Fritx Lang's METROPOLIS

[sondheimboy2]

Fritx Lang's METROPOLIS#1

Posted: 12/13/10 at 10:34pm

I just finished watching the broadcast of this on TCM and I have to read more about this incredible movie.

Can anyone out there recommend any good books about either the film or Fritz Lang?

"A coherent existance after so many years of muddle" - Desiree' Armfelt, A Little Night Music "Life keeps happening everyday, Say Yes" - 70, Girls, 70 "Life is what you do while you're waiting to die" - Zorba

[romantico]

Fritx Lang's METROPOLIS#2

Posted: 12/14/10 at 5:16am

I bought the new Blu ray of this but have not yet watched it.In the special features there is a documentary called "Voyage to Metropolis"which goes in depth about the restoration of the new version. As for a decent biography,I checked Amazon and found this.

http://www.amazon.com/Fritz-Lang-Nature-Patrick-McGilligan/dp/0312132476

The TCM bookstore has some good biographies but nothing on the new version of Metropolis,which I find surprising. I would try the forums on IMDB or classic film message boards. There has to be information about this.

http://www.kino.com/metropolis/main.html

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100602/REVIEWS08/100609989/1023

'There are three sides to every story. My side, your side, and the truth. And no one is lying. Memories shared serve each one differently' -Robert Evans-

[broadwayjim42]

Fritx Lang's METROPOLIS#2

Posted: 12/14/10 at 10:06am

I bought the regular DVD edition of the complete version at a video store on W 40th across from Bryant Park. $17.99.

I first saw this in a college film class and have been fascinated by it since.

[mominator]

Fritx Lang's METROPOLIS#3

Posted: 12/14/10 at 4:57pm

Saw this great film (the full restored version) back in September. Wow just wow what a movie.

"All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen." Conan O'Brien

[Borstalboy]

Fritx Lang's METROPOLIS#4

Posted: 12/14/10 at 10:03pm

I saw it back when I was a lad in 1985 with some colorization and an updated score featuring Loverboy and Jon Anderson and others...which of course made it impossibly dated by today's standards. Still great, though.
Bonnie Tyler--one of the high points of the 1985 METROPOLIS

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” ~ Muhammad Ali

[SeanMartin]

Fritx Lang's METROPOLIS#5

Posted: 12/15/10 at 12:17am

I saw this in Montreal this past fall and was blown away. Just the fact that we have this close to a complete METROPOLIS (I believe it's missing two scenes) is amazing; the fact that this version surfaced in Argentina is even more amazing.

There arent many books out there about Lang or his wife (who wrote the scenario), which is a pity considering the techniques he developed specifically for this film.

http://docandraider.com

[Kad]

Fritx Lang's METROPOLIS#6

Posted: 12/15/10 at 12:40am

The effects still astound me- and look better than a lot of the CGI stuff we see nowadays.

Brigitte Helm as the robot Maria is one of my favorite film antagonists. She's just so gleefully psychotic.

"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."

[once a month]

Fritx Lang's METROPOLIS#7

Posted: 12/15/10 at 11:45am

Anyone recall the London musical Metropolis with Judy Kuhn? Not exactly a cheery production and it was terribly over produced, but it did come out with a 2-cd set.

[SeanMartin]

Fritx Lang's METROPOLIS#8

Posted: 12/15/10 at 3:40pm

LOL -- one of the SM's most harrowing moments every night on that production was when the elevator rose through the floor at the same time the banked stage floor was moving. There was, I believe, 1/2" tolerance.

The score? Meh. The songs used in the 80s revival are much more interesting.

http://docandraider.com

[Jon]

Fritx Lang's METROPOLIS#9

Posted: 12/15/10 at 3:57pm

Georgio Moroder wrote the score for the 1980's re-issue. One of the featured songs was "Radio Gaga", performed by Queen. That is, of course, wehre Lady Gaga got her name.