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Arthaus are releasing Jutzi's 1931 "Berlin Alexanderplatz" in February! A blessing for those (like me) who didn't want to buy the CC Fassbinder set for this film alone. A heavy load of extras, too. No English subs, I would assume, but I'll report back in two months or so.

Nice. I was going to say I don't know how I missed this posting, but then I remembered here I was on Dec. 27.

This is great news. I'm assuming this will look significantly better than the version on the CC BA box.

I only read the Beaver review about the CC Jutzi. How bad is it?

I do have some hopes that arthaus will have gotten a nice print, especially as this is in their new 'premium edition' in which they seem to have put some effort, judging just from their first-class release of Pabst's "Der Schatz" and the unanimous praise their version of "Rocco and his brothers" has got (as many extras almost as on the forthcoming MoC, it would be very interesting to see a comparison). But you never know: arthaus have released some rather shoddy discs in their infancy...

I haven't actually gotten to it yet (only on episode VIII of the Fassbinder), but I (as you) am going on the Beaver review.

Now when will we see Mutter Krausens Fahrt ins Glück?

(And also, somewhat related, Kuhle Wampe)

Both sound like typical stuff for filmmuseum, but with their snail pace in releasing stuff you might probably have to wait till 2014...

denti alligator wrote:Now when will we see Mutter Krausens Fahrt ins Glück?

(And also, somewhat related, Kuhle Wampe)

Amen. I nomine patri...

Allright then, here are some thoughts about the final product. First the transfer/print: I haven't seen the CC, but I don't believe that the arthaus is better, honestly. Even though they claim that they made a new digital transfer with a little bit of digital cleaning-up, and I don't have a reason to distrust them, the film simply isn't in all too good shape. Sharpness and clarity varies very much, some frames are obviously missing, and there is still quite a lot of damage in many scenes. Also, sound is very bad and tinny, and despite German being my native language, I had to switch on the subs (only German ones) from time to time to understand what was being spoken. In other words: don't expect anything near "Threepenny" quality, but that being said: it still is more than watchable, and certainly the best that was possible in the absence of a full resto. Aspect ratio here is 1.33, and as usual I have my doubts that this is correct. No heads chopped off, though, but framing looks rather tight.

The extras are great, though: we get a highly informative 65 min. documentary on George and his career, with great interviews with his sons (one of whom, Götz George, is an excellent actor in his own right and very famous at least in Germany) and a good view at George's role in the Third Reich (including very brief excerpts from Harlan's infamous "Jud Süss" and "Kolberg"). The disc also has a pdf-file which has some contemporary reviews and programmes and comes with a brief booklet detailing some of the production background. The second disc is actually an audio cd, which has a 2007 production of Döblin's original 1930 radio play. I haven't listened to this one yet, though. Despite this, a little more contextualization and analysis of the film itself would have been welcome, if only as an audiocommentary.

The film itself, of course, is rather impressive, though in a way I found it rather episodic and only held together by George's amazing screen presence who outdoes even Minetti's excellent acting here. What I also quite liked was Jutzi's visual inventiveness: not only some almost "People on Sunday"-style views of contemporary Berlin, but also a quite advanced way of often having dialogue occur off-screen with the visuals (backyards, gardens, streets) counterpointing what is spoken. Well done and often genuinely moving, and another proof for me that late Weimar still has a lot to offer which somehow is often overlooked between the great silent classics and the pure entertainment films that were produced from '33 onwards.

In other words, see this one way or other. Those who need English subs will have to go to the CC Fassbinder, sadly. Otherwise get this edition if you don't care for the Fassbinder series and are content with German subs only.