one of my first dvd purchases was an under $10 edition of fritz lang’s metropolis. i had seen the movie before, probably late at night on american movie classics or something of that sort, and i wanted to see it again. but my purchase was such a let down, because metropolis is one of those fine movies from the early part of the 20th century that exist in a kind of copyright limbo. this is why you can find really cheap knockoff dvds of nosferatu, the cabinet of dr caligari and others, but these are not bargains. these are disappointingly pale shades of whatever greatness might have been. the transfers are out of ratio, the contrast hurts your eyes and the sound is out of sync.
but here is hope. kino international has restored metropolis to its original 1927 glory and is re-releasing it to theatres. of course, none of these theatres are here in atlanta, but those of you in new york city can head on over to houston street for a viewing. taking advantage of the partial restoration from georgio moroder’s 1984 pop version of the film and adding footage from another restoration attempt in 1988, kino has made it possible to see the most complete and absolute version of this film.
people will tell you that one film or another was responsible for so many others that followed, but in the genre of science-fiction this is the original. nothing like it came before, and every single sci-fi flick owes it a debt of visual or thematic gratitude. a grand electric city with flying cars and pneumatic tubes, high rises and skyscrapers, robots created to serve man that will eventually lead to man’s undoing. sound familiar? blade runner, the fifth element, logan’s run … the family tree the branches from this film is extraordinary.
so why am i so keyed up? well, i saw a screening of the wild bunch a few years ago. it was another restored and remastered re-release. and the gentleman who oversaw the restoration, he spoke briefly before the film, and he jadedly revealed one of the not-so-secret motivations of hollywood’s restoration enterprise. these films, he said, aren’t really restored for the sake of the big screen, but rather for the sake of the home video (and now dvd) collector. bringing them back to the theater is just more effective than any other ad campaign. so this means that for every restoration, there will be a video release. so maybe, just maybe, i can have a decent and watchable version of this amazing film.
so… are there any films that you’d love to see remastered, restored, renewed or re-released? come on. don’t be shy.
