La Verdadera Historia de Metropolis: Escenas Perdidas y Misterios Ocultos — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Cinema is the narrative of our time. Cinema is the inexhaustible adventure. Cinema is a
2. 0:08fairy tale made visible. It is the visualization of something never seen before,
3. 0:16something that cannot be seen again because it has the power to prophetically construct before our
4. 0:22eyes the imagined marvelous worlds of future centuries, as happened with many
5. 0:30cinematic works for over 80 years. Metropolis was an incomplete piece, considered the mother of
6. 0:36science fiction. F.R. Langang's monumental work was mutilated, and even the
7. 0:43greatest film experts lost hope. Then, as if in cinema itself, there was an
8. 0:50unexpected plot twist. A director of a small film museum in Argentina had found several
9. 0:57rusty cans containing a complete version of the film with scenes that had not been seen since its
10. 1:03premiere in 1927. Get comfortable because we are going to travel through a story of how one of
11. 1:11the most important works of universal art could be recovered and immortalized for all
12. 1:18time. Although F.R. Langang wanted to be an architect, he interrupted his studies
13. 1:28to make a living painting in Paris during the years In 1913 and 1914,
14. 1:35when World War I broke out, Lang was a soldier in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, one of
15. 1:41the losers, so to speak, of one of the most absurd wars in
16. 1:46history. Lang managed to leave the army and in 1917 began his film career,
17. 1:53somewhat boosted by producer Joe May, who bought some of his screenplays thanks to other
18. 1:59contacts. Fritz Lang ended up working for a company called Decla Bioscope, belonging
19. 2:06to producer Erich Poma, as a playwright and author. In early 1919, he directed his first film,
20. 2:13H Blood, which unfortunately is considered lost, as no footage has ever been recovered.
21. 2:21Fortunately for him, in 1920, Lang met Carl Harv, an exceptional screenwriter and writer who
22. 2:30would be responsible for crafting the scripts for his films until 1933. Harv also worked with the great
23. 2:38F.W. Morno, director of films such as Sunrise and Nosferatu. Lang married Harv in 1922, the wife
24. 2:48with whom he would create one of the most incredible films. Never before brought to the screen,
25. 2:54Metropolis, if The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is considered the first film of
26. 3:03German Expressionism of the 1920s, was the last. Films like Metropolis could not have
27. 3:09been created in another era. Thanks to economic inflation in Germany with the
28. 3:15devaluation of the mark, between 400 and 600 German films were produced annually, and although it didn't
29. 3:23generate much in imports, it allowed many artists to obtain the budget they dreamed
30. 3:30of to create their works. Among many productions, the first that truly led
31. 3:34F.R. Lang to be considered a great artist was Tired Death, a romantic and
32. 3:41fantastical drama where a woman loses her beloved and must dance with Death, who tells her that if
33. 3:47one of the three candles he offers her goes out, she will never see her lover again. After
34. 3:54this success and meeting his wife, Dr. Mavius ​​Lang filmed his
35. 4:00first epic work, The Nibelungs, based on Germanic mythology, where a Nibelung is
36. 4:07a dark dwarf who dedicates himself to the excavation of minerals and natural materials. Above all,
37. 4:15this fantastic duology, especially the gold, took Lang to a higher level, making him one of the
38. 4:22most important figures not only of German Expressionism but of cinema worldwide. Then, with
39. 4:29his wife and other friends, Lang traveled for the first time to the United States, where he had a revelation—not
40. 4:36like Dalí, but an epiphany brought on by the atmosphere and skyscrapers of New York. The first stages of
41. 4:45Metropolis: On March 22, 1925, Fritz Lang and Cavon Harv began filming the magnum opus of
42. 4:56German cinema, Metropolis, a science fiction dystopia like nothing ever seen before. The filming
43. 5:03lasted 310 days and 60 nights, something unusual at the time, illustrating the true magnitude of a project
44. 5:11that few believed in. Starting with an abstract animated introduction, the film presents some
45. 5:18impossible opening scenes: a monstrous city never before seen on screen, where Lang
46. 5:25demonstrates why he was studying architecture. Fritz Lang was known for his meticulousness.
47. 5:31Extreme and demanding of his team's maximum effort, his obsessive focus on detail led to
48. 5:38memorable but also exhausting moments for the cast. A prime example is the flood sequence,
49. 5:44one of the most visually striking and also one of the most demanding for
50. 5:51the cast. Lang ordered a water tank to be built on set and, to heighten the sense of
51. 5:57desperation, used ice-cold water. Bridget Helm, along with the 500 children hired for this
52. 6:05scene, spent days under these extreme conditions, resulting in hypothermia for some of the
53. 6:11participants. Helm recalled in later interviews how her costume would get soaked and
54. 6:17how she suffered because it was so heavy she could barely move, while the cold water
55. 6:24caused uncontrollable tremors. However, Lang did not waver in his pursuit of authenticity,
56. 6:31even if it meant pushing his team to the limits of physical endurance. On the other
57. 6:36hand, the design of the robot, Machine and Mench, a cultural icon to this day, was a masterpiece
58. 6:43of artistic engineering. The sculptor Walter Schulze Mendor created the suit using
59. 6:51a mixture of cardboard, wood, and lacquered metal, which gave it its The futuristic yet rigid appearance
60. 6:57of the suit made wearing it a torturous experience for Bridget Helm. The metal grazed her
61. 7:03skin, causing cuts and wounds, and the suit's rigidity made even sitting
62. 7:09impossible. Helm described how, after long days of filming, her skin was covered in sores.
63. 7:16Despite these difficulties, her portrayal of the robot, with its mechanical movements and
64. 7:22penetrating gaze, became one of the film's most memorable moments. Another
65. 7:29astonishing aspect of the shoot was the scenes involving hundreds of extras who
66. 7:34represented the oppressed workers of Metropolis. Fritz Lang hired over
67. 7:4136,000 people during filming, including actors, extras, and
68. 7:47production workers. The opening scene, in which the workers emerge as a uniform mass to the
69. 7:53rhythm of the machines, required weeks of rehearsal. Lang wanted every movement to reflect the exhaustion
70. 8:00and alienation of the working class, leading to a meticulously choreographed routine that many
71. 8:07described as grueling. To ensure perfect synchronization,
72. 8:13specialized instructors were hired to lead rehearsals. Intensive as additional data, many of the
73. 8:20scenes in Metropolis were filmed at night to avoid distractions and take advantage of
74. 8:25absolute control over the lighting. Lang used extremely powerful lights to achieve the
75. 8:29visual contrast that characterized the film. These night sessions were especially challenging for
76. 8:34the crew, who had to work extra hours to prepare the sets for the next day.
77. 8:40An example of these night sessions was the scene where Maria, pursued by Rotwang, flees
78. 8:47through the underground tunnels. Brigit Helm had to run through dark corridors while being followed
79. 8:53by flashing lights and deafening screams from the technical crew simulating sound effects.
80. 9:00Lang wanted to capture the desperation and fear in real time, something he more than achieved.
81. 9:07The filming of Metropolis was truly a colossal feat, marked by technical innovations,
82. 9:13logistical challenges, and an unprecedented level of demand in an era when
83. 9:21special effects or digital effects were unimaginable. Metropolis managed to create a futuristic universe with
84. 9:28a level of realism that left the audience completely speechless. Find any adjective
85. 9:33you like. All of this was possible thanks to a combination Innovative techniques,
86. 9:39practical ingenuity, and a technical team led by FR Slang and the pioneer Eugene Shaan—this section is not only
87. 9:45fundamental to understanding the film's visual impact but also to appreciating its legacy as
88. 9:51a revolutionary work in the history of cinema. The most prominent method used in Metropolis was
89. 9:56the Shaan Process, developed by Eugene Shaan, the
90. 10:04film's special effects director. This ingenious technique used semi-transparent mirrors to combine live actors
91. 10:29with carefully crafted scenes. How it worked: A mirror was placed at a precise angle in front of
92. 10:35the camera so that it reflected a model located on one side of the set onto the other side.
93. 10:41Real actors were filmed interacting in a small scene—not a small area of ​​the set
94. 10:48that perfectly matched the perspective of the model. The result was a scene that
95. 10:53appeared to have a monumental scale, as if the characters were walking among the gigantic
96. 10:59streets of Metropolis. This method, although extremely complex to execute,
97. 11:04allowed Langan to save time and resources by not building full-scale sets. It also
98. 11:09brought a level of detail and realism that made the world of Metropolis come alive in a way
99. 11:14never before seen in film. To shape the city of Metropolis, the
100. 11:18production team designed and built a series of detailed models that recreated skyscrapers,
101. 11:24elevated highways, bridges, and tunnels. Each model was meticulously crafted
102. 11:30using materials such as wood, cardboard, plaster, and metal. Some of these structures reached
103. 11:36up to 2 meters in height, and many were equipped with miniature electric lights to simulate
104. 11:42the flickering of windows and futuristic traffic signals. The details were so
105. 11:48painstaking that even small antennas and cables were added to give greater authenticity
106. 11:53to the urban environment. To film the scenes, Scale models were placed on mobile platforms
107. 11:59that moved in sync with the camera. This created the illusion that the city was bustling
108. 12:04with activity. Forced perspective effects were also used, placing
109. 12:10smaller objects in the background and larger models in the foreground to enhance the
110. 12:14sense of depth and scale. One of the film's most impactful sequences is
111. 12:20the transformation of the gigantic steam engine into the monstrous deity Moloch, a
112. 12:26visual metaphor for industrial oppression. This effect was achieved with a combination of
113. 12:31practical techniques and visual effects. The Moloch machine set was constructed like a real mechanical colossus
114. 12:37with manually operated moving parts. To create the transition to the monster, techniques were used
115. 12:59that combined the dreamlike and the terrifying. Another unforgettable moment in Metropolis is
116. 13:04the scene in which the robot Machine and Mench takes on the appearance of Maria. This effect was
117. 13:09achieved through a combination of hand-drawn animation and double exposure, two techniques that
118. 13:15required precision and patience. First, Bridget Helm was filmed inside the robot suit on a
119. 13:21completely dark set. Then, moving lines of light were added around her
120. 13:27body, created using threads. Incandescent threads placed in specific patterns
121. 13:33were illuminated frame by frame while being manually manipulated to give the
122. 13:38illusion of pulsating energy building the robot. Finally, the footage was superimposed
123. 13:45with Helm's performance as Maria, giving the impression that the machine
124. 13:50magically transformed into a human being. Lighting also played an essential role in the
125. 13:56special effects of Metropolis. Frch Langang and his team used powerful lights to create
126. 14:02dramatic contrasts and play with shadows. For example, in the scene where the workers
127. 14:09march in rows into the bowels of the city, the lights were placed at low angles to
128. 14:15lengthen the shadows, giving the characters an almost inhuman appearance, as if they were part of
129. 14:21the machinery itself. In addition, the explosions, smoke, and light flashes used in
130. 14:29the factory scenes were achieved practically to create the atmosphere of
131. 14:33a functioning industrial environment. Steam engines and
132. 14:38compressed air cannons were used. These effects, combined with a carefully planned sound design,
133. 14:43increased the viewer's immersion in the oppressive world of Metropolis. The techniques
134. 14:48used in Metropolis not only marked a not only a milestone in film history but also
135. 14:53set a standard for science fiction films that would follow,
136. 14:59from the urban landscapes of films like Blade Run to the creation of impossible worlds
137. 15:04in sagas like Star Wars, Lang and Shaft's special effects laid the foundation for what
138. 15:10cinema could achieve despite the technological limitations of the 1920s. Metropolis showed
139. 15:16that creativity and dedication could overcome any barrier. Today, each of
140. 15:22These effects are studied and celebrated as a fundamental part of cinematic art, remembering
141. 15:29that the magic of film resides largely in the ability to transform imagination into
142. 15:34reality. The premiere of the original version of Metropolis took place on January 10, 1927,
143. 15:43at the UFA Palace in Berlin with a budget of 5 million marks. The last
144. 15:50German Expressionist piece was meant to be Hollywood's great competitor. After 1,200 spectators and 140
145. 15:57minutes of footage, the American producers who wanted to distribute the film in the
146. 16:02United States were dumbfounded. This work was excessively long and would have no chance with
147. 16:10the American public, and so they did what Hollywood knows how to do perfectly: destroy 1,000
148. 16:16minutes of the 4,189 minutes that the film originally had, thus destroying its narrative and story. It is good
149. 16:25to see that after almost 100 years, the American entertainment industry continues
150. 16:30to be as stupid as it is useless, destroying ideas and art to feed a popcorn-munching audience with
151. 16:37short attention spans. In Germany, the film was not spared from the butchering either, making the
152. 16:43complete version only visible at the premiere. Few theaters opted after two days for the
153. 16:50simplified and inferior version, although this gratuitous destruction inspired artists like
154. 16:56Ridley Scott, as mentioned with Blade Runner, Kubrick with his 2001: A Space Odyssey, and
155. 17:02George Lucas to make Star Wars. The real Metropolis had been destroyed and lost. All of this
156. 17:09ended up being described as the three negatives: one version of the film for the German market, another
157. 17:15for the United States, and the third for the rest of the world, all defiled by the
158. 17:23shameful businessmen and distributors, people incapable of appreciating art or artistic expression, who for
159. 17:3080 years deprived us of the last voice of German Expressionism. The most complete and pioneering restoration attempt
160. 17:37of Metropolis was made in 1980 by the director of the
161. 17:44Munich Film Museum at that time. This gentleman managed to reorganize the existing material to
162. 17:52assemble a version as faithful as possible to the original by Lang Yon Harbor. However,
163. 17:59key images and scenes were still missing to complete the story. So, if we move forward
164. 18:04a little more in time, to the end of the 90s, the foundation Frederick William Morn decided
165. 18:10it was time to restore everything that remained of Metropolis. Enlisting the help of various
166. 18:16associated archives, they used the most modern digital technology available, and as John Hammond would say
167. 18:22in Jurassic Park, they spared no expense. This culminated in a fairly definitive version released
168. 18:28in 2003. Unfortunately, upon starting the film, one was greeted with the message
169. 18:36that only an incomplete original negative and incomplete,
170. 18:42altered copies could have been used to create this version of the footage. Although Metropolis still lacked a quarter of its
171. 18:49complete version, UNESCO did not hesitate to declare it a World Heritage Site. Then came 2008,
172. 18:57the year everything changed for Metropolis when Paula Félix Didier took over as director of the
173. 19:04Buenos Aires Film Museum in 2008. She was unaware of what she would contribute to the history of
174. 19:10cinema. The museum had been closed for many years, and Paula decided it was time
175. 19:16to investigate and rescue 45,000 film reels, antique projectors, and other
176. 19:23materials hidden within its walls. It was a textile factory in the Barracas district. Paula proved to be
177. 19:29a true film lover, as the climatic conditions had turned that building and its
178. 19:35negatives into a sea of ​​nonsense. Between the lack of conservation and the neglect,
179. 19:41finding anything among so much accumulated garbage would be a superlative achievement. Then one day,
180. 19:46searching among cans and cans of negatives that no one remembered, Paula came across a treasure that
181. 19:52had been sought for the last 80 years: a practically complete version of Metropolis
182. 19:58where only a couple or three scenes were missing. The anecdote that led Paula and Fernando Martín,
183. 20:04director of the department of the Museum of Latin American Art, to determine that this copy of
184. 20:10Metropolis was the original was that a film critic named Salvador Samaritano had complained
185. 20:16Some time ago, a poor 16mm copy of Lang's film, which had to be
186. 20:22held up with a finger to be projected—you know how you hold a negative, bam, bam—for over two
187. 20:28hours, was discovered. The mention of two hours was the definitive clue that this Metropolis film could be the
188. 20:32original, since the version disfigured and destroyed by the Americans was approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes
189. 20:38long. Thanks to Paula's decision to reopen the museum, Fernando was able to verify
190. 20:45that the film negative was complete, creating a historic moment in universal art.
191. 20:51This particular version of Metropolis premiered in Buenos Aires in 1928 thanks to the distributor
192. 20:57Adolfo Z. Wilson, who was responsible for bringing one of the original copies from the
193. 21:04Berlin premiere from Germany. Although this copy was supposed to be destroyed due to distribution rights issues,
194. 21:09Wilson, amazed by Lang's footage, gave the copy to a film critic and collector, Manuel
195. 21:15Peña Rodríguez, who, upon dying of cancer in 1960, donated all his films to the Argentine National Art Fund,
196. 21:22which ended up being inherited by the very museum that Paula had just reopened. To revive the irony.
197. 21:29The new director had in mind to bring this same collection to light when she assumed the position. Although
198. 21:35she never imagined that among Rodríguez's pieces could be a practically complete version
199. 21:42of the final work of German Expressionism, the one responsible for the Metropolis debacle
200. 21:48was an American named Channing Pollock, an enlightened man who didn't even speak German and was
201. 21:53responsible for the destruction of the mother of science fiction. This Pearl—because there's no
202. 21:58other way to describe it—destroying the narrative of Metropolis didn't matter to him at all; he couldn't care less.
203. 22:03He brilliantly declared, "When he did his job, when he did his job..." Excuse my
204. 22:09pronunciation, but I'm being sarcastic [ __ ]—destroying the negative and making
205. 22:14its restoration practically impossible. It's like what Hollywood does nowadays, making remakes—in
206. 22:18quotes—of European films released a few months earlier, lest
207. 22:24their audience have to read subtitles because they don't have the appropriate intellectual level. Paul
208. 22:28couldn't understand the symbolism or narrative of Metropolis, eliminating a scene from the
209. 22:33film, for example, because The name Hell, one of the characters in Bon Harb's script, was
210. 22:40too reminiscent of Hell, which is the English word for hell. Yep, that was the level. Other unnecessary cuts affected
211. 22:47secondary male characters, making certain relationships between different characters
212. 22:52nonsensical, a bit like what happened to Ridley Scott in Kingdom of Heaven,
213. 22:58where 20th Century Fox cut an hour of footage, turning a very good film
214. 23:05into a pointless mess. The famous flood climax also suffered cuts because
215. 23:10Pollock, in his infinite glory, believed that seeing the 500 German children in the water and those conditions
216. 23:16could traumatize American audiences—something that, ironically, didn't affect them
217. 23:22during World War II. Well, I suppose it's a matter of small details.
218. 23:28Thanks to Paula Félix and restorers from all over the world, Pollock's minimal destruction
219. 23:33could be reversed by digitizing the 16mm footage to 35mm, cleaning the negative, and being able to
220. 23:41focus and sharpen the images to reconstruct the The most complete and definitive version
221. 23:48of Metropolis that exists. Thanks to all these people, today we can enjoy this
222. 23:53universal masterpiece in resolutions up to 4K. Metropolis is more than a film; it's
223. 24:00a reminder that even when time, economic interests, and adversity try to
224. 24:06erase art, there will always be dreamers willing to fight to keep it alive. Today, almost 100 years
225. 24:12later, this masterpiece continues to speak to us with the same intensity it did in 1927, proving
226. 24:19that cinema can be eternal if we care for it with dedication and love. I sincerely hope you
227. 24:25enjoyed this documentary. Thank you so much for your time, and many hugs and kisses.