German Filmmuseum Edition

[denti alligator]

Notice that there are new additions to the "in preparation" list among them WATERLOO by Karl Grune (never heard of it) and DIE FREUDLOSE GASSE (about time).

Oh man, I didn't even notice this after seeing the Ruttmann and Reinert details... This makes me pretty speechless.
I'd say, if they manage to get these out this year as well, it will be very hard for MoC to contend with filmmuseum for Label Of The Year (and who was that Criterion Collection label, btw?)

True. As far as I'm concerned the Kluge set alone should give them the honor of Label of the Year. We're talking about one of themost important German filmmakers whose work has been mostly eclipsed by the popularity of Herzog and Fassbinder and Wenders and who prior to the Filmmuseum DVDs has not had ONE SINGLE FILM appear on DVD. This is monumental.

[Tommaso]

True. As far as I'm concerned the Kluge set alone should give them the honor of Label of the Year. We're talking about one of themost important German filmmakers whose work has been mostly eclipsed by the popularity of Herzog and Fassbinder and Wenders and who prior to the Filmmuseum DVDs has not had ONE SINGLE FILM appear on DVD. This is monumental.

But you're aware that the complete Kluge films can be already had from www.zweitausendeins.de for a MUCH cheaper price? I mean, in a way it's a shame that filmmuseum first released half of them, and then, in collaboration with zweitausendeins (and only available from them) released the complete films as a box set. That's probably one of the reasons why the remaining films are coming so slowly from filmmuseum (or are they all out now?) Most Kluge fans, at least in Germany, will certainly go for the complete set, although probably they will miss out on the filmmuseum booklets.

With this in mind, and probably because I also am not a Kluge fan (as yet; I have just seen that the local library has apparently bought the whole set, so I will probably get me some of them once the pile of unwatched discs at Casa Tommaso has diminished a little), I'd much prefer to see Kornblum, Grune, Pabst and Suzuki (!) first.

[HerrSchreck]

Notice that there are new additions to the "in preparation" list among them WATERLOO by Karl Grune (never heard of it) and DIE FREUDLOSE GASSE (about time).

Any news on how long the version of Joyless Street will be? I know there is an extremely long version of the resto (I saw it at the MoMa) and am very curious as to how authoritative it is.

Any Grune is cause to celebrate... I'm surprised that his more-famous film Die Strasse (considering theyre releasing the Pabst "street" film which was inspired by the Grune). I'd vaguely heard of Waterloo, but know next to nothing about it.

Go Filmmusuem!

[Tommaso]

Any news on how long the version of Joyless Street will be? I know there is an extremely long version of the resto (I saw it at the MoMa) and am very curious as to how authoritative it is.

No idea, of course, but I know that the latest resto from FWMS lasts for about 185 min. I haven't seen it, but is there any reason why this shouldn't be authoritative? That earlier version out in the US on some (public domain?) box-set with about 20 other films lasts, I believe, some 90 min., but is clearly shortened. I'm pretty sure we'll get the long version in any case.

I know nothing about "Waterloo", either. But as you say, any Grune (or almost any other unknown German silent) is indeed worth a celebration.

[HerrSchreck]

I wasn't sure if that three hour-plus version I saw was a sort of "throw all footage in that we can find" everything-but-the-kitchen-sink version or constitutes the final restoration. Sometimes you gut multiple cuts of old films that hit different countries/time frames in dif lengths/edits (kind of like w the Briestein and some other films where you have longer and shorter cuts).. If you've seen FWMS info that says the three hour ver. is the cut they settled on, then I guess that's it.

[denti alligator]

Tomasso, the Filmmuseum sells the same films available from Zweitausendeins for the same price, and I'm assuming with booklets. But these are only the theatrical films. The television works are another 15-odd DVDs and will be combined with the currently available theatrical works set for 199 Euro. A steal.

[zedz]

True. As far as I'm concerned the Kluge set alone should give them the honor of Label of the Year. We're talking about one of themost important German filmmakers whose work has been mostly eclipsed by the popularity of Herzog and Fassbinder and Wenders and who prior to the Filmmuseum DVDs has not had ONE SINGLE FILM appear on DVD. This is monumental.

But you're aware that the complete Kluge films can be already had from www.zweitausendeins.de for a MUCH cheaper price?

This is confusing, but what Denti (and I) are waiting for is the second Kluge box set (30 discs, including the 16 already boxed). The zweitausendeins selection of films is already available from Filmmuseum as Edition Filmmuseum Collection 2; this one will be Edition Filmmuseum Collection 4.

It seems to me that this will be the most extensive DVD collection ever devoted to a single director, and as Denti says, he's a filmmaker previously unrepresented at all in the medium. There are releases I'm personally more excited about (all those Yoshidas, Shimizu), but if this isn't the release of the year, what beats it will be unprecedented (Borzage at Fox, anyone?)

EDIT: Ah, Denti, beat me to it again!

[denti alligator]

Zedz gets the details better than I did. And yes, what else could top this 30-DVD set as Release of the Year? Name one other remotely important filmmaker whose work is completely unavailable on DVD who will be getting a career-spanning Complete Works set! Maybe something like a Complete Michael Snow set would come close, but that wouldn't be near 30 DVDs. An "official" complete Andy Warhol would be close, too, were it not for the Raro set. Hm, can't think of any others. In fact this might be the DVD set of the decade.

[ptmd]

How about the Editions Montparnasse series of Straub/Huillet releases? A few of their films had been released on DVD in Japan, and a smaller number elsewhere, but these sets are genuinely extraordinary and, to my mind anyways, they are certainly much more important and exciting filmmakers than Kluge. I suppose it's all a matter of taste, but, at the very least, I think we can all be grateful for the extraordinary work that the Filmmuseum is doing.

[accatone]

Gimme The Straubs!!!! Of course i disagree that they are more important than Kluge…however, KLASSENVERHAELTNISSE was one of the the top releases of the last year!

[foggy eyes]

Has anyone picked up Nerven yet? I'm planning to buy it as soon as I have the funds, but am curious about the quality of the disc nevertheless.

[denti alligator]

I have it and watched it last night. It is magnificent and the quality of the image/transfer/elements exceeded my expectations.

Apparently 1/3 of the film is missing, but it hardly feels like it. There aren't any stills inserted to fill in missing scenes, which helps. The film was reconstructed from a variety of sources, and in the case of many of the "living titles" (is moving titles or titles over moving backgrounds) the restorers have chosen to use the only existing American print, without altering the text. These are all simply title cards (as in "NERVES"), with the exception of one, for which the restorers then provide the original German as a regular intertitle. I find this a very satisfying way of dealing with the problem.

The film itself is over-the-top and will make the likes of Schreck, Knappen, Tommaso, vogler, et al stain their trousers with joy (if you'll excuse the Schreckism)... I can't go into details now, but don't hesitate to get this DVD! (Extras are limited: two pieces of footage from the demonstrations in Munich, 1919; a contemporary review [German only]; an essay by Stefan Droessler on the restoration and importance of the film [German only]; and two interesting essays in English, one by Jan-Christopher Horak and one by David Bordwell.)

[foggy eyes]

Thanks for the report, denti - I'm sold. Bordwell plugged the release on his blog recently (and I think I realised that I had to see it after laying eyes on the extreme deep-focus stills in Figures Traced in Light):

This is one of the strangest movies of the silent era. The plot, as Chris Horak points out in his accompanying essay, is steeped in Spenglerian melancholy, reminding us that Expressionism could be politically conservative as well as revolutionary. The visuals are at once monumental and unstable, like boulders teetering over a precipice. I try to analyze them in another contribution to the DVD booklet. Drössler has contributed an essay on the process of restoration.

Nerven was a box-office fiasco and never achieved the fame of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. In a way, it is more disturbing than that official classic because Reinert’s alternation of frenzy and somnambulism takes place in a more or less solid world, like ours. Frantic scenes of street fighting mix with brooding images of a bourgeoisie sliding into religious possession or straight-up lunacy. It is not every day that you see a movie that begins with a man throttling his wife and then lovingly refilling their parakeet’s water cup. If you’re a fan of wild deep-space imagery way before Citizen Kane (as above), this one’s for you.

[Knappen]

Thanks for the word on this.

I'll place a huge order at Filmmuseum as soon as I have moved to the continent and can avoid extra expenses.

[Tommaso]

Thanks for the "Nerven" review, denti.

Apparently 1/3 of the film is missing, but it hardly feels like it. There aren't any stills inserted to fill in missing scenes, which helps. The film was reconstructed from a variety of sources, and in the case of many of the "living titles" (is moving titles or titles over moving backgrounds) the restorers have chosen to use the only existing American print, without altering the text. These are all simply title cards (as in "NERVES"), with the exception of one, for which the restorers then provide the original German as a regular intertitle. I find this a very satisfying way of dealing with the problem.

It is. Though in cases like this I always think it might be nice to have reconstructed German cards as an alternative option, simply for the sake of comparison. Printing them in the booklet or putting them on the disc as a pdf-file might be a good idea. But no complaints, of course. Looking very forward to this release (trousers have just dried again), but even more so to the Ruttmann (pushed back to September now, after being first announced to be released in June and then in July).

[denti alligator]

Though in cases like this I always think it might be nice to have reconstructed German cards as an alternative option, simply for the sake of comparison. Printing them in the booklet or putting them on the disc as a pdf-file might be a good idea.

It wouldn't be possible to reconstruct all but one of these, since they are floating titles overtop of moving images. Without the blacking-out a la Shepard method (=disaster) I can't image how it could be done.

The one title that had more text and only illustrated background could have been re-constructed, I guess, but why? We get the German text immediately following it--and it was apparently created by Reinart for English-speaking audiences.

[Tommaso]

It wouldn't be possible to reconstruct all but one of these, since they are floating titles overtop of moving images. Without the blacking-out a la Shepard method (=disaster) I can't image how it could be done.

God beware! That's why I wrote to include the German titles (if they are still in existence somewhere, i.e. censorship cards or script or something) perhaps as a pdf, only for study purposes. Not having seen the film yet, I of course don't know how substantial they are (and you say there's very little text in them), and my idea was a more general one, not just pertaining to this one film. The thing about the floating titles reminds me a little of "La Roue", is this correct?

[Morandi]

the austrian film museum is going to release a double DVD (edition filmmuseum 44) around the 25th of september - i guess its 29 euros like the straub-huillet box.
two features by the canadian born and probably outside from vienna very little known filmmaker john cook. restored and with english subtitles. one is "langsamer sommer" (1974-76), the other one is "schwitzkasten" (1978) and as an extra his documentary "ich schaff's einfach nimmer". if there was sthg like an austrian new wave in the 70s, cook occupied a central position. anyway, very interesting documents of vienna in the 70s. his credo was sthg like "documentaries should look like feature films and feature films should give you a feeling of reality like a documentary". to me this is probably the most anticipated release of the year. high recommendation!

[Tommaso]

Specs for the John Cook films are now at the filmmuseum site. Release is somewhere in September. The Ruttmann set has again been postponed and is now set for October...hmmm...

Good news is that the filmmuseum discs seem to be carried again by jpc. At least they now have "The River" and "Nerven" available (with release dates given as 31.08.08 and 12.09.08 respectively, rather strange as both discs are already out, of course). But pricing is considerably cheaper than filmmuseum, especially as you can of course order other things to save on shipping costs. Hope this continues with the Ruttmann.

[zedz]

I haven't noticed this mentioned in a quick scan of the last few pages, but I just noticed it during my frequent, always-frustrated check up on the progress of the big Kluge set.

EFM Set No 5 is The Other Weimar, a collection of the following eight discs for E114.95 (saving about 35 Euro):
Vom Reiche der Sechs Punkte
Nathan der Weise
Nerven
Bergmann-Michel Dokumentarische Filme 1931-33
Friedrich Schiller - Eine Dichterjugend
Anders als die Andren
Die elf Teufel / Konig der Mittelsturmer

A nice way to pick up lots of obscure German silents.

[Cash Flagg]

Release dates are up: November 20th for Hedy Lamarr, November 28th for Berlin.

[Tommaso]

Kornblum's "Wunder der Schöpfung" is now announced for March 2009.

Specs as follows:

* Wunder der Schöpfung 1925, 80'
* Musik von Aljoscha Zimmermann und Sabrina Zimmermann
* Kapitelwahl
* The Einstein Theory of Relativity 1923, 20'
* Musik von Günter A. Buchwald
* Hanns Walter Kornblum erzählt 1967, 35'
* 12seitiges Booklet mit Texten von Hanns Walter Kornblum

[zone_resident]

DVD Times on Nerven

[antnield]

...and Journey to Justice

[sir karl]

Any news on how long the version of Joyless Street will be? I know there is an extremely long version of the resto (I saw it at the MoMa) and am very curious as to how authoritative it is.

No idea, of course, but I know that the latest resto from FWMS lasts for about 185 min. I haven't seen it, but is there any reason why this shouldn't be authoritative? That earlier version out in the US on some (public domain?) box-set with about 20 other films lasts, I believe, some 90 min., but is clearly shortened. I'm pretty sure we'll get the long version in any case.

I know nothing about "Waterloo", either. But as you say, any Grune (or almost any other unknown German silent) is indeed worth a celebration.

Both Edition Filmmuseum and Filmarchiv Austria listed the running time of their upcoming DVD Die freudlose Gasse as 142 minutes (20 fps). According to imdb this seems to be the ZDF/arte 1996-1998 restored version.