Metropolis Restored Version Live Performance at HKIFF

Etchy from the AnD team was lucky enough to be in the audience for one of the most unique events at the HKIFF,  the exclusive screening of the newly restored version of Fritz Lang's 1927 silent film masterpiece "Metropolis".   Here's his report from the scene:

I want to thank the HKIFF for giving me the chance to attend the sold-out screening of Metropolis at the Grand Theatre at the Culture Center in TST earlier this week.    It was quite a special event - a newly restored version of "Metropolis", featuring the Hong Kong Sinfonietta performing the score for the movie live.    Definitely a first for me! 

What makes this version 'restored' is the fact that a team of film experts from Berlin to Buenos Aires spend several years piecing together the most complete copy of the film known to exist.  This version incorporates about 24 minutes of important missing footage that was found in a highly damaged but mostly intact 16mm copy of the film found in an archive in Argentina a few years ago.   This new version first debuted in February at the Berlin Film Festival, and this is the second performance/screening ever -- the first in Asia.  Quite a coup for the HKIFF!

I had seen the infamous “Moroder version” of Metropolis in the mid-80s on VHS,  but I was surprised to see that this restored version is quite different.   A fact that was explained during the Q and A by Martin Koerber of the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Foundation that led the restoration -   apparently the US distributed ruthlessly cut about 30 minutes from the film when he brought it from Germany.  Missing are large portions of subplots and supporting characters' scenes.  In many cases these cuts don't significantly impact the storytelling, but overall they do make a big difference.   The version of Metropolis you've seen before was more of a Frankenstein type story about a robotic woman destroying a futuristic society.  This version is more about the class struggle and riot of the workers in the finale. Conductor Frank Strobel and Martin Kroeber during the Q & A.As I'm not a film academic, I don't think I can do justice to the subject,  but it was impressive to see the painstaking work put in to restore the film to almost completeness (its a historical document as much as it is a film now) - there's still like 6 minutes missing unfortunately!   And also it was interesting to hear from the conductor Frank Strobel how they matched the score to the screen action (both to help them sync the music properly but also to help them piece the film back together based on the timing marks in the original score).

Kudos to the HKIFF for bringing this unique cultural piece to Hong Kong!  (but no kudos for the film geeks who asked the annoying questions at the Q & A! I thought these guys only went to Star Trek conventions!)  ;-)Bonus pics from the reception at the Langham Hotel's Bostonian restaurant before the film:

It would be a crime to not include at least a few pictures of the food:

Sushi bar

Etchy's favorite - Taco cone bar!