Kino: F.W. Murnau films

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Mr Sausage
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Re: Kino

#51 Post by Mr Sausage » Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:31 pm

Are Faust, The Last Laugh, and Tartuffe the same DVDs as in the previous Murnau box from Kino?

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tojoed
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Re: Kino

#52 Post by tojoed » Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:36 pm

Sorry, Mr Sausage, that's all the info I have at the moment.

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HerrSchreck
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Re: Kino

#53 Post by HerrSchreck » Thu Dec 18, 2008 6:17 pm

justeleblanc wrote:the Tartuffe in the box set appears to be restored if you zoom in on the second cover at the amazon page here
Tartuf was already restored-- the Kino edition is the most faithful to the print, which was an American release print from the US Lib of Congress. It preserves the vintage intertitles, and the handwriting in english on the letter the old man writes to his lawyer, and on the Travelling Cinema scrolls the grandson holds up to the camera. It's an NTSC transfer, fully restored, and in fantastic shape... and includes The Way To Murnau, a feature length doc from Germany. PLus a nice booklet essay by Horak.

Heres the full specs from classicflix:
**Kino** has announced Murnau for release on March 17th.

The titles are listed below and the six-disc set will retail for $99.95, but is available at Classicflix.com for only $69.99. The only title of the bunch not previously released on DVD is The Finances of the Grand Duke (1924), with The Haunted Castle (1921) being rescued from public domain and Faust (1926) receiving a new 2-disc deluxe edition.

While Nosferatu (1922), The Last Laugh (1924) and Faust (1926) are all available as singles in 2-disc deluxe editions, each version of the movies in this set will only contain a restored single disc version.

Titles with previous release information (if any):

Tartuffe (1927 - Previous Kino release that is being re-packaged, but not available for individual resale)
The most gifted visual storyteller of the German silent era, F.W. Murnau crafted works of great subtlety and emotional complexity through his absolute command of of the cinematic medium. Known for such dazzling films as Nosferatu (1922), The Last Laugh (1924), Faust (1926) and Sunrise (1927), Murnau was also drawn to more intimate dramas exploring the dark corners of the human mind.

In Tartuffe, he revisits Moliere's fable of religious hypocrisy, in which a faithful wife (Lil Dagover) tries to convince her husband (Werner Krauss) that their morally superior guest, Tartuffe (Emil Jannings), is in fact a lecherous hypocrite with a taste for the grape. To endow the story with contemporary relevance, Murnau frames Moliere's tale with a modern-day plot concerning a housekeeper's stealthy efforts to poison her elderly master and take control of his estate.

BONUS FEATURES:

The Way To Murnau: Documentary on the Life and Career of F.W. Murnau
PLUS: Booklet essay by film scholar Jan Christopher Horak
The Haunted Castle (1921- Previous PD release and is available as a single for $17.99)
Before plumbing the depths of horror and despair with such films as Faust and The Last Laugh, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau tested the waters with this moody drama of a storm-bound manor and the grim mystery that lurks within. A hunting party is interrupted by the arrival of a notorious Count (Lothar Mehnert), who is believed to have murdered his brother. The uninvited guest sets in motion an elaborate plot to resurrect the ghosts of the past and bring to light the dark secret that lies at the center of his brother's death. The foreboding atmosphere and psychological complexity inspired Murnau to delve deeper into the horror genre, which he did the following year, with the immortal vampire tale Nosferatu (1922).

BONUS FEATURES:

Gallery of set design paintings by Robert Herlth
Excerpts of Rudolf Stratz’s novel
The Finances of the Grand Duke (1924 - No previous releases, available as a single for $17.99)
In one of the most eclectic films of the German silent era, visual stylist F.W. Murnau (Faust, Sunrise) broke away from the dark, foreboding dramas for which he was known to explore the realm of light comedy. Working from a screenplay by Thea von Harbou (Spies, Metropolis), Murnau crafted a playful espionage thriller reminiscent of Ernst Lubitsch (who had recently left Germany for Hollywood). Harry Liedtke stars as a “benevolent dictator” who must preserve the tiny nation of Abacco by fending off creditors, wooing a wealthy Russian princess (Mady Christians), and evading a band of demonic conspirators (including Nosferatu himself, Max Schreck).

BONUS FEATURE:

Audio Commentary by Film Historian David Kalat
Faust (Deluxe Restored Edition) (1926 - Previous single disc Kino release, now available in a 2 Disc Deluxe Edition for $21.99)
Mobilizing the full resources of the Ufa Studios, F.W. Murnau (Nosferatu, Sunrise) orchestrated a colossal adaptation of Goethe’s Faust that ranks alongside Fritz Lang's Metropolis as the greatest achievement of the German silent cinema. Gosta Ekman stars as the titular alchemist who, struggling with his faith amidst a devastating plague, is offered the power to cure and the gift of youth...in exchange for his soul. As the diabolical Mephisto, Emil Jannings (The Last Laugh) delivers a performance of operatic scale and intensity, by turns charming, comical, and horrific. This special Kino edition contains the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation’s meticulous restoration of the original German version of the film (with unique hand-painted intertitles), as well as a lengthier alternate cut prepared by the Ufa Studios in 1930.

A Two-DVD edition featuring the restored German version (106 min. with optional English subtitles) and the previous U.S. release version (116 min.)

BONUS FEATURES:

“The Language of Shadows: Faust,” a 53-minute documentary on the making of Murnau’s film
New musical score by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra in 5.1 Stereo Surround or 2.0 Stereo
The lost screen test footage of Ernst Lubitsch’s abandoned 1923 production Marguerite and Faust.
Essay by film historian Jan Christopher Horak
Image Gallery
Nosferatu (1922) Previous Kino Release
The Last Laugh (1924) - Previous Kino Release
They'll all be single edition versions of the restored versions of all the films. They'll retain the docs for Last Laugh & Faust, they just wont have the unrestored international release versions of these two, which constituted the second disc in these sets. And NOS will have the doc, and the restored new version of the film w the original score.

Since Faust's resto was originally an NTSC transfer, perhaps this ed. will do away w the jaggies on the MoC.

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Tribe
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Re: Kino

#54 Post by Tribe » Tue Dec 30, 2008 1:14 am

Anyone familiar with Murnau's The Haunted Castle (which is on the horizon from Kino)? I'm totally unfamiliar with this one...how does it fit in Murnau's body of work?

Thanks.

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Tommaso
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Re: Kino

#55 Post by Tommaso » Tue Dec 30, 2008 6:59 am

There was a little bit of discussion on "Haunted Castle" in the Silent Films thread. I also posted some caps from the new Spanish disc there to show how glorious that new restoration is. The film is worth seeing, but really don't expect anything as good as the better known Murnaus. All in all, pretty conventional.

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HerrSchreck
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Re: Kino

#56 Post by HerrSchreck » Tue Dec 30, 2008 12:24 pm

Tribe wrote:Anyone familiar with Murnau's The Haunted Castle (which is on the horizon from Kino)? I'm totally unfamiliar with this one...how does it fit in Murnau's body of work?

Thanks.
Ditto Tom. I've had it on VHS forever, and, although I do pull it out every here and there, its only due to sentiment for those kinds of potboiler old dark house mysteries (I love stuff like that: The Cat & The Canary, Murder In The Museum, Murder At Dawn, The Phantom, Tangled Destinies, The Instruder).

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Re: Kino

#57 Post by wpqx » Tue Jan 06, 2009 6:00 pm

As far as I know there is no complete version of The Haunted Castle in existence, so its hard to make a definite conclusion on the film in its present chopped up state.

This past Christmas I got Griffith volume 2, Ernst Lubitsch in Berlin, and Sjostrom's A Man There Was so I can only hope this coming year is as good.

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HerrSchreck
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Re: Kino

#58 Post by HerrSchreck » Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:51 pm

The film was discovered completely intact. The only thing missing were the original intertitles, which were recreated from original sources.

wpqx
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Re: Kino

#59 Post by wpqx » Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:17 am

That is damn good news then, the version I saw was somewhere around 50 minutes and left an awful lot of loose plot threads. First Flicker Alley releases Phantom now this, lets hope someone restores The Burning Soil next.

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HerrSchreck
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Re: Kino

#60 Post by HerrSchreck » Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:33 am

wpqx wrote:That is damn good news then, the version I saw was somewhere around 50 minutes and left an awful lot of loose plot threads. First Flicker Alley releases Phantom now this, lets hope someone restores The Burning Soil next.
What do you have, the Spanish VHS? I have a VHS version from the Film Annex that runs 83 minutes!

At the proper frame rate, I'd imagine the film running somewhere in the 70-80 minute zone.

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justeleblanc
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Re: Kino

#61 Post by justeleblanc » Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:18 am

HerrSchreck wrote:The film was discovered completely intact. The only thing missing were the original intertitles, which were recreated from original sources.
Kino recreate intertitles??? Why I never....

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Tommaso
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Re: Kino

#62 Post by Tommaso » Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:58 am

wpqx wrote: lets hope someone restores The Burning Soil next.
Hmm? I thought it had already been restored by FWMS a few years ago, tinted and all. Perhaps they just haven't recorded a music track yet, but that shouldn't cause a big problem.

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tojoed
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Re: Kino

#63 Post by tojoed » Wed Jan 07, 2009 8:12 am

Tommaso wrote:
wpqx wrote: lets hope someone restores The Burning Soil next.
Hmm? I thought it had already been restored by FWMS a few years ago, tinted and all. Perhaps they just haven't recorded a music track yet, but that shouldn't cause a big problem.
I didn't realise it had been restored by FWMS. The, er, unofficial copy I have mentions some work by Eric Rohmer, but that was in the 1980s, I think.

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Re: Kino

#64 Post by wpqx » Wed Jan 07, 2009 5:13 pm

I saw a VHS of Haunted Castle that was older than organized religion so I can't even remember what the source was. Seeing information for a new Murnau collection come March 17, there's a film called The Finances of the Grand Duke which I'm rather ignorant and excited to say I've never heard of. I do hope it's released separately as I'm none too excited about re-buying Nosferatu, The Last Laugh, and Faust again.

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Tommaso
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Re: Kino

#65 Post by Tommaso » Wed Jan 07, 2009 5:33 pm

Yes, all of the new Murnau's will be released separately AFAIK. "Finanzen des Großherzogs" is a nice, fluffy comedy, but not overly significant. But it has gorgeous landscape photography by Karl Freund shot in the Mediterranean, and the resto also is well made, though not as eye-popping as "Vogelöd/Haunted Castle" (which looks practically like it was shot yesterday, at least on the divisa disc).

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HerrSchreck
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Re: Kino

#66 Post by HerrSchreck » Wed Jan 07, 2009 5:41 pm

tojoed wrote:
Tommaso wrote:
wpqx wrote: lets hope someone restores The Burning Soil next.
Hmm? I thought it had already been restored by FWMS a few years ago, tinted and all. Perhaps they just haven't recorded a music track yet, but that shouldn't cause a big problem.
I didn't realise it had been restored by FWMS. The, er, unofficial copy I have mentions some work by Eric Rohmer, but that was in the 1980s, I think.
If it's german and it's Murnau (hell, if it's german and it's silent... and it's not held down in the Munich filmmuseum or Nero) it's gonna be FWMS.

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Cash Flagg
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Re: Kino: F.W. Murnau films

#67 Post by Cash Flagg » Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:44 pm

DVD Talk on Murnau

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HerrSchreck
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Re: Kino: F.W. Murnau films

#68 Post by HerrSchreck » Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:00 pm

DVDTalk wrote:The Finances of the Grand Duke has an audio commentary by film historian David Kalat.
Fabuloso!

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Tommaso
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Re: Kino: F.W. Murnau films

#69 Post by Tommaso » Sat Feb 28, 2009 8:13 am

Amazing! And according to the review, that commentary is very good, too. It's surprising and very welcome that Kino went that extra mile, even though I'm equally surprised that they don't seem to have taken over that installment from the Berriatua "Language of Shadows" series which is on the divisa discs of both "Vogelöd" and "Großherzog". But I guess that commentary will be far more in depth.

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Tommaso
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Re: Kino: F.W. Murnau films

#70 Post by Tommaso » Mon Jun 01, 2009 6:32 am

Beaver comparisons for "Faust" and "Tartuffe".

Interesting in both cases. Though I tend to dismiss the Kino "Tartuffe" because of the English titles (though they are probably original, as an export print was used, and I don't remember at the moment whether the German titles on the MoC/Transit were recreated or not), the Kino caps look pretty strong to me, a little darker, and in comparison the MoC/Transit looks even boosted. It rarely happens with me, but for picture only I'd probably choose the Kino here.

And the same goes for "Faust"; a lot of people here were unhappy with the MoC because of the 'jaggies', and looking at the caps the Kino seems to be a very strong alternative; it looks sharper to my eyes, closer to the divisared (which some think was the best edition imagewise so far), but less boosted, if at all. The inclusion of two new scores also seems a great choice, even though extras of course go to MoC.

I'm not sure whether Gary's assumption is correct that the 'Language of Shadows'-documentary on the Kino is the same as "The Five Fausts of Murnau" on the divisa. Both were made by Berriatua, and runtime is indeed similar, but the whole 'Language of Shadows'- series has only been created recently; of course it is possible that Berriatua simply took over his old documentary into the series and gave it a new name. So, can anyone confirm whether it's indeed the same doc that is on the Spanish disc?

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Re: Kino: F.W. Murnau films

#71 Post by What A Disgrace » Mon Jun 01, 2009 7:04 am

The MoC is progressive, though, as far as I can remember.

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Re: Kino: F.W. Murnau films

#72 Post by der_Artur » Mon Jun 01, 2009 2:35 pm

Tommaso wrote:...I don't remember at the moment whether the German titles on the MoC/Transit were recreated or not...
They were recreated. According to the text before the movie starts the German/British DVD is based on an American print.

Plus the MoC displays some ghosting, but that is, as also the dvd-beaver states, surely due to the difference in frame rate between silent era films and the PAL standard:

Image

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Re: Kino: F.W. Murnau films

#73 Post by videozor » Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:14 pm

Tommaso wrote: ...extras of course go to MoC.
Why "of course"? Is this documentary worthless?

I already own MoC, but can't make a decision if I should give Kino a try...

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HerrSchreck
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Re: Kino: F.W. Murnau films

#74 Post by HerrSchreck » Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:52 pm

"The Way to Murnau" is a quite nice, lengthy doc that traces his life with his relatives, visits his hometown, recounts his childhood, Lake Murnau, his artistic compatriots prior to becoming a director, his war experience, theatre period, visits locations of his films and the means effects were created.. It's a nicely reverent, dreamy doc.

Imho the Kino has the better image (the tinting looks more authentic too) and is the only disc so far to present the uncorrupted surviving print. Its an english language market release, so there's no reason to marry it with the german intertitles, whose corresponding print may have been edited differently.

Of course, given Gary's bias, he just lists "documentary" in the chart-list for the extras without identifying what it is, doesn't mention the insert booklet/essay by Jan Christopher Horak tracing the history and making of, and he says :
Exclusion of the original intertitles may also be a drawback for many viewers.
whereas the Kino is the only disc with the original intertitles intact.

He also carps that the Kino is interlaced, yet neglects to mention that the MoC is ghosted.

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Tommaso
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Re: Kino: F.W. Murnau films

#75 Post by Tommaso » Fri Jun 05, 2009 3:10 pm

videozor wrote:
Tommaso wrote: ...extras of course go to MoC.
Why "of course"? Is this documentary worthless?
Simply because the MoC has the audiocommentary, the Rayns videopiece, a comparison between the different versions, and don't forget the booklet of course. I don't own the MoC, only the divisa, but for quite a while I've been envying a friend of mine who has the MoC for that booklet alone.

I would suppose that the documentary on the Kino is quite good, supposing it is NOT the same as the one on the divisa (which more or less is an extended comparison of the various versions with some additional info thrown in; it's a bit hard to follow if you don't speak Spanish, so I'm not fully sure what exactly is in there).

HerrSchreck wrote:Imho the Kino has the better image (the tinting looks more authentic too) and is the only disc so far to present the uncorrupted surviving print. Its an english language market release, so there's no reason to marry it with the german intertitles, whose corresponding print may have been edited differently.
Yes, I agree. When I first wrote the bit about the titles above, I simply couldn't remember in which form "Tartuffe" actually survives, before Artur set me on the right track again. Kino it must be, then, if you don't already have another edition. "Faust" remains tricky perhaps for some, and I wouldn't want to rule out the divisa if you don't need English subs: image is strong, though the Art Zoyd soundtrack may be pretty controversial, but I have to say that I wouldn't want to go without it. Perhaps at some point I will buy the MoC, too, to get those extras, but it hasn't been particularly pressing in the past few years for me. And if you only care for the image, those caps clearly advise the Kino in both cases.

Yeah, and Gary's carelessness in neglecting to detail the extras of the Kino "Tartuffe" is a bit disturbing for sure, though he gives full details on "Faust" it seems and mentions title and length of the "Tartuffe" docu in his description at least. I'm still somewhat surprised that Kino didn't simply take over the MoC/Transit docu in this case.

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