Fan Fare

It’s a great idea that worked out well once in Berlin last night but it will not likely be the start of a new trend  – open air cinema in the middle of the winter.

“Metropolis” is a magical film and well worth shivering along with 2,000 other hard-core fans of the 1927 classic in the middle of a snowstorm last night — an unforgettable experience.

But it’s hard to imagine open-air cinema in February becoming a winter-time rival to the drive-in.

The Berlin Film Festival came up with the splendid venue to give a very large public at large a chance to see the restored version of “Metropolis”, the mother of all sci-fi films that first flopped in 1927 before becoming one of the most famous movies ever made. The trade press has been gushing about the discovery  in Argentina in 2008 of 30 minutes of the film that were cut and feared lost for good.

Organisers of the Berlinale gave the world premiere of the restored 83-year-old film the red carpet treatment with a special prime time screening at a sold-out 1,800-seat theatre. Because demand for the tickets greatly outstripped supply, Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick decided to beam a live stream of the screening of  ”Metropolis” and the live orchestra accompanying it simultaneously to a giant 312-metre square outdoor screen set up at the Brandenburg Gate in the heart of Berlin.

“Millions of people watch World Cup and Euro soccer matches at the public viewing areas set up at the Brandenburg Gate so we thought we’d give it a try and see what happens,” Kosslick said. Even though the soccer public viewing is in the summer, Kosslick pointed out that each year millions crowd around the Brandenburg Gate to celebrate New Year’s Eve. “It’s pretty cold on New Year’s Eve too,” he said.

The film was supposed to start at 8 p.m. and the square was pretty empty until about 7:55 p.m. when suddenly about 2,000 people came streaming out of nowhere — or someplace warm nearby. The crowd was in high spirits, despite the freezing temperatures and snowfall. They were full of anticipation and entertained by short film clips of the Berlinale’s 60 year history. But a few started to grumble audibly at about 8:15 when the clips were replayed a second time. We were cold and wanted to see “Metropolis”.

The discontent grew as politicians started giving speeches from inside the warm Friedrichstadtpalast theatre about a mile away, where 1,800 fortunate had tickets for the gala screening. To those without tickets freezing in heavy coats outside it was strange watching those  in tuxedos and evening gowns warm and sipping champagne on the inside – somehow a fitting metaphor for the film about social tensions between the working class and the rich.

The crowd then started booing loudly at about 8:40 p.m. when another politician in a bow tie from  the western state of Hesse where the film was restored was beamed in from another simultaenous screening in Wiesbaden to say a few words. 

Finally at about 8:45 p.m. the film started,  and the big crowd didn’t seem to be bothered by the numbing cold anymore.

I slipped away after about an hour to file this story inside a warm office around the corner – and watch the film being shown on the Franco-German public network Arte – but finished in time to catch the final 30 minutes back outside at the Brandenburg Gate. The crowd had dwindled to about 500 at the end. But the spirits were still  high and the film got, well, a standing ovation.

PHOTOS: A crowd of 2,000 watch “Metropolis” at Brandenburg Gate (above) while (below) German political leaders and Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick (far right) pose for photographers before screening of “Metropolis” REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch