25 Vampyr

Message

ola t · #1 Post by **ola t** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:53 am

The first sound-film by one of the greatest of all filmmakers, Vampyr offers a sensual immediacy that few, if any, works of cinema can claim to match. Legendary director Carl Theodor Dreyer leads the viewer, as though guided in a trance, through a realm akin to a waking-dream, a zone positioned somewhere between reality and the supernatural.

Traveller Allan Gray (arrestingly depicted by Julian West, aka the secretive real-life Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg) arrives at a countryside inn seemingly beckoned by haunted forces. His growing acquaintance with the family who reside there soon opens up a network of uncanny associations between the dead and the living, of ghostly lore and demonology, which pull Gray ever deeper into an unsettling, and upsetting, mystery. At its core: troubled Gisèle, chaste daughter and sexual incarnation, portrayed by the great, cursed Sybille Schmitz (Diary of a Lost Girl, and inspiration for Fassbinder’s Veronika Voss.) Before the candles of Vampyr exhaust themselves, Allan Gray and the viewer alike come eye-to-eye with Fate — in the face of dear dying Sybille, in the blasphemed bodies of horrific bat-men, in the charged and mortal act of asphyxiation — eye-to-eye, then, with Death — the supreme vampire.

Deemed by Alfred Hitchcock ‘the only film worth watching… twice’, Vampyr’s influence has become, by now, incalculable. Long out of circulation in an acceptable transfer, The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Dreyer’s truly terrifying film in its film restored form for the first time in the UK.

Special Features:

• New, high-definition transfer of the Martin Koerber / Cineteca di Bologna film restoration in its original aspect ratio (1.19:1)
• New and improved English subtitles (optional)
• Full-length audio commentary featuring film scholar Tony Rayns
• Full-length audio commentary featuring Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro on one of his favourite films
• Choice of restored or unrestored audio track
• Two deleted scenes, removed by the German censor in 1932
• Carl Th. Dreyer (1966) – a documentary by Jörgen Roos
• Visual essay by scholar Casper Tybjerg on Dreyer’s Vampyr influences
• The Baron – a short MoC documentary about Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg
• Inspiration for the film – Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla – as an on-disc pdf.
• 80-page book featuring rare production stills, a facsimile reproduction of the 1932 Danish film programme, writing by Tom Milne (The Cinema of Carl Dreyer), Jean and Dale Drum (My Only Great Passion: The Life and Films of Carl Th. Dreyer), and Martin Koerber (film restorer).

Tommaso · #2 Post by **Tommaso** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:57 am

ola t wrote:Yay!

Brilliant! Probably the most desired MoC release ever.... Peerpee, can you enlighten us now about that much discussed aspect ratio question? 1.19 or 1.33?

denti alligator · #3 Post by **denti alligator** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:35 am

Well, that does it. One of the most desired DVDs ever, by any company. Will surely put the AR debate to rest (Schreck, are you listening!), and be packed with all kinds of goodies.

I can hardly believe the day has come.

Tommaso · #4 Post by **Tommaso** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:50 am

Damn, let's keep this news quiet outside the forum. I still have to sell my MK2 disc on ebay

Though it's really not bad....

Cinesimilitude · #5 Post by **Cinesimilitude** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:50 am

Bought unless Criterion announces it before release date.

jt · #6 Post by jt » Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:51 am

Good Lord, possibly half a dozen more Murnau's and Lang's by the end of the year and now this...
Any news on features or release date yet Nick?
Not too keen on the cover but then again, who give's a monkeys? I'd buy this if it came in a torn paper bag...

I think this is an event worthy of my first (and probably last) emoticon: =D>

Awesome Welles · #7 Post by **Awesome Welles** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 11:07 am

Excellent, excellent, excellent, I was waiting for news of this to break soon.

EDIT: I am so greedy, now I am itching to know what #48 and #49 are...

EDIT: Actually having said that I guess #48, #49 and #51 are in some order Gandahar, Les Maitre du Temps and Edvard Munch???

#8 Post by **domino harvey** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 1:43 pm

holy smokes, didn't see this coming. As someone who suffered thru the Image disc, let me just say =D>

Person · #9 Post by **Person** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 7:24 pm

Joy!

Via_Chicago · #10 Post by **Via_Chicago** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:00 pm

Peerpee, your releases excite me far more than Criterion's. I'll take Le Silence de la Mer and Vampyr any day. These are ESSENTIAL releases.

cana7cl · #11 Post by **cana7cl** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:59 pm

Wow! peerpee is doing an amazing job.

mikeohhh · #12 Post by **mikeohhh** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 11:51 am

haha, Robyn Byrd is the one who infamously burned a tit on-air while baking cookies topless, right?

back to topic: I am more excited about this than any other DVD release this year.

Awesome Welles · #13 Post by **Awesome Welles** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 5:49 am

I think we'll see this before the year is out (my prediction is October). I am also predicting an abundance of extras (most probably a two versions of the film - given the circumstances in which it was made, and a commentary) and a mammoth booklet. I don't know anything about it but perhaps a short doc like Carl Th. Dryer (Jorgen Roos, 1966) would be great.

the dancing kid · #14 Post by **the dancing kid** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 11:01 am

This is a wonderful, difficult film (and I mean difficult in the best way possible). As I recall, 'Vampyr' was actually the first Dreyer film I had the pleasure of seeing, when I caught it late one night on television during a marathon of vampire films many years ago (in anticipation of Halloween). The film made a strong impression on me, due in large to the unusual narrative style it features, but also because it was so different than the other films I saw as part of the series.

David Bordwell's analysis of the film is very compelling. He devotes a chapter to 'Vampyr' in his book on Dreyer, which I recommend reading to anyone looking to tease out some of the narrative and stylistic ideas Dreyer presents.

neal · #15 Post by **neal** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 1:45 pm

davidhare wrote:there used to be a soft core porno show on NYC latenite Cable in the early to mid 90s called the Robyn Byrd Show, hosted by the utterly charming Robyn Byrd, ex hooker and nascent TV personality.

Believe it or not, it's still on-- and the production values still look early/mid-90s.

Joshua Dago · #16 Post by **Joshua Dago** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 10:31 am

oh man, this is sick!

a definitive version of this piece of cinema would be amazing!

unclehulot · #17 Post by **unclehulot** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:11 pm

davidhare wrote: This however far OT and the important question about AR aint been asked yet (I mean arksed.) Well Nick is it 1.19 or 1.33?

Yes, it will be 1.19 or 1.33!

Tommaso · #18 Post by **Tommaso** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 3:41 pm

Aspect ratio: It seems that Nick, like Schreck, is on holiday....

Joshua Dago · #19 Post by **Joshua Dago** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 3:44 pm

does that mean the Naruse box sold well?

Michael · #20 Post by **Michael** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:00 pm

Shrcek is on indefinite leave..

Indefinite?!...what happened?

Members come and go but there is one I remember in my heart. He was around when I first joined this forum maybe around 8 years ago. But damn, I can't remember his name but I know he was from Seattle and his favorite movie was L'atalante. I'd love to get back in touch with him.

Ledos · #21 Post by **Ledos** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 2:01 am

davidhare wrote:The MK 2 Vampyr which I received yesterday is cropped to 1.33 And I have to agree with the Korber edict the movie should be 1.19. Interestingly, after significantly cropped credits (on sides as well as horizontally) the MK2 reverts - only once - to 1.19 for the scrolling text in German, but then returns to the cropped 1.33 for the entire movie. It's a beautiful restoration job but this cropping is a real shame.

Mk2's cropping was most likely done to fit it to a standard TV screen (and perhaps transferring a 1.19:1 picture correctly, with pillar boxing, requires more work than a standard 1.33:1 transfer - I don't know).

Hopefully Eureka's upcoming disc will rectify this. I don't hope the silence on the subject means there are bad news ahead.

Tommaso · #22 Post by **Tommaso** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:37 am

davidhare wrote:Shrcek is on indefinite leave..

Are you allowed to tell us more? I mean, once you get used to him he's actually a great character, and even the occasional struggles we entered in were amusing and thought-provoking. It would be a real shame if he dropped out from here.

davidhare wrote: Interestingly, after significantly cropped credits (on sides as well as horizontally) the MK2 reverts - only once - to 1.19 for the scrolling text in German, but then returns to the cropped 1.33 for the entire movie.

Ah, interesting, I didn't notice the aspect ratio change in between the film, and that's why I couldn't make my mind up whether it was correct or not (having taken the scrolling text as an indicator that everything might be in order). I cannot imagine MoC not putting it out in the correct ratio, however, it would be an eternal blot on their reputation if they got THIS film wrong. I can only hope that they are not totally dependent on a master given them by Transit or FWMS, or at least that they are given a different master than MK2. Or do you think that MK2 had a master that was correct and then they f'd it up themselves?

Tommaso · #23 Post by **Tommaso** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 7:34 am

davidhare wrote:Well as you well know Korber insists the corect AR is 1.19 - even though this movie was released in May 1932, by which time 1.37 was a regular ratio, certainly for Klangfilm titles

Sure, but then "Vampyr" was more or less a privately financed film, not made by one of the huge companies (in Germany or otherwise), so they might have well worked with not quite up-to-date standards. It may indeed have been shown in 1.33 or 1.37 in the cinemas then, but that doesn't mean that this was Dreyer's intention or that he took the cropping into account when setting up his camera frames.
One problem is that the original negative is lost, and that the Koerber restoration was made from various positives and prints. It might (might!) be that these latter generation materials (or some of them) were already reframed to 1.33 (if that is technically possible), and if that is the case, we of course wouldn't be able to see it in 1.19 anymore. If the materials of the Koerber version are indeed in 1.19 I agree completely with you: put it out that way, and those who are unhappy with it can always zoom in on the player or on the TV set.

davidhare wrote:But this is so academic - I mean have you ever seen Morocco or Dishonored in 1.19? I haven't, and they frankly look perfect. As though the DP had figured it out.in consultation with Sternberg.

I also haven't, and yes, they look perfect. But Sternberg might have been aware of the change of standard in a way Dreyer perhaps wasn't.

Ledos · #24 Post by **Ledos** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:44 pm

davidhare wrote:Well as you well know Korber insists the corect AR is 1.19 - even though this movie was released in May 1932, by which time 1.37 was a regular ratio, certainly for Klangfilm titles, and definitely RCa sono titles, in the USA.

While the film was released in 1932 shooting began already in April 1931 at which time 1.19:1 was not unusual. According to the great-but-not-always-reliable filmportal.de, most of Tobis-Melofilm's other films in 1931 were 1.19:1.

denti alligator · #25 Post by **denti alligator** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 12:04 am

So basically I won the bet with Schreck, but he disappeared before I could collect his "family jewels."

Any chance I could track him down in the streets of Manhattan? David, what did happen to him?