Among the most iconic and influential films of all time, Metropolis is a cinema classic with a huge cult following. Considered by many to be the mother of all sci-fi films, and a major influence on Ridley Scott, George Lucas, and pop culture in general, referenced by Madonna, Beyoncé and countless others. No wonder then that this new restoration is one of the biggest film events of the century, a ‘Holy Grail’among film finds. Fritz Lang’s 1927 sci-fi epic can finally be seen – for the first time in 83 years – almost exactly as the director originally intended and as viewed by German cinema-goers of the time.

Shortly after that 1927 release, an entire quarter of Lang’s original version was cut by Paramount for the US release, and by UFA in Germany, an act of butchery very much against the director’s wishes. The excised footage was believed lost, irretrievably so – that is, until one of the most remarkable finds in all of cinema history, as several dusty reels were discovered in a small museum in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2008. Since then, an expert team of highly respected film archivists has been working at the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung in Germany to painstakingly reconstruct and restore Lang’s film. The results, as premiered at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival in February 2010, are spectacular.