Werckmeister Harmonies (2nd AE Pressing)

[Oedipax]

Just noticed something on my WH DVD that I'm not sure has been widely discussed. It's well-known that the first pressing left the last line of dialogue unsubtitled, and that this was fixed in subsequent pressings. It's also known that the first release had WH in a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer, which cropped the movie's intended 1.66:1 ratio slightly.

Well, what hasn't been documented so well (at least as far as I know) is that the 2nd pressing has WH in a non-anamorphic 1.66:1 transfer! As I normally watch movies letterboxed on a 4:3 set (no squeeze trick, either), I rarely notice whether a movie is 16:9 or not. But tonight I happened to have WH playing on my computer, and realized the borders on top and bottom were a part of the image itself.

On the one hand, I like that the framing is more correct on my version; on the other, it's a shame if I've lost any extra detail from the first pressing (even if I'd only really notice it on a 16:9 set).

To demonstrate the differences in framing, I've tried to approximate as best I could a frame that's captured in the DVD Beaver review.

First pressing (DVD Beaver):

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... erck11.jpg

Second pressing (hope the link works):

http://img105.echo.cx/img105/5269/werckmeister6iu.jpg

Very interesting indeed... Perhaps a comparison is in order?

[peerpee]

V. interesting! -- The new non-anamorphic one looks sharper (at least it's OAR now, look how much was missing!). Did they subtitle that last bit ok?

[Donald Brown]

I wonder if AE is exchanging old for new copies as was done with Tarkovsky's Mirror.

[4LOM]

V. interesting! -- The new non-anamorphic one looks sharper (at least it's OAR now, look how much was missing!). Did they subtitle that last bit ok?

In the past some of the PAL-Screenshots made for DVDBeaver were done with the de-interlacing mode "Automatic" and not "Force Weave" (Power-DVD 4.0). This resulted in soft screenshots, not representing the actual picture quality.

I don't know which mode was used for making the screen caps for the "Werckmeister Harmonies" review at DVDBeaver but this can be an explanation for the difference. I think that Oedipax used the "Force Weave" setting.

Now DVDBeaver uses the "Force Weave" setting on all PAL-screenshots.

[Alyosha]

I didn't know the second pressing was out! When did this happen?

I really hope they will take my first pressing and exchange it. I think it has been improved, based on the screenshot. Is the Damnation-disc the same as in the first edition? If so, maybe it's enough to send them the Weckmeister-disc to.

[Oedipax]

As far as I know Damnation is the same, since there were no problems with subtitles and it's always been 1.33:1.

As for when this happened, I'm not sure - I ordered and received the disc from Xploited Cinema back in August '04, so it's been out for quite some time. I've looked over the packaging for some kind of mention of it being a second pressing, but haven't found anything. It states the aspect ratio as 1.66:1 but so did the first pressing, which was incorrect, so that's no help.

[Alyosha]

ok, thanks. I've mailed them to see if it is possible to exchange the disc.

Regarding another issue with this film: I watched it with a friend the first time I saw it, and while I was completely blown away by it, his feelings wasn't quite as overwhelming. He is really picky with dubbing and synching (for example he claims that he can't give a film like 8 1/2 full score only because the audio doesn't synch perfectly with the video ). Anyway, he wanted to know if the (first?) disc has got some issues with the synching as well as the aspect ratio. I guess it's obvious that Schygulla was dubbed, but what about the others.

So, does anyone know if the audio is as Tarr intended on this DVD?

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

I guess it's obvious that Schygulla was dubbed, but what about the others.

Lars Rudolph and Peter Fitz were also dubbed.

[The Digital McGuffin]

Is the Damnation-disc the same as in the first edition?

I e-mailed them this week about replacing my set, and they confirmed that no alterations were made to Damnation.

[Michael]

So AE isn't going to exchange the old disc for the new one? I hope AE is like the Criterion Collection which has always been excellent with replacing or exchanging discs (for instance, my Brief Encounter disc was faulty and the CC quickly replaced it directly from its office in NY with no problem). I still have the Werckmeister Harmonies disc from the first pressing and I would like to have the new, corrected version.

[The Digital McGuffin]

Oh yes, they're very happy to replace the first pressing with the second if you send them the set for replacement. I've always been very pleased with AEs customer service. I called them about a defective copy of Lady of Musashino and they were really good about sorting out a replacement on that too.

I'm not sure what their policy is on replacing titles for international buyers. When I spoken to JM about replacing a defective copy of The Vanishing, he told me that Criterion could only send a replacement within the US and Canada - AE might have a similar policy.

[Alyosha]

Thanks for the info. Still no reply from them regarding sending a replacement disc to Sweden. However, if I get a negative response, it would be great if a UK-member could help me out by receiving the replacement copy and then send it to me.

[Donald Brown]

I live in the U.S. and had no problem with AE exchanging the Mirror DVD.

[a7m4]

I saw this DVD at a video store and want to rent it but I want to make sure it is the second pressing before I do. Is there any way to tell from the packaging which pressing it is?

[Tim]

By way of a belated reply, I have never been able to find any difference in the outside packaging. However if you look at Gary's comparison of the two editions you'll notice that the menus are different, as he points out. Most obviously, on the new edition the title of the film on the main menu is on two lines rather than one. So a fast check of the menus will tell you which edition you have. I was relieved to discover I had the right one, because AE never answered my enquiry on the subject.

[Mise En Scene]

Was the music in Werckmeister Harmonies (i.e. the eclipse bar scene, Mr. Eszter and the whale, closing credits) written by Mihaly Vig or some composer, Werckmeister, perhaps? It is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard, in all of music, not just film scores/soundtracks.

Is it a famous classical piece?

Does it exemplify anything in Mr. Eszter's monologue on Werckmeister's music theory?

[MichaelB]

As far as I know, all the music is by Mihaly Vig.

Andreas Werckmeister was primarily a theorist and most of his compositions no longer survive. I suppose it's possible that Vig could have made use of them, but I can't see much point - not least as the surviving works predate the publication of the harmonic treatise that inspired the film.

[Miguel]

You can download some Mihaly Vig music on the following site, including the closing credits piece from Werckmeister Harmonies:

http://www.bahia.hu:2000/zenekar.phtml?id=112

(Links are on the right hand side underneath the album covers.)