METROPOLIS OMG OMG OMG
Jun. 20th, 2010 05:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
valis2So last night I saw the new version of Metropolis at the Detroit Film Theater.
In 2002 a restored version of Metropolis came out, and it was gorgeous and so clear I felt like I'd died and gone to heaven. Still, the movie was missing a half hour of footage, and I never thought in my lifetime that I'd see it. Then came that amazing discovery in Buenos Aires. The full movie, though heavily scratched and degraded.
They've spliced in the new footage with the 2002 restoration, and now the original score fits perfectly with the movie.
IT WAS AWESOMESAUCE.
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it because I don't have the words, but I'll try. I love the movie to bits. I'm a total sucker for drama, and this is such a dramatic movie (yes, it goes into melodrama), and the characters are so passionate and the acting is done in that silent-film-style over-the-top manner, and I ate it all with a spoon.
There's so much new stuff to look at, too. The side characters are developed; the Thin Man, Josaphat, and Georgy are given lots more screentime, and there is so much that's made more clear. Things that were confusing now make much more sense, though there are still plot holes. I love having more exposition; I'm a deleted scenes junkie, hells yes, and these scenes are so helpful in so many ways. There's a lovely moment where Joh Frederson looks upon Rotwang's statue of Hel (excised because it was thought that American audiences would snicker at the name Hel), and he is emotionally overcome. It adds a lovely bit of resonance to his character.
A lot of the little bits and bobs are not really much to look at; in fact, they'd be excised in a modern movie because they're redundant, such as a different view of Josaphat walking down the stairs. There are tiny slice of life moments, like one of the chosen women at the beginning, who receives a bit of lip color and powder from another character.
Then there are the scenes with the side characters. Georgy is shown being inundated with fliers for Yoshiwara's, and then there's a quick montage of his time there. It's really too bad that it was cut, because it helps illustrate Lang's doubles theme; Maria/Machine Man Maria is one set of doubles, and Georgy/Freder is the other. Both Georgy and Freder are given temptation, a change in lifestyle, and a chance to broaden their lives, and both of them react in different ways. They represent the lives of the Sons of the City versus the Sons of the Machine. I love having this new footage of Georgy, looking into the cars next to him and seeing women applying makeup and adjusting costumes, and how he reacts.
One thing that amazes me is how many scenes revolve around staircases, stairways, etc. It's pretty amazing to watch, because often people are actually running up the stairs full tilt, and I can't imagine how many people got hurt making this movie, not just because of the constant stairage, but also because of so many other scenes. The main characters do a lot of potentially crippling stunts. Seriously.
I once wrote a twenty page paper about the movie, and I want to write another now. I know this is all rambling and incoherent but omg, I am so glad that I got to see this. SO GLAD.
In 2002 a restored version of Metropolis came out, and it was gorgeous and so clear I felt like I'd died and gone to heaven. Still, the movie was missing a half hour of footage, and I never thought in my lifetime that I'd see it. Then came that amazing discovery in Buenos Aires. The full movie, though heavily scratched and degraded.
They've spliced in the new footage with the 2002 restoration, and now the original score fits perfectly with the movie.
IT WAS AWESOMESAUCE.
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it because I don't have the words, but I'll try. I love the movie to bits. I'm a total sucker for drama, and this is such a dramatic movie (yes, it goes into melodrama), and the characters are so passionate and the acting is done in that silent-film-style over-the-top manner, and I ate it all with a spoon.
There's so much new stuff to look at, too. The side characters are developed; the Thin Man, Josaphat, and Georgy are given lots more screentime, and there is so much that's made more clear. Things that were confusing now make much more sense, though there are still plot holes. I love having more exposition; I'm a deleted scenes junkie, hells yes, and these scenes are so helpful in so many ways. There's a lovely moment where Joh Frederson looks upon Rotwang's statue of Hel (excised because it was thought that American audiences would snicker at the name Hel), and he is emotionally overcome. It adds a lovely bit of resonance to his character.
A lot of the little bits and bobs are not really much to look at; in fact, they'd be excised in a modern movie because they're redundant, such as a different view of Josaphat walking down the stairs. There are tiny slice of life moments, like one of the chosen women at the beginning, who receives a bit of lip color and powder from another character.
Then there are the scenes with the side characters. Georgy is shown being inundated with fliers for Yoshiwara's, and then there's a quick montage of his time there. It's really too bad that it was cut, because it helps illustrate Lang's doubles theme; Maria/Machine Man Maria is one set of doubles, and Georgy/Freder is the other. Both Georgy and Freder are given temptation, a change in lifestyle, and a chance to broaden their lives, and both of them react in different ways. They represent the lives of the Sons of the City versus the Sons of the Machine. I love having this new footage of Georgy, looking into the cars next to him and seeing women applying makeup and adjusting costumes, and how he reacts.
One thing that amazes me is how many scenes revolve around staircases, stairways, etc. It's pretty amazing to watch, because often people are actually running up the stairs full tilt, and I can't imagine how many people got hurt making this movie, not just because of the constant stairage, but also because of so many other scenes. The main characters do a lot of potentially crippling stunts. Seriously.
I once wrote a twenty page paper about the movie, and I want to write another now. I know this is all rambling and incoherent but omg, I am so glad that I got to see this. SO GLAD.
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(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-20 10:24 pm (UTC)Anyway, it was totally awesome. Metropolis has always been one of my favorite silent films and I've seen it at least 20 times before. Seeing the new version with the extra footage was like meeting an old friend again and admiring his fancy new hat. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-22 03:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-21 01:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-22 03:19 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-22 09:40 am (UTC)ALSO. The Burning Man theme this year? Metropolis. ;D
*HUGS*
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-22 04:22 pm (UTC)It should be on DVD in a few months, I'd think.
And the Burning Man theme is Metropolis?!!!!!!!
OMG.
That makes me SO want to attend. Holy COW.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-23 10:57 pm (UTC)Man, if you can come? I'd totally make sure we have tent space for you, at least. ;p