Quesito difficile riservato ai cinefili

[gianniguelfi]

Su altro forum, discutendo di cinema, un amico ultrasettantenne mi racconta che vide il suo primo film nel 1940, all' età di sei anni accompagnato dalla madre. Film muto che molto l' impressionò perché, spiega "Era un film drammatico e con molti spettacolari trucchi: si vedevano i marciapiedi e le strade aprirsi e inghiottire i passanti" E ancora: "La scena che mi ricordo era di un uomo, a torso nudo, in un grande soppalco di una fabbrica molto grande, il quale, con un atteggiamento da esaltato (non so se nel bene o nel male), afferrò con rabbia una grande leva verticale dal pavimento e i palazzi della città crollarono, le persone inghiottite dalle strade e non ricordo altro.
Quando vidi in TV il film "Metropolis", ebbi subito la sensazione che fosse proprio quello. Tutto era uguale. Ma la scena che ti ho descritta non c'era. Forse tagliata o distrutta nel tempo?

L' amico vorrebbe tanto rivederlo, o almeno conoscerne il titolo.
Qualcuno lo può aiutare?

grazie

Gianni

[tolomeo]

pare che non ci siano versioni "complete" di Metropolis.

I doubt that I'd ever seen anything resembling a "complete" version of METROPOLIS before, though certain of its scenes were familiar to me, if only as used and abused in such films as Diane Keaton's HEAVEN (1987). In any case, whatever I had seen before had nothing like the clarity and beauty of the Kino restoration. I expected to be distracted by the restoration's technique of concise written descriptions of missing sequences, but the narrative coherence that these provided was definitely worth it. As "exaggerated" as the style of acting seems by contemporary standards, some performances, such as the Master of the city, are amazingly nuanced and layered, and Brigitte Helm is stunning as both Maria and her evil clone. The meticulous design of the film, the unerring camera placement and Lang's muscular choreography of the crowd scenes are breathtaking. I'd thought of METROPOLIS as a curiosity ("important" = "dull") but now I've come to appreciate it as the seminal work it has always been.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017136/usercomments

Alternate Versions for
Metropolis (1927)
The premiere version was cut down for the official release (after bad word of mouth) in the USA to 159 minutes, while the German official release ran 153 minutes.


A restored version was prepared by the Filmmuseum Munich. Restored according to the original script, this version replaces lost scenes either with stills or titles. Its running time is about 150 minutes.


A version restored by the German Democratic Republic in the eighties runs 115 minutes (still shown on German TV sometimes)


The official German video version runs 93 minutes.


The Hollywood Classics Collector's Edition running 115 minutes with musical score. It is recorded in the highest quality EP mode. This video was made by the Madacy Entertainment Group in 1996.


The 94 minute video version released by the Killiam Collection contains a soundtrack with no music, but only electronic generated sound effects.


The version released on Crown Movie Classics is the same cut as the Madacy version but features very inapropriate Hal Roach-style music for its score.


In 2001 a newly restored version premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. Opposite the numerous restorations, it features the original sequencing, that had been lost over the years. With a running time of 147 minutes it gets close to the original cut (ca. 150 minutes).


Of the originally 175 intertitles 45 had been rephrased and 36 completely removed and for the 1927 cut version.


The Hollywood Classics Edition made by the Madacy Entertainment Group reads 'Approx 115 mins' on the box but is 118 mins long.


The DVD version released by Navarre (as part of a "Triple Feature" budget release) runs 119 minutes. It uses still pictures for the opening credits and dialogue titles.


Yet another US video release from the late 1980s runs 95 minutes.


The Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation undertook a restoration/reconstruction of this film for its 75th aniversary in 2002. This version runs 123 minutes and features a new recording of the original musical score used for the 1927 German version. It uses special intertitles to describe what took place in the footage that remains missing.


The Swedish cinema version (premiered in April 1927) was cut from 2734 meters (135 min at 18 frames/sec) to 2560 meters (125 min at 18 frames/sec).


There is some debate over the frame rate Metropolis should be shown at. The 2001 Berlin Film Festival edition is 147 minutes long, but only because it is shown at a rate of 20 frames/second. The Murnau Foundation edition has more footage but is shorter because it shown at 25 frames/second.


The original premiere version (Fritz Lang's director's cut) ran approximately 3½ hours. This version is lost.


A new UK video version (wrongly called the "director's cut") is 139 minutes long.


A restored but shorter (87 min) version was re-released in 1984, featuring a soundtrack produced by Giorgio Moroder. This version is also color tinted, supposedly according to Fritz Lang's original vision.


The Paramount release, released in the United States in mid-1927, is presented by Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky. This version also replaces the original Ufa credits with more appropriate Paramount titles (i.e. Majestic Mountain); and deleates certain scenes and makes changes. Here are the deleted scenes:
The pursuit of Freder and Josaphat by the Thin Man, Fredersen's assistant, is deleted. This is now lost;
The rivalry between Fredersen and Rotwang over Hel, Rotwang's now-dead love, was completely deleted from the Paramount version, but is restored in the 2002 restoration by the Murnau Foundation;
Certain names are changed from the original German in the Paramount version. For example, Joh Fredersen's name is changed to "John Masterman", Josaphat's name is changed to "Joseph", and various other changes.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017136/alternateversions

disponibilità dvd:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017136/dvd

[gianniguelfi]

Grazie, Tolomeo. Mi sa che è proprio Metropolis. Nel trailer all' indirizzo che mi hai segnalato si vedono proprio le scene descritte dal mio amico. Probabilmente quello che lui vide anni dopo era una versione tagliata.

ciao
g

[tolomeo]

di niente, gianni.
mi fa piacere che la segnalazione ti sia stata utile.
incidentalmente, imdb è il sito sul cinema più aggiornato e comprensivo che ci sia in rete.