By: Mackenzie Lambert
In the many years since special features have become another part of the DVD experience, deleted/extra scenes have been taken for granted. Usually the stuff left on the cutting room floor was so lackluster that it is a waste of disc space. Extra footage as a “bonus” feature is now seeping its way into movieplexes. Were the additional eight minutes for a big-budget techno-wonder from the guy who did a movie about a sinking cruise-liner really that important to warrant use of theatrical screens? Wouldn’t it have been more cost effective to wait for the DVD despite all the money it raked in?
Thankfully, cinephiles and sci-fi purists can look forward to the Premiere of the Complete Edition of Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent era epic, Metropolis. This edition includes both the original music score as well as footage originally deemed as lost (as opposed to be extra or deleted). The 16mm prints of the Expressionist classic were found in 2008 in Argentina. I had the pleasure of seeing Metropolis at the Screening Room at the Northtown Plaza. The spots originally occupied by the missing footage featured text that described the goings-on. This very much disrupted the flow of the film, so it will be nice to have the constant visual stimuli of movement as opposed to halting effect incurred by reading the extended descriptions.
The plot of the movie could be described as Frankenstein by way of Karl Marx. It deals with the struggle of the classes and shows how religion can be used to strengthen/exploit the working masses. The art deco scenery is littered with references to the Tower of Babel and depicts the futuristic Raygun Gothic style. Lang’s film also has the honor of being one of the most heavily casted, with 38,000 extras. Most notably, it was adapted into a highly-acclaimed manga and anime directed by Osamu Tezuka.
The Complete Metropolis will be screened at the Dispon Market Arcade theater on Friday, September 24th at 7:00pm. Tickets can be purchased at the box office or online at TicketDerby. Come and see the long lost footage that the film world has been waiting almost an entire century to see.