No, it isn't. You can find features found on all Criterion Collection DVDs/Blu-rays at the CC website easily enough: For you 411Is the soundtrack contained on one of the 7 discs in the box set, so I can listen to it by itself?
411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
- skuhn8
- Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:46 pm
- Location: Chico, CA
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
-
- Joined: Sun May 02, 2010 9:52 am
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
Does anyone know the name of Peer Raben's long piece in Episode 5 with the piano and synth? It plays out when Reinhold approaches Franz and asks him if he's gotten rid of Franze yet. Then it continues on when Franz kicks her out after the coffee/dishwater incident. It plays again once more in the very end when Franz quarrels with Cilly.
- Minkin
- Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:13 pm
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
Taking a break from link posting..
I recently watched Jutzi's version of Berlin Alexanderplatz and I have rather mixed feelings about the film.
Sure, Fassbinder took sixteen hours to tell the story of Franz Biberkopf and Phil Jutzi gave the story one hour and thirty minutes. As you could expect Phil Jutzi’s film doesn’t have as much depth, story or character development. Despite Alfred Döblin writing the script, the film is terribly different than the book and the Fassbinder film. It isn’t completely awful, but so much is missing from this adaptation that one wonders how Döblin had anything to do with it (unless Jutzi gutted the script).
One of the most apparent differences is that any mention to Jews or even the Nazis is completely absent. In the book Franz is released from prison and meets a Jewish man who tells him a long story that causes Franz to come to his senses and accept his new life and to become a good person. That entire sequence is absent. As is any mention of Franz’s job selling Nazi propaganda papers- which upsets his Jewish friends and creates enemies out of some socialists. Franz assumes the ideas of the National Socialists briefly but all of this is completely absent. Sure, two years after the book was written (the book was written in 1929) the Nazis were more of a fear than the joke they once were. Apparently Jutzi became a Nazi supporter right after finishing this film. Perhaps that might explain the change.
Also strange is that Franz is not portrayed as a likable character in this film. There isn’t very much time for character development in this adaptation but the story is changed dramatically. In the book Franz abandons his pledge to “do only right” because of a great betrayal, but here Franz simply wants to earn more money to support his girlfriend and lavish gifts upon her. As a result, the story isn’t tragic-- especially after the ease of which Franz simply forgets his troubles and returns to street vending (in rather lame transitions that happen twice he proclaims he is going to do good and make money using…. his kisser and so the camera zooms out from his mouth as he speaks to a crowd, adorned in a top-hat as he sells his wares ). The film certainly seems easier to digest and perhaps Jutzi was aiming for a larger German crowd.
Where the film does succeed:
Döblin’s book was praised, among other reasons, for its use of montage. Despite the short runtime of the film, Jutzi inserts a lot of excellent montage scenes which make the film worthwhile on their own. Jutzi follows in the footsteps of Berlin: Symphony of a City and interjects many shots of Berlin. There are many instances of dramatic camera tilts up tall buildings which adds a certain claustrophobia and oppressiveness to the location. When he resumes the story, Jutzi shows what appears to be another section of a montage but it turns out to be the characters. For example there is a montage of workers at rest: horses waiting, laborers eating or lying and then a similar shot of someone lying on the floor– but then the camera pans and the person is revealed to be Franz. It is a very clever sequence and the usage of montage is tremendous and rivals Ruttmann’s work (on a smaller scale).
The other instance of excellent camerawork is at the grand ball scene (which takes up at least 10-15 minutes of this short film). While Franz bursts out in song, the camera rises up (similar to the buildings) this very tall structure– passing the orchestra, some bored party guests and eventually to the top of the tower inside the building– all while the sounds of the party and song continue below. Like the oppressive skyscrapers, here the rich party-goers are the enemy. At the base and leading the song is Franz, who has forgotten his pledge and become immersed in a hedonistic lifestyle (pouring champagne into glasses belonging to several young ladies). Here I can see Döblin at work for once, as the social commentary is terrific. Too bad the rest of Franz’s story can’t be quite as impressive.
So I ask if any further detail is known about the film and Döblin's contribution?
The film is well worth a watch- even for those who don't own the set or plan to see the Fassbinder version.
Edit-
I finally watched the Jelavich interview (after having finished the film a few days ago) and I now see that Döblin had very little to do with the film and that the screenwriter essentially butchered everything. What then was the point of making the film? Was the book just that popular?
I recently watched Jutzi's version of Berlin Alexanderplatz and I have rather mixed feelings about the film.
Sure, Fassbinder took sixteen hours to tell the story of Franz Biberkopf and Phil Jutzi gave the story one hour and thirty minutes. As you could expect Phil Jutzi’s film doesn’t have as much depth, story or character development. Despite Alfred Döblin writing the script, the film is terribly different than the book and the Fassbinder film. It isn’t completely awful, but so much is missing from this adaptation that one wonders how Döblin had anything to do with it (unless Jutzi gutted the script).
One of the most apparent differences is that any mention to Jews or even the Nazis is completely absent. In the book Franz is released from prison and meets a Jewish man who tells him a long story that causes Franz to come to his senses and accept his new life and to become a good person. That entire sequence is absent. As is any mention of Franz’s job selling Nazi propaganda papers- which upsets his Jewish friends and creates enemies out of some socialists. Franz assumes the ideas of the National Socialists briefly but all of this is completely absent. Sure, two years after the book was written (the book was written in 1929) the Nazis were more of a fear than the joke they once were. Apparently Jutzi became a Nazi supporter right after finishing this film. Perhaps that might explain the change.
Also strange is that Franz is not portrayed as a likable character in this film. There isn’t very much time for character development in this adaptation but the story is changed dramatically. In the book Franz abandons his pledge to “do only right” because of a great betrayal, but here Franz simply wants to earn more money to support his girlfriend and lavish gifts upon her. As a result, the story isn’t tragic-- especially after the ease of which Franz simply forgets his troubles and returns to street vending (in rather lame transitions that happen twice he proclaims he is going to do good and make money using…. his kisser and so the camera zooms out from his mouth as he speaks to a crowd, adorned in a top-hat as he sells his wares ). The film certainly seems easier to digest and perhaps Jutzi was aiming for a larger German crowd.
Where the film does succeed:
Döblin’s book was praised, among other reasons, for its use of montage. Despite the short runtime of the film, Jutzi inserts a lot of excellent montage scenes which make the film worthwhile on their own. Jutzi follows in the footsteps of Berlin: Symphony of a City and interjects many shots of Berlin. There are many instances of dramatic camera tilts up tall buildings which adds a certain claustrophobia and oppressiveness to the location. When he resumes the story, Jutzi shows what appears to be another section of a montage but it turns out to be the characters. For example there is a montage of workers at rest: horses waiting, laborers eating or lying and then a similar shot of someone lying on the floor– but then the camera pans and the person is revealed to be Franz. It is a very clever sequence and the usage of montage is tremendous and rivals Ruttmann’s work (on a smaller scale).
The other instance of excellent camerawork is at the grand ball scene (which takes up at least 10-15 minutes of this short film). While Franz bursts out in song, the camera rises up (similar to the buildings) this very tall structure– passing the orchestra, some bored party guests and eventually to the top of the tower inside the building– all while the sounds of the party and song continue below. Like the oppressive skyscrapers, here the rich party-goers are the enemy. At the base and leading the song is Franz, who has forgotten his pledge and become immersed in a hedonistic lifestyle (pouring champagne into glasses belonging to several young ladies). Here I can see Döblin at work for once, as the social commentary is terrific. Too bad the rest of Franz’s story can’t be quite as impressive.
So I ask if any further detail is known about the film and Döblin's contribution?
The film is well worth a watch- even for those who don't own the set or plan to see the Fassbinder version.
Edit-
I finally watched the Jelavich interview (after having finished the film a few days ago) and I now see that Döblin had very little to do with the film and that the screenwriter essentially butchered everything. What then was the point of making the film? Was the book just that popular?
- manicsounds
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 10:58 pm
- Location: Tokyo, Japan
- BigBlackSunn
- Joined: Mon Nov 12, 2012 3:55 am
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
So if I want the "correct" version, I should probably go with either the German or Second Sight DVD?
- manicsounds
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 10:58 pm
- Location: Tokyo, Japan
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
By correct you mean running speed, then yes. The PAL discs.
- BigBlackSunn
- Joined: Mon Nov 12, 2012 3:55 am
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
Where would be the best place to get the PAL discs? Order from another Amazon?
-
- Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2012 3:02 am
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
Don't know why anything has been made out of the Criterion BA NTSC 4% slowdown - it's just the opposite of 4% PAL speedup. I assume most of us have lots of PAL discs that run quicker and don't give a single thought to it.
- repeat
- Joined: Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:04 am
- Location: high in the Custerdome
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
Yes - and that's sad, because if more people would have given thought to it over the years, maybe the whole speedup issue would've been fixed by the industry by nowJonasEB wrote:I assume most of us have lots of PAL discs that run quicker and don't give a single thought to it.
- RossyG
- Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 5:50 pm
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
They've got it at MovieMail for £41.99. If you're in the USA the postage and packing with be £6.75. http://www.moviemail.com/film/dvd/Berli ... 2bbaed16ef#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;BigBlackSunn wrote:Where would be the best place to get the PAL discs? Order from another Amazon?
It's a pound cheaper at Amazon UK, but I'm not sure what their postage rates are.
- Moe Dickstein
- Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2012 11:19 pm
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
They have, it's called HD. PAL/NTSC framerates aren't a problem anymore except on older formats like DVDrepeat wrote:Yes - and that's sad, because if more people would have given thought to it over the years, maybe the whole speedup issue would've been fixed by the industry by nowJonasEB wrote:I assume most of us have lots of PAL discs that run quicker and don't give a single thought to it.
- manicsounds
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 10:58 pm
- Location: Tokyo, Japan
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
You missed out on it being under £30 at Amazon a few months ago...RossyG wrote:They've got it at MovieMail for £41.99. If you're in the USA the postage and packing with be £6.75. http://www.moviemail.com/film/dvd/Berli ... 2bbaed16ef#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;BigBlackSunn wrote:Where would be the best place to get the PAL discs? Order from another Amazon?
It's a pound cheaper at Amazon UK, but I'm not sure what their postage rates are.
- BigBlackSunn
- Joined: Mon Nov 12, 2012 3:55 am
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
Has anyone bit the bullet and bought the Japan BD?
-
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:09 pm
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
This is the brownest film I've ever seen
- feihong
- Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:20 pm
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
To answer BigBlackSunn's question from 2 years ago, I just ordered the set. I will post something on what it is like when it arrives.
- feihong
- Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:20 pm
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
Sooooo my impression of the Japanese blu-ray set is that it's an upconvert from a standard-definition source. The box claims the discs are 1080p, but actor movement and camera movement ghosts precipitously in every direction. There is huge pictorial variation, with brightly-lit shots appearing much, much sharper, medium-lit and dark shots appearing flat and murky. Close-ups demonstrate some of the 16mm film grain, but long shots look both soft and flat. There are no English subtitles, though there are Japanese subs.
The only advantages to this set are the LPCM Stereo audio track, which is sounds hugely expansive, and the exceptional box art, with a lovely cardboard cover and debossed titling, and a design that successfully replicates the feel of the the images snaking in and out of one another during the opening credits.
A disappointment, to be sure. Looking at the snaking, elegant long shots in the film, it's wonderful to imagine them with the depth and clarity HD could bring to them.
The only advantages to this set are the LPCM Stereo audio track, which is sounds hugely expansive, and the exceptional box art, with a lovely cardboard cover and debossed titling, and a design that successfully replicates the feel of the the images snaking in and out of one another during the opening credits.
A disappointment, to be sure. Looking at the snaking, elegant long shots in the film, it's wonderful to imagine them with the depth and clarity HD could bring to them.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
Blu-ray coming in February
-
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:55 pm
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
Is this the only item to be released in February?
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
They haven't made the official announcements yet, but unlikely
- swo17
- Bloodthirsty Butcher
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
- Location: SLC, UT
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
If this is the only February release, I'll buy everyone on the forum a copy
-
- Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 1:27 pm
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
Since it's already in the coming soon section I wouldn't be surprised if it's the only blu upgrade (not including reissues).
- movielocke
- Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:44 am
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
Blu-ray is four discs and a list price of ONLY 99.95!
That’s a big improvement over the 7 disc $125 of the DVD edition
That’s a big improvement over the 7 disc $125 of the DVD edition
- denti alligator
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:36 pm
- Location: "born in heaven, raised in hell"
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
Will this be the right speed?
- senseabove
- Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:07 am
Re: 411 Berlin Alexanderplatz
Nope, you'll have to get the Second Sight UK set to get it at 25fps.