Metropolis

Fritz Lang’s 1927 futuristic fantasy on the big screen with live piano accompaniment.

Metropolis

In the high-tech city of the future, the rich enjoy a god-like life of luxury while the poor are enslaved underground, in the city’s mechanical underbelly. In this urban dystopia, Freder, the wealthy son of the city’s designer and ruler, and Maria, a poor worker, risk their lives to heal the social divisions of Metropolis.

Metropolis was a flop when it premiered in 1927, and the film was heavily cut in an attempt to make it more popular. The cut footage was thought lost, until it turned up in Argentina in 2008. Now reunited with its lost thirty minutes, Metropolis is a dazzling classic of silent cinema.

The Music

Holmfirth musician Jonny Best will improvise a score at the piano. One of the UK’s leading silent film pianists and the founder of Yorkshire Silent Film Festival, Jonny performs all over the UK as a soloist and with the improvising quartet, Frame Ensemble. Jonny is one of the resident pianists at BFI Southbank.

Discover the art of the silent film pianist at 5pm as Jonny shares the tricks of the silent film pianist’s trade in The Secrets of the Silent Film Pianist, a 30 minute fun and accessible free event.