411 Berlin Alexanderplatz

[filmnoir1]

I read an article on Brooklyn Rail.org that claims this will in fact get a release from Criterion in late 2007. This is great news for all lovers of Fassbinder's work, especially this masterpiece.

[justeleblanc]

I read an article on Brooklyn Rail.org that claims this will in fact get a release from Criterion in late 2007. This is great news for all lovers of Fassbinder's work, especially this masterpiece.

Also, just FYI, Altman died.

[Nuno]

From the DVDBeaver ListServ (Thanks Pepsi!):

BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ
"Finnish Digital-TV has broadcasted now 12 of the 15 parts of BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ. The new restoration made by Fassbinder Foundation. I must say that this is the biggest disappointment of the year, I do hope Criterion can do wonders, or postpone the release and make a new restoration. I actually get a headache if I even look at the image for more than two minutes - I'm gonna drop the viewing and wait for the Criterion. If someone have the old tapes, don't throw it away yet!..."

From Criterion Blog:

As many of you already know, Criterion has obtained the DVD rights to the restoration of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's monumental 1980 epic Berlin Alexanderplatz, which premiered at this year's Berlin Film Festival. We plan to release it this fall.

[Steven H]

WWRWFD?

I don't even know what the people who now criticize the brightness saw way back when the film was first shown... when I hear these comments now, by people I have never heard of and who had nothing to do with the project, I am more than a little surprised.

[Der Müde Tod]

WWRWFD?

I don't even know what the people who now criticize the brightness saw way back when the film was first shown... when I hear these comments now, by people I have never heard of and who had nothing to do with the project, I am more than a little surprised.

One should keep in mind that this interview was made and published by the Süddeutsche Zeitung, which also publishes the German DVDs.

Schwarzenberger may well be right that the restoration is now closer to the original intentions than before. In another interview with the SZ, published in the booklet that comes with the German DVD box, Schwarzenberger says a few other interesting things (my translation):

SZ: How did you cope with the broadcasts? Where there outbreaks of fury?
Schwarzenberger: In our own screenings, everything looked fine, and the transfer onto the electronical media for TV happened only afterwards. And then they said: That's how it is. We couldn't change anything.

SZ: How did Fassbinder cope?
Schwarzenberger: We all knew that nothing could be done about it, so Fassbinder pretended it was by intent. Of course we went to the optical limits while filming, despite the poor broadcasts. This was intentional, and quite unusual. We consciously took risks with the darkness.

So while the film was provocatively dark by intent, the broadcast overshot the goal. I can't say that the restoration is provocatively dark by today's standards, but it's not the purpose of a restoration to adjust the film according to changing standards.

There is an important positive aspect of the brightening - it brings out details that otherwise would be lost, probably forever. All in all, I was very comfortable with this adjustment. If I feel like it, I can always change my projector settings to get a darker image.

However, there are two other adjustments I feel less comfortable about:

The restoration has warmer colors than the (current) source material, as one can see in the side by side comparisons on the bonus disc. I can't remember how warm the film looked in the 80s, and I don't know to what extent color degradations have affected the negatives, so I must trust Schwarzenberger and the restoration team that they knew what they did. But it leaves a bad aftertaste - maybe there was an intent to make the film brighter and warmer for easier digestion.

Secondly, the coarseness of the 16mm print results in scintillations in the film which I don't recall seeing on the original. It is like what people with TVs see when they have poor reception - noisy images. Schwarzenberger refers to this in the interview posted in On Five as grain and color shifts, about which they couldn't do anything. I believe that, and I guess that's what caused Pepsi's headache. But it doesn't look right.

It seems that there will never be a time when one can watch this film completely comfortably. But that's what Fassbinder intended anyway, isn't it?

[Gigi M.]

Beaver sreencaps from German DVD

[yoshimori]

R 2 UK due on 9/24

[Der Müde Tod]

R 2 UK due on 9/24

I hope they fix their description. At the moment, it reads:

TV drama series directed by renowned German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder, adapted from an Alfred Doblin novel. The series was basically a 15 hour narrative by one man - Franz Bierkopf. Bierkopf is a compelling character - good natured, soft, tender and equally hard, violent and brutal when required. Fresh out of prison in 1920s Germany after a four stretch for doing away with his girlfriend, he's working at making a new start and going straight. He meets Reinhold, a magnetic yet dangerous and halfwitted low-rent burglar and falls under his spell. Very soon any hope Bierkopf had of going straight, goes straight out of the window.

Bierkopf (= beer head) is an amusing misspelling of Bieberkopf (=beaver head). I am not sure whether that's the dumbest part of the description, though.

[Jeff LeVine]

I don't think it has been mentioned here before... the new Mizoguchi boxset from Carlotta Films comes with a flyer for their upcoming release of Berlin Alexanderplatz on the 3rd of October 2007. 6 DVDs and 90 minutes of exclusive bonus features.

[domino harvey]

$124.99... most expensive set tied with Cassavetes, no? Also, =D> on the original movie being included! Seven discs!

[zedz]

Um, wow. I don't think anybody expected something quite this lavish: three documentaries plus the Jutzi version? Bravo!

[domino harvey]

I think I know how 90% of the board is spending Thanksgiving Break...

[Matt]

$124.99... most expensive set tied with Cassavetes, no? Also, =D> on the original movie being included! Seven discs!

Holy cats! I thought for sure they'd try to keep the price below $100. I mean, it's one movie! Still cheaper than New Yorker's edition of Shoah, though, which was only 4 discs.

[Doctor Sunshine]

Where's the commentary track?

[zedz]

Where's the commentary track?

Be careful what you wish for. I hear they've already got the Peter Cowie one in the can: recorded in a single take, Peter starts drinking elaborate cocktails about twenty minutes in, and the last ten hours are just him going on about how Fassbinder was his "best mate ever."

[Tribe]

Be careful what you wish for. I hear they've already got the Peter Cowie one in the can: recorded in a single take, Peter starts drinking elaborate cocktails about twenty minutes in, and the last ten hours are just him going on about how Fassbinder was his "best mate ever."

That notion is so fucking funny I just snorted lemonade all over the keyboard!

Tribe

[Person]

About the transfer:

Originally made for German television, Berlin Alexanderplatz was shot for the PAL video format, at 25 frames per second. This format is incompatible with the NTSC format used in the United States. In order to provide a frame-accurate progressive transfer, the film was scanned at 24 frames per second and therefore is four percent longer than the original broadcast.

[domino harvey]

I did this in my head but that would mean the process added roughly 40 minutes to the final length

[Person]

Yes, 37.5 minutes. Damn, that's nine bags of pistachios now! 36" jeans, here I come!

[Steven H]

Be careful what you wish for. I hear they've already got the Peter Cowie one in the can: recorded in a single take, Peter starts drinking elaborate cocktails about twenty minutes in, and the last ten hours are just him going on about how Fassbinder was his "best mate ever."

That notion is so fucking funny I just snorted lemonade all over the keyboard! :lol:

I had a full blown chortle. This has to be the release of the year. I can't believe they're throwing in the 1931 version. Criterion keeps upping the ante on elaborate extras. What's next?

[Matt]

About the transfer:

Originally made for German television, Berlin Alexanderplatz was shot for the PAL video format, at 25 frames per second. This format is incompatible with the NTSC format used in the United States. In order to provide a frame-accurate progressive transfer, the film was scanned at 24 frames per second and therefore is four percent longer than the original broadcast.

I'm confused. So does this mean that we're getting (as opposed to PAL speed-up) NTSC slow-down? And if I want a "correct" version with English subs, I should get the PAL Second Sight set? Was this really shot at 25 fps? Will Criterion adjust the pitch of the sound to match the original broadcast or are all the actors going to sound like they have slight colds?

[What A Disgrace]

I have a friend, who is awaiting this release more eagerly than he has awaited any other DVD release.

I'm glad he's an online friend, because I don't want to clean up after the result.

[blindside8zao]

sounds like they might as well have packed in the book and a vial of fassbinder's stubble with each release. This is quite a nice set and I won't mind spending the money at all. I can't wait to see the actual packaging.

[exte]

About the transfer

I'm confused. So does this mean that we're getting (as opposed to PAL speed-up) NTSC slow-down? And if I want a "correct" version with English subs, I should get the PAL Second Sight set? Was this really shot at 25 fps? Will Criterion adjust the pitch of the sound to match the original broadcast or are all the actors going to sound like they have slight colds?

I think you're reading too much into it. I think they're overstating that it simply was transferred for NTSC systems. If it's not in sync, it's not Criterion...

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

I don't see how "the film was scanned at 24 frames per second and therefore is four percent longer than the original broadcast" can mean anything other than Criterion -- or someone -- did the telecine at 24fps (or 23.976fps) and thus made the film slower than what Fassbinder actually shot and what German television viewers actually saw. Presumably Criterion considers this a lesser evil than doing a 25fps transfer and converting it to NTSC, and while I can't imagine they wouldn't apply pitch correction, it's certainly a valid concern.

And to answer Matt's question, this was in fact shot at 25fps, which is common for 16 and 35mm European television production, particularly when there is no expectation of a wide theatrical release (which would certainly be the case with a 15 1/2 hour series). Out 1 and the Decalogue were also shot at 25fps, although I believe Out 1 has traditionally been projected at 24fps. (Does anyone know if the recent theatrical screenings of Alexanderplatz were shown at 24 or 25fps?)