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access CINEMA with the support of the Goethe
Institut
are delighted to present Metropolis - on tour -
September 03
Fritz Lang was one of the greatest innovative geniuses of
cinema’s silent era. A prophet and preacher, he had the
opportunity to produce expansive masterworks before the
commercial and political establishments took over. Metropolis,
the most famous of his films and arguably the crowing achievement
of silent cinema, was conceived on a fantastic scale, lasted
nearly three hours in its original version, and for a variety
of reasons was butchered in various countries to which it
was sold.
Half a dozen of the world's leading movie archives have
now got together to reconstruct this ground breaking film
and this new state of the art restoration polishes Metropolis'
still breathtaking visuals to a lustrous clarity unseen
since its premiere in 1927. The visionary extravagance of
Metropolis has also at last been reunited with Gottfried
Huppertz’s original score making this new release the most
complete experience of Fritz Lang’s science fiction blockbuster
possible.
Metropolis depicts a future society in which the
rich live above ground in sun-filled glory in a city that
resembles an animated montage of visionary architectural
drawings. The proletariat, who work around the clock in
a regimented factory, live in an anonymous underworld and
eventually rebel against their condition. Lang’s dystopian
vision of the future pits science against religion, love
against death and revenge against redemption.The ideas,
scale, production design and special effects of Metropolis
have exerted an enormous influence on popular culture. Unlike
other great works of silent cinema, it has remained a living
part of pop culture and its iconic imagery has inspired
everything from Blade Runner and Batman to Dr Strangelove
and Madonna’s video Express Yourself.
Vast skyscrapers full of Jazz-Age decadents tower above an underground
hell of workers strapped to torture machines. The son of
the Master Of Metropolis falls for an angelic social worker,
while a metal-armed mad scientist creates a gleaming, seductive,
female robot to infiltrate the revolutionary movement. It
has some silly-even-for-the-silents performances and a plot
that nearly collapses along with the city. But many sequences,
characters and images are indelible: the shuffling slaves
changing shift, the electrical creation of the robotrix,
the hero strapped to a giant clock, Rudolf Klein-Rogge’s
Frankenstein of the future, Brigitte Helm’s mechanical femme
fatale driving men mad with lust or leading a riot. Still
overwhelming, particularly in this must-see restored print."
– Kim Newman, Empire
"This fine-looking version is the best I've ever seen."–
Philip French, The Observer
(Germany, 1927. Restored version, 2001. English subtitles.
Black and White. Dolby digital stereo. 120 minutes.)
Metropolis- on tour - Film Screenings >
15 Sept MERMAID ARTS CENTRE: MAIN STREET, BRAY, CO. WICKLOW
>CONTACT: 01 272 4030
18 Sept ST MICHAELS THEATRE: NEW ROSS CO. WEXFORD
>CONTACT: 051 421 255
21 Sept GALWAY FILM SOCIETY: TOWN HALL THEATRE, GALWAY, CO.
GALWAY
>CONTACT: 091 569 777
22 Sept SLIGO FILM SOCIETY: MODEL ARTS::NILAND GALLERY, THE
MALL SLIGO, CO. SLIGO
>CONTACT: 071 41405
23 Sept WATERFORD FILM FOR ALL GARTER LANE ARTS CENTRE:22A
O'CONNELL STREET,CO. WATERFORD
>CONTACT : 051 55038
25 Sept ROSCOMMON ARTS CENTRE:ROSCOMMON TOWN, CO. ROSCOMMON
>CONTACT: 090 325 824
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