Dreyer, Lang, Murnau, Teshigahara and Joe May too

jerry gerber · 29-10-2004, 14:38

Anyone else as interested as I am in the Masters of Cinema Series from Eureka? They appear to have quite a catalog of quality classics coming our way that respect both the letter and tone of the originals.

Dreyer's considered first great masterpiece, MICHAEL, in a 2 disc release with the second disc preserving the German intertitles and score. A reissue of the newly restored METROPOLIS with German intertitles and a fat booklet, Murnau's great TARTUFFE, as well as 2 fascinating films by the great Japanese master, Teshigahara (director of WOMAN IN THE DUNES) - THE FACE OF ANOTHER and PITFALL.

I have seen these two odd beauties and been awestruck. Last one, I know about is Joe May's ASPHALT. May, is a vastly overlooked contemporary of Fritz Lang.

It's great to have these beauties coming our way. Here's the url:

http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/discs.htm

John Hodson · 29-10-2004, 14:47

Excellent series; can't seem to get at details of some of the titles though (great link to a site I didn't know existed - www.mastersofcinema.org BTW)

Puhkipsy · 29-10-2004, 15:23

Indeed, they do look like they're going to be a very interesting series. I picked up their 2 Disc set of HOLY MOUNTAIN and it really is a wonderful edition.

Apparently, they're aiming to get 25 titles out in 2005 and DIARY OF A LOST GIRL by Pabst, SPIONE and DIE NIEBELUNGEN by Lang are likely to be amongst them. Full details for the Teshigaharas and Asphalt haven't been revealed as yet but I'll definately be keeping an eye out to see what they have in mind.

jerry gerber · 30-10-2004, 17:46

Details are up for their next release which appears to be Murnau's TARTUFFE. I love that cover!

http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/004.htm

Chibouk · 30-10-2004, 17:54

These releases look quite brilliant and I think Eureka are being quite clever in numbering their releases, a little like the Criterion Collection.

Lontano · 31-10-2004, 13:32

very much looking forward to the teshigahara releases

jerry gerber · 02-11-2004, 14:31

I got my Michael order. Had watched Michael once recently on TCM which is I believe to be the American release. So I watched the European release with the original German intertitles and the German music score. It was interesting to note how two different music tracks affect the emotional take from a film. I prefered the European version, much more meloncholy and ambiguous. But having them both is a treat and a lesson in moviemaking and watching.

Chibouk · 02-11-2004, 14:39

Where did you order it from Jerry? Cheapest I can find it is at Play for £14.99.

Puhkipsy · 04-11-2004, 23:17

Further news from one of the MoC/Eureka team concerning the addition of existing Eureka titles to the MoC range (originally posted on thecriterionforum.org):

"At the current time, it looks like THE BLUE ANGEL, THE LAST LAUGH, SUNRISE, THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE, MABUSE: THE GAMBLER and M will be released with the same disc content. Most of them have been out for less than a year, and we're very happy with the transfers on all of them. They are simply entering the MoC Series when new copies need printing up.

As well as having new covers, they will also have booklets with new essays, reprints, etc.

Eureka titles that won't be entering the MoC Series *in their current form*: DER GOLEM, FAUST, NOSFERATU, and many others.

Once these reissues are out the way, we'll be able to concentrate on lots of new stuff for mid/late 2005, stuff that we're tying up at the moment."

The "in their current form" statement on Golem, Faust and Nosferatu hints at the possibility of some interesting new editions in the future. The existing Eureka Nosferatu 2 Disc isn't a bad effort as is (aside from the irritating Art Zoyd score) but I'd love to see what they could do with this for a new edition.

Narshty · 04-11-2004, 23:42

Is there really any sort of market for another Nosferatu? The BFI version is pretty definitive to my mind.

Puhkipsy · 05-11-2004, 00:21

The BFI edition is a damn good effort from what I've seen of it, but Celtoslavia drools over the notion of an ultimate edition along these lines:

"The ultimate edition is yet to come. It should include the complete original German intertitles, the original score by Hans Erdmann which was restored in 1995, and the 1995 documentary by Luciano Berriatúa on Murnau's life and work, "El lenguaje de las sombras" (240 min)"

http://www.celtoslavica.de/chiaroscu...eiche/nos.html

If Eureka could pull that off, then I think they'd be on to a winner.

Mind you, even if they just slapped a spine number on the existing edition, they'd still shift units just through spine number completists.

Narshty · 05-11-2004, 08:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Puhkipsy

Mind you, even if they just slapped a spine number on the existing edition, they'd still shift units just through spine number completists.

I don't think they're that cynical.

jerry gerber · 07-11-2004, 10:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chibouk

Where did you order it from Jerry? Cheapest I can find it is at Play for £14.99.

Hi Chibouk, I ordered from Bensons and it was the same price as Play. And if I remember, Amazon has it for the same.

John Hodson · 10-11-2004, 19:04

There's an excellent review over at Silent DVD of the R1 release of Dreyer's The Parson's Widow here.

Puhkipsy · 13-11-2004, 11:21

News just in - the 2 MoC/Eureka Teshigaharas are are going to have full length commentaries recorded for them, with more details due for release early next month. Hurrah!

David Levy · 16-11-2004, 10:52

Cool... I just started this series. Its so much better to get in on the ground floor with these things, much easier than all that Criterion nonesense.

Puhkipsy · 18-11-2004, 13:12

Specs for SPIONE are up:

http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/discs.htm#

as well as some rather nice new cover art for their HOLY MOUNTAIN set.

David Levy · 18-11-2004, 13:48

Ah, but the best is yet to come...

Chibouk · 20-11-2004, 18:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerry gerber

Hi Chibouk, I ordered from Bensons and it was the same price as Play. And if I remember, Amazon has it for the same.

Thanks... I've already put my order in.

Puhkipsy · 20-11-2004, 19:44

Further details for the February and March releases:

ASPHALT
# New restored transfer
# Original German intertitles with optional English subtitles
# Sumptuous new orchestral score by Karl-Ernst Sasse
# New English subtitle translation
# 16-page booklet with a new essay by film historian R. Dixon Smith

PITFALL
# New restored transfer
# Exclusive full-length audio commentary
# New English subtitle translation
# 16-page booklet with a new essay and reprints
# Original trailer
# Gallery containing rare production stills and artwork

THE FACE OF ANOTHER
# New restored transfer
# Exclusive full-length audio commentary
# New English subtitle translation
# 16-page booklet with a new essay and reprints
# Original trailer
# Gallery containing rare production stills and artwork