Fritz Lang’s silent classic Metropolis blended expressionism, science fiction, Christianity and medieval occultism into a sprawling epic that has inspired all science fiction movies that followed. The robot, for example, clearly inspired Star Wars’ C3P0 and the futuristic cityscapes closely resemble those seen in Blade Runner, Brazil, Batman and Dark City. As canoe.ca reports, Metropolis is famous not just for its expressionism and industrial futurism, but also for the mystique that has surrounded it over the decades. The film took a year to shoot, was the most expensive European-made feature at the time and nearly bankrupted its studio, UFA. It was immediately controversial–the left accusing it of being pro-fascist, the right saying it reeked of Bolshevism. After its premier at 153 minutes, five of its 12 reels were cut and the remaining prints fell into public domain where the film languished, scratchy, faded, butchered and confusing.

Now, after 4 years of painstaking detective work, meticulous reconstruction and digital restoration, a new 124-minute version of Metropolis has been created that is as close as possible to what was screened at the Berlin premiere in January 1927. All this hard work has resulted in an exceptionally clear print, with more contrast than ever before, a 5.1 surround-sound orchestral recording of the film’s original score and new title cards. The newly restored Metropolis opens the winter season of Cinematheque Ontario this month–a screening program of the Toronto International Film Festival. The film will then have a limited theatrical run across Canada before being released VHS and DVD on February 18.