February 2010
Six from Lubitsch
Out now: a DVD collection of the early German silents that established the incredible Ernst Lubitsch’s reputation not only as master/creator of the hyper-risqué hundred-karat rom-com (the “Lubitsch Touch” film), but as an innovator of set design, an able director of extras, and a capable pacer of melodramatic arcs.
These traits — calling cards for Lubitsch’s eventual and triumphant Hollywood career (directing such immortal classics as Trouble in Paradise and To Be or Not to Be) — manifest themselves across six varied works, riotous in every sense: Ich möchte kein Mann sein [I Wouldn’t Like to Be a Man] (1918) — Die Puppe. [The Doll.] (1919) — Die Austernprinzessin. [The Oyster Princess.] (1919) — Sumurun (1920) — Anna Boleyn (1920) — and Die Bergkatze [The Mountain-Lion / The Wildcat] (1921).
All films are presented in officially licenced transfers from restored materials, include the original German intertitles (with new removable English subtitles), and are accompanied by recently recorded musical scores; Die Puppe. includes an exclusive new score that we’re especially pleased to present — composed, performed, and recorded by Bernard Wrigley. Robert Fischer’s 2006 feature-length documentary Ernst Lubitsch in Berlin: From Schönhauser Allee to Hollywood rounds out the package of six ThinPaks included in a hardbox, with each feature supplemented by a short essay penned variously by David Cairns, Anna Thorngate, and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky (x2 each).
There’s never been a better opportunity to rediscover or reconsider your appreciation of Lubitsch’s work — or to discover his awesome art for the very first time.
In addition to delving into the smorgasbord of Lubitsch, we invite you to investigate a few of our other recent releases: Nobuhiko Obayashi’s re-forefronted tour-de-force House, now available on DVD as it makes new and turbulent waves around the globe; a Blu-ray release of Jean-Luc Godard’s 1964 masterpiece Une femme mariée, fragments d’un film tourné en 1964 en noir et blanc [A Married Woman: Fragments of a Film Shot in 1964 in Black and White] appearing, along with its JLG-cut trailer, in glorious 1080p, and which retains the same acclaimed 80-page book that accompanied our original DVD edition; and Al Reinert’s timeless, exquisite 1989 For All Mankind, available on both Blu-ray and DVD, which chronicles the experiences of the orbital-lunar and terranean heroes of NASA’s ‘68-‘72 Apollo missions.
Last but not least, a reminder about a film dear to our hearts: Jeffrey Levy-Hinte’s 2008 Soul Power, built out of footage shot in 1974 by Albert Maysles, Paul Goldsmith, Kevin Keating, and Roderick Young to chronicle the landmark Zaire ‘74 concert event organised in Kinshasa in tandem with the (subsequently postponed) Ali-Foreman “Rumble in the Jungle.” Whether on the DVD edition or, especially, on the Blu-ray edition, you’ll likely not have heard so powerful or ecstatic a soundtrack, nor seen the glory of 16mm celluloid film-grain presented so faithfully, as on this release of Levy-Hinte’s recently unearthed film-treasure.
Happy viewing.
New releases :
- Die Bergkatze January 2010
- Anna Boleyn January 2010
- Sumurun January 2010
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Viewing our films online at The Auteurs
We have linked up with the wonderful folk at The Auteurs and a number of our films can now be viewed online if you're in the UK & Eire. They've taken advantage of the latest internet technology to create an outlet for auteur films that might not otherwise receive much promotion. "Popular doesn't always mean good", and they simply couldn't resist the idea of everyone having their own film library…Have a look!