411 Berlin Alexanderplatz

[Nothing]

the plan had been to premiere the restoration of Berlin Alexanderplatz at the 2007 Berlinale but I don't know if that still stands.

[denti alligator]

I hope they include Jutzi's silent short.

It's neither silent nor short.

[Cinephrenic]

Opps...your right.

[jbeall]

I hope Criterion manages to include this original Making-of in the upcoming release.

And, as I've mentioned before, the original Piel Jutzi version of the novel. And if any release deserves to have the book as an extra it would be this one.

You mean Alfred Doblin's novel? I'm confused here. The Doblin novel, incidentally, is published by Continuum. The edition I have includes some shots from the Fassbinder miniseries and is around 650 pp., but Continuum just recently released a new edition w/o shots, and with smaller font and larger pages that's only around 300+ pages long.

It'd be great with this boxset--I bought Short Cuts and The Man Who Fell to Earth in part because of the books that were included.

[zedz]

Much as I'd love to see the mega-Alexanderplatz sets suggested, Criterion will have its work cut out for it putting together (and selling!) a six-disc single-film box, so I won't hold my breath. Still, given the scale of this undertaking, a little feature-length add-on like the Jutzi version is probably small potatoes.

[denti alligator]

Much as I'd love to see the mega-Alexanderplatz sets suggested, Criterion will have its work cut out for it putting together (and selling!) a six-disc single-film box, so I won't hold my breath. Still, given the scale of this undertaking, a little feature-length add-on like the Jutzi version is probably small potatoes.

Yes, but I still think this is a release where having the book is crucial. Fassbinder shot every scene in it. The Jutzi is priceless because it's shot on location at most of the actual places where the story is set (bars, etc.). By the early 80s these were no longer around to be filmed or filmed in.

[spencerw]

A little news on the digital remastering

[fdm]

Ah, so this will be Criterion's first hi-def dvd... spine #1.

[ellipsis7]

Actually says DVD and HD TV.... CC masters in HD already... No mentiond of hi def DVD...

[Cinesimilitude]

If criterion goes HD, spine 1 will be bergman, kurosawa, hitchcock, renoir, or fellini. I doubt they'd start off an HD catalogue without one of those 5 masters.

[Nothing]

since they are clearly the 5 masters of cinema

[Cinesimilitude]

since they are clearly the 5 masters of cinema

They are the well known masters. I'm not saying they are the best in all cases (with the exception of kurosawa and fellini) but they sell better. If criterio goes HD, they need titles up front that will sell like crazy to every early HD adopter to get things started.

[Cinephrenic]

It's official enough for me, but IMDB lists Criterion as the DVD distributor for Berlin Alexanderplatz in 2007.

[domino harvey]

You know that anyone with an account can update IMDB, right? it's got the credibility of Wikipedia.

[exte]

since they are clearly the 5 masters of cinema

They are the well known masters. I'm not saying they are the best in all cases (with the exception of kurosawa and fellini) but they sell better. If criterio goes HD, they need titles up front that will sell like crazy to every early HD adopter to get things started.

For proof, look at how the criterion laserdisc collection started off:

01. Citizen Kane (CAV) Welles, Orson 1941
02. King Kong (CAV) Cooper, Merian 1933
03. The 39 Steps Hitchcock, Alfred 1935
04. The Lady Vanishes Hitchcock, Alfred 1938
05. The Third Man Reed, Carol 1949
06. Swing Time (CAV) Stevens, George 1936
07. High Noon (CAV) Zinnemann, Fred 1952
08. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (CAV) Siegel, Don 1956
09. The Magnificent Ambersons (CAV) Welles, Orson 1942
10. The Seventh Seal (CAV) Bergman, Ingmar 1957

They also had works from Woody Allen, Robert Altman, David Cronenberg, Terry Gilliam, Stanley Kubrick, David Lean, and Martin Scorsese in the collection, but clearly - clearly - they were setting a tone by having Citizen Kane first and foremost.

[fdm]

COLOGNE, Germany (Hollywood Reporter) - All 15-plus hours of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's miniseries "Berlin Alexanderplatz" will screen during the Berlin International Film Festival (February 8-18) to mark the 25th anniversary of the director's suicide.

The series has been hailed as Fassbinder's masterpiece and one of the most ambitious narrative works, for television or film, of all time. It originally aired on German public television in 1980 over 13 episodes and an epilogue.

Based on the novel by Alfred Doeblin, "Berlin Alexanderplatz" follows the life of Franz Biberkopf (Guenter Lamprecht), who tries to go straight after being released from prison. But in the chaotic clamor of 1920s Berlin, Biberkopf finds himself drawn back into a life a crime.

The first two episodes of "Berlin Alexanderplatz: Remastered" will premiere February 9 at the Admiralspalast in Berlin. The series' stars -- Lamprecht, Hanna Schygulla, Barbara Sukowa and Gottfried John -- will attend along with Doeblin's grandson, Stefan Doeblin.

The series will also be screened in its entirety February 11 at the Volksbuehne in Berlin in five segments from 10 a.m. until around 2:45 a.m. the following morning.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

[Gofter]

The German box set (6 DVDs) will be released on February 10, 2007. Price: 49,90€

[Der Müde Tod]

The German box set (6 DVDs) will be released on February 10, 2007. Price: 49,90€

A few details can be found here.

[kekid]

If the German edition comes out in February, is a Criterion edition of this pretty much guaranteed in 2007?

[Matt]

the 25th anniversary of the director's suicide.

So, has it been decided once and for all that his overdose was intentional? They could have just said "the 25th anniversary of the director's death" and left it at that.

If the German edition comes out in February, is a Criterion edition of this pretty much guaranteed in 2007?

They'd be fools not to take advantage of all the free publicity surrounding the anniversary. I imagine they've known for a while that they will be releasing it and have been assembling extras to include.

[tavernier]

Press release from the Museum of Modern Art, New York:

Berlin Alexanderplatz Remastered! - April 10–15, 2007

The North American premiere of the restored version of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Berlin Alexanderplatz celebrates the Museum's acquisition of a 35mm print of the film—the “Mount Everest of modern cinemaâ€

[blindside8zao]

Should those of us eagerly awaiting our first viewing of this prepare by reading the book?

[Lino]

Is there any chance that Criterion might pick up the rights to Lili Marleen? That's probably the only major Fassbinder yet to see the light of day in the US (and I wish The Third Generation was a Criterion too, dammit!).

[jbeall]

Given the approximately nine-month window (give or take), I guess that means late-2007 or early-2008?

That is, if criterion is the one putting Berlin Alexanderplatz out. Didn't the MoMA partner with Kino on the Edison boxset? If so, what are the odds that Kino would release Alexanderplatz here in the States? I have absolutely no clue on whether or not that has any bearing on criterion here, so if anybody can provide more info, I'd appreciate it.[/i]

[Lino]

I think it has been already confirmed elsewhere that Criterion will release Alexanderplatz in R1 territories.