The Rainer Werner Fassbinder Collection

[kubelkind]

The Niklashausen Journey looks like 16mm to me, judging by the old Arrow DVD. Disappointed that it won't be getting an upgrade as it's one of my favourite RWFs, maybe his most experimental film too.
I believe Bremen Freedom and The Coffee Shop are his two TV films shot on video.

[yoshimori]

According to the Fassbinder Foundation site, The American Soldier, Gods of the Plague, Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven, and Satan’s Brew were shot on 35; The Niklashausen Journey, Rio Das Mortes, and Fear of Fear, on 16.

[RitrovataBlue]

Seems more likely to me that the 16mm TV films will be presented in 1080i, to conform to the PAL TV standard.

[depp91]

I stand corrected! Sorry if I've caused a bit of confusion, I'm pretty new to Fassbinder.

Seems more likely to me that the 16mm TV films will be presented in 1080i, to conform to the PAL TV standard.

That sounds likely! IIRC, Eight Hours Dont Make A Day and Berlin Alexanderplatz were also presented in 1080i / 25fps.

[depp91]

I received a shipment confirmation from Zavvi yesterday!

[tenia]

The press statement also says: "High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of The American Soldier, Gods of the Plague, Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven and Satan’s Brew"
So I guess the other three will be presented in SD only?

I'm starting to see screencaps popping up in places I can't link to : except Satan's Brew of which I haven't seen anything yet, the other 6 movies are all in 1080p24, and The Niklashausen Journey, Rio das Mortes and Fear of Fear are all SD-upscale-looking. Gods of the Plague, The American Solider and Mother Küster look like quite nice restorations.

Interestingly enough, they haven't been prioritised encode-wide above the movies they're paired with (unlike what David M. has done for the BFI Play for Today's he's encoded - the SD episodes are encoded in 720p at 8 Mbps) and thus end up having the same AVBs no matter their PQ. It's OK for some discs (Gods of the Plague have a 27 Mbps AVB, The American Soldier a 24 Mbps one), but Mother Küster ends up with a 19 Mbps one because Fear of Fear is given a 20 Mbps and the extras have been given 14 Gb (a bit less than a size of a main feature).

[depp91]

Received my set today! In the restoration notes in the booklet, it says about The Niklashausen Journey, Rio Das Mortes and Fear Of Fear that they were made for television on 16mm film. Their restorations were produced and provided by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation, they stem from the original 16mm camera negatives and are presented in standard definition.

[Roger Ryan]

Received my set today! In the restoration notes in the booklet, it says about The Niklashausen Journey, Rio Das Mortes and Fear Of Fear that they were made for television on 16mm film. Their restorations were produced and provided by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation, they stem from the original 16mm camera negatives and are presented in standard definition.

If they were able to access the original 16mm camera negatives, why in the world would the Blu-ray transfers be standard definition? It sounds more like these television films were shot on 16mm but standard definition video masters are all that exist (or all that the foundation was able to access for this set). Even if transferred at 1080i due to PAL, that would still be considered HD, right?

[swo17]

It's great having these compact multi-film collections to save on shelf space

[denti alligator]

That pic makes me wonder what films are not in these sets and which are the best versions.

[swo17]

I'd be curious for other opinions, but my impression is that these releases give you the best versions currently available for all of his films, excluding:

This Night (1966) (lost film)
Das Kaffeehaus (1970) (unreleased)
Pioniere in Ingolstadt (1971) (don't own)
Bremer Freiheit (1972) (unreleased)
Wildwechsel (1972) (unreleased)
Nora Helmer (1974) (unreleased)
Wie ein Vogel auf dem Draht (1975) (unreleased)
Frauen in New York (1977) (unreleased)
Deutschland im Herbst (1978) (Edition Filmmuseum DVD is in my Kluge section)
Despair (1978) (don't own)
Lili Marleen (1981) (don't own)
Theater in Trance (1981) (unreleased)
Querelle (1982) (don't own)

Note also that I only really own the Criterion of BA for the Jutzi film

[denti alligator]

Which World on a Wire is that? Superior to CC?

[swo17]

That's the Second Sight edition. It gives the film more room to breathe on two discs, and is also presented in the more accurate 25fps, if you can handle both that and it being Region B-locked

[depp91]

There also German Blurays of "Martha", "In A Year With 13 Moons", "I Just Want You To Love Me" and "The Third Generation". They're not English friendly I think.


Regarding this box set, I watched "Mother Kuesters Goes To Heaven" this past weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it. The alternate ending is presented in HD and is beautifully restored as well.

[TMDaines]

I'd be curious for other opinions, but my impression is that these releases give you the best versions currently available for all of his films, excluding:

This Night (1966) (lost film)
Das Kaffeehaus (1970) (unreleased)
Pioniere in Ingolstadt (1971) (don't own)
Bremer Freiheit (1972) (unreleased)
Wildwechsel (1972) (unreleased)
Nora Helmer (1974) (unreleased)
Wie ein Vogel auf dem Draht (1975) (unreleased)
Frauen in New York (1977) (unreleased)
Deutschland im Herbst (1978) (Edition Filmmuseum DVD is in my Kluge section)
Despair (1978) (don't own)
Lili Marleen (1981) (don't own)
Theater in Trance (1981) (unreleased)
Querelle (1982) (don't own)

Note also that I only really own the Criterion of BA for the Jutzi film

In addition to depp's comment, there's also a UK Blu-ray of Despair (1978), a German (non-English friendly) Blu-ray of Deutschland im Herbst (1978) and a German (non-English friendly) DVD of Theater in Trance (1981).

There's also of course the old Fantoma DVD of Pioniere in Ingolstadt (1971).

[Rayon Vert]

There are also French blu-rays of Martha and 13 Moons.

[hearthesilence]

There are also French blu-rays of Martha and 13 Moons.

I can vouch for the Martha Blu-ray, it looks really good. I lucked out and bought a cheap copy on Amazon's U.S. Marketplace that was listed in "good" condition" with no other description - I wasn't sure if it was listed incorrectly or in bad shape, but I gave it a shot and it turned out fine (the slipcase was battered but it was the right disc and everything else was 'like new').

[therewillbeblus]

I wasn’t aware that a Martha blu with English subs existed, thanks for the thumbs-up review hearthesilence!

[hearthesilence]

I wasn’t aware that a Martha blu with English subs existed, thanks for the thumbs-up review hearthesilence!

You're welcome! I was pretty surprised when I found out about it.

[TMDaines]

What English-friendly French Blu-ray of Martha are people referring to?

[tenia]

I wonder too. The movie was released in France on BD by Carlotta as part of their 1st Fassbinder BD set and only has French subs. There is a German BD by Arthaus but it has no subs at all.

[hearthesilence]

I wonder too. The movie was released in France on BD by Carlotta as part of their 1st Fassbinder BD set and only has French subs. There is a German BD by Arthaus but it has no subs at all.

Totally forgot, apologies, it was indeed the Arthaus BD that I had in mind, using downloaded subtitles on my Oppo. See EddieLarkin's post on how to do this. FWIW, I think it was posted as a 4K restoration here, but according to the box notes, it's actually a 2K restoration.

[ryannichols7]

gonna be going through these boxsets as the films line up with our forum's decade project, since I missed the RWF project last year - my thoughts will hopefully be posted accordingly!

worth noting that Orbit is stocking an SE of Volume 1 that isn't listed on Arrow's site that I can see. but this is good for those who missed out on the hardbox and book, being able to get them at a shelf saving, boxset price rather than individual spines like the first boxset.

[BoltzmannBrain]

Is Fassbinder box set Vol. 2 actually out of print, as it hasn't been available from Arrow in a while and it's also gone from places like Amazon and Rarewaves? Hope not because I have Vols. 1 & 3 and I still want to get the second one!