Metropolis is a monumental work. On its release in 1925, after sixteen months' filming, it was Germany's most expensive feature film, a canvas for director Fritz Lang's increasingly extravagant ambitions. Lang, inspired by the skyline of New York, created a whole new vision of cities. One of the greatest works of science fiction, the film also tells human stories about love and family. Thomas Elsaesser explores the cultural phenomenon of Metropolis: its different versions (there is no definitive one), its changing meanings, and its role as a database of twentieth-century imagery and ideologies. In his foreword to this special edition, published to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the BFI Film Classics series, Elsaesser discusses the impact of the 27 minutes of 'lost' footage discovered in Buenos Aires in 2008, and incorporated in a restored edition, which premiered in 2010.
By:
Thomas Elsaesser
Imprint: Macmillan
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: 2nd ed. 2012
Dimensions:
Height: 190mm,
Width: 135mm,
Spine: 8mm
Weight: 196g
ISBN: 9781844575015
ISBN 10: 1844575012
Series: BFI Film Classics
Pages: 112
Publication Date: 31 July 2012
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
College/higher education
,
Undergraduate
,
Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Foreword.- Acknowledgments.- Introduction: Metropolis Forever, More than Ever.- 1 The Myth of its Origins, the Origins of its Myths.- 2 The UFA-Crew.- 3 A Ruin-In-Progress: Release Versions and Restorations.- 4 Interpreting Metropolis: Reading for the Plot.- 5 Metropolis, Moroder and Sound.- Conclusion.- Appendix: Telling and Retelling Metropolis.- Notes.- Credits.- Bibliography.
THOMAS ELAESSER is Emeritus Professor at the University of Amsterdam,and since 2006 Visiting Professor at Yale University. His books include WeimarCinema and After (2000), Film Theory: An Introduction Through the Senses (2009) andThe Persistence of Hollywood (2011).
