Germaine Dulac

Discuss internationally-released DVDs and Blu-rays or other international DVD and Blu-ray-related topics.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
NABOB OF NOWHERE
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:30 pm
Location: Brandywine River

#1 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Mon May 21, 2007 6:38 am

Apologies if this has already been noted

Hopefully better source materials than on the Kino set.

From the Absolut Medien site

Updating myself-

Die vorliegenden restaurierten Filmfassungen wurden vom Niederländischen Filmmuseum nach sorgfältigen Recherche- und Restaurationsarbeiten aufwändig hergestellt und von ZDF/ARTE mit neuen kongenialen Musikfassungen versehen.

Seems to be a new restoration then but it doesn't state who the sympathetic architects of these new 'congenial' music versions are.

User avatar
Tommaso
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 10:09 am

#2 Post by Tommaso » Mon May 21, 2007 10:03 am

Don't worry, I've seen two of these three restos on TV already, and image and music are all very, very pleasing. I haven't seen this version of "Coquille" yet, but I bet it will blow the Kino/Rohauer-print away. Not to speak of the awful 'music' on the Kino. I have already pre-ordered it, and will post some comments once it arrives. For me, this dvd is a real highlight in a year of incredible releases.

BTW: www.jpc.de sells this and other arte stummfilmedition releases at 14,99 Euros. 8 Euros cheaper than amazon. Don't know their international shipping costs, though, but amazon.de has become ridiculously expensive recently.

User avatar
htdm
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 3:46 am

#3 Post by htdm » Mon May 21, 2007 11:50 am

They charge 12.99 Euros for shipping to the US.

User avatar
NABOB OF NOWHERE
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:30 pm
Location: Brandywine River

#4 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Mon May 21, 2007 12:39 pm

Tommaso wrote:BTW: www.jpc.de sells this and other arte stummfilmedition releases at 14,99 Euros. 8 Euros cheaper than amazon. Don't know their international shipping costs, though, but amazon.de has become ridiculously expensive recently.
Thanks for that tip Tommasso. I ordered the Dulac, Syberberg's Hitler and a Bergman interview dvd and the shipping came to just over 6 Euros. A snip!!!

kiarostami
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:35 pm

#5 Post by kiarostami » Mon May 21, 2007 8:54 pm

Which films are in this set? And which Kino set is referred to in the first post? Thanks!

User avatar
NABOB OF NOWHERE
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:30 pm
Location: Brandywine River

#6 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Tue May 22, 2007 3:42 am

kiarostami wrote:Which films are in this set? And which Kino set is referred to in the first post? Thanks!
as per the link

Kurzbeschreibung
"Madame Beudets sonniges Lächeln" (La souriante Madame Beudet) Laufzeit: 38 Min. Produktionsjahr: 1922 "Die Einladung zur Reise" (L'invitation au voyage) Laufzeit: 39 Min. Produktionsjahr: 1927 "Die Muschel und der Kleriker" (La Coquille et le clergyman) Laufzeit: 40 Min. Produktionsjahr: 1928

Coquille is in the Kino Avant Garde box set

kiarostami
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:35 pm

#7 Post by kiarostami » Tue May 22, 2007 12:47 pm

Thanks. I was not reading the link clearly. Are there any English options on this disc? I am quite excited since Madame Beudet is such a fascinating and great film. Now if only one of the other great early female filmmakers -- Alice Guy Blache -- would get the proper DVD treatment....

ptmd
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:12 pm

#8 Post by ptmd » Tue May 22, 2007 12:55 pm

Most of the extant Alice Guy Blache films are already on DVD. "Making an American Citizen" (1912) is on Volume 5 of the Kino Movies Begin set, both "Matrimony's Speed Limit" (1913) and "A House Divided" (1913) are on the "Origins of Film: America's First Women Filmmakers/Origins of the Gangster Film" DVD put out by the Smithsonian Institute, and "Falling Leaves" (1912) is on More Treasures from American Film Archives.

This Dulac set looks very exciting, and it will be great to have good versions of "L'Invitation au Voyage" (the restored, tinted print from the Amsterdam Film Archive looks fantastic, so I hope that's the source) and "Madame Beudet." I really hope that some of her other films will eventually get releases as well, especially "La Belle dame sans merci" (1920) and "Ame d'Artiste" (1924).

User avatar
meanwhile
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2005 6:22 am

#9 Post by meanwhile » Wed May 23, 2007 10:21 am

There is also a curiously wonderful short film from Germaine Dulac, described as a 'realist mime-drama', on Retour de Flamme Volume 1, in which Lilian Constantini mimes the situation of two Fréhel records - Toute Seule and A la Dérive. It was part of Dulac's Impressions cinégraphiques.

User avatar
Tommaso
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 10:09 am

#10 Post by Tommaso » Mon Jun 18, 2007 12:44 pm

I have just received the arte Dulac disc, and as expected, it's excellent. "La coquille et le clergyman" is miles ahead of the Rohauer/Kino version as far as print quality is concerned. There is still a generous amount of damage and dirt here and on the other films, but nothing unusual for a film of that age. The transfer itself is excellent, even though its a DVD-5. Contrast looks very natural, sharpness varies, but that is rather due to the source materials. No edge enhancement and only very little compression artefacts I was aware of (judging from "Coquille" alone, I haven't found time to re-watch the other films in full yet). It must be noted that "Coquille" and "L'invitation" are slightly windowboxed, but I didn't see a visible loss in image quality despite of zooming in on my TV.
And of course the greatest improvement is in the music department. While the Kino version is practically unwatchable because of that horrible acoustic guitar plinging, here we get a very avantgardistic sounding chamber ensemble music by composer Iris ter Schiphorst, which might be somewhat demanding for those who run away from 20th century classical music, but in my view it fits the film and its various changes of mood and motion perfectly.

No extras on the disc itself, but you get a nice 20 page booklet with informative essays on the three films with a special emphasis on the conflict between Dulac and the surrealists around Artaud. Only in German, though. There are also only optional German subs, but that could only be a problem for "Madame Beudet", the other two films have next to no titles anyway. So, another highly recommended release from arte edition, who again prove to be one of the more exciting labels for silent films.

User avatar
Ovader
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:56 am
Location: Canada

Re: Germaine Dulac

#11 Post by Ovader » Wed Sep 23, 2009 10:23 pm

If anyone is interested there is a book in preparation of Germaine Dulac's writings called Pure Cinema: Selected Writings of Germaine Dulac to be published by caboose who published the lauded new translation of Bazin's What is Cinema?.

User avatar
Ovader
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:56 am
Location: Canada

Re: Germaine Dulac

#12 Post by Ovader » Mon Mar 27, 2017 11:41 pm

Ha! Me again. Another book for those interested titled Germaine Dulac: A Cinema of Sensations.

Post Reply