The Complete Metropolis

The most famous of silent films, Fritz Lang's visionary science-fiction epic is now virtually complete, following the recent rediscovery in Argentina of 25 minutes of previously lost footage that capped an 80-year quest for one of film history's holy grails. Metropolis was radically shortened soon after its 1927 Berlin premiere, and while its futuristic imagery, particularly that of the female robot, has remained among cinema's most iconic, its complex storyline had long ago been rendered nearly incomprehensible. German archivists have augmented their handsome 2001 restoration with the recovered scenes, and while some of the added footage varies in quality, this masterpiece can finally be considered definitive. Original Score: Gottfried Huppertz. Camera: Karl Freund. Writers: Thea von Harbou, Fritz Lang. Director: Fritz Lang. (Germany 1927/2010) 150 min.