25 Vampyr
- ola t
- They call us neo-cinephiles
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25 Vampyr
Vampyr
The first sound-film by one of the greatest of all filmmakers, Vampyr offers a sensual immediacy that few, if any, works of cinema can claim to match. Legendary director Carl Theodor Dreyer leads the viewer, as though guided in a trance, through a realm akin to a waking-dream, a zone positioned somewhere between reality and the supernatural.
Traveller Allan Gray (arrestingly depicted by Julian West, aka the secretive real-life Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg) arrives at a countryside inn seemingly beckoned by haunted forces. His growing acquaintance with the family who reside there soon opens up a network of uncanny associations between the dead and the living, of ghostly lore and demonology, which pull Gray ever deeper into an unsettling, and upsetting, mystery. At its core: troubled Gisèle, chaste daughter and sexual incarnation, portrayed by the great, cursed Sybille Schmitz (Diary of a Lost Girl, and inspiration for Fassbinder’s Veronika Voss.) Before the candles of Vampyr exhaust themselves, Allan Gray and the viewer alike come eye-to-eye with Fate — in the face of dear dying Sybille, in the blasphemed bodies of horrific bat-men, in the charged and mortal act of asphyxiation — eye-to-eye, then, with Death — the supreme vampire.
Deemed by Alfred Hitchcock ‘the only film worth watching… twice’, Vampyr’s influence has become, by now, incalculable. Long out of circulation in an acceptable transfer, The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Dreyer’s truly terrifying film in its film restored form for the first time in the UK.
Special Features:
• New, high-definition transfer of the Martin Koerber / Cineteca di Bologna film restoration in its original aspect ratio (1.19:1)
• New and improved English subtitles (optional)
• Full-length audio commentary featuring film scholar Tony Rayns
• Full-length audio commentary featuring Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro on one of his favourite films
• Choice of restored or unrestored audio track
• Two deleted scenes, removed by the German censor in 1932
• Carl Th. Dreyer (1966) – a documentary by Jörgen Roos
• Visual essay by scholar Casper Tybjerg on Dreyer’s Vampyr influences
• The Baron – a short MoC documentary about Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg
• Inspiration for the film – Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla – as an on-disc pdf.
• 80-page book featuring rare production stills, a facsimile reproduction of the 1932 Danish film programme, writing by Tom Milne (The Cinema of Carl Dreyer), Jean and Dale Drum (My Only Great Passion: The Life and Films of Carl Th. Dreyer), and Martin Koerber (film restorer).
The first sound-film by one of the greatest of all filmmakers, Vampyr offers a sensual immediacy that few, if any, works of cinema can claim to match. Legendary director Carl Theodor Dreyer leads the viewer, as though guided in a trance, through a realm akin to a waking-dream, a zone positioned somewhere between reality and the supernatural.
Traveller Allan Gray (arrestingly depicted by Julian West, aka the secretive real-life Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg) arrives at a countryside inn seemingly beckoned by haunted forces. His growing acquaintance with the family who reside there soon opens up a network of uncanny associations between the dead and the living, of ghostly lore and demonology, which pull Gray ever deeper into an unsettling, and upsetting, mystery. At its core: troubled Gisèle, chaste daughter and sexual incarnation, portrayed by the great, cursed Sybille Schmitz (Diary of a Lost Girl, and inspiration for Fassbinder’s Veronika Voss.) Before the candles of Vampyr exhaust themselves, Allan Gray and the viewer alike come eye-to-eye with Fate — in the face of dear dying Sybille, in the blasphemed bodies of horrific bat-men, in the charged and mortal act of asphyxiation — eye-to-eye, then, with Death — the supreme vampire.
Deemed by Alfred Hitchcock ‘the only film worth watching… twice’, Vampyr’s influence has become, by now, incalculable. Long out of circulation in an acceptable transfer, The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Dreyer’s truly terrifying film in its film restored form for the first time in the UK.
Special Features:
• New, high-definition transfer of the Martin Koerber / Cineteca di Bologna film restoration in its original aspect ratio (1.19:1)
• New and improved English subtitles (optional)
• Full-length audio commentary featuring film scholar Tony Rayns
• Full-length audio commentary featuring Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro on one of his favourite films
• Choice of restored or unrestored audio track
• Two deleted scenes, removed by the German censor in 1932
• Carl Th. Dreyer (1966) – a documentary by Jörgen Roos
• Visual essay by scholar Casper Tybjerg on Dreyer’s Vampyr influences
• The Baron – a short MoC documentary about Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg
• Inspiration for the film – Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla – as an on-disc pdf.
• 80-page book featuring rare production stills, a facsimile reproduction of the 1932 Danish film programme, writing by Tom Milne (The Cinema of Carl Dreyer), Jean and Dale Drum (My Only Great Passion: The Life and Films of Carl Th. Dreyer), and Martin Koerber (film restorer).
- denti alligator
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- jt
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Good Lord, possibly half a dozen more Murnau's and Lang's by the end of the year and now this...
Any news on features or release date yet Nick?
Not too keen on the cover but then again, who give's a monkeys? I'd buy this if it came in a torn paper bag...
I think this is an event worthy of my first (and probably last) emoticon: =D>
Any news on features or release date yet Nick?
Not too keen on the cover but then again, who give's a monkeys? I'd buy this if it came in a torn paper bag...
I think this is an event worthy of my first (and probably last) emoticon: =D>
- Awesome Welles
- Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2007 6:02 am
- Location: London
Excellent, excellent, excellent, I was waiting for news of this to break soon.
EDIT: I am so greedy, now I am itching to know what #48 and #49 are...
EDIT: Actually having said that I guess #48, #49 and #51 are in some order Gandahar, Les Maitre du Temps and Edvard Munch???
EDIT: I am so greedy, now I am itching to know what #48 and #49 are...
EDIT: Actually having said that I guess #48, #49 and #51 are in some order Gandahar, Les Maitre du Temps and Edvard Munch???
Last edited by Awesome Welles on Tue Jul 03, 2007 10:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
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- Awesome Welles
- Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2007 6:02 am
- Location: London
I think we'll see this before the year is out (my prediction is October). I am also predicting an abundance of extras (most probably a two versions of the film - given the circumstances in which it was made, and a commentary) and a mammoth booklet. I don't know anything about it but perhaps a short doc like Carl Th. Dryer (Jorgen Roos, 1966) would be great.
- the dancing kid
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 7:35 pm
This is a wonderful, difficult film (and I mean difficult in the best way possible). As I recall, 'Vampyr' was actually the first Dreyer film I had the pleasure of seeing, when I caught it late one night on television during a marathon of vampire films many years ago (in anticipation of Halloween). The film made a strong impression on me, due in large to the unusual narrative style it features, but also because it was so different than the other films I saw as part of the series.
David Bordwell's analysis of the film is very compelling. He devotes a chapter to 'Vampyr' in his book on Dreyer, which I recommend reading to anyone looking to tease out some of the narrative and stylistic ideas Dreyer presents.
David Bordwell's analysis of the film is very compelling. He devotes a chapter to 'Vampyr' in his book on Dreyer, which I recommend reading to anyone looking to tease out some of the narrative and stylistic ideas Dreyer presents.
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- Michael
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:09 pm
Indefinite?!...what happened?Shrcek is on indefinite leave..
Members come and go but there is one I remember in my heart. He was around when I first joined this forum maybe around 8 years ago. But damn, I can't remember his name but I know he was from Seattle and his favorite movie was L'atalante. I'd love to get back in touch with him.
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- Joined: Mon Jul 17, 2006 2:05 am
Mk2's cropping was most likely done to fit it to a standard TV screen (and perhaps transferring a 1.19:1 picture correctly, with pillar boxing, requires more work than a standard 1.33:1 transfer - I don't know).davidhare wrote:The MK 2 Vampyr which I received yesterday is cropped to 1.33 And I have to agree with the Korber edict the movie should be 1.19. Interestingly, after significantly cropped credits (on sides as well as horizontally) the MK2 reverts - only once - to 1.19 for the scrolling text in German, but then returns to the cropped 1.33 for the entire movie. It's a beautiful restoration job but this cropping is a real shame.
Hopefully Eureka's upcoming disc will rectify this. I don't hope the silence on the subject means there are bad news ahead.
- Tommaso
- Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 10:09 am
Are you allowed to tell us more? I mean, once you get used to him he's actually a great character, and even the occasional struggles we entered in were amusing and thought-provoking. It would be a real shame if he dropped out from here.davidhare wrote:Shrcek is on indefinite leave..
Ah, interesting, I didn't notice the aspect ratio change in between the film, and that's why I couldn't make my mind up whether it was correct or not (having taken the scrolling text as an indicator that everything might be in order). I cannot imagine MoC not putting it out in the correct ratio, however, it would be an eternal blot on their reputation if they got THIS film wrong. I can only hope that they are not totally dependent on a master given them by Transit or FWMS, or at least that they are given a different master than MK2. Or do you think that MK2 had a master that was correct and then they f'd it up themselves?davidhare wrote: Interestingly, after significantly cropped credits (on sides as well as horizontally) the MK2 reverts - only once - to 1.19 for the scrolling text in German, but then returns to the cropped 1.33 for the entire movie.
- Tommaso
- Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 10:09 am
Sure, but then "Vampyr" was more or less a privately financed film, not made by one of the huge companies (in Germany or otherwise), so they might have well worked with not quite up-to-date standards. It may indeed have been shown in 1.33 or 1.37 in the cinemas then, but that doesn't mean that this was Dreyer's intention or that he took the cropping into account when setting up his camera frames.davidhare wrote:Well as you well know Korber insists the corect AR is 1.19 - even though this movie was released in May 1932, by which time 1.37 was a regular ratio, certainly for Klangfilm titles
One problem is that the original negative is lost, and that the Koerber restoration was made from various positives and prints. It might (might!) be that these latter generation materials (or some of them) were already reframed to 1.33 (if that is technically possible), and if that is the case, we of course wouldn't be able to see it in 1.19 anymore. If the materials of the Koerber version are indeed in 1.19 I agree completely with you: put it out that way, and those who are unhappy with it can always zoom in on the player or on the TV set.
I also haven't, and yes, they look perfect. But Sternberg might have been aware of the change of standard in a way Dreyer perhaps wasn't.davidhare wrote:But this is so academic - I mean have you ever seen Morocco or Dishonored in 1.19? I haven't, and they frankly look perfect. As though the DP had figured it out.in consultation with Sternberg.
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While the film was released in 1932 shooting began already in April 1931 at which time 1.19:1 was not unusual. According to the great-but-not-always-reliable filmportal.de, most of Tobis-Melofilm's other films in 1931 were 1.19:1.davidhare wrote:Well as you well know Korber insists the corect AR is 1.19 - even though this movie was released in May 1932, by which time 1.37 was a regular ratio, certainly for Klangfilm titles, and definitely RCa sono titles, in the USA.
- denti alligator
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