmerising and say quite a bit visually. Take a look by going to AICN site. I look forward to seeing the completely restored, original production by Lang.
A large part of the missing footage cut from Metropolis, Fritz Lang’s most impressive film of its time, after it flopped upon opening in 1927 has been found in a museum in Argentina.
The most expensive film ever made in German at that time, 1927, the cult sci-fi classic, was written by Lang and his wife.
Metropolis did poorly, so the movie received a re-edit to recoup costs, cutting about 25% of the film. It was released and received great acclaim.
Yet a copy of the original version ended up in Argentina by Adolfo Z. Wilson, who was head of Buenos Aires distribution named Terra.
Now, the original unedited version of Metropolis has been found.
For film lovers and historians this is awesome. The film needs to be restored; I hope it is, because it’s not in the best of shape with scratches and such.
Personally, I’d like to see the original version and see what Lang truly intended with his film about futuristic urban dystopia. The year 2006 set against the conditions of social tension between the working class and capitalist bosses.
Metropolis was considered a classic in part because of its pioneering special effects.