Be Here Now: The Complete Metropolis @ Saratoga Film Forum, 6/10-13/10

As part of the Saratoga Arts Festival, the Saratoga Film Forum is presenting the film classic Metropolis, but this ain’t your daddy’s science fiction masterpiece.

This newly restored 2010 release includes 25 minutes of footage found last year in Argentina on a 16mm dupe negative – footage that had not been seen since its Berlin premiere in 1927. After that initial showing, the original film, directed by Fritz Lang, was cut down to reduce its running time to 90 minutes to order to maximize its commercial potential. The footage reportedly contains both character development and entire subplots.

The film has now been painstakingly restored, using digital techniques that weren’t available even during its last restoration in 2001 and also includes Gottfried Huppertz’s original score. The story of the found footage, as well as its restoration, is a fairly fascinating read.

Thursday-Friday, June 10-11, 8pm
Sunday, June 13, 7pm
Admission: $7 | $5