[LEN-E] Nosferatu (The Ultimate Two-Disc Edition)

[Thomas Köhler]

Truly interesting, I never knew that "Man of Aran" was one of Leni's 
favourite films, but it is very obvious to see why. The fight of man vs 
nature, the heroic and at the same time archaic/mystical approach that 
the film has would certainly endear it to her. One could ask, though, 
whether Flaherty, precisely by taking this approach, does not lessen the 
documentary character of the film and makes it fictional to a degree (in 
a way similar to the perennial question whether "Triumph" and "Olympia" 
are documentaries or not).

Luc, you claimed that "Tabu" is just that combination of the genius of 
fiction and documentary, i.e Murnau and Flaherty. But according to the 
texts and the commentary on the new MoC disc, Flaherty more or less 
dropped out of the conception  and making of that film at a very early 
stage, because he didn't get along with Murnau very well, precisely 
because Flaherty wasn't happy with the fictionalization and 
romantification that he saw at work in Murnau's approach. All the more 
curious, then, that Flaherty in my view did precisely the same in "Aran".

Ron, I quite liked your 'outsider's view' on the US, and of course a lot 
of  these special editions are about business and money. But in this 
case, it at least has a nice side effect for those of us interested in 
the backgrounds of the films. The extras on WB's discs of 40's/50's 
Musicals have spared me the effort to buy a book on Minnelli, for instance..


 > Oh, one other silent film that they do have, and that you have to -- 
just *have* to! -- check out (if you haven't seen it) is their edition 
of the 1928 film, "The Passion of Joan of Arc"...

I have it! And yes, it's certainly one of the most impressive and unique 
films ever made, silent or not, but actually that goes for almost any 
film by Dreyer. He was one of the most uncompromising directors ever, 
and apart from his very early works, all his films are masterpieces of 
intensity, thoughtfulness, and sheer visual mastery. If you liked 
"Joan", you should definitely get the Criterion Dreyer Box Set with his 
late sound films.
The music by Einhorn for "Joan" is great, too, but I have just read that 
one of my favourite bands/soundtrack composers, In The Nursery, have 
made an all new score for it, and I seriously hope that this will be 
released together with the film somewhere, too.

Best
Thomas