From ron at psymon.com Thu Feb 14 02:32:26 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 02:32:26 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Leni in the news Message-ID: <20080214073237.9CDA02BCDD@mailwash40.pair.com> Hi folks! I finally just got around to updating my "LeNiews" section... http://www.riefenstahl.org/resources/news/2008.html Sorry for taking so long (I hadn't done so since the beginning of the year) -- basically, I just forgot! D'oh... ;) Some interesting stuff in the last month-and-a-half, including two new plays that feature the "character" of Leni Riefenstahl. One is called "Amazons and Their Men", which basically is a fictionalized account of Leni during her attempted filming of Penthesilea, and the other is "Disney & Deutschland", again a fictionalized account of a meeting between Walt Disney, Hitler, Goebbels and Riefenstahl. Just browse the above URL and you'll find links to various articles about both these plays, although I personally rather liked one reviewer's comment: "How fortunate for playwrights in search of a dominant dead woman to kick around that there will always be Leni Riefenstahl." Indeed. :/ Also of interest is an exhibit on the work of Alexander Rodchenko -- who, I confess, I know nothing about (but intend to learn more about now), who is apparently credited with being a great inspiration for Leni's style. Interesting... anyone know anything about him (off-hand)? And, in addition, apparently there's a new documentary film out called "Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait" which has been compared in style (and quality) to Olympia. Other than that, well, feel free to browse away there (at the above URL) -- it's been a fairly interesting year (so far) of Leni-related news! Ron :) Woof?... http://www.Psymon.com Ach, du Leni!... http://www.Riefenstahl.org Hmm... http://www.Imaginary-Friend.ca From ron at psymon.com Fri Feb 15 01:32:14 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 01:32:14 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Riefenstahl Screened: An Anthology of New Criticism Message-ID: <20080215063217.CCC8A2BCF0@mailwash40.pair.com> There's a new book coming out later this year (although you can pre-order it already) which looks like it will be *very* interesting!... http://www.amazon.com/Riefenstahl-Screened-Anthology-New-Criticism/dp/0826428010 ...or, if you're in Canada, you can get it even cheaper... http://www.amazon.ca/Riefenstahl-Screened-Anthology-New-Criticism/dp/0826428010 I haven't checked any other "amazons" for pricing. However, at at the publisher's own site, you can view the table of contents and see what all the articles will be in this anthology... http://www.continuumbooks.com/Books/detail.aspx?ReturnURL=/Search/default.aspx&CountryID=2&ImprintID=2&BookID=130458 ...and you'll note there that there's also going to be a hardcover version (for $105 -- eek!). Ron :) Woof?... http://www.Psymon.com Ach, du Leni!... http://www.Riefenstahl.org Hmm... http://www.Imaginary-Friend.ca From ron at psymon.com Fri Feb 15 01:42:10 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 01:42:10 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Spring Symposium & "Aunt Raini" play Message-ID: <20080215064233.3DDFA2BB6F@mailwash40.pair.com> In reference to that "Riefenstahl Screened" book (which I just mentioned, separately), the way that I learned about it was through this article... http://ww2.fredonia.edu/news/NewsRoom/tabid/1101/ctl/ArticleView/mid/1878/articleId/666/Default.aspx ...which is about a symposium about Leni going on at the State University of New York, starting this month (February) and continuing through March and April. In the description that you'll find on that page, the keynote speaker (Ingeborg Majer O'Sickey) is one of the co-editors of that book -- and, in addition to that, I also discovered on that page that there's yet another new play about Leni, called "Aunt Raini" (if it's of interest, if you do a search for that title you'll find tons of reviews, etc. about the play). It's incredible, actually, all these plays that are being written about Leni (or with Leni as a fictionalized character) recently! If she only knew, I wonder what she would think??? Ron :) Woof?... http://www.Psymon.com Ach, du Leni!... http://www.Riefenstahl.org Hmm... http://www.Imaginary-Friend.ca From ron at psymon.com Fri Feb 15 15:08:21 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:08:21 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Marleni & other plays Message-ID: <20080215200832.D78252BD3D@mailwash40.pair.com> With all these various plays about Leni popping up over the last few years, I thought I'd start working on a new section of my site for theatrical works about her. One -- I think the first one??? -- that came out about a decade or so was called "Marleni". I don't know much about it, because it was a German play, but I just did a quick search on it and found this site... http://www.marleni.info/ As usual, my German isn't good enough to figure out what's going on there, but it would *seem* to indicate that not only was it a play, but it's being made (or has already been made) into a film! Is that right??? There's a trailer there, too -- the Windows Media version is really bad quality, and I can't seem to get the higher-quality Quicktime one to work. Apart from that, I currently have this list of plays that have been done about Leni (or with her as a "character")... Marleni The Last Days of Leni Riefenstahl Amazons and Their Men LENI [Sarah Greenman] Disney and Deutschland Aunt Raini Luc mentioned (off-list) that there was another German play, but he couldn't remember the title. Does anybody know? And does anyone know of any other plays? Ron :? Woof?... http://www.Psymon.com Ach, du Leni!... http://www.Riefenstahl.org Hmm... http://www.Imaginary-Friend.ca From l-femme at excite.com Sun Feb 17 16:26:10 2008 From: l-femme at excite.com (Laura Welch) Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 16:26:10 -0500 (EST) Subject: [LEN-E] Bach book on Riefenstahl Message-ID: <20080217212610.D8F468B328@xprdmxin.myway.com> I was wondering whether I should get the new Stephen Bach book that is out now. I keep wondering if I should allow someone to profit off of tarnishing the name of our lady? Should I buy the book or not? I have seen it out on the non-fiction racks but still debating if it is worth my while to buy it. What does everyone think? Laura :)+ _______________________________________________ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web! From luc.deneulin at skynet.be Sun Feb 17 17:34:24 2008 From: luc.deneulin at skynet.be (Luc Deneulin) Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2008 23:34:24 +0100 Subject: [LEN-E] Bach book on Riefenstahl In-Reply-To: <20080217212610.D8F468B328@xprdmxin.myway.com> References: <20080217212610.D8F468B328@xprdmxin.myway.com> Message-ID: <006130B0-2614-49FE-8ED1-C2804A37B141@skynet.be> I think it's very good to read it along wth some other works about Riefenstahl, or see it as another vision than her Memoiren or Die Macht der Bilder. On 17 Feb 2008, at 22:26, Laura Welch wrote: > I was wondering whether I should get the new Stephen Bach book that > is out now. I keep wondering if I should allow someone to profit > off of tarnishing the name of our lady? Should I buy the book or > not? I have seen it out on the non-fiction racks but still debating > if it is worth my while to buy it. What does everyone think? > Laura :)+ > > ___ From luc.deneulin at skynet.be Sun Feb 17 19:50:20 2008 From: luc.deneulin at skynet.be (Luc Deneulin) Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 01:50:20 +0100 Subject: [LEN-E] Spielberg Message-ID: <54A09D1B-6D32-4D13-BAE1-382612A9D9C4@skynet.be> http://www.sundayherald.com/oped/opinion/display.var.2050654.0.boycott_the_whole_shebang.php Sunday Herald - Glasgow,Scotland,UK STEVEN SPIELBERG, withdrew his "artistic services" from the Chinese last week because he didn't want to become the Leni Riefenstahl of the Beijing Olympics. ... Luc Deneulin PhD Filmstudies University of Brussels --- luc.deneulin at skynet.be From len-e at nhaysom.com Mon Feb 18 02:57:53 2008 From: len-e at nhaysom.com (Nick Haysom) Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 07:57:53 -0000 Subject: [LEN-E] Culture & the Third Reich Message-ID: <002f01c87204$28e48640$0301a8c0@nhaysom> Not Leni exactly but members may find this documentary to be of interest: http://web11.streamhoster.com/naxosusa/Reichorchester/CONSUMER.html Nick From ron at psymon.com Mon Feb 18 11:06:17 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:06:17 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Spielberg In-Reply-To: <54A09D1B-6D32-4D13-BAE1-382612A9D9C4@skynet.be> References: <54A09D1B-6D32-4D13-BAE1-382612A9D9C4@skynet.be> Message-ID: <20080218160629.4F2292BCCE@mailwash40.pair.com> At 01:50 AM 2/18/2008 +0100, you wrote: >http://www.sundayherald.com/oped/opinion/display.var.2050654.0.boycott_the_whole_shebang.php > >Sunday Herald - Glasgow,Scotland,UK >STEVEN SPIELBERG, withdrew his "artistic services" from the Chinese >last week because he didn't want to become the Leni Riefenstahl of the >Beijing Olympics. ... The writer of that article is jumping to conclusions over Spielberg's reasons for backing out on that project (to film the Beijing Olympics). When he first signed on for the project (before he backed out recently, of course), actress Mia Farrow pubished an editorial that got a *lot* of coverage (indeed, repeatedly, over and over again, over all of last year) in which she stated -- only in part -- "Does Mr. Spielberg really want to go down in history as the Leni Riefenstahl of the Beijing Games?" There was a lot more to her "attack" on Spielberg, though, and in the end that's hardly the reason why he backed out. From my Leni news archive, you'll find this article... http://www.hollywoodtoday.net/?p=3820 ...which explains all his reasons more fully, in his own words (along with more of what Mia Farrow wrote in her article). As for the article that you pointed out, Luc, that's actually very bad reportage on the part of that writer! It's wrong for him to state that that was Spielberg's reason for quitting, when it wasn't. I'm sure that Farrow "calling him names" had nothing to do with it. Ron :/ From ron at psymon.com Mon Feb 18 11:17:24 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:17:24 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Bach book on Riefenstahl In-Reply-To: <20080217212610.D8F468B328@xprdmxin.myway.com> References: <20080217212610.D8F468B328@xprdmxin.myway.com> Message-ID: <20080218161736.8FA402BD12@mailwash40.pair.com> Hi Laura! Long time no "see"! :) At 04:26 PM 2/17/2008 -0500, Laura Welch wrote: >I was wondering whether I should get the new Stephen Bach book that >is out now. I keep wondering if I should allow someone to profit >off of tarnishing the name of our lady? Should I buy the book or >not? I have seen it out on the non-fiction racks but still debating >if it is worth my while to buy it. What does everyone think? Well, it's a little late to stop Bach from profitting from his book -- after all, it was one of the best-selling and most highly-praised non-fiction books of last year, so he's already accomplished that. But if you don't want him to profit directly, you can always buy a used copy (on eBay or wherever). ;) As for whether it's worthwhile getting, I would certainly say so, if only because he does have one of the best bibliographies on Leni that one can find anywhere. Where I have problems with his work is the conclusions that he jumps to based on what he found in those references -- and I do mean "jumps to", because some of the things he says are quite outlandish, and are clearly just his personal opinion and not really based on actual fact. In that regard, it's interesting to note that the book jacket describes his work as being so very "objective" -- but even the most indiscriminating reader can surely see that it's not. Indeed, even Bach himself explained in an article (one of the ones that can be found in my news archives -- I can't remember which one, off-hand) that his book was most definitely his own very *subjective*, and *not* objective, perspective on Leni Riefenstahl. So never mind Bach calling Leni a liar -- Bach, himself, is effectively a self-admitted liar (assuming he gave approval to his book jacket, of course). Not to mention that he doesn't even know what his subject matter actually looked like (as I think we concluded here a couple of months ago, on that thread about Leni's appearance -- or not -- in Wege). So yeah, go for it! But buy it used -- save yourself some money, and deny him some profits in the process. Ron ;) From ron at psymon.com Mon Feb 18 11:17:24 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:17:24 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Bach book on Riefenstahl In-Reply-To: <20080217212610.D8F468B328@xprdmxin.myway.com> References: <20080217212610.D8F468B328@xprdmxin.myway.com> Message-ID: <20080218161736.8FC9E2BD23@mailwash40.pair.com> Hi Laura! Long time no "see"! :) At 04:26 PM 2/17/2008 -0500, Laura Welch wrote: >I was wondering whether I should get the new Stephen Bach book that >is out now. I keep wondering if I should allow someone to profit >off of tarnishing the name of our lady? Should I buy the book or >not? I have seen it out on the non-fiction racks but still debating >if it is worth my while to buy it. What does everyone think? Well, it's a little late to stop Bach from profitting from his book -- after all, it was one of the best-selling and most highly-praised non-fiction books of last year, so he's already accomplished that. But if you don't want him to profit directly, you can always buy a used copy (on eBay or wherever). ;) As for whether it's worthwhile getting, I would certainly say so, if only because he does have one of the best bibliographies on Leni that one can find anywhere. Where I have problems with his work is the conclusions that he jumps to based on what he found in those references -- and I do mean "jumps to", because some of the things he says are quite outlandish, and are clearly just his personal opinion and not really based on actual fact. In that regard, it's interesting to note that the book jacket describes his work as being so very "objective" -- but even the most indiscriminating reader can surely see that it's not. Indeed, even Bach himself explained in an article (one of the ones that can be found in my news archives -- I can't remember which one, off-hand) that his book was most definitely his own very *subjective*, and *not* objective, perspective on Leni Riefenstahl. So never mind Bach calling Leni a liar -- Bach, himself, is effectively a self-admitted liar (assuming he gave approval to his book jacket, of course). Not to mention that he doesn't even know what his subject matter actually looked like (as I think we concluded here a couple of months ago, on that thread about Leni's appearance -- or not -- in Wege). So yeah, go for it! But buy it used -- save yourself some money, and deny him some profits in the process. Ron ;) From ron at psymon.com Mon Feb 18 11:30:22 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:30:22 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Oops In-Reply-To: <54A09D1B-6D32-4D13-BAE1-382612A9D9C4@skynet.be> References: <54A09D1B-6D32-4D13-BAE1-382612A9D9C4@skynet.be> Message-ID: <20080218163046.625642BCCF@mailwash40.pair.com> Sorry for the duplicate post! Ron %} From ron at psymon.com Mon Feb 18 11:36:46 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:36:46 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Culture & the Third Reich In-Reply-To: <002f01c87204$28e48640$0301a8c0@nhaysom> References: <002f01c87204$28e48640$0301a8c0@nhaysom> Message-ID: <20080218163658.458482BCDB@mailwash40.pair.com> At 07:57 AM 2/18/2008 +0000, Nick Haysom wrote: >Not Leni exactly but members may find this documentary to be of interest: > >http://web11.streamhoster.com/naxosusa/Reichorchester/CONSUMER.html Interesting... reminds me of another thing I discovered recently on amazon, a 4-CD collection of music that was popular in Berlin in the 1920s -- which would be, in other words, the music that Leni would have been listening to in her youth. Let me see if I can find it again... ah, here it is... http://www.amazon.com/Cabaret-Berlin-Revue-Kabarett-Between/dp/3937406166/ ...called "Cabaret Berlin: Revue, Kabarett And Film Music Between The Wars" -- okay, my above description of it wasn't quite accurate, but close! Ron :) From ron at psymon.com Tue Feb 19 18:53:38 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:53:38 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Madonna Replaces Spielberg as Beijing Olympics Artistic Director Message-ID: <20080219235414.24B402BD24@mailwash40.pair.com> "I'm very excited to allow the world to experience my creative genius", said Madonna in a quaint English accent. "I want to do for Communist China what my soul-sister, Leni Riefenstahl, did for the Third Reich". For more... http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s4i30513 Ron ;) Woof?... http://www.Psymon.com Ach, du Leni!... http://www.Riefenstahl.org Hmm... http://www.Imaginary-Friend.ca From schmidt- at web.de Wed Feb 20 08:42:40 2008 From: schmidt- at web.de (Helmut Schmidt) Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:42:40 +0100 Subject: [LEN-E] =?iso-8859-15?q?Madonna_Replaces_Spielberg_as_Beijing_Oly?= =?iso-8859-15?q?mpics_Artistic_Director?= Message-ID: <365688467@web.de> Well, now I'm absolutely sure that she's totally crazy :-/ Regards, Helmut > -----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht----- > Von: Discussion forum about the life and work of Leni Riefenstahl > Gesendet: 20.02.08 00:54:34 > An: LEN-E Discussion List > Betreff: [LEN-E] Madonna Replaces Spielberg as Beijing Olympics Artistic Director > > "I'm very excited to allow the world to experience my creative > genius", said Madonna in a quaint English accent. "I want to do for > Communist China what my soul-sister, Leni Riefenstahl, did for the > Third Reich". > > For more... > > http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s4i30513 > > Ron ;) > > Woof?... http://www.Psymon.com > Ach, du Leni!... http://www.Riefenstahl.org > Hmm... http://www.Imaginary-Friend.ca > > _______________________________________________ > NOTE 1: PLEASE TRIM THE QUOTED PORTION(S) OF YOUR REPLIES! > NOTE 2: IF YOU CHANGE TOPIC, CHANGE THE SUBJECT HEADING! > List Info: http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/len-e/ > Your List Options: http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/options/len-e/ > List Archives: http://four.pairlist.net/pipermail/len-e/ > To Unsubscribe: mailto:len-e-request at riefenstahl.org?subject=unsubscribe > -----------------------------------? Helmut?Schmidt Am?Pappelbusch?14 50321?Br?hl Germany e-mail:?schmidt- at web.de FAX????:?01212?517983578? http://www.helmut-S-photographs.de _______________________________________________________________________ Jetzt neu! Sch?tzen Sie Ihren PC mit McAfee und WEB.DE. 30 Tage kostenlos testen. http://www.pc-sicherheit.web.de/startseite/?mc=022220 From ron at psymon.com Wed Feb 20 08:51:08 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 08:51:08 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Madonna Replaces Spielberg as Beijing Oly mpics Artistic Director In-Reply-To: <365688467@web.de> References: <365688467@web.de> Message-ID: <20080220135143.22DB82BCFA@mailwash40.pair.com> At 02:42 PM 2/20/2008 +0100, Helmut Schmidt wrote: >Well, now I'm absolutely sure that she's totally crazy :-/ That article was a joke, Helmut! Not on my part, but from the web site that put out that article! ;) Of course, that doesn't mean that Madonna isn't crazy -- but that's a subject for another list... Ron ;) From len-e at nhaysom.com Wed Feb 20 15:07:27 2008 From: len-e at nhaysom.com (Nick Haysom) Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:07:27 -0000 Subject: [LEN-E] Madonna Replaces Spielberg as Beijing Olympics Artistic Director References: <20080219235414.24B402BD24@mailwash40.pair.com> Message-ID: <00eb01c873fd$3df27880$0301a8c0@nhaysom> Thanks Ron... I have fwdd to others I know will enjoy this. Nick ----- Original Message ----- From: Ron Koster To: LEN-E Discussion List Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2008 11:53 PM Subject: [LEN-E] Madonna Replaces Spielberg as Beijing Olympics Artistic Director "I'm very excited to allow the world to experience my creative genius", said Madonna in a quaint English accent. "I want to do for Communist China what my soul-sister, Leni Riefenstahl, did for the Third Reich". For more... http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s4i30513 Ron ;) Woof?... http://www.Psymon.com Ach, du Leni!... http://www.Riefenstahl.org Hmm... http://www.Imaginary-Friend.ca _______________________________________________ NOTE 1: PLEASE TRIM THE QUOTED PORTION(S) OF YOUR REPLIES! NOTE 2: IF YOU CHANGE TOPIC, CHANGE THE SUBJECT HEADING! List Info: http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/len-e/ Your List Options: http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/options/len-e/ List Archives: http://four.pairlist.net/pipermail/len-e/ To Unsubscribe: mailto:len-e-request at riefenstahl.org?subject=unsubscribe From euthymios2003 at yahoo.com Thu Feb 21 21:14:28 2008 From: euthymios2003 at yahoo.com (Euthymios Marston) Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:14:28 -0800 (PST) Subject: [LEN-E] Bach book on Riefenstahl In-Reply-To: <006130B0-2614-49FE-8ED1-C2804A37B141@skynet.be> Message-ID: <749233.96856.qm@web33104.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Why not simply take it out from the public library? That way you can read it for free. Luc Deneulin wrote: I think it's very good to read it along wth some other works about Riefenstahl, or see it as another vision than her Memoiren or Die Macht der Bilder. On 17 Feb 2008, at 22:26, Laura Welch wrote: > I was wondering whether I should get the new Stephen Bach book that > is out now. I keep wondering if I should allow someone to profit > off of tarnishing the name of our lady? Should I buy the book or > not? I have seen it out on the non-fiction racks but still debating > if it is worth my while to buy it. What does everyone think? > Laura :)+ > > ___ _______________________________________________ NOTE 1: PLEASE TRIM THE QUOTED PORTION(S) OF YOUR REPLIES! NOTE 2: IF YOU CHANGE TOPIC, CHANGE THE SUBJECT HEADING! List Info: http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/len-e/ Your List Options: http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/options/len-e/ List Archives: http://four.pairlist.net/pipermail/len-e/ To Unsubscribe: mailto:len-e-request at riefenstahl.org?subject=unsubscribe --------------------------------- Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. From ron at psymon.com Tue Feb 26 10:53:40 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:53:40 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Nosferatu (The Ultimate Two-Disc Edition) Message-ID: <20080226155353.11A792BD20@mailwash40.pair.com> For those interested, Kino recently came out with a new 2-disc "ultimate" edition of Murnau's classic silent film... http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000VUQ4HW/ Ron :) Woof?... http://www.Psymon.com Ach, du Leni!... http://www.Riefenstahl.org Hmm... http://www.Imaginary-Friend.ca From easternwindow at freenet.de Tue Feb 26 12:30:39 2008 From: easternwindow at freenet.de (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Thomas_K=F6hler?=) Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:30:39 +0100 Subject: [LEN-E] Nosferatu (The Ultimate Two-Disc Edition) In-Reply-To: <20080226155353.11A792BD20@mailwash40.pair.com> References: <20080226155353.11A792BD20@mailwash40.pair.com> Message-ID: <47C44CBF.7050507@freenet.de> Hi Ron, it's completely marvellous, especially because they (that is, the Murnau Stiftung) have restored the original music by Hans Erdmann, which is mightily impressive. Same goes for the restored image, much better than the 1993 resto. Probably indeed 'ultimate'. The Kino edition is a tremendous package, but it is also available in Germany from Transit and in the UK from Masters of Cinema. I would definitely recommend the Masters of Cinema version over the Kino, because you also get an audio commentary, and even better, a highly informative and gorgeous-looking 80-page book with it. Technical quality seems to be equal on all three releases. But whatever you buy, BUY IT! Even if Leni is not involved with the film, noone can go without this film in my opinion. Best Thomas > From ron at psymon.com Thu Feb 28 06:17:29 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 06:17:29 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Nosferatu (The Ultimate Two-Disc Edition) In-Reply-To: <47C44CBF.7050507@freenet.de> References: <20080226155353.11A792BD20@mailwash40.pair.com> <47C44CBF.7050507@freenet.de> Message-ID: <20080228120140.CE5E22BCC6@mailwash40.pair.com> At 06:30 PM 2/26/2008 +0100, Thomas K?hler wrote: >The Kino edition is a tremendous package, but >it is also available in Germany from Transit and >in the UK from Masters of Cinema. I would >definitely recommend the Masters of Cinema >version over the Kino, because you also get an >audio commentary, and even better, a highly >informative and gorgeous-looking 80-page book with it. Oh, I'm so glad you mentioned that! Indeed, my experience with the Masters of Cinema series is that they are far superior to many (if not all) other versions -- and that goes for their version of Fanck's "The Holy Mountain", which not only includes the original German intertitles (in the old Fraktur typeface, with English subtitles, and unlike Kino's version which has all the intertitles completely replaced with "new" ones) but also comes with an extra disc with "The Wonderful, Horrible..." on it as well. The booklet that come with it is rather short, unfortunately, but that's still better than what Kino gives you (just a single sheet with the chapter listing on it, and that's about it). I also picked up the Masters of Cinema version of Murnau's "Faust", which is also truly *phenomenal* in comparison with any other version out there -- so, indeed, thanks for mentioning that, because that's definitely the version of Nosferatu that I'll get! And nothing against Kino, of course, I think they're doing a wonderful job of making so many of these early, rare films available to a North American audience -- but all one needs is a region-free DVD player and, as they say, "the world is yours". Ron ;) Woof?... http://www.Psymon.com Ach, du Leni!... http://www.Riefenstahl.org Hmm... http://www.Imaginary-Friend.ca From easternwindow at freenet.de Thu Feb 28 11:42:02 2008 From: easternwindow at freenet.de (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Thomas_K=F6hler?=) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:42:02 +0100 Subject: [LEN-E] Nosferatu (The Ultimate Two-Disc Edition) In-Reply-To: <20080228120140.CE5E22BCC6@mailwash40.pair.com> References: <20080226155353.11A792BD20@mailwash40.pair.com> <47C44CBF.7050507@freenet.de> <20080228120140.CE5E22BCC6@mailwash40.pair.com> Message-ID: <47C6E45A.8060403@freenet.de> Yes, I would generally say: keep a very close eye on Masters of Cinema, especially if you're interested in silents or Japanese classics. In the last months alone they did outstanding discs of Fritz Lang's "Frau im Mond", Pabst's "Diary of a Lost Girl", and Murnau's "Tabu" (the latter has a book that I find even better than that for "Nosferatu"). In the next months, they will release Murnau's "Phantom" (a truly wonderful film in my view) and even better, Dreyer's "Vampyr" (and if you've ever seen the horrible US disc of this, you'll know what the difference will be like). And unlike Kino, they also preserve the original German intertitles for these films! Nothing against Kino, though. At least they are often the very first to get some such rare film out. Fanck's "Holy Mountain" came two years before the MoC release, for instance. That MoC's booklet for "Holy Mountain" was relatively thin is due to the fact that this release was still made by the main Eureka department (which also explains why the subs on the M?ller documentary cannot be switched off), but now they seem to have gotten free rein to do what they think best. Normally, their booklets now at least have 32 or 40 pages, and all subs can be switched off. They take utmost care to get the best materials for the films they release, and their transfers are all absolutely flawless. Very much like a UK counterpart to the Criterion Collection, but not as expensive :-) I would assume that for those in the US, though, the Euro/Dollar rate at the moment is quite forbidding, especially because you have to pay for shipping as well. Best Thomas > From schmidt- at web.de Thu Feb 28 11:51:23 2008 From: schmidt- at web.de (Helmut Schmidt) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:51:23 +0100 Subject: [LEN-E] Nosferatu (The Ultimate Two-Disc Edition) Message-ID: <378529137@web.de> > Thomas wrote: > Yes, I would generally say: keep a very close eye on Masters of Cinema, > especially if you're interested in silents or Japanese classics. Thomas, thanks a lot for pointing out these interesting informations! Do you already know something about Wiene's "Caligari" Btw, I just sent a mail to the Murnau-Stiftung in Germany, asking about Fanck's "Der grosse Sprung". On their website they mention the restoration of the film in 2002 at a lenght of about 121 min. I'll tell here, when I get feedback. Regards, Helmut -----------------------------------? Helmut?Schmidt Am?Pappelbusch?14 50321?Br?hl Germany e-mail:?schmidt- at web.de FAX????:?01212?517983578? http://www.helmut-S-photographs.de ______________________________________________________ Bis 50 MB Dateianh?nge? Kein Problem! http://freemail.web.de/club/landingpage.htm/?mc=025556 From easternwindow at freenet.de Thu Feb 28 12:07:38 2008 From: easternwindow at freenet.de (=?ISO-8859-15?Q?Thomas_K=F6hler?=) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:07:38 +0100 Subject: [LEN-E] Nosferatu (The Ultimate Two-Disc Edition) In-Reply-To: <378529137@web.de> References: <378529137@web.de> Message-ID: <47C6EA5A.2000809@freenet.de> Hi Helmut, no, no plans for a new "Caligari" anywhere, which is completely strange to me. There's not even a German disc of that film which more or less started German silent cinema as we know it today. The restoration that is out in France and Spain is from the early 90s and could be better, of course, perhaps that is why everyone's waiting. The Murnau Stiftung is doing a new "Nibelungen" at the moment, and this new (tinted, and longer) version will also come from MoC once it's finished. I have little hope for "Der gro?e Sprung". I fear that nobody could release it because there is no new music yet, and apart from us Leni fans here, nobody seems to care all that much for it. Talking of silents, something more Leni related: I recently watched the dvd of "Ruf des Nordens" by Luis Trenker (directed by Nunzio Malasomma, but very much a true Trenker project), made in 1929. This is not a great film, but it was interesting to see that THIS seems to be the first German Polar film, four years before "SOS Eisberg". Even the story is similar: a young woman instigates an expedition to the Arctic to find out what has become of her missing explorer father, and of course she goes with the crew and has a brief affair with Luis. Otherwise, typical Fanck/Trenker stuff: heroic comrades, lots of ice, snow and icebears. No way as spectacular as Fanck, though, but historically interesting, and I wonder whether Fanck was aware of the film before he made "Eisberg". Obviously, here as with "Der gro?e Sprung", no music track exists, so the only audio you get is Trenker telling amusing anecdotes about the film while it is running. That might be an option for "Sprung" as well, and if you find the talk annoying, you can always play it silent, of course. Best Thomas > > From schmidt- at web.de Thu Feb 28 13:19:50 2008 From: schmidt- at web.de (Helmut Schmidt) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:19:50 +0100 Subject: [LEN-E] Nosferatu (The Ultimate Two-Disc Edition) Message-ID: <378702750@web.de> > Ron wrote: > Oh, I'm so glad you mentioned that! Indeed, my > experience with the Masters of Cinema series is > that they are far superior to many (if not all) > other versions -- and that goes for their version > of Fanck's "The Holy Mountain", which not only > includes the original German intertitles (in the > old Fraktur typeface, with English subtitles, and > unlike Kino's version which has all the > intertitles completely replaced with "new" ones) Ron, can you tell me if the english subtitles on this MoC-version of "The Holy Mountain" can be switched off, or are they fixed? Helmut :-) -----------------------------------? Helmut?Schmidt Am?Pappelbusch?14 50321?Br?hl Germany e-mail:?schmidt- at web.de FAX????:?01212?517983578? http://www.helmut-S-photographs.de _________________________________________________________________________ In 5 Schritten zur eigenen Homepage. Jetzt Domain sichern und gestalten! Nur 3,99 EUR/Monat! http://www.maildomain.web.de/?mc=021114 From ron at psymon.com Thu Feb 28 23:15:32 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:15:32 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Nosferatu (The Ultimate Two-Disc Edition) In-Reply-To: <378702750@web.de> References: <378702750@web.de> Message-ID: <20080229041541.93D3E2BCF1@mailwash40.pair.com> Just one quick reply before I go nod off for the night... At 07:19 PM 2/28/2008 +0100, Helmut Schmidt wrote: >Ron, can you tell me if the english subtitles >on this MoC-version of "The Holy Mountain" >can be switched off, or are they fixed? I just checked, and although there doesn't seem to be any option in the menus for turning the subtitles on or off, the remote control for my DVD player has a subtitle button, and that *does* turn off (or back on) the subtitles -- so yes, they *can* be turned off (if, of course, your remote control has that subtitles button!). However, as Thomas mentioned, in the accompanying (2nd) disc with "The Wonderful, Horrible..." on it, for that film they *can't* be turned off (in any way) -- although I presume you're more interested in Der heilige Berg, of course. Nighty-night! Ron ;) From ron at psymon.com Fri Feb 29 10:53:21 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:53:21 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Nosferatu (The Ultimate Two-Disc Edition) In-Reply-To: <47C6E45A.8060403@freenet.de> References: <20080226155353.11A792BD20@mailwash40.pair.com> <47C44CBF.7050507@freenet.de> <20080228120140.CE5E22BCC6@mailwash40.pair.com> <47C6E45A.8060403@freenet.de> Message-ID: <20080229155324.6A2D62BCD9@mailwash40.pair.com> At 05:42 PM 2/28/2008 +0100, Thomas K?hler wrote: >Yes, I would generally say: keep a very close >eye on Masters of Cinema, especially if you're >interested in silents or Japanese classics. In >the last months alone they did outstanding discs >of Fritz Lang's "Frau im Mond", Pabst's "Diary >of a Lost Girl", and Murnau's "Tabu" I already have the Kino versions of the first one (Lang), and the last one (Murnau), but now I wish I'd just waited and gotten the MoC versions! More money down the drain. ;) I haven't seen the Pabst film, but just the other day I got the Criterion edition of his earlier "Pandora's Box" (also with Louise Brooks) in the mail -- haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but I *really* look forward to doing so! Plus it comes with a whole, second disc of bonus stuff, and a nice, thick book (or booklet) about the film. Have you seen both films (Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl), perchance? I'm wondering how they compare, if one is decidedly better than the other. >In the next months, they will release Murnau's >"Phantom" (a truly wonderful film in my view) That's played a couple of times over here on the Turner Classic Movies channel (which very often plays classic old silent films on late Sunday nights) -- both times it was on, though, I forgot to set my VCR! D'oh... :/ >and even better, Dreyer's "Vampyr" (and if >you've ever seen the horrible US disc of this, >you'll know what the difference will be like). I saw that on the TCM channel, too -- as you say, a lousy version. Indeed, that would be nice to see at better quality. >And unlike Kino, they also preserve the original >German intertitles for these films! Nothing against Kino, though. Yes and no. ;) >I would assume that for those in the US, though, >the Euro/Dollar rate at the moment is quite >forbidding, especially because you have to pay for shipping as well. Yeah, it's the overseas shipping that gets -- and then sometimes there's customs duty charges on top of that! :/ But for some of these films, it's *definitely* worth it. You Europeans are very lucky that you're in... well, Europe! Overall, the quality of DVDs do seem to be *much* better than what's usually available over here (although sometimes the reverse can be the case, of course). Ron ;) From ron at psymon.com Fri Feb 29 10:57:55 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:57:55 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Caligari In-Reply-To: <378529137@web.de> References: <378529137@web.de> Message-ID: <20080229155800.26E0D2BD21@mailwash40.pair.com> At 05:51 PM 2/28/2008 +0100, Helmut Schmidt wrote: >Thomas, thanks a lot for pointing out these interesting informations! >Do you already know something about Wiene's "Caligari" It would seem that Masters of Cinema -- or, rather, Eureka, at least -- has a new edition in the works... http://eurekavideo.co.uk/classics/das-cabinet-des-dr-caligari/ I don't think it's out yet, though, because I can't seem to find this edition anywhere (amazon, etc.) -- but I also don't see on the Eureka site any info about *when* this is coming out (if it isn't already). Ron :? From easternwindow at freenet.de Fri Feb 29 11:11:33 2008 From: easternwindow at freenet.de (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Thomas_K=F6hler?=) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:11:33 +0100 Subject: [LEN-E] Caligari In-Reply-To: <20080229155800.26E0D2BD21@mailwash40.pair.com> References: <378529137@web.de> <20080229155800.26E0D2BD21@mailwash40.pair.com> Message-ID: <47C82EB5.8030302@freenet.de> Ron, I'm pretty sure that the Eureka disc that you linked too is still their old one, already out for a couple of years. If I remember correctly, it's the same version as on the French and Spanish discs, but with English titles. The only advantage is that you also get that other Wiene film, "Genuine", which I haven't seen. And this is definitely not a Masters of Cinema release. Best Thomas > From ron at psymon.com Fri Feb 29 11:15:22 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:15:22 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Nosferatu (The Ultimate Two-Disc Edition) In-Reply-To: <47C6EA5A.2000809@freenet.de> References: <378529137@web.de> <47C6EA5A.2000809@freenet.de> Message-ID: <20080229161526.C54BF2BD09@mailwash40.pair.com> At 06:07 PM 2/28/2008 +0100, Thomas K?hler wrote: >The Murnau Stiftung is doing a new "Nibelungen" >at the moment, and this new (tinted, and longer) >version will also come from MoC once it's finished. I have the Kino version of that... http://www.kino.com/video/item.php?film_id=563 ...which I *thought* was the the "definitive" version. Are you saying that the Murnau Stiftung will be producing an even better (and longer -- eek!) version? >I have little hope for "Der gro?e Sprung". I >fear that nobody could release it because there >is no new music yet, and apart from us Leni fans >here, nobody seems to care all that much for it. Helmut and I met with Matthias Fanck (Arnold's grandson) in Nuremberg a few years ago, and I remember Helmut asking him about Der grosse Sprung -- and Matthias, too, was completely bewildered as to why nobody was coming out with it! >Talking of silents, something more Leni related: >I recently watched the dvd of "Ruf des Nordens" >by Luis Trenker (directed by Nunzio Malasomma, >but very much a true Trenker project), made in >1929. This is not a great film, but it was >interesting to see that THIS seems to be the >first German Polar film, four years before "SOS Eisberg". I have a feeling that there probably are at least a few more "polar films" out there (German or otherwise) -- about a year ago, I also saw an American film from about 1929 or 1930 that took place in that context. I can't remember the title off-hand now, though, although I do remember that that was approximately the year it was made, and that it surprised me in a similar way, too. I suppose it makes sense, though, that there would be more films than just a couple or so. Those were, after all, still the early days of cinema, and one does often see "exotic" locales -- whether it's polar ones, or off in the South Pacific islands ("Tabu", or "White Shadows in the South Seas" -- which was just on the other day, actually), or Rudolph Valentino (et al.) off in the Middle East, or other far-away, mysterious (or mythical) lands/islands ("King Kong", "Lost Horizon", etc.). It must have been truly fascinating and amazing for movie-goers back in those days -- our generation(s) only need to turn on the Disney channel or Nature channel (or whatever) and we've all pretty well grown up seeing these places (on TV), but back in the early part of the 20th century it must have been just astounding for the general public to really *see* these places (and "in motion", to boot), and not just merely grainy photographs or drawings in books and magazines. I can only suppose that this also helps explain the fascination with the Bergfilm genre, if one can put oneself into that sort of mind-set. Ron :) From ron at psymon.com Fri Feb 29 11:24:16 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:24:16 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Caligari In-Reply-To: <47C82EB5.8030302@freenet.de> References: <378529137@web.de> <20080229155800.26E0D2BD21@mailwash40.pair.com> <47C82EB5.8030302@freenet.de> Message-ID: <20080229162420.DF7792BD41@mailwash40.pair.com> At 05:11 PM 2/29/2008 +0100, Thomas K?hler wrote: >I'm pretty sure that the Eureka disc that you >linked too is still their old one, already out for a couple of years. Oh. Too bad. Well, the wait continues... Ron :/ From easternwindow at freenet.de Fri Feb 29 11:31:43 2008 From: easternwindow at freenet.de (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Thomas_K=F6hler?=) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:31:43 +0100 Subject: [LEN-E] Nosferatu (The Ultimate Two-Disc Edition) In-Reply-To: <20080229155324.6A2D62BCD9@mailwash40.pair.com> References: <20080226155353.11A792BD20@mailwash40.pair.com> <47C44CBF.7050507@freenet.de> <20080228120140.CE5E22BCC6@mailwash40.pair.com> <47C6E45A.8060403@freenet.de> <20080229155324.6A2D62BCD9@mailwash40.pair.com> Message-ID: <47C8336F.703@freenet.de> Yes, I have seen both "Pandora" (though not the Criterion version) and "Diary". I wouldn't say that "Pandora" is SO much better than "Diary", as both are very well worth seeing. "Pandora" is in a way THE great Brooks classic, and is also the far better constructed film, and of course even sexier :-) But "Diary" is also a captivating film which I would really recommend. Ahh...Louise.... If you can't or won't wait for the MoC "Phantom", it's already out in the US from a small, but classy company called Flicker Alley. Stupidly, they replaced the German titles by English ones, and for me as a German that was the sole reason to wait for the MoC. Otherwise, I only hear rave reviews of the Flicker Alley disc. The new version of "Vampyr" is already out in France by MK2, but sadly, that company got the aspect ratio wrong. They used standard 1.33 instead of 1.19. This is a somewhat 'smaller' format often used especially in Germany with early sound films to make room on the negative for the optical audio track. It went out of fashion soon, but it is absolutely essential for a dvd producer to adhere to it, otherwise the image is zoomed in and some heads are simply chopped off or at least the framing seems 'crammed'. If I remember correctly, you have that problem for instance with some of the discs of early Fanck sound films as well ("Montblanc" perhaps, can't remember which one it was). In any case, MoC have already said that their version will be in the correct 1.19 ratio, so that will be the one to go. Otherwise, the new version as on the French disc looks very, very good, and not just in comparison with the truly bad US disc. It's almost like watching a totally different film, it's so much superior. And finally, I'm not so sure that we Europeans are so much luckier than you are. For example, most German discs are much weaker than their US counterparts, at least if it comes to 'old' films. Also, if it comes to silents, by far the most are available in the US. And even though Kino often produced discs which were not really good, they have improved a lot in the last two years. If only they kept the original intertitles with foreign silents, they would be among my favourite labels. Look: just recently they again released two German classics available absolutely nowhere else: Wiene's "Hands of Orlac" and Pabst's "Secrets of a soul". So they really have a knack for finding these gems. I'm raving about the three films by Swedish silent director Mauritz Stiller, for instance. The only advantage for Europeans at the moment is the dollar rate. The usual Kino disc, even with shipping from the US, is generally not more expensive or even cheaper than any normal German dvd of a 'rarer' film. And the customs rarely are a problem unless you order from amazon.... In any case, there's so much to discover still.... Best Thomas > From ron at psymon.com Fri Feb 29 11:42:10 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:42:10 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Nosferatu (The Ultimate Two-Disc Edition) In-Reply-To: <378702750@web.de> References: <378702750@web.de> Message-ID: <20080229164214.82B432BD42@mailwash40.pair.com> Speaking of Nosferatu, has anyone seen "Shadow of the Vampire" (which came out in 2000)? It's basically a horror film that is the background story behind Murnau's making of the original Nosferatu (with John Malkovich playing Murnau, and Willem Dafoe playing Max Schreck)... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0189998/ If you like Nosferatu -- or even just early silent films in general -- then this film is actually quite a lot of fun! Plus it does give some insight into how those early silents were made (as far as camerawork, direction, etc. goes). Worth seeing, if it ever comes on TV (or if you're inclined to rent/buy it)! Ron :) From ron at psymon.com Fri Feb 29 11:58:58 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:58:58 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Nosferatu (The Ultimate Two-Disc Edition) In-Reply-To: <47C8336F.703@freenet.de> References: <20080226155353.11A792BD20@mailwash40.pair.com> <47C44CBF.7050507@freenet.de> <20080228120140.CE5E22BCC6@mailwash40.pair.com> <47C6E45A.8060403@freenet.de> <20080229155324.6A2D62BCD9@mailwash40.pair.com> <47C8336F.703@freenet.de> Message-ID: <20080229165902.9E0492BD43@mailwash40.pair.com> At 05:31 PM 2/29/2008 +0100, Thomas K?hler wrote: >"Pandora" is in a way THE great Brooks classic, >and is also the far better constructed film, and of course even sexier :-) Oh, good, I got the right one, then. ;) >If you can't or won't wait for the MoC >"Phantom", it's already out in the US from a >small, but classy company called Flicker Alley. >Stupidly, they replaced the German titles by >English ones, and for me as a German that was >the sole reason to wait for the MoC. Otherwise, >I only hear rave reviews of the Flicker Alley disc. Well, that's tempting to just go ahead and get the Flicker Alley version, but, like you, I really do prefer to see the original intertitles rather than re-made ones (plus I do still have *so* many films to see that I've been taping/capturing!). :/ As a typophile, I actually find it quite fascinating to see the original early typography and/or calligraphy used in these, and these new "re-done" versions hardly do justice to the original versions (Kino's "The Holy Mountain" and their "Caligari", for example). >And finally, I'm not so sure that we Europeans >are so much luckier than you are. For example, >most German discs are much weaker than their US >counterparts, at least if it comes to 'old' films. "Weaker" in what sense? Do you mean the plastic that the discs are made out of? Ron :? From schmidt- at web.de Fri Feb 29 11:59:08 2008 From: schmidt- at web.de (Helmut Schmidt) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:59:08 +0100 Subject: [LEN-E] Caligari Message-ID: <380422304@web.de> > It would seem that Masters of Cinema -- or, rather, Eureka, at least > -- has a new edition in the works... > > http://eurekavideo.co.uk/classics/das-cabinet-des-dr-caligari/ > > I don't think it's out yet, though, because I can't seem to find this > edition anywhere (amazon, etc.) -- but I also don't see on the Eureka > site any info about *when* this is coming out (if it isn't already). Ron, this Eureka-DVD has been released in 2000 as I can see on the cover of my DVD, which is the same as shown on the Eureka-page. Well, it's quite good quality, nevertheless it does not reach quality of i.e. Metropolis. And unfortunately it has only english text pages/titles. Helmut -----------------------------------? Helmut?Schmidt Am?Pappelbusch?14 50321?Br?hl Germany e-mail:?schmidt- at web.de FAX????:?01212?517983578? http://www.helmut-S-photographs.de _________________________________________________________________________ In 5 Schritten zur eigenen Homepage. Jetzt Domain sichern und gestalten! Nur 3,99 EUR/Monat! http://www.maildomain.web.de/?mc=021114 From ron at psymon.com Fri Feb 29 12:01:28 2008 From: ron at psymon.com (Ron Koster) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:01:28 -0500 Subject: [LEN-E] Caligari In-Reply-To: <380422304@web.de> References: <380422304@web.de> Message-ID: <20080229170132.8EE0A2BD21@mailwash40.pair.com> At 05:59 PM 2/29/2008 +0100, Helmut Schmidt wrote: >Well, it's quite good quality, nevertheless it does not reach >quality of i.e. Metropolis. >And unfortunately it has only english text pages/titles. Sounds like it's probably the same (in essence, if not exactly) as the Kino version I have. Well, that's still good -- but I do certainly look forward to a better version! Ron ;) From easternwindow at freenet.de Fri Feb 29 12:51:50 2008 From: easternwindow at freenet.de (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Thomas_K=F6hler?=) Date: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:51:50 +0100 Subject: [LEN-E] Nosferatu (The Ultimate Two-Disc Edition) In-Reply-To: <20080229161526.C54BF2BD09@mailwash40.pair.com> References: <378529137@web.de> <47C6EA5A.2000809@freenet.de> <20080229161526.C54BF2BD09@mailwash40.pair.com> Message-ID: <47C84636.8070802@freenet.de> Ouiii, what a flurry of mails crossing:-) Hope I can sort it out somehow... Yes, Murnau Stiftung are indeed doing a brand new restoration of "Nibelungen", it's been in the works for several years now, and apparently will be finished this year. As I said, they will restore the tintings, and they also found some more material not included in the older restoration. That's why they have to re-record the soundtrack as well, because the old recording wouldn't fit with the newly found scenes included. And yes, the Kino disc is the older restoration, and thus not the definitive one (I hope the new one will be...). >I have a feeling that there probably are at least a few more "polar films" out there (German or otherwise) -- about a year ago, I also saw an American film from about 1929 or 1930 that took place in that context. I can't remember the title off-hand now, though, although I do remember that that was approximately the year it was made, and that it surprised me in a similar way, too. Perhaps Robert Flaherty's "Nanook of the North"? That's the 'grandfather' of all these films (made in 1922, and filmed even earlier). And yes, there are quite a few of these 'exotic' films, though I suppose not so many Arctic films for obvious reasons. And I guess you're right that the fascination for the viewers of that time must have been to actually SEE these places. Curiously, I find many of these films very fascinating even today! However, many of these films were made basically as documentaries, that's why I found the Trenker film quite interesting, because it is mostly interested in the narrative. "Nanook" has a narrative, too, of course, but the documentary bits are far more in the forefront, whereas with Trenker, well: Trenker is in the forefront :-) > As a typophile, I actually find it quite fascinating to see the original early typography and/or calligraphy used in these, and these new "re-done" versions hardly do justice to the original versions (Kino's "The Holy Mountain" and their "Caligari", for example). Exactly my feeling! And it is very hard, if not impossible to translate the feeling of those old German intertexts into contemporary English. German has changed much more in the last 100 years than English did, and sometimes these old titles are not only typographically interesting, but also languagewise. So one of the reasons why I like silents so much in general is that they work like a time-machine into an older culture, and the older way of expressing things is a part of the fun. >"Weaker" in what sense? Do you mean the plastic that the discs are made out of? No no, the plastic is the same. They are weaker in quality for money: often worse image, less extras etc. That doesn't go for all discs, but if you compare the Criterion Edition of Fellini's "La Strada" to the German disc of that same film, you'll see very quickly what I mean. Just one example out of my head. And yes, "Shadow of the Vampire" is fun :-) Best Thomas >