Eureka to release “definitive version” of Lang’s ‘Metropolis’
Eureka Entertainment celebrates the 90th anniversary of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis with a “stunning” new version of the film set to be released on September 25th.
The new re-release of Lang’s silent masterpiece will be presented in a special edition boxed set as part of Eureka’s The Masters of Cinema series and will include the 150-minute reconstructed 2010 version of the film – which includes 25 minutes of footage thought to be lost to the world.
Eureka promises to go all out on the release, dubbed as the “definitive version”, including a 100-page book and hardbound slipcase. The box set will also feature several documentaries, including The Fading Image, taking viewers behind-the-scenes of Giorgio Moroder’s restoration & scoring. Moroder’s own 1984 re-imagining of Metropolis, featuring a soundtrack created by Moroder himself, will also be included.
Directed by the legendary Fritz Lang (M, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, The Big Heat), Metropolis was written as part of a collaboration with his wife, Thea von Harbou (Woman in the Moon). It centred on a futuristic cityscape and an alluring female robot, set within a society divided in two.
The original premiere cut of Metropolis, praised by director Luis Buñuel (The Phantom of Liberty) as “a captivating symphony of movement”, was lost to history decades ago. However, discoveries since 2007 have allowed for the reconstruction of the film close to Lang’s original vision.
Metropolis was originally released in 1927 and starred Gustav Fröhlich (Asphalt), Brigitte Helm (L’argent), Alfred Abel (Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler), and Rudolf Klein-Rogge (Spies). The silent classic became one of Germany’s most famous films of all time, influencing countless other movies, from Blade Runner to Star Wars.
The film, often called the mother of sci-fi cinema, was inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 2001 after a newly reconstructed version of the film was shown at the Berlin Film Festival. This version of the silent classic, released before the recent discovery of additional footage found in Argentina, will also be included in the box set.
Limited to only 2000 copies worldwide and illustrated with newly commissioned artwork, Eureka’s re-release of Metropolis can be pre-ordered from their webstore.
