The Complete Metropolis (NR)

synopsis

With its dizzying depiction of a futuristic cityscape and alluring female robot, Metropolis is among the most famous of all German films and the mother of sci-fi cinema. Directed by the legendary Fritz Lang, its jaw-dropping production values, iconic imagery, and modernist grandeur remain as powerful as ever. Drawing on -- and defining -- classic sci-fi themes, Metropolis depicts a dystopian future in which society is thoroughly divided in two: while anonymous workers conduct their endless drudgery below ground their rulers enjoy a decadent life of leisure and luxury. When Freder ventures into the depths in search of the beautiful Maria, plans of rebellion are revealed and a Maria-replica robot is programmed by mad inventor Rotwang and master of Metropolis Joh Fredersen to incite the workers into a self-destructive riot. Metropolis is presented here in a newly reconstructed and restored version, as lavish and spectacular as ever thanks to the painstaking archival work of the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung and the discovery of 25 minutes of footage previously thought lost to the world. Lang's enduring epic can finally be seen - for the first time in 83 years - as the director originally intended, and as seen by German cinema-goers in 1927.