Deaf Crocodile

[MichaelB]

If he's working at the same pace as he was in the 80s-2000s, there should be something like 45 minutes of film made by now. He would probably need to live to be a centenarian to complete the film, around 2040.

From what I recall, the estimate was that it would run 65 minutes.

And I understand that there'll definitely be footage from The Overcoat included on the disc - the aim is to make it as completist a Norstein survey as possible, albeit understandably stopping short of including all the Overcoat material (as desirable as that might be, but I absolutely understand why that might be tricky!). And of course it leaves out the many Soyuzmultfilm productions on which Norstein merely worked as an animator for hire, although hopefully some of the more important ones will be included in upcoming Deaf Crocodile releases.

(Four of the nine films that are being included are collaborations - Norstein was co-director of 25th - The First Day, The Battle of Kerzhenets and A Day Before Our Era, while on Seasons he basically oversaw production with veteran animator Ivan Ivanov-Vano calling the shots - not least in deciding to make it puppet animation, which was a medium that Norstein wasn't especially enthused by.)

[TechnicolorAcid]

Norbert Pfaffenbichler’s The 2551 Trilogy

Imagine Mad Max run amok in the Mütter Museum: a nightmarish subterranean world of superstition, magic and deformity, ruled by fear and oppression – and “peopled” with a spine-chilling assortment of mutants and masked monstrosities including faceless stormtroopers, parasites, nude figures, taxidermied monkeys, alchemists and other occult horrors. Welcome to the unearthly visions of Austrian artist and director Norbert Pfaffenbichler’s “2551 Trilogy,” a staggering combination of avant garde cinema, post-apocalyptic sci-fi / horror / monster action, dystopian political nightmare, silent cinema techniques, death metal music, the Bros. Quay and Jan Švankmajer and Joel-Peter Witkin and David Lynch all mixed together. Definitely NOT for the faint of heart.

Trigger warning: all 3 films contain nightmarish images featuring simulated sexual and violent acts, as well as strobe lights and stroboscopic effects. For adult viewers only.

4-Disc Blu-ray Set

2551.01 – THE KID (2021, 65 min.) During a violent uprising, the Apeman (Stefan Erber) grabs The Kid (David Ionescu) in a burlap sack mask with two crude eyeholes clutching a deformed mummy-doll, and runs off with him. So begins the epic odyssey of the resilient Apeman and the vulnerable Child struggling to stay together in an underground world where the mutant dregs of civilization barely eke out an existence.

2551.02 – THE ORGY OF THE DAMNED (2023, 83 min.) Separated from The Kid at the end of Part 01, the Apeman loses his bearings and descends into a dungeon labyrinth of surreal sexual depravity, searching for a female wrestler in a luchadora mask (Veronika Herber).

2551.03 – THE END (2025, 82 min.) Years have gone by, but the Apeman continues his search for the now-grown Kid, who has become an Inspector (Ben Schiola) for the police state. Meanwhile, the carnival-masked Dictator (Stephane Marin) lords over goblin markets selling crucified monkeys and living homunculi in jars.

Special Features:
Seven experimental short films by Pfaffenbichler from 1998 – 2019
Santora
Notes on Film 1: Else
Notes on Film 4: Intermezzo
Notes on Film 5: Conference
Notes on Film 9: Odessas Crash Test
Notes on Film 10: Camera
Notes on Noise 01: Hoffman's Hymn
Four new video interviews with director Pfaffenbichler, lead actor Stefan Erber, cinematographer Martin Putz, and stop-motion VFX artist Paul Lechmann
New interview with Pfaffenbichler discussing his avant garde films, conducted by Danish filmmaker Reinert Kiil
"Don’t Let it Fester: (Anti)Sentimentality in 2551.01" - New visual essay by journalist and physical media expert Ryan Verrill and film professor Dr. Will Dodson of Someone’s Favorite Productions
"Angel of the Abject: The 2551 Trilogy as a Necropolis of Cinema" - New visual essay by experimental filmmaker and film scholar Stephen Broomer
New audio commentaries by writer & film scholar Shelagh Rowan-Legg, film archivist Eva Létourneau, artist, curator & writer Anne Golden, and podcaster Mike White (The Projection Booth)
“Jam of the Damned: Behind the Scenes of 2551.03” featurette
Behind-the-scenes VFX Reel narrated by VFX artist Paul Lechmann
Two deleted scenes from 2551.03: The End
Soundtrack score from all three films
Three new trailers
Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion
New art by Beth Morris

Deluxe Edition Bonus Content:
Slipcase featuring new artwork by artist J.G. Jones.
80-page illustrated book with:
New essay by film critic & author Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
New essay by film critic Walter Chaw
New Q&A with director Norbert Pfaffenbichler by film historian Rolf Giesen
A collection of on set and behind-the-scenes photos
LIMITED EDITION OF 2000

ALRAUNE + THE STUDENT OF PRAGUE

Deaf Crocodile is thrilled to collaborate with the Filmmuseum München to release these two exceptionally rare and wonderful German silent genre treasures from pioneering director/writer Henrik Galeen (1881-1949). Galeen wrote and directed the original, recently reconstructed 1915 version of THE GOLEM starring Paul Wegener (as well as writing the 1920 remake), and scripted two of the most acclaimed silent horror films of the decade: NOSFERATU: A SYMPHONY OF HORROR (1922) and WAXWORKS (1924). Restored by the Filmmuseum München, ALRAUNE and THE STUDENT OF PRAGUE show Galeen’s flair for delirious, Expressionist horror / fantasy.

2-Disc Blu-ray Set

ALRAUNE (A WOMAN OF DESTINY), 1927, Filmmuseum München,131 min. Dir. Henrik Galeen. Deranged Weimar Era erotic sci-fi / horror starring Brigitte Helm (METROPOLIS) as the unholy offspring of a genetics experiment conducted by her scientist “father” Paul Wegener, who implants the semen of a hanged man in the womb of a prostitute. As an adult, the lithe, sinuous Helm drives men to suicide and madness – including her own pseudo-father Wegener who succumbs to incestuous obsession with her. Beautifully shot by cinematographer Franz Planer with gorgeous restored color tinting. Score by Sabrina Zimmermann and Mark Pogolski.

DER STUDENT VON PRAG (THE STUDENT OF PRAGUE), 1926, Filmmuseum München, 133 min. Dir. Henrik Galeen. Conrad Veidt (THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, CASABLANCA) stars as a hellraising student who sells his soul to the Devil. But Veidt hasn’t bargained on meeting his own evil doppelgänger who literally steps out of a mirror, Cocteau-like, and starts to take over his life. Galeen’s eerily compelling FAUST-like fantasy / horror is driven by Veidt‘s impressive dual performance as the student and his strange, unsettling twin. Score by Stephen Horne.

Special Features:
An excerpt from AUF GEFÄHRLICHEN SPUREN (DANGEROUS PATHS), 1924, Filmmuseum Düsseldorf, 15 min. This clip from the 1924 crime film is a rare opportunity to see Galeen’s work as both writer and actor, alongside frequent collaborator, director Harry Piel.
New video interview with Stefan Drössler of the Filmmuseum München about the preservation of ALRAUNE and THE STUDENT OF PRAGUE, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile (90 min., in English).
New audio commentaries by film historian Jan-Christopher Horak, former director of the UCLA Film & TV Archive and the Filmmuseum München.
New artwork by Beth Morris.
Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion.

Deluxe Edition Bonus Content:
Slipcase featuring new artwork by Dave McKean
80-page illustrated book with:
Newly translated essays by Hanns Heinz Ewers (1913), Henrik Galeen (1926), and Felix Panten (1926)
Reprinted essays by Erich Hellmund-Waldow (1928), Oswell Blakestone (1929), and Michael Farin (1993)
New essay by Stefan Drössler
New essay by Walter Chaw
New essay by Stephen Bissette
Plus rare original photos and artwork
LIMITED EDITION OF 1250

Both films feature German intertitles with English translations.

[swo17]

They aren't kidding around with the Pfaffenbichler--you have to confirm you're 18 to add it to your cart. Also, this release includes all but two of the films from the Index DVD (Notes on Notes on Film) plus several exclusives

[Gregory]

Neko Case talking about Prague Nights and The Golden Fern (starts at 4:34 but if you like this series and NC like I do, maybe watch it all)

[karmajuice]

For those who were thinking about getting a membership, it looks like DC has restructured their tier system and gouged the perks. Previously, you got $1,500 in store credit for paying $1,000. That has now dropped to $1,250. The middle tier (there are now only 3) also got downsized.

[Finch]

DC mentioned on their social media that the limited edition of Student von Prag and Alraune could be selling out before the release date and are recommending to act quickly if you want your copy.

[Yakushima]

DC mentioned on their social media that the limited edition of Student von Prag and Alraune could be selling out before the release date and are recommending to act quickly if you want your copy.

Thank you for the heads-up, Finch. Ordered.

[TMDaines]

Does Deaf Crocadile usually have an autumn/Black Friday/Christmas sale?

[TechnicolorAcid]

3x Teuvo Tulio

A mad, dreamlike combination of surrealist imagery and unhinged emotional intensity, the films of Finnish director Teuvo Tulio (1912-2000) are melodramas untethered from any sense of naturalism or narrative logic (or often good taste), operating in the same glorious, hallucinatory space as the subversive, Brechtian melodramas of Douglas Sirk and R.W. Fassbinder. They are, in a word, wildly entertaining: unearthly and operatic and totally addictive, streaked with film noir and near-Expressionist horror tropes, and doused with tears and booze, prostitution and poison. His work has been rediscovered and restored in recent years by KAVI – the National Audiovisual Institute of Finland, for this first-ever worldwide Blu-ray release from Deaf Crocodile.

CROSS OF LOVE (RAKKAUDEN RISTI) – 1946, 99 min. Grizzled old lighthouse keeper Oscar Tengström spends his nights talking to his parrot, surrounded by German Expressionist shadows. There are deeper shadows in his mind: when he hears a drowning man out on the rocks, he grabs a rifle and shoots him! We learn why he hates strangers as he reveals the story of his daughter Riitta (Regina Linnanheimo) who is swept off to the city by rakishly handsome Mauri (Ville Salminen) --in no time she’s a cigarette-smoking prostitute with a black beret and jaded wink. She’s followed one day by a sensitive young man Henrik (Rauli Tuomi) who turns out to be a painter and wants her to model – DEAR GOD – half-naked, tied to a cross with her dress torn open. Later remade by Tulio as SENSUELA in 1973.

RESTLESS BLOOD (LEVOTON VERI) – 1946, 100 min. Blonde wife Sylvi (Regina Linnanheimo) seems to have an ideal marriage to playboy doctor husband Valter (Eino Katajavuori), despite his “innocent” flirtation with her kid sister – until her young son is killed by a speeding bus. She drinks poison in desperation – she survives but loses her sight. Kid sister returns, and now the grieving husband is interested in more than flirting. Look out: once Sylvi downs a shot of poison and dons her weird black shades, ooowee!! Features an intensely deranged performance by Linnanheimo in tailored suits and 1940s hairdos, sporting Peter Lorre-in-MAD LOVE sunglasses and giving the whole film a German Expressionist / neo-horror / neo-noir vibe.

SENSUELA (1973, 104 min.) Tulio’s notorious last film – and arguably his greatest achievement – SENSUELA opens on reindeer herder’s daughter Laila (Marianne Mardi) saving badly-wounded German WW2 pilot Hans (Mauritz Åkerman). Hans quickly seduces her off to the big city, where she descends into a polyester maelstrom of fabulous clothes and nudie photography and hippie orgies. (Oh, the action mysteriously leaps forward 25 years to the Swinging 60s with no explanation, don’t ask why!) What follows is an incredible mix of ethnographic reindeer herding docudrama, jawdropping John Waters-meets-Doug Sirk-meets Russ Meyer-meets-Anna Biller’s THE LOVE WITCH-style melodrama blending eye-popping Technicolor, softcore eroticism / sexploitation, and Mod 60’s / 70s Pop Art fashions and décor. SENSUELA seems to have been beamed in from an alternate universe where any standards of good taste are completely inverted and/or missing. Note: SENSUELA is intended for mature audiences and contains frequent onscreen nudity.All 3 films in Finnish with English subtitles.

Special Features:
The only remaining fragments from Tulio’s early features STRUGGLE FOR THE HOUSE OF HEIKKILA (1936, 9 min. clip) and FALL ASLEEP WHEN YOUNG (1937, 22 min)

Short documentary A FRENCH DISCOVERY - NUORENA NUKKUNUT (2015, 7 min., dir. Jani Jäderholm) on preserving the fragment of FALL ASLEEP WHEN YOUNG

Two Finnish educational films from the 1940s, I WOULD LIKE TO BE A QUEEN (1947, 13 min) and SHELTERS FOR NEWBORNS, 1946, 9 min)

Rare trailer for the Swedish-language version of CROSS OF LOVE (1946)

New audio commentaries by Dr. Eloise Ross, Rolf Giesen and Heidi Honeycutt

New visual essays by Reinert Kiil and Ryan Verrill & Dr. Will Dodson

New artwork by Beth Morris.

Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion

Deluxe Bonus Edition Content:
60 page booklet

New essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

New essay by Walter Chaw

New essay by Dr. Eloise Ross

New essay by Venla Mäkelä

Slipcase featuring new artwork by Sam’s Myth

Limited to 1900 units

[Michael Kerpan]

Has there been a date set yet for the Norstein release?

[GoodOldNeon]

The three Teuvo Tulio films are available on the National Audiovisual Archive's streaming service (a veritable treasure trove of Finnish cinema), though only Levoton veri has English subtitles.

[TechnicolorAcid]

Does Deaf Crocadile usually have an autumn/Black Friday/Christmas sale?

Don’t think they’ve had a store-wide sale since their separation from OCN Distribution and I haven’t heard anything saying the same won’t be true this year too unfortunately.

Has there been a date set yet for the Norstein release?

Pre-sales should be up for the Norstein set in November and orders will then come in around December.

[MichaelB]

Has there been a date set yet for the Norstein release?

Based on it being included in my October-December international subscription bundle, my understanding is that it's December.

[Michael Kerpan]

Looking forward to this Norstein release..... (I remember the first VHS version -- which was pretty rough-hewn, shall we say).

[MichaelB]

Norstein actually sued a Russian video distributor, on the grounds that the colour wasn't anything like what he'd envisaged.

Sadly, he lost - I imagine in a country like France he'd have been able to claim moral rights as the original artist, but that counted for nothing in 1990s Russia.

Although an interesting by-product is that when preparing his case, Norstein retrospectively drew up an elaborate colour theory for The Fox and the Hare (as part of his case as to why it was so important to get the colours right) - it wasn't anything that he and his wife/designer Francesca Yarbusova had consciously applied at the time, but he was nonetheless able to make it coherent within the context of the film itself.

[Michael Kerpan]

Very interesting sidelight on that long-ago video release -- making me even more eager to see these wonderful films done right.

[TechnicolorAcid]

Reading about the Teuvo films and they seem very interesting but I’m wondering if anyone who’s seen them can say anything about the quality of these (Domino?)

[swo17]

I've seen the two earlier films. It's been a while but I remember quite liking them

[MichaelB]

They certainly take some getting used to if your knowledge of Finnish cinema doesn't extend much beyond the Kaurismäki brothers, but it's worth noting that Tulio was apparently a significant influence on Aki Kaurismäki - in that he'd take the melodramatic plots but filter them through a stripped-down deadpan sensibility along the lines of Ozu and Bresson (his other major influences).

[TechnicolorAcid]

Thank you both, definitely going to be checking these out when I get them! Also I really want to point out how incredible and striking that artwork is, probably my favorite limited edition design for Deaf Crocodile so far.

[spectre]

I've only seen Sensuela, but it's certainly one of a kind! I'd hesitate to declare it a good film, but it's visually striking and often very funny in a camp way. Kind of feels like a film made by aliens trying their best to represent human behaviour. The closest comparison I can think of is Obayashi's House (without the overt surrealism).

I already have it on the English-subtitled VL Media DVD from Finland – and am reluctant to replace it, as I quite like having such oddities from random labels in my collection – but have to say this set is very tempting, even if it'll be a blind buy for the other two!

[TechnicolorAcid]

Apparently for anyone who hasn’t heard, The 2551 Trilogy will be delayed until November and will ship alongside the Teuvo Tulio set. I think the Alraune + The Student of Prague set will be still sent out this October for anyone who preordered just that title or if you are a subscriber fyi but just thought I’d give everyone a heads up.

[TechnicolorAcid]

Does Deaf Crocadile usually have an autumn/Black Friday/Christmas sale?

Update: There’s now a flash sale for their standard editions that lasts at 12 PM Pacific Time Wednesday, pretty sure this is their first storewide sale since their Vinegar Syndrome days.

[Mr.DarjeelingLimited]

Reached out to them about classic Bollywood as I’m a major classic Bollywood fan. They are looking into some, rights and licensing are incredibly complicated in India.

[MichaelB]

Jeremy Richey's Nostalgia Kinky blog raves in breathless detail about The Devil's Bride.