Lost scenes from METROPOLIS (1927) rediscovered ! - Page 2

Richard M S · 07-09-2008, 08:58 PM

Add me to the wish list for that Moroder version. I doubt we will ever get it, but it was that version that introduced me to the film back in the eighties.

Maybe on that version they can add as an extra that music video Madonna made which was inspired by Metropolis. I think it was Express Yourself.

MielR · 07-09-2008, 10:31 PM

Nooooooooo! NO MADONNA!

lol!

But I wouldn't mind Queen's 'radio ga ga' video (which used footage from Metropolis).

Mark Edward Heuck · 07-09-2008, 11:09 PM

I also liked Moroder's idea of using on-screen subtitles instead of intertitles. I never understood why this approach was never tried with other silent film presentations on tape and DVD - I think it would ease people who are normally put off by the conventions of silent film.

Unfortunately, I have been told that relicensing all the music would be exorbitant, and that neither Moroder nor the Murnau Foundation are terribly interested in making that cut available again. It cannot even be screened theatrically now.

seanOhara · 07-09-2008, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Edward Heuck

I also liked Moroder's idea of using on-screen subtitles instead of intertitles. I never understood why this approach was never tried with other silent film presentations on tape and DVD - I think it would ease people who are normally put off by the conventions of silent film.

Why not colorize it and have actors dub in the dialogue?

The intertitles are part of the flow of the film and removing them is just as bad as bad as re-editing the film itself. Not to mention it would introduce a number of jump-cuts.

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Mark Zimmer · 07-10-2008, 10:25 AM

You want a killer score for Metropolis? On the restoration tour, I saw it played on theater organ by Dennis James, who during the robot creation scene shifted to theremin. It was outstanding (I think he used some Huppertz material) in every respect. Have James do that again for DVD and we have a winner.

PaulP · 07-10-2008, 10:37 AM

Is there any word on this new Kino SE that's supposedly out next year?

Tony J Case · 07-10-2008, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MielR

I like the Moroder version because it's the first version I ever saw (I saw it at a theater in 1984), and I will always associate the music with the film. I also like the color tinting and the way Moroder used still photos to fill in missing scenes.

Yeah, pretty much this.

Without the Moroder version, I wouldnt have discovered this film nearly as early as I did (if at all).

SilverWook · 07-10-2008, 03:40 PM

When I saw the restored version on TCM, I was surprised some of the scenes Moroder recreated with stills were not in there. I thought they would be redone and included in a similar fashion.

It's a damn shame if they're going to keep the Moroder version out of sight. Unless you can get your hands on the old video cassette or Laserdisc, you're out of luck. Curiously, I did see a clip from it on PBS a couple years ago.

I've seen at least one other silent film with subtitles and a modern score.

MielR · 07-10-2008, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverWook

When I saw the restored version on TCM, I was surprised some of the scenes Moroder recreated with stills were not in there. I thought they would be redone and included in a similar fashion.

I don't understand either why the KINO version didn't use stills like the Moroder version did- it seems like a no-brainer.

They have a gallery on the DVD of still photos from lost scenes, and yet they used none of them in the film.

I got the Moroder LD a few years ago on eBay. As great as the quality is on the KINO DVD, the Moroder version is still the version I watch most often.