More on Metropolis HERE, HEREHERE, HERE

More Fritz Lang info HERE

 

President's Message
April 2003

0.  For the first time in memory, the BAS Speaker has been published on time. Congratulations to the editors, David Weinberg and David Moran and the contributors that have made this possible.

1.  V25-1 has been published electronically. It contains a meeting summary of the visit with Richard Burwen and his 20,000 watt home HiFi system, reviews of the Zenith Digital TV Tuner and the Radio Shack Digital Multimeter, David Moran's extended review of the Bugtussel $4000 Amygdala Loudspeaker, an article on Illegal Music Copying Issues, and a review of the book The Soundscape of Modernity by Emily Thompson. 26pp.

2.  Email received, presented for information, without any endorsement at this point: We have created a much needed free auction site which promotes High End audio, Vintage audio and Homemade audio. There was a great need for a place to buy and sell high end, vintage and especially homemade items. Many audiophiles build their own equipment and projects. Many have vintage equipment. What was needed was a place where these people of like interest can buy and sell. Now there is! It is free to all users. We hope this helps to bring our audiophile family closer together. Please tell your members about it and spread the word around. Enjoy! Mike Morrow, www.audiosold.com

3.  The restored authorized DVD of the silent film Metropolis, Fritz Lang's fever-dream of the future, is likely to be the definitive release. Longer by a third than any previous release (at 124 minutes), it represents the best possible version we're ever likely to see of this butchered classic. Initially shown in Berlin at 153 minutes, it was immediately cut for further release in the US and elsewhere by the co-invester Paramount Pictures. Of course silent films were never silent — this features a new recording of the lush Wagnerian score by Gottfried Huppertz. There is also a 43 minute documentary about the film, a fascinating featurette about the Digital Restoration (they elected to avoid heavy digital noise reduction because of the associated motion artifacts, and instead used a liquid transfer — a fluid coated the surface of the film, filling in scratches and giving a noise-free image), and a full length commentary which summarizes missing scenes (with many comments on the use of musical leitmotivs). An original 1927 negative, found in East Berlin, although incomplete, was used as the basis for the transfer, with additional footage found all over the world. Just before the fall of the Wall, 30 cans of Metropolis material was allegedly destroyed — we will never know what was lost. Kino Video K275. A picture book, Metropolis (Menges), has also been published with 100s of photos shot during production (none of the photos come from the film) and a detailed analysis of themes and images in the film. There is also the novel Metropolis by Thea Von Harbou which is classic in its own right.

David Hadaway

President, Boston Audio Society


 

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updated 11/11/04