Restored (again?)

[laura_seabrook]

From the Metropolis Wikipedia Page:

On July 1, 2008, Berlin film experts announced that a 16mm reduction negative of the original cut of the film, which runs over 210 minutes in length, had been discovered in the archives of the film museum Museo del Cine in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The find has been authenticated by film experts working for ZEITmagazin. The print is badly scratched and will require considerable restoration before it is viewable. British Broadcasting Corporation's teletext service reported on July 4-5, 2008 that the only copy of the film had now received its first viewing.

Apparently the film will be released by Kino. I had a look at their page for it, and the description reads (in part):

Now, restored in Germany with state-of-the-art digital technology, under the supervision of the Murnau Foundation, and with the original 1927 orchestral score by Gottfried Huppertz added, Metropolis can be appreciated in its full glory. It is, as A. O. Scott of The New York Times declared, "A fever dream of the future. At last we have the movie every would-be cinematic visionary has been trying to make since 1927." (my emphasis) 

This may be referring to their 2001 restoration though, and new footage may have to be inserted still. Having seen at least two previous "restored" versions (and yes, I liked Moroder's version except it's score) I'll wait and see.

The version I have on my shelf was bought for $2 at Go-Lo, and there's no telling which version it is.

Comments

[faffinoodle.livejournal.com]

I have a special edition of the film, it cost about $30 and is in an awesome box... I don't think I can watch any more of it though!

[hbdeath.livejournal.com]

How long is your $2 version?

[laura-seabrook.livejournal.com]

"Aprox. 81 minutes" it says on the cover.

I also have a $2 Nosferatu that's 73 minutes.

[hbdeath.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... don't know what version that would be then. I think Moroder's version was about that long, though. Maybe someone's taken his edit and just put a new score on or something (I've seen this happen in the past where a very specific version of a film with a very specific soundtrack, i.e. the 1960s version of "Witchcraft Through The Ages" with narration by William S. Burroughs, has has that soundtrack stripped and replaced by someone else). Force Video used to have a so-called "director's cut" which ran 140-odd minutes, but which was only the standard 90-minute cut step-printed and slowed down. And even then it was *still* missing footage from the standard cut.

The blurb from the Kino website is for their earlier restoration of the film, although they had apparently just finished work on cleaning it up even further for a Blu-Ray release next year when the news of this uncut print was issued. I'd say they may release both versions in one package rather than try and cut in the footage from the long version, cos the differences in quality will be too significant. (You can see this in the restoration of Abel Gance's Napoleon, which had to be done from a hodge-podge of sources, all the way down to 8mm.)

[laura-seabrook.livejournal.com]

Details at http://www.flashbackentertainment.com.au/movie.asp?ID=524