Tremendous canyons of skyscrapers with airplanes and elevated railways, monotonous columns of workers in bleak clothes marching stoically in step, a robot encircled by radiating light rings-a cyborg-these images from Metropolis have engraved themselves into our collective memory.

The film comes to life as a result of its strong visual images and locations, which captivate us precisely because of their dichotomous nature: The paradisiacal City of the Sons and the dreary Workers' City with its enormous Machine Rooms; the futuristic Upper City with its vertiginous skyscrapers and the inventor Rotwang's small witch's cottage with its alchemistic laboratory; the archaic necropolis of the Catacombs and the majestic Gothic Cathedral. It is here that myth and the modern age clash.

Visually, Metropolis is certainly one of the most influential films in film history. This is owed to Fritz Lang's artistic vision, as well as to the abilities and inventiveness of his film team. The exhibition "The Complete Metropolis" unites all of the preserved original documents for the first time: the film script, the musical score, architecture and costume designs, trick paintings, props, and cinematographic equipment. Hundreds of working photos, which were taken during filming, demonstrate not only their strenuous efforts, but also the creativity of those who participated in the film.

However, the exhibition title "The Complete Metropolis" also makes reference to the film itself. Vigorously shortened soon after its premiere in 1927, a nearly complete version of the film was first rediscovered in Buenos Aires in 2008 and is now premiering for the first time in a restored version. The extensively compiled documents and the newly restored film images make its production process come alive, allowing a deeper understanding of this film that has already been proclaimed as part of the "world's cultural heritage."

Featured Works:

The exhibition includes excerpts of the film script, the musical score (condensed score), trick paintings, architectural and costume designs, props and cinematographic equipment predominantly from the archives of the Deutsche Kinemathek; it also includes 200 working photos as a large-scale slide projection (from the collections of the Cinémathèque française and the Deutsche Kinemathek); nearly 30 minutes of film material from Metropolis, divided by film setting locations; five media stations describing several of the film's special effects; and the films Die Reise nach Metropolis (Artem Demenok, 2010) and Metropolis Refound (Evangelina Loguerico, Diego Panich, Laura Tusi, and Sebastian Yablon, 2010)

Program information:

The Complete Metropolis