Silent Film on DVD and BD
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tryavna
- Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 8:38 pm
- Location: North Carolina
The obvious starting point, John, would be the ethnographic documentaries of the early pioneers, like Flaherty, Cooper & Schoedsack, Grierson, etc. Beyond that, you'll also want to check out some of the short films that are available in the three [bf3]Treasure of the American Film Archives[/bf3] collections and the [bf3]Unseen Cinema[/bf3] set. There are plenty of silents in those collections -- ranging from simple travelogues and/or home movies to avant-garde pieces -- that should offer something of what you're looking for. Murnau's [bf3]Tabu[/bf3] is another important example. There must be dozens of others.
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Tommaso
- Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 2:09 pm
[quote6b="HerrSchreck"]No I actually haven't. Is it really worth getting?[/quote6b]
I should say so, if you don't mind a certain over-romanticism. In a somewhat oblique way it breathes the typical 19th century rural novel feeling, with some good amount of passion and melodrama thrown in. Somewhat like a lesser "Wuthering Heights" in effect, though not in plot. But it's beautifully filmed, and I really DID fall for Madge, despite (or perhaps even because) her over-acting. It made me smile more than once, but in a friendly way. And well, anything by a director who was able to make something like "The Blue Bird" should be worth watching, though "Lorna Doone" is not quite as good as that film. But that's hardly surprising.
To John's question: I heartily second tryavna's recommendations. And as you've already seen "The Edge of the World", you might well go for Powell's "Gone to earth" as well, though it is based on some forgettable novel by Mary Webb, but still breathes a lot of 'paganism'. In addition, if you wouldn't restrict yourself to silents or old films, I'd name Paradjanov's "Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors" (from FsF, but also coming soon from Kino) as a must see in this respect. Also very interesting for its almost unique portrayal of pagan German winter rituals (contrasted with Christian rituals) is Luis Trenker's sadly largely unknown "Der verlorene Sohn" from 1934. One of his very best films, much better than the ubiquitous "Der Berg ruft". It is (or was) available on a German disc as part of a Trenker edition, but I haven't seen that disc and would doubt that it has any subs.
I should say so, if you don't mind a certain over-romanticism. In a somewhat oblique way it breathes the typical 19th century rural novel feeling, with some good amount of passion and melodrama thrown in. Somewhat like a lesser "Wuthering Heights" in effect, though not in plot. But it's beautifully filmed, and I really DID fall for Madge, despite (or perhaps even because) her over-acting. It made me smile more than once, but in a friendly way. And well, anything by a director who was able to make something like "The Blue Bird" should be worth watching, though "Lorna Doone" is not quite as good as that film. But that's hardly surprising.
To John's question: I heartily second tryavna's recommendations. And as you've already seen "The Edge of the World", you might well go for Powell's "Gone to earth" as well, though it is based on some forgettable novel by Mary Webb, but still breathes a lot of 'paganism'. In addition, if you wouldn't restrict yourself to silents or old films, I'd name Paradjanov's "Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors" (from FsF, but also coming soon from Kino) as a must see in this respect. Also very interesting for its almost unique portrayal of pagan German winter rituals (contrasted with Christian rituals) is Luis Trenker's sadly largely unknown "Der verlorene Sohn" from 1934. One of his very best films, much better than the ubiquitous "Der Berg ruft". It is (or was) available on a German disc as part of a Trenker edition, but I haven't seen that disc and would doubt that it has any subs.
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John Bored
- Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2007 5:13 pm
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markhax
- Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2007 9:42 pm
Re: Lubota's poetry in Murnau's 'Phantom'
[quotea2="HerrSchreck"]Again, there is not (to my mind) enough exposition-- or examples of verse-- of a judgement on Lubota's aesthetic qualities for me to believe that we are to render a harsh judgement on his abilities as a poet. . . . I really think the series of judgements about the cruelties lurking in the world waiting to waylay the uncorrupted dreamers just absolutely vaporizes if we are supposed to believe out of hand that Lubota is a total hack ...
I just don't think there's enough meat to bite into in the heart of the narrative to believe the author/filmmaker want us to believe he's a lousy poet. [/quotea2]
This thread prompted me to begin reading Hauptmann's novella, on which Harbou's screenplay is based. I'm 1/4 into it, but it is already quite revealing. Harbou changes the sequence of the novella and makes some significant alterations. The incident that propels Lorenz into madness is not his being knocked down by the carriage--an incident that has so far not occurred in the novella and probably doesn't-- but an obsession he develops with the girl who is in it, Veronika Harlan, who, we are told, is only thirteen years old.
Lorenz is the breadwinner in his impoverished family, and is a practical sort, not a dreamer, although in his aspirations to be a teacher he had developed an enthusiasm for literature. It is his encounter with the 'beauty' of this thirteen-year old, whom he sees playing with other children before the Rathaus, that changes him, and it is described as an illness, as a "demon" that makes him behave in completely uncharacteristic ways. Significantly, it is only under this demonic spell that he writes his first poem, the one cited in the film. The 'she" in whose service the "muse" inspires him is the thirteen-year old girl.
Lubota writes in retrospect, as he quotes the poem: "It sounds ridiculous perhaps but it is really felt." The bookbinder Starke's enthusiasm for them is merely a sign of his own provincialism. He was, we are told by Lubota, a sort of poetaster who wrote poems for weddings and such things.
Reading the story it seems to me apparent why Harbou made the changes she did. This was a kind of 'Death in Venice' tale, but instead of a boy it's a girl, a Lolita avant la lettre. So in Harbou's screenplay, we get the idea that it's a concussion from the impact of the carriage that screws up Lorenz's head, and causes his obsession with the girl, who in the film looks young but not THAT young. To have written it straight as a story of pedophilia would have been too scandalous, I suppose, even in Weimar.
[quotea2="HerrSchreck"]Again, there is not (to my mind) enough exposition-- or examples of verse-- of a judgement on Lubota's aesthetic qualities for me to believe that we are to render a harsh judgement on his abilities as a poet. . . . I really think the series of judgements about the cruelties lurking in the world waiting to waylay the uncorrupted dreamers just absolutely vaporizes if we are supposed to believe out of hand that Lubota is a total hack ...
I just don't think there's enough meat to bite into in the heart of the narrative to believe the author/filmmaker want us to believe he's a lousy poet. [/quotea2]
This thread prompted me to begin reading Hauptmann's novella, on which Harbou's screenplay is based. I'm 1/4 into it, but it is already quite revealing. Harbou changes the sequence of the novella and makes some significant alterations. The incident that propels Lorenz into madness is not his being knocked down by the carriage--an incident that has so far not occurred in the novella and probably doesn't-- but an obsession he develops with the girl who is in it, Veronika Harlan, who, we are told, is only thirteen years old.
Lorenz is the breadwinner in his impoverished family, and is a practical sort, not a dreamer, although in his aspirations to be a teacher he had developed an enthusiasm for literature. It is his encounter with the 'beauty' of this thirteen-year old, whom he sees playing with other children before the Rathaus, that changes him, and it is described as an illness, as a "demon" that makes him behave in completely uncharacteristic ways. Significantly, it is only under this demonic spell that he writes his first poem, the one cited in the film. The 'she" in whose service the "muse" inspires him is the thirteen-year old girl.
Lubota writes in retrospect, as he quotes the poem: "It sounds ridiculous perhaps but it is really felt." The bookbinder Starke's enthusiasm for them is merely a sign of his own provincialism. He was, we are told by Lubota, a sort of poetaster who wrote poems for weddings and such things.
Reading the story it seems to me apparent why Harbou made the changes she did. This was a kind of 'Death in Venice' tale, but instead of a boy it's a girl, a Lolita avant la lettre. So in Harbou's screenplay, we get the idea that it's a concussion from the impact of the carriage that screws up Lorenz's head, and causes his obsession with the girl, who in the film looks young but not THAT young. To have written it straight as a story of pedophilia would have been too scandalous, I suppose, even in Weimar.
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HerrSchreck
- Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 3:46 pm
Utterly fascinating!
Interesting also in that we can now speculate how much Murnau had to do with whittling the character towards the male sensibility that continually appears in his films (david hare and I had a thread dedicated to this specific subject-- the ditzily oblivious boys in the majority of Murnau's films, from NOSFERATU, to SCHLOSS, to PHANTOM, TARTUF, FAUST, SUNRISE, CITY GIRL, FOUR DEVILS, TABU... who are all wide-eyed dudes who get manipulated by malevolent outside forces seeking to steer their lives).
Think [i01]maybe [/i01]the man was trying to say something about life and the world?
Interesting also in that we can now speculate how much Murnau had to do with whittling the character towards the male sensibility that continually appears in his films (david hare and I had a thread dedicated to this specific subject-- the ditzily oblivious boys in the majority of Murnau's films, from NOSFERATU, to SCHLOSS, to PHANTOM, TARTUF, FAUST, SUNRISE, CITY GIRL, FOUR DEVILS, TABU... who are all wide-eyed dudes who get manipulated by malevolent outside forces seeking to steer their lives).
Think [i01]maybe [/i01]the man was trying to say something about life and the world?
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Tommaso
- Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 2:09 pm
Thanx, markhax, indeed a fascinating bit of information. I wonder how well known Hauptmann's novella was at the time when the film came out, i.e. how much Murnau/Harbou could rely on a certain pre-knowledge in the audience who then might have been asked to take the 'Lolita'-story into account when thinking about Lubota's character and characterization. But it at least explains the rather child-like appearance of Veronica in the film. I wondered why Lubota fell so easily for that girl considering that the much more radiant Dagover was there just around the corner. It also explains why the sphinx-like muse has claws in the poem if Lubota sees her as a real-life daemon.
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MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 10:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
- Contact:
[quote22="John Bored"]I have a request. I'm looking for films that are firmly ensconced in the tradition of folk art, or thoroughly give a sense of the folkloric either in their manner of storytelling or content. [/quote22]
Funny you should ask this question in the week I watched FrantiÅ¡ek VláÄil's [i22]Marketa Lazarová[/i22] (1967) for the first time - and that fits the bill to a T. It's an incredibly convincing, almost uncomfortably tactile portrait of 13th-century life, whose initially bewildering events are signposted by means of self-consciously bardic intertitles. [i22]Shadows of our Forgotten Ancestors[/i22] would make a great double-bill partner.
It's out on DVD later this month.
Funny you should ask this question in the week I watched FrantiÅ¡ek VláÄil's [i22]Marketa Lazarová[/i22] (1967) for the first time - and that fits the bill to a T. It's an incredibly convincing, almost uncomfortably tactile portrait of 13th-century life, whose initially bewildering events are signposted by means of self-consciously bardic intertitles. [i22]Shadows of our Forgotten Ancestors[/i22] would make a great double-bill partner.
It's out on DVD later this month.
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markhax
- Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2007 9:42 pm
Re Murnau's 'Phantom'
[quote6f="Tommaso"]I wonder how well known Hauptmann's novella was at the time when the film came out, i.e. how much Murnau/Harbou could rely on a certain pre-knowledge in the audience who then might have been asked to take the 'Lolita'-story into account when thinking about Lubota's character and characterization. But it at least explains the rather child-like appearance of Veronica in the film. I wondered why Lubota fell so easily for that girl considering that the much more radiant Dagover was there just around the corner. It also explains why the sphinx-like muse has claws in the poem if Lubota sees her as a real-life daemon.[/quote6f]
Hauptmann's novella was first published in serial form in the 'Berliner Illustrirte.' which had the largest circulation of any weekly (1.5 million) in the Weimar Republic, in nine installments from February to April 1922. Murnau's film premiered on November 13 of that year. It was a marketing campaign that anticipated those of today. Then Fischer Verlag, Hauptmann's publisher, brought out the novel in book form in 1923, in which it reached a printing of only 22,000 copies.
Of course the 'Lolita' story was deemed acceptable for print media, but it was perhaps considered too bold for the cinema, since all films had to be approved by the film censors' board. (This is just my guess.)
As for Lorenz's falling for this pubescent girl: the novel was autobiographical. At the age of 43, married for the second time, Hauptmann became sexually obsessed with a 16-year old girl named Ida Orloff. Maria is modeled on his first wife, toward whom he harbored terrible guilt feelings, and who had died by the time he wrote the novel.
Hauptmann, like Lubota in his novel, regards Ida/Veronika as both angel and whore, and sexual attraction as a destructive illness. As Lubota/Hauptmann writes in the book, in the middle ages Veronika would have been declared a witch and been delivered to the torturers.
Besides reading Hauptmann's novella (I am half way through it) I have been reading Rebecca Kander's fascinating and informative book, "Phantom. Textgenese und Vermarktung. Ein Roman von Gerhart Hauptmann; ein Film von F. W. Murnau." Published in 1996, it is a really informative and fascinating read.
[quote6f="Tommaso"]I wonder how well known Hauptmann's novella was at the time when the film came out, i.e. how much Murnau/Harbou could rely on a certain pre-knowledge in the audience who then might have been asked to take the 'Lolita'-story into account when thinking about Lubota's character and characterization. But it at least explains the rather child-like appearance of Veronica in the film. I wondered why Lubota fell so easily for that girl considering that the much more radiant Dagover was there just around the corner. It also explains why the sphinx-like muse has claws in the poem if Lubota sees her as a real-life daemon.[/quote6f]
Hauptmann's novella was first published in serial form in the 'Berliner Illustrirte.' which had the largest circulation of any weekly (1.5 million) in the Weimar Republic, in nine installments from February to April 1922. Murnau's film premiered on November 13 of that year. It was a marketing campaign that anticipated those of today. Then Fischer Verlag, Hauptmann's publisher, brought out the novel in book form in 1923, in which it reached a printing of only 22,000 copies.
Of course the 'Lolita' story was deemed acceptable for print media, but it was perhaps considered too bold for the cinema, since all films had to be approved by the film censors' board. (This is just my guess.)
As for Lorenz's falling for this pubescent girl: the novel was autobiographical. At the age of 43, married for the second time, Hauptmann became sexually obsessed with a 16-year old girl named Ida Orloff. Maria is modeled on his first wife, toward whom he harbored terrible guilt feelings, and who had died by the time he wrote the novel.
Hauptmann, like Lubota in his novel, regards Ida/Veronika as both angel and whore, and sexual attraction as a destructive illness. As Lubota/Hauptmann writes in the book, in the middle ages Veronika would have been declared a witch and been delivered to the torturers.
Besides reading Hauptmann's novella (I am half way through it) I have been reading Rebecca Kander's fascinating and informative book, "Phantom. Textgenese und Vermarktung. Ein Roman von Gerhart Hauptmann; ein Film von F. W. Murnau." Published in 1996, it is a really informative and fascinating read.
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John Bored
- Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2007 5:13 pm
The problem I have with [ied]Phantom[/ied], after being spurred to watch it again because of this discussion, is the way the expository details are handled--outside of the framing story. It's difficult to buy that Lubota is sent into a frenzy because he was knocked over by a carriage. I thought how much more convincing, and thematically coherent it would be if before this part occurred, the bookseller had convinced him of his supposed genius. This would have instilled the idea that Lubota is conjuring up an image of himself that is in disproportion, and subsequently makes the upper-class beauty he chases all the more within his grasp. Like in Dostoevsky he creates a double of himself, a phantom that runs a muck, trying to justify himself in the real world but only plummeting down further. Of course the framing story seems to throw the whole idea to the wind, but because its so perverse I don't see how anyone can't question it every time they view the film, it's perhaps a perfect ending because of how unsettling it is.
Mine is probably a limited reading, I admit that much of the film's interest is precisely because it can't be pinned down easily.
[quoteed]It's out on DVD later this month.[/quoteed]
Cheers, Michael-- I was interested in viewing the film based on those screencaps alone.
Mine is probably a limited reading, I admit that much of the film's interest is precisely because it can't be pinned down easily.
[quoteed]It's out on DVD later this month.[/quoteed]
Cheers, Michael-- I was interested in viewing the film based on those screencaps alone.
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markhax
- Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2007 9:42 pm
[quotee4="John Bored"]I have a request. I'm looking for films that are firmly ensconced in the tradition of folk art, or thoroughly give a sense of the folkloric either in their manner of storytelling or content. I ask in this thread because silent film seems to have the most zest for this sort of thing, throwing all conventions aside (since they're still being worked out) and just telling a story, as if its your own ancestors telling it.
Examples evade me, but John Ford's films strike me as incredibly well-suited ... [/quotee4]
This may seem an odd example, but what about Murnau's 'Faust'? The Faust legend itself is closely identified with the folk tradition. The legend came down from the 16th century in the form of a Volksbuch (1587) and a puppet play, which made a strong impression on Goethe when he saw it as a boy, and both of these were the sources of his Faust. Moreover, I consider it significant that there is no mention of Goethe (or Marlowe) in the opening credits, rather Faust is subtitled “Eine deutsche Volkssage†(a German folk tale), reaffirming its roots in popular culture as opposed to high art. The Carnival sequence early in the film (which includes a shadow play), like the plague that follows it, does not appear in Goethe's play, nor does the Duchess of Parma sequence. It is tempting to think that Murnau is here making reference to the roots of the Faust legend in German folk culture going back to the 16th century Volksbuch and the puppet play based on it. The very legend itself, although based on a historical figure, is a product of folk culture.
Examples evade me, but John Ford's films strike me as incredibly well-suited ... [/quotee4]
This may seem an odd example, but what about Murnau's 'Faust'? The Faust legend itself is closely identified with the folk tradition. The legend came down from the 16th century in the form of a Volksbuch (1587) and a puppet play, which made a strong impression on Goethe when he saw it as a boy, and both of these were the sources of his Faust. Moreover, I consider it significant that there is no mention of Goethe (or Marlowe) in the opening credits, rather Faust is subtitled “Eine deutsche Volkssage†(a German folk tale), reaffirming its roots in popular culture as opposed to high art. The Carnival sequence early in the film (which includes a shadow play), like the plague that follows it, does not appear in Goethe's play, nor does the Duchess of Parma sequence. It is tempting to think that Murnau is here making reference to the roots of the Faust legend in German folk culture going back to the 16th century Volksbuch and the puppet play based on it. The very legend itself, although based on a historical figure, is a product of folk culture.
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John Bored
- Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2007 5:13 pm
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HerrSchreck
- Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 3:46 pm
The images, however, are so polished that I'd hesitate to place such a studio bound piece of high art in the zone of folk (though the subject matter, of course), but folk art implies a certain amateurishness, ignoring of prevailing aesthetics and "rules", training, etc.
Like prison art, deep country art in removed rural areas, etc.? Was that your meaning?
FAUST is consider the German National Myth, quite nearly.
Like prison art, deep country art in removed rural areas, etc.? Was that your meaning?
FAUST is consider the German National Myth, quite nearly.
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markhax
- Joined: Sat Oct 20, 2007 9:42 pm
[quote71="HerrSchreck"]The images, however, are so polished that I'd hesitate to place such a studio bound piece of high art in the zone of folk (though the subject matter, of course), but folk art implies a certain amateurishness, ignoring of prevailing aesthetics and "rules", training, etc.
Like prison art, deep country art in removed rural areas, etc.? Was that your meaning?[/quote71]
I certainly don't disagree about the artistic sophistication of the Faust film. But it nevertheless is a story that had for centuries been part of popular as opposed to elite consciousness (in this sense 'Volk' does not mean rural, but rather 'people', embracing the broader populace regardless of education). But there was a discussion in Weimar Germany about film as a popular art, as something that could have the visual sophistication of high art and yet could appeal to a mass audience in a way that modern painting never could or would. It's something Lang talked about quite specifically, and he saw his Nibelungen as presenting the German National Epic to the broadest audience ever, hence its dedication "dem deutschen Volk," to the German people.
Like prison art, deep country art in removed rural areas, etc.? Was that your meaning?[/quote71]
I certainly don't disagree about the artistic sophistication of the Faust film. But it nevertheless is a story that had for centuries been part of popular as opposed to elite consciousness (in this sense 'Volk' does not mean rural, but rather 'people', embracing the broader populace regardless of education). But there was a discussion in Weimar Germany about film as a popular art, as something that could have the visual sophistication of high art and yet could appeal to a mass audience in a way that modern painting never could or would. It's something Lang talked about quite specifically, and he saw his Nibelungen as presenting the German National Epic to the broadest audience ever, hence its dedication "dem deutschen Volk," to the German people.
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HerrSchreck
- Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 3:46 pm
Sure, absolutely-- all well understood.
Note of course the differences in indication between "volkisch" in the German sense, and the Folk in folk art-- at least as understood in American Folk Art.
On the aesthetic plane that is. There is an implied "outsider" status (Dwain Espers films have been labeled folk art-- Anger could fit as well), a complete lack of technique, even naivette.
A sophisticated masterpiece like FAUST I daresay, exceeds folk art.
Note of course the differences in indication between "volkisch" in the German sense, and the Folk in folk art-- at least as understood in American Folk Art.
On the aesthetic plane that is. There is an implied "outsider" status (Dwain Espers films have been labeled folk art-- Anger could fit as well), a complete lack of technique, even naivette.
A sophisticated masterpiece like FAUST I daresay, exceeds folk art.
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John Bored
- Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2007 5:13 pm
[quote7c="HerrSchreck"]The images, however, are so polished that I'd hesitate to place such a studio bound piece of high art in the zone of folk (though the subject matter, of course), but folk art implies a certain amateurishness, ignoring of prevailing aesthetics and "rules", training, etc.[/quote7c]
Not folk art, but certainly folkloric; the film exudes a sense of history and myth within it. I mentioned folk art initially because these qualities are so readily apparent in more 'unrefined' works that are not bound to the universal but instead their own place in time, yet nonetheless are universal in a microcosmic sense, and perhaps without knowing intent from the creators. What I seek are films that [i7c]speak[/i7c] from a time and location in history.
Not folk art, but certainly folkloric; the film exudes a sense of history and myth within it. I mentioned folk art initially because these qualities are so readily apparent in more 'unrefined' works that are not bound to the universal but instead their own place in time, yet nonetheless are universal in a microcosmic sense, and perhaps without knowing intent from the creators. What I seek are films that [i7c]speak[/i7c] from a time and location in history.
Last edited by John Bored on Sat Nov 10, 2007 10:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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HerrSchreck
- Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 3:46 pm
That's fine, so long as we know what page we're all on so there's no confusion. In that sense-- i e the sense indicated above-- a film like THIEF OF BAGDAD (hell even ROBIN HOOD... Fairbanks had a proclivity for these global larger than life characters ie THE GAUCHO, ZORRO, which seemed to correspond to and epitomize the hero-dreams/odyssey-narrative/wisdom tales of their regions of origin).
Dovzhenko should certainly speak to this as well.. especially ZVENIGORA and ARSENAL. Deep delving into the symbolism and roots of Ukranian lore, heavily prefiguring Paradzanov.
For ethnography-- TURKSIB, SALT FOR SVENETIA (for any fan of the silent cinema or Khalatozov, SVANETIA absolutely required viewing).
But of course this again-- so there's no confusion among our readers-- is not Folk Art, but renderings of regional lore and ethnographic myth.
Hell, many monster movies (GOLEM) find their roots in enthnographic myth and wisdom tales.
Dovzhenko should certainly speak to this as well.. especially ZVENIGORA and ARSENAL. Deep delving into the symbolism and roots of Ukranian lore, heavily prefiguring Paradzanov.
For ethnography-- TURKSIB, SALT FOR SVENETIA (for any fan of the silent cinema or Khalatozov, SVANETIA absolutely required viewing).
But of course this again-- so there's no confusion among our readers-- is not Folk Art, but renderings of regional lore and ethnographic myth.
Hell, many monster movies (GOLEM) find their roots in enthnographic myth and wisdom tales.
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Tommaso
- Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 2:09 pm
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zedz
- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 11:24 pm
[quote43="Tommaso"]Is there a disc of "Svenetia"? I never heard about this film but I'm intrigued.[/quote43]
It's fantastic. You can see the same visual imagination that would bring us [i43]I Am Cuba[/i43] already all there. Kino put it out on VHS ages ago, but I don't think anybody's caught up with it on DVD. The source print for the video was pretty ropey, as I recall, so I don't know whether there's good material available for this film.
It's fantastic. You can see the same visual imagination that would bring us [i43]I Am Cuba[/i43] already all there. Kino put it out on VHS ages ago, but I don't think anybody's caught up with it on DVD. The source print for the video was pretty ropey, as I recall, so I don't know whether there's good material available for this film.
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unclehulot
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 7:09 pm
- Location: here and there
[quote8d="zedz"][quote8d="Tommaso"]Is there a disc of "Svenetia"? I never heard about this film but I'm intrigued.[/quote8d]
It's fantastic. You can see the same visual imagination that would bring us [i8d]I Am Cuba[/i8d] already all there. Kino put it out on VHS ages ago, but I don't think anybody's caught up with it on DVD. The source print for the video was pretty ropey, as I recall, so I don't know whether there's good material available for this film.[/quote8d]
It was also in one of those LD boxes. Guess it's time to make myself a DVDR of it, before my player gives up the ghost.......along with another 50 discs or so. Of course, doing so usually insures that an official DVD is about to be announced. Maybe if we all transfer our Brownlow "Hollywood" sets at the same time, we'll jump-start that stalled DVD release!
It's fantastic. You can see the same visual imagination that would bring us [i8d]I Am Cuba[/i8d] already all there. Kino put it out on VHS ages ago, but I don't think anybody's caught up with it on DVD. The source print for the video was pretty ropey, as I recall, so I don't know whether there's good material available for this film.[/quote8d]
It was also in one of those LD boxes. Guess it's time to make myself a DVDR of it, before my player gives up the ghost.......along with another 50 discs or so. Of course, doing so usually insures that an official DVD is about to be announced. Maybe if we all transfer our Brownlow "Hollywood" sets at the same time, we'll jump-start that stalled DVD release!
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ola t
- They call us neo-cinephiles
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:51 am
- Location: Malmo, Sweden
I got my Swedish silents box set today. I've only given each disc a brief whirl so I won't say any more about the picture quality than "they seem to look pretty good on my rather ancient TV". But I can give you a rundown of the features.
Just to recap, the films included are THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE, SIR ARNE'S TREASURE, EROTIKON, THE SAGA OF GÖSTA BERLING, TERJE VIGEN, and HÄXAN.
* All the films have Swedish intertitles (Norwegian for TERJE VIGEN)
* They all have English subtitles
* They all have music by Matti Bye in DD5.1
* They're all tinted (except THE STORY OF GÖSTA BERLING)
* Each film has a bilingual (Swedish and English) booklet with excerpts from the Swedish Film Institute's book series "Svensk filmografi", production credits, information about the source materials and transfer, information about the extras (where applicable), and a short director biography
* There's also a photo gallery (production stills and/or behind-the-scenes shots) for each film.
Additional extras for THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE:
* Footage from the construction of Svensk Filmindustri's studios at RÃ¥sunda (THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE was the first film to be shot there)
* Ingmar Bergman interview about Victor Sjöström (excerpts from a 1981 documentary on Sjöström by Gösta Werner)
* Bergman's own, silent behind-the-scenes footage from WILD STRAWBERRIES (with narration (not by Bergman))
SIR ARNE'S TREASURE:
* STILLER FRAGMENTS (1969), Gösta Werner's compilation of surviving fragments from lost Stiller films
* Three more fragments that were discovered after 1969
THE STORY OF GÖSTA BERLING:
* Commercials and newsreel with Greta Garbo
* The only surviving bits (one reel, I guess) from Garbo's first feature, PETTER THE TRAMP (1922)
All discs have English-language menues. All extras have English subtitles. The Bergman footage has an alternate English narration track. The photo galleries have English captions, etc.
Two things I happened to notice: There seems to be a minor authoring bug on SIR ARNE'S TREASURE -- my player just stops if you press Menu while you're watching the feature. And I noticed in the HÄXAN booklet that the version on this disc is said to contain 22 intertitles that were only rediscovered in 2006, so I assume they're not on the Criterion disc.
Just to recap, the films included are THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE, SIR ARNE'S TREASURE, EROTIKON, THE SAGA OF GÖSTA BERLING, TERJE VIGEN, and HÄXAN.
* All the films have Swedish intertitles (Norwegian for TERJE VIGEN)
* They all have English subtitles
* They all have music by Matti Bye in DD5.1
* They're all tinted (except THE STORY OF GÖSTA BERLING)
* Each film has a bilingual (Swedish and English) booklet with excerpts from the Swedish Film Institute's book series "Svensk filmografi", production credits, information about the source materials and transfer, information about the extras (where applicable), and a short director biography
* There's also a photo gallery (production stills and/or behind-the-scenes shots) for each film.
Additional extras for THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE:
* Footage from the construction of Svensk Filmindustri's studios at RÃ¥sunda (THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE was the first film to be shot there)
* Ingmar Bergman interview about Victor Sjöström (excerpts from a 1981 documentary on Sjöström by Gösta Werner)
* Bergman's own, silent behind-the-scenes footage from WILD STRAWBERRIES (with narration (not by Bergman))
SIR ARNE'S TREASURE:
* STILLER FRAGMENTS (1969), Gösta Werner's compilation of surviving fragments from lost Stiller films
* Three more fragments that were discovered after 1969
THE STORY OF GÖSTA BERLING:
* Commercials and newsreel with Greta Garbo
* The only surviving bits (one reel, I guess) from Garbo's first feature, PETTER THE TRAMP (1922)
All discs have English-language menues. All extras have English subtitles. The Bergman footage has an alternate English narration track. The photo galleries have English captions, etc.
Two things I happened to notice: There seems to be a minor authoring bug on SIR ARNE'S TREASURE -- my player just stops if you press Menu while you're watching the feature. And I noticed in the HÄXAN booklet that the version on this disc is said to contain 22 intertitles that were only rediscovered in 2006, so I assume they're not on the Criterion disc.
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Cinephrenic
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 6:58 pm
- Location: Paris, Texas
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denti alligator
- Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 1:36 am
- Location: "born in heaven, raised in hell"
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triodelover
- Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2007 6:11 pm
- Location: The hills of East Tennessee
Denti, I ordered it yesterday from Megastore.se's English site. Total came to 58€ with shipping.
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ola t
- They call us neo-cinephiles
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:51 am
- Location: Malmo, Sweden
I should perhaps add that as far as I can make out no digital cleanup has been applied to any of the films. They're simply good, speed-correct transfers of the Swedish Film Institute's restoration prints. More Eclipse than Criterion, as it were, though I notice that Criterion's "About the transfer" on HÄXAN doesn't mention any digital cleanup either. (I haven't taken out my CC disc to compare.)
The transfers were all made in Standard Definition, so don't hold your breaths for a Bluray or HD release!
I hope the speed-correction doesn't mess up the image for people with fancier displays than mine. I have no way of knowing.
Oh, maybe I should mention that the Garbo commercials and newsreel are not related to GÖSTA BERLING in any way -- they're just Garbo ephemera. But Lars Hanson also appears in one of the commercials.
[quote5b="Cinephrenic"]The best Swedish silents in one box, I envy you![/quote5b]
Well, I'm still hoping for a volume 2! There's INGEBORG HOLM, THE OUTLAW AND HIS WIFE, THE PARSON'S WIDOW (with Swedish intertitles), and I'm sure there are more good Stillers... This box will do nicely for now, though!
The transfers were all made in Standard Definition, so don't hold your breaths for a Bluray or HD release!
I hope the speed-correction doesn't mess up the image for people with fancier displays than mine. I have no way of knowing.
Oh, maybe I should mention that the Garbo commercials and newsreel are not related to GÖSTA BERLING in any way -- they're just Garbo ephemera. But Lars Hanson also appears in one of the commercials.
[quote5b="Cinephrenic"]The best Swedish silents in one box, I envy you![/quote5b]
Well, I'm still hoping for a volume 2! There's INGEBORG HOLM, THE OUTLAW AND HIS WIFE, THE PARSON'S WIDOW (with Swedish intertitles), and I'm sure there are more good Stillers... This box will do nicely for now, though!