The film Metropolis was not a success when it was first released and in order to improve it it was cut by almost a quarter by Paramount. The last time anyone saw the full original was in 1927. The new shorter version made less sense and in reality the whole thing should probably just have ended up in the rubbish.
The film is set in the futuristic city of Metropolis, ruled by Joh Fredersen, whose workers live underground. His son falls in love with a young woman from the worker’s underworld – the conflict takes its course. At the time it was the most expensive German film ever made. It was intended to be a major offensive against Hollywood. However the film flopped with critics and audiences alike. Representatives of the American firm Paramount considerably shortened and re-edited the film. They oversimplified the plot, even cutting key scenes. The original version could only be seen in Berlin until May 1927 – from then on it was considered to have been lost forever. Those recently viewing a restored version of the film first read the following insert: “More than a quarter of the film is believed to be lost forever.” (Zeit Online)
Despite the mutilation the film Metropolis has lived on as a cult classic. One of the great film dystopias and a sci-fi classic. It also has a role in gender and technology studies as including the first female robot – something which to this day is rare.
The new (old) material is in need of restoration work but soon we will hopefully be able to see the full length version of Lang’s classic.