Research Catalog

Title

Metropolis / Thomas Elsaesser.

Author

Elsaesser, Thomas, 1943-

Publication

London ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan on behalf of the British Film Institute, 2012.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

British Film Institute

Description

112 pages : illustrations; 19 cm.

Summary

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.

Series Statement

BFI film classics

Uniform Title

BFI film classics

Subject

• Lang, Fritz, 1890-1976
• Metropolis (Motion picture : 1927)

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 109-112).

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Introduction: 'Metropolis' forever, more than ever -- The myth of its origins, the origins of its myths -- The UFA-crew -- A ruin-in-progress : release versions and restorations -- Interpreting 'Metropolois' : reading for the plot -- 'Metropolois', Moroder and sound -- Conclusion -- Appendix: Telling and retelling 'Metropolis'.

ISBN

• 9781844575015
• 1844575012

LCCN

• 2012462581
• 40021651482

OCLC

• 792748055
• SCSB-12239490

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library