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Frau im Mond.



Frau im Mond. [Woman in the Moon.] is: (a) The first feature-length film to portray space-exploration in a serious manner, paying close attention to the science involved in launching a vessel from the surface of the earth to the valleys of the moon. (b) A tri-polar potboiler of a picture that manages to combine espionage tale, serial melodrama, and comic-book sci-fi into a storyline that is by turns delirious, hushed, and deranged. (c) A movie so rife with narrative contradiction and visual ingenuity that it could only be the work of one filmmaker: Fritz Lang.

In this, Lang's final silent epic, the legendary filmmaker spins a tale involving a wicked cartel of spies who co-opt an experimental mission to the moon in the hope of plundering the satellite's vast (and highly theoretical) stores of gold. When the crew, helmed by Willy Fritsch and Gerda Maurus (both of whom had previously starred in Lang's Spione), finally reach their impossible destination, they find themselves stranded in a lunar labyrinth without walls where emotions run scattershot, and the new goal becomes survival.

A modern Daedalus tale which uncannily foretold Germany's wartime push into rocket-science, Frau im Mond. is as much a warning-sign against human hubris as it is a hopeful depiction of mankind's potential. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present in a Dual Format (Blu-ray + DVD) special edition the culmination of Fritz Lang's silent cinema, restored to its near-original length.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• Gorgeous 1080p transfer on the Blu-ray of the F. W. Murnau-Stiftung restoration
• Original German intertitles with newly-translated optional English subtitles
• The First Scientific Science-Fiction Film, a German documentary about Frau im Mond. made by Gabriele Jacobi [15:00]
• 36-page booklet which includes a newly revised analysis by Michael E. Grost on the film, and on Fritz Lang's body of work as a whole and more!

Lino wrote:March, 2007 according to MoC's recent catalogue.

Excellent news! Hemm'd and haw'd about getting Kino's, but held off...glad I did. Wonder if they can muster a Kalat commentary for this or maybe Bogdanovitch will show up with his cassette player and a collection of Lang mumblings.

Sounds great, count me in

looks like March 2007 is out the window though

It's great that Masters of Cinema are releasing this film. I hope they'll use this poster for the cover:

peerpee wrote:Currently, it's looking like Visconti's BELLISSIMA, and Shinoda's SILENCE in Sept. FRAU IM MOND and two previously unannounced titles in October, then all eight Mizoguchi releases in early Nov, and early Dec.

Woman in the Moon doesn't seem to be in the October releases, any word on when we might expect it?

codam wrote:Woman in the Moon doesn't seem to be in the October releases, any word on when we might expect it?

At a guess I'd say with the 2 Murnau releases hopefully touching down in Nov this will pop up early next year with Der Letzte Mann. I'd love to see what artwork MoC are using for the cover though, there's so many delicious posters kicking around for this movie... let's hope they'll use one like the "Retro Rocket" poster above.

I am ashamed, but only recently I've checked the Transit Classics web site for the 1st time. It appeared that German editions of both Spione and Frau include documentaries...

I might be wrong, but I think MoC lisenced docus from Transit for their Metropolis and coming Nosferatu editions. For some reasons this is NOT done for Spione.

To me, Frau is more original and more enjoyable movie than Spione; it desreves the best teatment.

So, MoC, please, do not give us half-baked edition of Frau - we do have one already (from Kino)!

MoC... half-baked? Uh oh. Nick, forgive him. S/he is new and knows not what s/he is saying.

But... perhaps you COULD consider serving Woman in the Moon more sticky than al dente?

Peace, I'd say. The reason why "Spione" doesn't have that documentary is most likely that it simply didn't exist when the MoC disc came out. I'm pretty sure that the MoC "Woman in the Moon" will feature the documentary on the Transit box, considering that they took over the one for "Nosferatu" for their forthcoming disc. And even if it won't have the docu, we are likely to get something very nice in printed form instead.

skuhn8 wrote:MoC... half-baked? Uh oh. Nick, forgive him. S/he is new and knows not what s/he is saying.

But... perhaps you COULD consider serving Woman in the Moon more sticky than al dente?

My sense of humor totally sucks. Shit.

Precisely, because 40 is "Die Nibelungen".

Specs at play.com say "And more". Hope this doesn't only refer to the booklet content. I'd love to see MoC taking over that new documentary which is on the Transit release (well, I said that before).
Great cover design!

It's a long film (approaching 3 hours), but we've managed to get the Transit documentary on there. Thankfully, it was only 15 minutes.

Thank you, Nick, this made my day already.

peerpee wrote: we've managed to get the Transit documentary on there

Thank you, MoC

MoC page now live.

I've just finished watching the checkdisc, and you can preorder with complete confidence.

It's a razor-sharp transfer from a print in startlingly good condition - 98% of it is pretty much perfect considering its age, with only a couple of softer exceptions that were presumably the best copies that could be found of those particular shots.

I really enjoyed the film too - I loved the way it blends surprisingly well-researched speculation on the mechanics of space travel with a rip-roaring spy thriller, and then pretty much throws away any pretensions towards accuracy when they actually land on the moon.

It sounds like this is the first time you've seen the film, Mike, but (and I mean that in relation to your having seen/not seen the FWMS transfer used on the existing editions from Kino and I think divisa red?) I'm wondering whether you can comment on whether this is a new pass or did MoC use the same telecine resident on the existing editions?

I actually really like this film... it came out a few years ago in the states in a nice edition from Kino at the same time as SPIONE, and I felt at the time that this was the better of the two films, and still do (though the public consensus, or at least the critical consensus, seems to lean toward SPIONE).

Also, whats the deal with the score?

HerrSchreck wrote:It sounds like this is the first time you've seen the film, Mike, but (and I mean that in relation to your having seen/not seen the FWMS transfer used on the existing editions from Kino and I think divisa red?) I'm wondering whether you can comment on whether this is a new pass or did MoC use the same telecine resident on the existing editions?

You'll have to ask Nick, as I've no idea (you're right about it being the first time I've seen the film) - but I was seriously impressed by the sharpness and stability. The intertitles are in German with optional English subtitles, if that's any help, and the running time isn't far short of 163 mins (probably 162:30 if you crop off the Eureka titles at the beginning and end). It's also native PAL, but you'd probably expect that given the European source.

Also, whats the deal with the score?

Piano - fairly bombastic (lots of bass trills and pounding chords), but it suited the material well enough.

Much obliged. I guess comparative caps will tell the tale (pretty sure the beev has the 04 Kino for comp, as well as (I think) another (subsequent) edition (I think divisa).

In a (parenthetical) aside, you can (I think) see, I'm not (100%) certain of all this!

"Frau im Mond" was shown a while ago on arte TV, and it had exactly the same piano score as on the divisa (played by some guy from Spain or Argentina, can't recall now), and I'd assume this is the same for the MoC disc. And it's really a very good score.
As to image: the arte transmission looked much superior to the divisa disc, which suffers from badly rendered grain or an even worse attempt to reduce it. Although the divisa is sharp and clear, it has a pretty unnatural look due to this. So, if even the TV broadcast looked better (and actually, very good it looked), I think we can expect a top-notch image from MoC.

Yes, the MoC score will be the solo piano score by Javier Perez de Aspeitia, which we know many people prefer to the Kino score. Also, we'll have original German intertitles and no text superimpositions over the actual image.

Here are some grabs from the finished MoC disc:

Ausgezeichnet!!

peerpee wrote:Here are some grabs from the finished MoC disc

That's a beauty! Even the grain looks nice now.

There are times that I can't even believe how good MOC product looks.

Grazie, Signore Wrigley-- looks molto good-o.