Oct 19th
Metropolis*** (PG)
Odeon Colchester

Ger 1926. UFA. 148m. bw

In the year 2000, workers exhaustedly operate the machines which power the towering city of Metropolis; a scientist constructs a robot the duplicate of the workers' saintly leader Maria in order to incite them to revolt.
An almost complete restoration of the missing scenes from Lang's classic, now reverting an influential futuristic sci-fi epic to the more Expressionist human melodrama that it originally was, with more focus on the characters who are less overwhelmed by the enormous sets. The first film to depict the future as stunning but also deeply foreboding, making it a benchmark of science fiction.

Written by: Thea Von Harbou.
Producer: Erich Pommer.
Director: Fritz Lang.
Starring: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Gustav Frolich, Fritz Rasp, Theodor Loos, Heinrich George, Erwin Biswanger.
Photography: Karl Freund, Gunther Rittau.
Music: Gottfreid Huppertz, Bernd Schultheis.
Art Direction: Otto Hunte, Erich Kettelhut, Karl Vollbrecht.
Special Effects: Eugen Schufftan.



100 Favourite Films: Metropolis