See the newly restored Metropolis with the Sydney Symphony performing the original neo-Romantic score.
Fritz Lang’s Metropolis was the most ambitious, and expensive, silent film ever made. Set in a futuristic urban dystopia, it sends one man from his life of luxury and authority into the domain of underground slave-workers – two worlds in violent collision. “Love conquers all” claims the film – a fairytale, admitted Lang.
For more than 80 years, no one expected to be able see this iconic film in full. Then, in 2008, a 16-millimetre negative turned up in Buenos Aires, providing the missing 30 minutes of footage that would restore this colossal film to within a hair’s breadth of its original length.
In the absence of a definitive script, Gottfried Huppertz’s original film score played a crucial role in the restoration process. That score is the only complete document from the 1927 premiere, and the editing of the original film had been based on the music.
Even if you’ve seen Metropolis before, don’t miss this chance to experience the perfect marriage of sound and image, with the Sydney Symphony performing Huppertz’s opulent, neo-Romantic score.
METROPOLIS (1927)
Newly restored film with the complete original score by Gottfried Huppertz
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Frank Strobel conductor
Watch the official trailer of the 2010 restoration of Fritz Lang's Metropolis, with Gottfried Huppertz's original orchestral score:
Pre-concert talk by Rod Webb in conversation with Frank Strobel, in the Northern Foyer at 7.15pm.
These performances will end at 11pm.
In association with The Mad Square: Modernity in German Art 1910–1937 at the Art Gallery of NSW.