Essentials from Germany

[The Curious Sofa]

I don’t have numbers but two years ago we still had large DVD/Blu-ray sections in electronics stores and they’ve dwindled to almost nothing.

[sidetracked]

If anyone ever gets their hands on Plaion's German BD of Robot Dreams and could confirm if they fixed the banding and compression issues plaguing the UK and US releases and if it's uncensored, that'd be appreciated. I don't think there's German subtitles (as there is no dialogue), but if there is any for sign translations etc, are the subs optional or enforced? The Spanish edition is not out until late December.

Hi! Just got this (ROBOT DREAMS, German BR). Can confirm that there's no censorship of the middle fingers, and that German subtitles are optional, not forced for those few signs or images on TV, etc.

I didn't notice any banding in the sky, though I will admit I was caught up in the film and not actively looking for it. If anyone has a time code or scene where banding/compression is particularly bad, I'm happy to go to that spot and see if my aging eyes notice anything.

[Finch]

Thank you sidetracked, appreciate it.

[denti alligator]

Can I assume the StudioCanal of Fassbinder's Berlin Alexanderplatz is at 25fps and the same quality as the Second Sight (now totally unavailable) edition?

[Stefan Andersson]

Briefe eines toten Mannes (Letters from a dead man), 1986, Lopushansky:

https://www.wicked-shop.com/en/letters- ... ition.html
https://www.wicked-shop.com/en/letters- ... cl-cd.html

Technical data:
- Picture format: 1.37:1 (AVC / 1080p / 23.976 fps)
- Sound Format: German (DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0, Mono)
- Subtitles: German / English / Spanish / Italian / French / Polish
- Running time: approx. 88 minutes

Extras:
- German theatrical trailer
- Radio play CD
- Alternative credits
- Picture gallery , Programme preview
- Atomic Bomb Tests Documentaries
- Text contribution: "Playing with the Bomb" by Dagmar Röhrlich
- Multilingual booklet
- Reversible cover with alternative artwork
Free / All Regions

Region Code: 0
Packaging: Amaray Box in slipcase (DVD size with partial lacquering) and additional reversible cover for the keep-case

--

Das Testament des Dr. Cordelier, Renoir 1959
https://www.wicked-shop.com/de/das-test ... on-24.html
(Le Testament du Docteur Cordelier)
Region code: B
Packaging: Amaray box in slipcase slipcase (DVD size with partial lacquering) and additional reversible cover for the keep-case

- Blu-ray world premiere
- 4K scan and restoration
- Limited edition of 1000 copies
- Many extras in more than 2 hours of bonus material
- A film by JEAN RENOIR
- Based on the world bestseller "The Curious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson.
- An Ostalgica production distributed by Media Target


Technical data:
Picture format: 1.37:1 (AVC / 1080p / 23,976 fps)
Sound: German / French (DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 Mono)
Subtitles: German
Running time: approx. 95 minutes

Extras (1080p / 23.976 fps):
- 12-page booklet with a text by Marco Koch
- Inlay with reversible cover
- Original trailer (with German subtitles)
- German opening credits
- Video essay by Lars Johansen about Renoir, the film and the history of the Jekyll & Hyde film adaptations (approx. 38 min.)
- Film restoration
- Picture gallery
- Silent film: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (with German subtitles)
- Classic Chiller Collection Trailer

[spectre]

New German label Transgressive Visions is bringing out Sweet Movie on 4K and Blu-ray 20 June (via Facebook):

Coming on June 20th on #4K/Blu-ray dual format #Mediabook with three different cover options in Germany from new @cameraobscurafilmdistribution partner label #TransgressiveVisions: #SweetMovie (1974)!

Pushing his themes of sexual liberation to their boiling point, Yugoslavian art-house provocateur Dusan Makavejev followed his international sensation WR: Mysteries of the Organism with this full-throated shriek in the face of bourgeois complacency and movie watching. Sweet Movie tackles the limits of personal and political freedom with kaleidoscopic feverishness, shuttling viewers from a gynecological beauty pageant to a grotesque food orgy with scatological, taboo-shattering glee. With its lewd abandon and sketch-comedy perversity, Sweet Movie became both a cult staple and an exemplar of the envelope-pushing of 1970s cinema.

Special Features and Technical Specs:
TWO-DISC (4K BLU-RAY/BLU-RAY) COMBO PACK RELEASE
NEW 4K RESTORATION FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE BY CAMERA OBSCURA
HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
ORIGINAL ENGLISH TRACK, and German track
"Excremental Visions" - new video essay by Daniel Bird
Nicely Offensive - an interview with Dušan Makavejev
Le Principe du clap - an interview with editor/cutter Yann Dedet
Q&A audio session with Dušan Makavejev
Original trailer
Alternate German Version of the Film (SD only)
Optional English and German subtitles for the main feature
24-page illustrated booklet, in German
REGION-FREE

*Transgressive Visions will present Sweet Movie on 4K Blu-ray with three different covers. All three versions of the release are encoded by Camera Obscura.

[beamish14]

I preordered this the minute I saw it. Wasn’t their 4K scan announced years ago?

[Lowry_Sam]

Criterion’s dvd is still in print.

[spectre]

I preordered this the minute I saw it. Wasn’t their 4K scan announced years ago?

Yeah, there was a blog post announcing it on the Camera Obscura website all the way back in August 2022 – can only imagine the project must have encountered some hiccups along the way: https://cameraobscurafilms.de/en/blogs/news/sweet-movie

[yoshimori]

Briefe eines toten Mannes (Letters from a dead man), 1986, Lopushansky:

Technical data:
- Sound Format: German (DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0, Mono)

The original German dialogue? Ha!

[No Russian?]

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Almost every listing out there (including the packaging itself) only mentions German audio, but this seems to have been written by someone who actually has the disc (based on the very specific details provided, like the runtimes of the extras) and it also mentions a Russian option. Caveat emptor.

[Adam X]

Unfortunately, it looks like that’s where the good news ends.

But before you get too excited: The English subtitles on the disc are a literal translation of the German subtitles, which themselves are dubtitles of the German dub. And if this wasn't enough both subtitle tracks are riddled with spelling and grammatical errors and missing lines of dialogue.

[Kris]

...but this seems to have been written by someone who actually has the disc (based on the very specific details provided, like the runtimes of the extras) and it also mentions a Russian option. Caveat emptor.

That was me and I confirm the Russian audio is present. Rumors say that the label contractually was not allowed not provide the original audio but sneaked it in anyway, knowing customers would be pleased.

Unfortunately, it looks like that’s where the good news ends.

But before you get too excited: The English subtitles on the disc are a literal translation of the German subtitles, which themselves are dubtitles of the German dub. And if this wasn't enough both subtitle tracks are riddled with spelling and grammatical errors and missing lines of dialogue.

Also confirming this. I suggest to avoid this edition if you are not fluid in Russian or German.

[Peacock]

Yes, as Kris says there is Russian audio on the disc available using your remote to change the audio.

Not sure why Stefan posted this film on here when the edition shared has been out for several years.

Hopefully someday someone will release this movie - and all the director’s other films, in the UK or US.