Metropolis (1927 film)
Metropolis is a 1927 German expressionist science-fiction silent film directed by Fritz Lang and written by Thea von Harbou in collaboration with Lang[6][7] from von Harbou's 1925 novel of the same name (which was intentionally written as a treatment). It stars Gustav Fröhlich, Alfred Abel, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, and Brigitte Helm. Erich Pommer produced it in the Babelsberg Studios for Universum Film A.G. (UFA). Metropolis is regarded as a pioneering science-fiction film, being among the first feature-length ones of that genre.[8] Filming took place over 17 months in 1925–26 at a cost of more than five million Reichsmarks,[9] or the equivalent of about €21 million.
For the novel of the same name by Thea von Harbou, see Metropolis (novel).Metropolis
Metropolis (1925 novel)
by Thea von Harbou
- Silent film
- German intertitles
75,000 ℛ︁ℳ︁ (estimated), $1 million (U.S. and Canada rentals)[5]
Made in Germany during the Weimar period, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city master, and Maria, a saintly figure to the workers, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes in their city and bring the workers together with Joh Fredersen, the city master. The film's message is encompassed in the final inter-title: "The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must Be the Heart".
Metropolis met a mixed reception upon release. Critics found it visually beautiful and powerful – the film's art direction by Otto Hunte, Erich Kettelhut, and Karl Vollbrecht draws influence from opera, Bauhaus, Cubist, and Futurist design,[10] along with touches of the Gothic in the scenes in the catacombs, the cathedral and Rotwang's house[3] – and lauded its complex special effects, but accused its story of being naive.[11] H. G. Wells described the film as "silly", and The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction calls the story "trite" and its politics "ludicrously simplistic".[3] Its alleged communist message was also criticized.[12]
The film's long running time also came in for criticism. It was cut substantially after its German premiere. Many attempts have been made since the 1970s to restore the film. In 1984, Italian music producer Giorgio Moroder released a truncated version with a soundtrack by rock artists including Freddie Mercury, Loverboy, and Adam Ant. In 2001, a new reconstruction of Metropolis was shown at the Berlin Film Festival. In 2008, a damaged print of Lang's original cut of the film was found in a museum in Argentina. According to the explanation in the restored film, "the material was heavily damaged and, because it had been printed on 16mm film stock, does not have the full-aperture silent picture ratio" and "in order to maintain the scale of the restored footage, the missing portion of the frame appears black" while "black frames indicate points at which footage is still lost". After a long restoration process that required additional materials provided by a print from New Zealand, the film was 95% restored and shown on large screens in Berlin and Frankfurt simultaneously on 12 February 2010.
Metropolis is now widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made, ranking 67th in Sight and Sound's 2022 critics' poll.[13] In 2001, the film was inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register, the first film thus distinguished.[14]
On 1 January 2023, the film's American reserved copyright expired, thereby entering the film into the public domain.[15]
Production[edit]
Pre-production[edit]
Metropolis's screenplay was written by Thea von Harbou, a popular writer in Weimar Germany, jointly with Lang, her then-husband.[6][7] The film's plot originated from a novel of the same title written by Harbou for the sole purpose of being made into a film. The novel in turn drew inspiration from H. G. Wells, Mary Shelley and Villiers de l'Isle-Adam's works and other German dramas.[24] The novel featured strongly in the film's marketing campaign, and was serialized in the journal Illustriertes Blatt in the run-up to its release. Harbou and Lang collaborated on the screenplay derived from the novel, and several plot points and thematic elements—including most of the references to magic and occultism present in the novel—were dropped.[25]
Music[edit]
Original score[edit]
Gottfried Huppertz composed the film's score for a large orchestra. He drew inspiration from Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, and combined a classical orchestral style with mild modernist touches to portray the film's massive industrial city of workers.[40] Nestled within the original score were quotations of Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle's "La Marseillaise" and the traditional "Dies Irae", the latter of which was matched to the film's apocalyptic imagery. Huppertz's music played a prominent role during the film's production; the composer often played piano on Lang's set to inform the actors' performances. Huppertz's score only accompanied the film once, at its original premiere. Sections of the score were recorded and released by the record label Vox.
The full score was not recorded until 2001, for the film's first comprehensive restoration, with Berndt Heller conducting the Rundfunksinfonieorchester Saarbrücken. It was released internationally on various DVD editions beginning in 2003.[41]
In 2007, Huppertz's score was also played live by the VCS Radio Symphony, which accompanied the restored version of the film at Brenden Theatres in Vacaville, California.[42] The score was also produced in a salon orchestration, which was performed for the first time in the United States in August 2007 by The Bijou Orchestra under the direction of Leo Najar as part of a German Expressionist film festival in Bay City, Michigan.[43] The same forces also performed the work at the Traverse City Film Festival in Traverse City, Michigan in August 2009.
For the film's 2010 "complete" restoration premiere, Huppertz's score was performed live and subsequently re-recorded by the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Frank Strobel.[2] This version was released internationally on various DVD and Blu-ray editions beginning in 2010.[41][44]
Other scores[edit]
Various artists have created other scores for Metropolis:
Copyright status[edit]
The American copyright for Metropolis lapsed in 1953, which led to a proliferation of versions being released on video. Along with other foreign-made works, the film's U.S. copyright was restored in 1996 by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act;[105] the constitutionality of this copyright extension was challenged, but was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012's Golan v. Holder. This had the effect of restoring the copyright in the work as of 1 January 1996.
Under current U.S. copyright law, Metropolis entered the public domain on 1 January 2023; the U.S. copyright limit for films of its age is 95 years from publication per the Copyright Term Extension Act.[106]
Under current EU copyright law, the film will remain under copyright in Germany and the rest of the European Union until the end of 2046, 70 years after Fritz Lang's death.[note 2]
Informational notes
Citations
Bibliography
Further reading