On 21st March 1927, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis had its British premiere, unveiling a vision of the future that has echoed through popular culture for a century. One hundred years to the day, Northern Silents marks this anniversary with a special live‑scored screening.
Lang’s portrait of a towering future city—divided between the privileged above and the workers below—remains one of cinema’s most influential achievements. Yet Metropolis was a flop in 1927, and soon after its Berlin premiere the studio cut away a quarter of the film, leaving the story in disarray. Those missing forty minutes were assumed lost until, in 2008, almost all the absent scenes were discovered in an attic in Argentina and the film was painstakingly reconstructed.
For this centenary screening, pianist Jonny Best will perform a live, improvised score. Jonny is one of the UK's leading improvising silent film pianists and the founding artistic director of Northern Silents. Showroom welcomes him back to Sheffield following his recent live scores for Strike! and The Adventures of Prince Achmed.
Classics
At Showroom Cinema, we pride ourselves on giving audiences the chance to watch a wide variety of films from cinema history. Our Showroom Classics strand brings every classic film currently on our programme, together in one place.
Director Fritz Lang
Year 1927
Duration
2h 30m
Language Silent with German intertitles
Cast Alfred Abel, Brigitte Helm, Gustav Fröhlich