Living Dead

I did a search in Movie Talk and didn't see anything on the restored 1927 Complete Metropolis that has just begun it's LIMITED THEATRICAL RUN.

This film has always been special for me. I was 10 years old when I first saw it, surfing through channels in my bedroom after I was supposed to be asleep. It was the scene where all the workers are walking up the staircase toward the giant machine, and it turns into a huge mouth and they appear to be willingly marching to their deaths. It was a visual that scared the shit out of me. At that age I didn't have a lot of interest in movies, certainly not silent movies or black and white films. But I ended up muting the TV and sitting up for two hours until past midnight hoping my parents wouldn't catch me so I could finish it. This was the movie that made me fall in love with science fiction -- and with film in general. It also got me interested in silent films, foreign films, and later film history. So on the rare occasion that I am asked about major influences in my life (outside of family and friends)... the answer is always "Metropolis."

SPOILERS!!!

That said, I saw the movie today and it was amazing. The special effects went unmatched for nearly 25 years. Entire subplots and characters have been returned to the film. Others have been expanded. Maria the Robot's dance scene, which made little sense in the old version of the film (and always annoyed me, because I knew the ONLY reason it didn't make sense was because footage was missing), is now perfectly explained and critical to the Tower of Babel plot. Fredersen's Spy, the Thin Man (who's in the older cut for only about two minutes), is now a central character. Rotwang's connection to Fredersen is revealed in critical footage where you learn they loved the same woman (in whose image Maria was created) and that their mutual obsession with lost love is what leads to their destruction. The entire film has been reedited... scenes that once took place one after the other now take place at the same time. Much more science vs. faith undertones. It all comes together perfectly and two and a half hours went by in the blink of an eye.

The missing footage made the movie so much richer that it was literally like seeing it for the first time. If there are any fans on here, you HAVE to see it. For others, I think silent film is an acquired taste, but if you only ever see one... make it this one.

dx23

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/dvd-talk/57...er-2010-a.html

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/hd-talk/534...is-kino-3.html

Giles

"The film’s national theatrical release will commence on May 7, with a NY premiere at Film Forum, and on May 14, at Laemmle’s Royal Theatre in Los Angeles – followed by runs in all major markets throughout the US and Canada."

California
Laemmle Royal Theatre Los Angeles CA Opens May 14
Ken Cinema San Diego CA Opens June 4
San Francisco Silent Film Festival San Francisco CA July 16

Colorado
Chez Artiste Denver CO Opens June 11

Florida
Tampa Theatre Tampa FL August 29

Louisiana
Robinson Film Center Shreveport LA June 18-24

Massachusetts
Coolidge Corner Theatre Brookline MA Opens June 4

Michigan
Lakeside Film Festival Muskegon MI May 23 only
Detroit Film Theatre Detroit MI June 11-20
Michigan Theater Ann Arbor MI September 12 & 14

Minnesota
Lagoon Cinema Minneapolis MN Opens June 4

Missouri
Tivoli Theatre St. Louis MO Opens July 23
Tivoli Cinemas Kansas City MO Opens August 6

New York
George Eastman House Rochester NY June 26-27
Cornell Cinema Ithaca NY June 26
Proctors Theatre Schenectady NY September 26-27

Ohio
The Cleveland Museum of Art Cleveland OH May 21-23
Wexner Center for the Arts Columbus OH August 6-7

Pennsylvania
Ritz at the Bourse Philadelphia PA Opens July 23

Quebec
Festival Fantasia Montreal QC July 28

Texas
Bijou Cinema Bistro San Antonio TX July 27 only

Wisconsin
Milwaukee Film Festival Milwaukee WI Sept 23-Oct 3 (screening dates TBA)

TomOpus

Awesome... Ken theater here in San Diego. Last movie I saw there was "Blade Runner: The Final Cut." One of the few single-screen theaters still around.

Giles

I'm quite miffed that the AFI Silver hasn't booked this for a DC/Maryland engagement

printerati

Annoyed that we aren't getting it. Even more annoyed that we'll be on vacation the weekend it's playing in Columbus. Perhaps I will have to suggest a visit to our cousin in Detroit in June.

majorjoe23

Oh man, I wish I could see this at the Tampa Theatre. I loved seeing movies there in college.

zekeburger1979

I had the pleasure of seeing this today at the Lakeside Film Festival here in Muskegon. I had never seen the movie before, but was well aware of its influence on science fiction and films in general.

The found footage is easy to spot. It looks like the newsreel footage at the beginning of Citizen Kane, only worse, plus the top 5% of the image is gone. It's noticeable at first, but by the second or third time, you don't register it.

Some of the shots that were cut, I could see why as they only lasted a few seconds and didn't really add anything, but some of the other scene were vitally important to the movie and made it the muddled mess it existed before the footage was found.

For a movie 83 years old, the restored original image looked great. There was only so much that could be done with the recovered footage and it looks as good as it ever will.

It took me a while to get used to the overly broad theatrical acting style that was in vogue then. It's jarring at first, but once I got used to it, it became part of the movie.

I look forward to purchasing this on BD this November. Just like Apocalypse Now Redux in 2001, I don't think I'll see a better film this year. Bravo to Kino for getting this restoration out to the world where generations of film lovers can see this remarkable science fiction film.

Giles

UPDATE:

The Avalon theatre here in DC has booked 'Metropolis' for a week starting July 9th

Hooray!!!

TomOpus

Thought I would bump this since it's opening today in a few places. I was thinking of going this weekend if any other fellow San Diego DVDTalker would want to join up.

Numanoid

I'll be seeing it on the 5th at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago.

NoirFan

I'm going to see this tomorrow, can't wait! I'm bummed that I missed the live orchestra performance, but seeing this on the big-screen in close to it's original version is a film buff's dream.

Giles

also at the Senator Theatre (Baltimore) starting today (June 11)

Giles

saw this last night - wow! for a stormy (raining cats and dogs) night - the Avalon had a decent audience - and they loved. Sure some of the acting is a bit overdramatic, but at the finale when... well if you know how it ends for the villan.... the audience let a collaborative clap.

I'm not sure how the title could be considered 'complete' - when it's really not - I guess it's hard to advertise/title this as: 'The almost but not quite complete, but it's the best we can do Metropolis'

I can't tell but did Kino strike any 35mm prints of this? cause at the Avalon it was digital projection.

Dr Mabuse

I posted about watching the world premiere of the restored version live from Berlin in the other 'Metropolis' thread.

It was really cool to watch that stream.

Such important and exciting news they were able to restore this.

runnersdialzero

So I watched this today for the first time. Not the new Complete version, but the 2003 DVD version.

I've seen a ton of silent films and I thought this was a fairly good film. Not great unfortunately. I thought the acting was a little too over the top, even for the silent era.

Of course, the cinematography and art direction were out of this world. Amazing stuff.

Everyone says we wouldn't have great movies like Blade Runner, Dark City or just about any other sci-fi movie without Metropolis. Besides the giant city shots, nothing in this movie reminded me of Blade Runner. I don't get the comparisons.

And to me, the only sci-fi aspect about the movie was the Machine-Man, that's it. Of course, we wouldn't have C3PO without this movie since he based the look of him on the Machine-Man.

So because it's set in the future means it's science fiction?

Don't ge me wrong, I liked the movie. I just didn't love it like a lot of other people do. I don't want to say it's overrated but I just don't see why if this movie didn't exist, we wouldn't have Blade Runner.

nando820

Its not necessary for the structure or subject matter to be similar to Blade Runner in order to inspire it. It was just the spark to look at sci-fi with a different light. But its true there are some remarks being made such as "the sci-fi movie everyone is being trying to emulate ever since" which is definitely stretching it too much.

printerati

I decided that I'm driving up to Columbus for the August 6 showing. The girl at the Wexner box office warned me to order tickets in advance, because it sounds like there is a lot of interest (relatively speaking, as she said people generally don't call to ask about upcoming movie events there).

RKillgore

Found out it's playing in Portland, OR at the Living Room Theater @ 9:20 pm, 8/18 and 8/19.

Boba Fett

It's been playing in Portland for a few weeks now. Frankly, I wish they showed the movie around 7.

aJOHNymous

I saw this last night in Milwaukee at The Oriental Theatre with live in-person musical accompaniment from The Alloy Orchestra.

I'd never seen the movie before but was aware of its reputation. I was afraid that I was going to be underwhelmed but I was wrong--the film blew me away. I won't rehash what the print looked like (though parts were so clean that it looked like it could have been filmed yesterday) because it's been covered fairly well already but I just wanted to reiterate that if you have an opportunity to see this on the big screen, please do not hesitate to check it out. For just three guys with a few homemade instruments, organs, and drums, The Alloy Orchestra provided an amazing soundtrack that only added to the film's tension and mood. I had a blast and even my wife (who is not even close to be being a casual cinephile) loved it.

TheySentYou

Saw this earlier this month in Austin, TX as part of the Alamo Drafthouse's Rolling Roadshow series - they premiered this inside of an old abandoned power plant downtown, and this local orchestra called The Golden Hornet Project provided a marvelous live rendition of the film score, so it was one of the best movie experiences i've ever attended in my life.

Dan

Looks like this will be playing locally in November! The Alloy Orchestra is going to be there, too.
Tickets aren't available yet, but I'm definitely going.

calhoun07

It's playing in my area this coming week, too. When I am going out of town...I don't see how I can find time to see this. Such craptacular timing.

Melmoth

Wish I was fortunate enough to live near a showing, Metropolis is one of my all time favorites, seeing it with a live orchestra would be a real treat.