SECRET MOVIE CLUB presents
Part of our SILENT CLASSICS WITH ORIGINAL LIVE SCORES Series, Saturday, July 22, 2023
LOCATION: The Secret Movie Club Theater, 1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90021
*Please note entrance/parking is actually in the back of the 1917 Bay St building. Our entrance is NOT on Bay Street. You access our entrance from Wilson Street by turning into the street art alleyway/corridor in the back of the building. Look for our signs which are always posted on Wilson and in the corridor to guide the audience.
7:30pm METROPOLIS (1927, dir. Fritz Lang, Kino Lorber, Germany, 148mns, 35mm)
IMPORTANT NOTE (PLEASE READ): This rare 35mm screening will be accompanied by a live score by the band The Silent Light that veers from dark ambient to doom metal and was recently performed at CalArts. In other words, this screening is going to melt your face off your face. We’ll be handing out ear plugs for folks who don’t want the full “metal” experience. But please be aware. DO NOT ATTEND IF YOU DON’T LIKE INTENSE MUSIC.
That’s right. We are screening a rare 35mm print of Fritz Lang’s huge sci-fi influencer silent epic Metropolis with an accompanying dark ambient/doom metal score composed and performed LIVE by the Silent Light who recently unveiled it at CalArts.
This is a chance to be fully immersed in the wild vision, overwhelming imagery, intense (and sometimes contradictory) story, all while going full metal.
Lang has often said the movie was inspired by an overwhelming trip to New York City. From there, he and his wife, Thea Von Harbou, conceived a story of how robot spies, artificial intelligence, the class system of worker and factory owner, and the imagined gargantuan metropolises of the future would collide in conflict and clash.
The movie itself tells the story of how rich industrialists live high in the clouds of penthouse skyscrapers while the working class lives below ground only to toil and slave in monstrous factories during the day. All the while, an inventor creates a robot human (the most famous image of the movie-a sensual kind of female cyborg of metal and seduction) who becomes an imposter spy when cloaked in human flesh.
The director always felt uneasy with an ending he came to believe was ridiculous. Still, there is no denying that the cinema and jaw dropping special effects, production design of Metropolis has had a pervasive influence on moviemaking titans like Ridley Scott (whose Blade Runner is a street level Metropolis) and David Fincher (who appropriated Lang’s imagery for the famous 80’s Madonna music video “Express Yourself”) among many others.
This is a chance to see one of the towering works of silent cinema set to an intense score. At Secret Movie Club, we love partnering with creative folks who are innovating and breathing fresh life into vital works that need to be seen.
Come experience the future as Lang saw it in 1927. It’s going to rock. On 35mm.
Best always,
Craig Hammill
Secret Movie Club Founder.Programmer
About the Composer/Performers THE SILENT LIGHT: The Silent Light performs live metal scores to silent films. Headed by guitarist / synth player Mike Formanski and drummer Matt Hardy, the group combines music from metal, fantasy, and cyberpunk styles to breathe new life into classic films from the silent era.
The Silent Light’s rendition of the Metropolis score crosses dark ambient with crushing metal instrumentals. During its runtime it takes its audience from hell to heaven, then all the way back again. Come for the beauty, stay for the horror.
*Please note that though we strive to always show titles on 35mm film if advertised, we may have to screen digitally if the print we receive is in such bad shape or if we don't receive the print in time because of a shipping delay. We will do our best to alert the audience. When this does occur, we will offer each ticket holder who chooses not to attend a complimentary ticket to a future event in exchange. (Disclaimer: Good for 90 days – Future screening must have available tickets, cannot be a fundraiser, and must be comparably priced)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
REFUNDS:
We can offer refunds up to 24 hours before showtime. Please request a refund through Eventbrite and we will process ASAP. After that, no refunds. Sorry.
However if something last minute comes up and you can’t make the screening, for whatever reason, just write to us before showtime: community@secretmovieclub.com and we’ll offer you complimentary tickets to a future screening, good for 90 days. (Disclaimer: Future screening must have available tickets, cannot be a fundraiser, and must be comparably priced)
HELPFUL SECRET MOVIE CLUB (1917 Bay Street, 2nd Floor, LA, CA 90021) THEATER PARKING TIPS:
We recommend that you park just outside our theater. Remember our theater is actually in a beautiful street art alleyway in the back of the 1917 Bay Street building. You get to our entrance by taking a right on Wilson, then a right behind the building. We are the first set of black steps on the right after the big gate.
There is also a parking lot at the corner of Mateo and Violet Street, just 2 blocks from our theater, which costs $7 per car.
HOW CAN WE STAY ON TOP OF NEWLY ANNOUNCED 35MM SCREENINGS, EVENTS, ETC?
You can follow us on Instagram/Twitter: @secretmovieclub or Facebook: @secretmovieclub35mm
You can also subscribe to our weekly email newsletter at secretmovieclub.com or by writing to us at community@secretmovieclub.com and using the header “SUBSCRIBE ME TO NEWSLETTER”.
HOW CAN I CONTACT YOU IF I HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS:
You can always email us at community@secretmovieclub.com with any other questions, concerns, thoughts, recommendations.