1. It's Not Been Seen Properly Since The Premiere - Metropolis
Metropolis is a 1927 German silent sci-fi film and one of the greatest cinematic feats of the twentieth century. Boasting some impressive special effects (the miniatures used are beautiful), Fritz Lang's epic, which tells a Shakespearian family drama with a strong socialist undercurrent, was the first feature film of the genre and still has a stylistic influence to this day. It's also not been properly seen since its premiere in Berlin eighty-seven years ago. Running at a whopping (but thematically necessary) 153 minutes the film was cut for general release, losing 25% of its runtime in Germany and slashed almost in half for American audiences. And as was common at the time, it these cut scenes were mostly thrown away and assumed lost.. A rescoring with contemporary songs in the eighties (it's dated terribly) piqued interest in the full version and an attempt to restore the film was undertaken by Paramount Pictures. In 2002 the German theatrical cut (118 minutes) was rereleased. And for many it was viewed as the best we'd ever get. However, in 2008, a near-complete print was discovered in Argentina of all places and restored for a cinematic release. This is the version closest to Lang's vision since initial release and really fleshes out the roles of certain characters, although it's still about ten minutes of footage short. Get checking your attics. Which of these films have you seen in the cinema? And which have you checked out (if possible) in their proper form? Let us know down in the comments.
