The film that truly defined the term 'sci-fi classic' has never looked better...or longer.

In his later years, when asked about his sci-fi epic, Metropolis, director Fritz Lang once responded, ‘Why are you so interested in a picture which no longer exists?’

The Austrian-born director was quite right in his line of questioning, because for him, the film had ceased to exist almost immediately after its first theatrical release.

First screened in 1927, Lang’s Metropolis opened to mixed reactions, causing enough concern for Ufa (the German studio behind the film) to allow Paramount to quickly exercise severe and long-lasting cuts for its US release, effectively butchering Lang’s masterpiece and depriving cinema-goers of the film in its entirety for more than 80 years. Prior to his death, the director would often refer to the film as ‘lost’.

And lost it was. With the film’s original running time lasting a total of 153 minutes, Paramount saw fit to reduce the silent epic to a shocking 90 minutes, essentially rewriting the story and reissuing it with a much shorter and almost incoherent narrative. What was left was a very different film to the one Lang intended, and sadly, with no copies of his original print apparently surviving, it looked as though his initial vision would never be seen again.

Not that attempts weren’t made. Over the years, the film about proletariat labourers and their bourgeois overlords in a machine-ridden city of the future would take on many forms, finding itself re-cut and reissued many times over. These included the first, but unsuccessful attempt at a restoration in 1969. In 1984, a bizarre, colourised version with a soundtrack featuring Bonnie Tyler and Freddie Mercury was released (it’s fair to say that this latter release did not sit well with purists, Metropolis fans or any self-respecting film fan whatsoever).

Then, in 1987, at the Deutsche Kinemathek in Munich, serious restoration efforts were finally made, though the film still remained significantly shorter than Lang’s original. Things started to look more promising when, in 2001, a digital restoration was unveiled via Fredrick-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stifung in Germany, with a ‘study version’ finally being released in 2005. This study version, though still incomplete, had gone the extra mile by inserting notes where footage was till absent, trying at least to ‘fill in the blanks’ and tell the story as Lang intended.

And that was it. That was as good as anyone ever thought it would get for Metropolis. Until now, that is. But first, for those of you who aren’t that familiar with Lang’s masterpiece, a bit of Metropolis history and a ‘quick as we can’ run-through of the plot.

Written by Lang and his then wife, Thea von Harbou, Metropolis told the tale of a mammoth city set in the future, where machines and technology are the order of the day, efficiency is paramount and the city’s wealthiest citizens live out their days in the technological wonder of a utopian dream. Overseeing and ruling this cityscape is city founder and industrialist John Fredersen (Alfred Abel), who sits on high in his ‘New Tower of Babel’, keeping a watchful eye on the technological marvel he has helped construct.

However, down below – far, far below – and hidden beneath the city streets, are the workers, downtrodden slaves who work around the clock to maintain the efficient running of the city above. Seen as nothing more than subhuman automota by those who rule them, their only hope is the saintly and angelic Maria (Brigitte Helm). Providing the workers with messages of hope and the promise of a brighter, better future, Maria urges them not to rebel against their wealthy overlords, but to be patient and to wait instead for the arrival of the ‘mediator’ – the ‘heart’ who will eventually unite the ‘head’ and ‘hands’ (the management and the workers).

It’s here that the film encounters Freder (Gustav Frohlich), John Fredersen’s son who, having lived his entire life oblivious to those who toil day and night beneath his feet, finally comes into contact with the reality, and the horrors, of what it really means to be a worker.

"...a startling and beautiful depiction of conflicting ideologies, cruelty, decadence, madness, duality, hope and love, and all set against one of the most visually stunning and ambitiously designed films ever made"

Finding himself infatuated with Maria after glimpsing her topside, Freder follows her down into the underworld of the workers. Once there, he bears witness to an explosion of the M-Machine, an industrial accident that kills dozens of workers. Through the flames and smoke, the enormous M-Machine appears to Freder as Moloch, an evil deity that devours the workers one by one. Freder is horrified and returns to the Tower of Babel to confront his father. Fredersen is unmoved and attempts to placate his son, and then arranges for his spy, the Thin Man, to keep an eye on Freder. Fredersen is more concerned, it seems, with papers found on another worker, papers which seem to detail some sort of blueprint and which have been found throughout the workforce.

Returning to the underworld, Freder swaps places with a worker, assuming his duties, while the worker takes to the streets above, using Freder’s clothes and money to enjoy a night on the town. Freder works himself into a stupor, encountering visions of himself being crucified to the factory clock.

Meanwhile, Freder’s father calls in on Rowtang, the original mad scientist of cinema, to seek his counsel on the recently discovered blueprints. During their discourse we learn that Fredersen and Rowtang were once friends, but became bitter rivals after falling for the same woman Hel (Freder’s mother). Bitter and obsessed, Rowtang has never been able to overcome his grief for the now deceased Hel. Out of his madness Rowtang reveals he has constructed a man-machine, an artificial and robotic life form that he intends to give the appearance of Hel to. Impressed, but again unmoved, Fredersen consults Rowtang about the papers being found on his workers. The scientist informs him that the blueprints are in fact a map – a map of the old catacombs beneath the city.

Deciding to explore the underground tunnels, the two venture down below and observe a meeting of the workers, where again Maria is preaching her promise of a mediator. Concerned, Fredersen instructs Rowtang to give his man-machine a different appearance to that of Hel. He asks him instead to use the image of Maria so that, with the workers believing it to be her, Fredersen can use the man-machine to create distrust and disorder among the workers, disrupting their plans of revolt and snatching away their hope…

We’ll stop there. For those who have yet to see the film, I won’t continue with any further plot details – it wouldn’t be right to rob you of what is to come in one of cinema’s finest and most accomplished films. Suffice to say that what does follow is a startling and beautiful depiction of conflicting ideologies, cruelty, decadence, madness, duality, hope and love, and all set against one of the most visually stunning and ambitiously designed films ever made.

"With special effects and set pieces that still impress today, Metropolis truly was ahead of its time"

Those already familiar with Metropolis will know what a beautifully filmed and perfectly executed piece of cinema it is, while those who don’t will no doubt marvel at the visual achievements this film incorporates when they do see it. With special effects and set pieces that still impress today, Metropolis truly was ahead of its time. The city itself is based on contemporary modernism of the time, while Art Deco features heavily in the set pieces throughout. When it came to creating the epic and overwhelming look and feel of Metropolis, effects expert Eugen Schufftan really raised the bar for all future sci-fi films; even developing what would later be known as the Schufftan process, where mirrors are used to place actors inside miniature sets. The results were incredible to say the least and helped create visuals that had never been seen before.

The same holds true of the Maschinenmensch (the man-machine). Although only a suit of armour sculpted out of plastic wood and spray-painted silver and bronze, the end result has become one of the most iconic and influential images in cinema history, allowing Lang’s Metropolis to become one of the most important sci-fi movies of all time. Epic in scale and stunning in its realisation, it’s not hard to see how much of an impact the film would have had in 1927. Having a clear influence on films such as Blade Runner and Star Wars, Metropolis truly was the sci-fi film that started it all. Now, at last, with the film restored to its original glory, this film can now be seen in its full splendour.      

However, cinemagoers and die-hard movie fans may never have seen this version if it were not for a discovery in Argentina two years ago. We’ve already mentioned how Lang himself considered the film to be ‘lost’, consigned to the annals of film history as a former masterpiece, rendered forevermore as incomplete. Film historians the world over believed the same, thinking any prints of Lang’s 1927 original were now gone and irretrievably lost.

"Having a clear influence on films such as Blade Runner and Star Wars, Metropolis truly was the sci-fi film that started it all"

Thankfully, and miraculously, this was not to be the case. In 2008, in Buenos Aires, several dusty reels were discovered in a small museum (Museo del Cine Pablo Ducros Hicken). What was found inside was nothing less than a 16mm dupe negative, with nearly 25 minutes of previously missing footage of Lang’s original Metropolis. This was the most complete version of the film ever found. Now, after two years of much toil, restoration and re-editing, Metropolis can finally be realised as it was originally intended, and how Fritz Lang always hoped it would be seen.

That being said, the film is still not 100 per cent complete – a handful of scenes remain lost, the most important being one where Fredresen and Rowtang grapple, uncovering Rowtang’s devious plans and freeing an enslaved Maria from his clutches. An intertitle is inserted during these scenes to explain the story and ‘fill in the blanks’. However, what has been restored more than makes up for one or two missing scenes. The ‘new’, restored material includes much more footage of the Thin Man, many more reaction and action shots between the characters, more scenes of Rowtang’s sculpted homage to his beloved Hel, and even an Oscar Wilde quote, ‘The only way to resist temptation is to yield to it’ manages to find its way back into the film.

"Metropolis fans can now see, and understand, the full arc of the original narrative, finally making sense of a film that had been cruelly butchered and left as an incoherent and confusing mess"

It’s fair to say that, despite the best efforts of the restoration team, these restored scenes are easy to distinguish from the rest of the film – appearing lined, grainy and slightly darker than others in the print. This is not a hindrance though, and true fans will be happy enough to finally enjoy this film in the proper manner. Also accompanying the film is an all-new recording of the original 1927 Gottfried Huppertz score, and newly translated subtitles of the original German intertitles, all enriching the viewing experience further and providing us with a breathtaking piece of film.

At last, with these missing scenes returned to their rightful place, and in their correct running order, Metropolis fans can now see, and understand, the full arc of the original narrative, finally making sense of a film that had been cruelly butchered and left as an incoherent and confusing mess. Restored, re-edited and now re-released, this is the only way to see Fritz Lang’s Metropolis – how it was envisioned, how it was filmed, and how it was meant to be seen.

If Lang were alive today we could answer his earlier question quite easily. We are still interested in this film, good sir, for the very simple reason that now, at long last, it finally exists.

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