Tuesday 9 October, 8 p.m. - Teatro Piccolo Arsenale
Metropolis (Germany 1927, b/w,140’, o.v.) directed by Fritz Lang
music by Martín Matalon for 16 musicians and electronics (1995 - 140′) Italian premiere

conductor Martín Matalon
musikFabrik

A milestone in the history of cinema and a masterpiece by the German film-maker, Fritz Lang, Metropolis (1927) has become the prototype for many science-fiction films (Blade Runner, Brazil, Star Wars) but its has also inspired theatre, literature, cartoons and rock music… The cinematographic expressionism of Lang finds its acme here in the masterly images of a city of the future – apparently inspired by the skyline of New York – the result of “special effects” that were totally new for their time. Nineteen months of work, 600,000 metres of film (edited, cut and re-assembled several times, to the extent that it has become almost impossible to reconstruct the original) for a monster production exceeding 50 million German marks of the time; enough to bankrupt UFA. Although it did not receive much praise when first released in Germany, and around Europe generally received barely a lukewarm response, 10,000 people went to the New York screenings alone, anticipating what would become one of the masterpieces of the last century, included in UNESCO’s  Memory of the World registry.

 Originally accompanied by the music of the Club Foot Orchestra, Metropolis is offered by musikFabrik in the version produced recently by the Argentinian composer, Martín Matalon, on commission of the IRCAM in Paris on the occasion of the film’s restoration, which was effected in 1993.