Sebastian Stan, whose “A Different Man” screens in the Berlin Film Festival, Christoph Waltz and Tom Wlaschiha, the “Faceless Man” in “Game of Thrones,” were among the guests at Studio Babelsberg Night, the historic Berlin film studios’ party at Soho House Berlin held to celebrate the 74th edition of the festival. The event was supported by Mexican tequila brand Don Julio, the Motion Picture Assn. and Little Moons. Variety was the media partner.
Among the leading filmmakers welcomed by Babelsberg were Fatih Akin, who won Berlin’s Golden Bear in 2004, Julia von Heinz, whose film “Treasure,” starring Lena Dunham, plays at the Berlinale, and Tom Tykwer, who shot series “Babylon Berlin” at Babelsberg and recently shot feature film “The Light” there.
Christoph Waltz
Other directors and writers at the party included “Dark” creators Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, who shot Netflix’s “1899” at Babelsberg, Lars Kraume, Detlev Buck and David Wnendt.
Among the leading filmmakers welcomed by Babelsberg were Fatih Akin, who won Berlin’s Golden Bear in 2004, Julia von Heinz, whose film “Treasure,” starring Lena Dunham, plays at the Berlinale, and Tom Tykwer, who shot series “Babylon Berlin” at Babelsberg and recently shot feature film “The Light” there.
Christoph Waltz
Other directors and writers at the party included “Dark” creators Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese, who shot Netflix’s “1899” at Babelsberg, Lars Kraume, Detlev Buck and David Wnendt.
- 2/22/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Berlin’s Studio Babelsberg, one of Europe’s largest studio complexes, has revealed that its senior management has been rejigged. Recent movies to shoot at the studios include “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” “John Wick: Chapter 4” and “The Matrix Resurrections.”
Founded in 1912, Babelsberg is one of the oldest studios in the world. Among the films it has hosted are “Metropolis,” “The Blue Angel,” “The Pianist,” “The Bourne Supremacy” and “Bridge of Spies.” Babelsberg comprises 21 studios and sound stages, various backlots and exterior sets across more than 42 acres.
Babelsberg revealed Tuesday that Carl “Charlie” Woebcken and Christoph Fisser, who have run the studios since 2004, have stepped down from their positions on the board of directors at their own request and in mutual agreement.
At the end of 2021, they sold their majority stake in Babelsberg to Tpg Real Estate Partners. Last year, Babelsberg was integrated into the production facilities company Cinespace Studios,...
Founded in 1912, Babelsberg is one of the oldest studios in the world. Among the films it has hosted are “Metropolis,” “The Blue Angel,” “The Pianist,” “The Bourne Supremacy” and “Bridge of Spies.” Babelsberg comprises 21 studios and sound stages, various backlots and exterior sets across more than 42 acres.
Babelsberg revealed Tuesday that Carl “Charlie” Woebcken and Christoph Fisser, who have run the studios since 2004, have stepped down from their positions on the board of directors at their own request and in mutual agreement.
At the end of 2021, they sold their majority stake in Babelsberg to Tpg Real Estate Partners. Last year, Babelsberg was integrated into the production facilities company Cinespace Studios,...
- 1/16/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Alexander Payne (Adapted Screenplay Oscar wins for Sideways with Jim Taylor and The Descendants with Nat Faxon and Jim Rash) at JFK airport with Anne-Katrin Titze on the Wc Fields poster in The Holdovers: “I remember that. I had that poster in my room growing up.”
In the second instalment with Alexander Payne, director of the Golden Globe-nominated The Holdovers (screenplay by David Hemingson), starring Dominic Sessa and Golden Globe nominees Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph, we start out discussing the Oscar-shortlisted score by Mark Orton after my recommendation of Wurzel-Sepp, an apothecary shop in Munich from 1887. From there we move on to the Trapp Family recordings of The Little Drummer Boy and Silent Night, plus Cat Stevens in the soundtrack; the influence of Marcel Pagnol’s Merlusse, Marlene Dietrich in Josef von Sternberg’s The Blue Angel, Robert Donat in Sam Wood’s Goodbye, Mr. Chips, and...
In the second instalment with Alexander Payne, director of the Golden Globe-nominated The Holdovers (screenplay by David Hemingson), starring Dominic Sessa and Golden Globe nominees Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph, we start out discussing the Oscar-shortlisted score by Mark Orton after my recommendation of Wurzel-Sepp, an apothecary shop in Munich from 1887. From there we move on to the Trapp Family recordings of The Little Drummer Boy and Silent Night, plus Cat Stevens in the soundtrack; the influence of Marcel Pagnol’s Merlusse, Marlene Dietrich in Josef von Sternberg’s The Blue Angel, Robert Donat in Sam Wood’s Goodbye, Mr. Chips, and...
- 1/1/2024
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Cat Person (Susanna Fogel)
The talk of the internet in late 2017, Kristen Roupenian’s New Yorker story about a date gone horribly awry lit a short-lived fire of discourse surrounding gender and power dynamics. About five years later does the big-screen adaptation arrive, and while it expands details of the original text in a few compelling ways, its new third-act addition calamitously renders the whole experience a pointless, heavy-handed, misjudged exercise that relies heavier on horror tropes than any sense of humanity. – Jordan R. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
The Holdovers (Alexander Payne)
This film, in the best possible way, is a time machine. Comfortable, bittersweet, and very funny, it captures a moment that is nostalgic without the syrup. Paul Hunham...
Cat Person (Susanna Fogel)
The talk of the internet in late 2017, Kristen Roupenian’s New Yorker story about a date gone horribly awry lit a short-lived fire of discourse surrounding gender and power dynamics. About five years later does the big-screen adaptation arrive, and while it expands details of the original text in a few compelling ways, its new third-act addition calamitously renders the whole experience a pointless, heavy-handed, misjudged exercise that relies heavier on horror tropes than any sense of humanity. – Jordan R. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
The Holdovers (Alexander Payne)
This film, in the best possible way, is a time machine. Comfortable, bittersweet, and very funny, it captures a moment that is nostalgic without the syrup. Paul Hunham...
- 12/29/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Being an independent producer was never easy. But these days, it’s near impossible. Even before the dual writers and actors strikes, changes in the international film and TV market had made life tough for the indies. Old models of art house moviemaking have been ravaged by a combination of decline in the specialty box office, the collapse of ancillary revenue for home entertainment and TV licensing, and the more recent pullback by streaming companies, who have begun to back fewer, and more mainstream, movies.
But one indie production company has gone from making just a handful of movies a year to dozens, finding a way to turn the turbulent new reality into a business model for making cutting-edge art house cinema that, shockingly, can actually turn a profit. It’s the company behind five of the most hotly anticipated titles at the Venice Film Festival this year: Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things,...
But one indie production company has gone from making just a handful of movies a year to dozens, finding a way to turn the turbulent new reality into a business model for making cutting-edge art house cinema that, shockingly, can actually turn a profit. It’s the company behind five of the most hotly anticipated titles at the Venice Film Festival this year: Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things,...
- 8/25/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Asteroid City (Wes Anderson)
Wes Anderson has done it all: India by train, Rhode Island by foot, the Mediterranean by sub, France by bike, faux-Germany by hotel, apple-orchard America by fox, animated Japan by dog, motel Texas by friends, New York City by family. But––despite the feeling that this couldn’t possibly be true––he’s never told a story in western America. In setting he hasn’t gone further west than Houston. Until Asteroid City: Arizona desert by quarantine. – Luke H. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Chile ’76 (Manuela Martelli)
Manuela Martelli’s debut film opens with a sequence that perfectly captures the tone and themes Chile ‘76 will explore. Carmen (played by Aline Kuppenheim) is at a paint shop,...
Asteroid City (Wes Anderson)
Wes Anderson has done it all: India by train, Rhode Island by foot, the Mediterranean by sub, France by bike, faux-Germany by hotel, apple-orchard America by fox, animated Japan by dog, motel Texas by friends, New York City by family. But––despite the feeling that this couldn’t possibly be true––he’s never told a story in western America. In setting he hasn’t gone further west than Houston. Until Asteroid City: Arizona desert by quarantine. – Luke H. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Chile ’76 (Manuela Martelli)
Manuela Martelli’s debut film opens with a sequence that perfectly captures the tone and themes Chile ‘76 will explore. Carmen (played by Aline Kuppenheim) is at a paint shop,...
- 7/14/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Film actor whose hypnotic presence was central to a trio of films directed by Luchino Visconti in the late 1960s and early 70s
With his glacial blue eyes, blade-like face and feline elegance, Helmut Berger, who has died aged 78, was one of the most ravishing and hypnotic actors in postwar European cinema, and a lingering presence even after his best days were behind him. He was also Vogue’s first male cover star; the magazine photographed him in 1970 alongside his then-girlfriend, the model Marisa Berenson, while he was simultaneously in a relationship with the director Luchino Visconti. Madonna, who featured him in her controversial 1992 coffee-table book Sex, cited among her influences “every movie that Visconti ever made starring Helmut Berger”.
The first of these films – and only Berger’s fourth screen appearance – was The Damned (1969), an unrestrainedly lurid melodrama charting the decline of a fictional family of industrialists, loosely based on the Krupps family,...
With his glacial blue eyes, blade-like face and feline elegance, Helmut Berger, who has died aged 78, was one of the most ravishing and hypnotic actors in postwar European cinema, and a lingering presence even after his best days were behind him. He was also Vogue’s first male cover star; the magazine photographed him in 1970 alongside his then-girlfriend, the model Marisa Berenson, while he was simultaneously in a relationship with the director Luchino Visconti. Madonna, who featured him in her controversial 1992 coffee-table book Sex, cited among her influences “every movie that Visconti ever made starring Helmut Berger”.
The first of these films – and only Berger’s fourth screen appearance – was The Damned (1969), an unrestrainedly lurid melodrama charting the decline of a fictional family of industrialists, loosely based on the Krupps family,...
- 6/2/2023
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
Ag Kino clamed there is ”an increasing lack of direction in the German Film Academy as far as German cinema concerned”.
The German Film Academy’s procedure for nominating this year’s German Film Awards has come under fire from the arthouse cinemas association Ag Kino - Gilde deutscher Filmkunsttheater.
In an unprecedented open letter, published just days ahead of the gala awards ceremony on May 12, Ag Kino claimed this year’s shortlist and nomination procedure showed “an increasing lack of direction in the German Film Academy as far as German cinema concerned”.
The cinema owners were particularly critical of...
The German Film Academy’s procedure for nominating this year’s German Film Awards has come under fire from the arthouse cinemas association Ag Kino - Gilde deutscher Filmkunsttheater.
In an unprecedented open letter, published just days ahead of the gala awards ceremony on May 12, Ag Kino claimed this year’s shortlist and nomination procedure showed “an increasing lack of direction in the German Film Academy as far as German cinema concerned”.
The cinema owners were particularly critical of...
- 5/11/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Christoph Hochhäusler’s slow-burn urban noir Till the End of the Night starts with time-lapse footage of the film’s first set, a well-to-do and apparently lived-in apartment flat, being built from scratch out of an empty room. Sadly, what looks to be challenging piece of Brechtian deconstruction is literally a plot point, as well as a not-so-subtle metaphor for the layers of deceit in the story that follows.
Perhaps because it was elevated to the Berlinale competition, where it won one of the festival’s gender-neutral supporting actor prizes for Thea Ehre, or perhaps because it seems like it’s going to break new ground in the genre with the central pairing of a gay male cop and a trans female convict. But whatever it is that might bring undue scrutiny to a serviceable piece of pulp entertainment, Till the End of the Night disappoints not because of what...
Perhaps because it was elevated to the Berlinale competition, where it won one of the festival’s gender-neutral supporting actor prizes for Thea Ehre, or perhaps because it seems like it’s going to break new ground in the genre with the central pairing of a gay male cop and a trans female convict. But whatever it is that might bring undue scrutiny to a serviceable piece of pulp entertainment, Till the End of the Night disappoints not because of what...
- 2/27/2023
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
Another example of a tasteful but passionless festival film, Saim Sadiq’s feature debut Joyland errs on the side of arch family drama when its most interesting aspects remain almost in the periphery, promising a much better film. Simply put, what seemed like a modern iteration of Josef von Sternberg’s The Blue Angel should have a little more spice, though sadly such comparison might just be the exact projection a critic makes when frankly bored by a film.
In this modern melodrama we find, residing in the Pakistani city of Lahore, the Rana family, who (while dysfunctional) remain a tight unit. But the most problems arise with our lead, the son Haider (Ali Junejo), who can’t stop getting himself into trouble. Early on, asked to kill a goat to prove his place as a man by his quietly intimidating, wheelchair-bound father (Salmaan Peerzada), he falters and his wife...
In this modern melodrama we find, residing in the Pakistani city of Lahore, the Rana family, who (while dysfunctional) remain a tight unit. But the most problems arise with our lead, the son Haider (Ali Junejo), who can’t stop getting himself into trouble. Early on, asked to kill a goat to prove his place as a man by his quietly intimidating, wheelchair-bound father (Salmaan Peerzada), he falters and his wife...
- 9/20/2022
- by Ethan Vestby
- The Film Stage
The Dog Days Aren’t Over: Graf Puts a New Coat of Paint on the Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic, aka the German Republic, which lasted from 1918 to 1933, is one of the most romanticized periods of a cultural renaissance in literature or cinema. Josef von Sternberg’s The Blue Angel (1930) heralded the rise of Marlene Dietrich, while Christopher Isherwood’s experiences resulted in his Berlin Stories (1945), which gave us the penultimate Cabaret (1972). But this period of chaotic excesses, Germany’s “Golden Twenties,” which mirrored the hedonistic onslaught across the Atlantic with America’s own Roaring Twenties, of course came crashing down into one of the darkest chapters of world history as the Nazi party and Adolf Hitler forever changed our conception of modern man’s capability for hatred and penchant for cruelty.…...
The Weimar Republic, aka the German Republic, which lasted from 1918 to 1933, is one of the most romanticized periods of a cultural renaissance in literature or cinema. Josef von Sternberg’s The Blue Angel (1930) heralded the rise of Marlene Dietrich, while Christopher Isherwood’s experiences resulted in his Berlin Stories (1945), which gave us the penultimate Cabaret (1972). But this period of chaotic excesses, Germany’s “Golden Twenties,” which mirrored the hedonistic onslaught across the Atlantic with America’s own Roaring Twenties, of course came crashing down into one of the darkest chapters of world history as the Nazi party and Adolf Hitler forever changed our conception of modern man’s capability for hatred and penchant for cruelty.…...
- 2/7/2022
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Fremantle, which is at Venice with two films in competition –– Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God” and “America Latina” by Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo –– is ramping up its film side.
The Rtl Group-owned company “that everyone used to associate with [TV franchise] ‘Got Talent’ is becoming one of the biggest independent film production studios in Europe” says its COO Andrea Scrosati.
It’s rising power in feature films isn’t being noticed because of Fremantle’s model of owning a panoply of indie companies, many of which are in Europe, including two in Italy, 12 in the Nordics, German studio UFA and Fiction Valley in the Netherlands.
But “nobody is connecting the dots,” Scrosati says.
Fremantle, besides having some 60 TV series in the works, in 2021 produced 14 movies. Most of these are being made through its Italian labels The Apartment and Wildside; others are via several other European outfits that Fremantle...
The Rtl Group-owned company “that everyone used to associate with [TV franchise] ‘Got Talent’ is becoming one of the biggest independent film production studios in Europe” says its COO Andrea Scrosati.
It’s rising power in feature films isn’t being noticed because of Fremantle’s model of owning a panoply of indie companies, many of which are in Europe, including two in Italy, 12 in the Nordics, German studio UFA and Fiction Valley in the Netherlands.
But “nobody is connecting the dots,” Scrosati says.
Fremantle, besides having some 60 TV series in the works, in 2021 produced 14 movies. Most of these are being made through its Italian labels The Apartment and Wildside; others are via several other European outfits that Fremantle...
- 9/3/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
It’s Marlene Dietrich, before Josef von Sternberg and The Blue Angel — and much of her mystique is already present. This sophisticated German silent observes a precarious, dangerous love triangle. Two men are entranced by the same woman: one deserts his bride on their wedding night and the other may have killed to possess her. Neither seems to get what he wants, yet Dietrich’s ‘woman one longs for’ is not a scheming femme fatale … maybe. The fluid, very modern direction of Curtis Bernhardt will be a revelation — this obscure Marlene Dietrich starrer is a superior piece of filmcraft.
The Woman One Longs For
Blu-ray
Kino Classics
1929 / B&w / 1:33 Silent Ap. / 78 min. / Die Frau, nach der man sich sehnt / Street Date June 8, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Marlene Dietrich, Uno Henning, Fritz Kortner, Frida Richard, Oskar Sima, Karl Etlinger, Bruno Ziener, Edith Edwards.
Cinematography: Curt Courant, Hans Scheib
Art direction:...
The Woman One Longs For
Blu-ray
Kino Classics
1929 / B&w / 1:33 Silent Ap. / 78 min. / Die Frau, nach der man sich sehnt / Street Date June 8, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Marlene Dietrich, Uno Henning, Fritz Kortner, Frida Richard, Oskar Sima, Karl Etlinger, Bruno Ziener, Edith Edwards.
Cinematography: Curt Courant, Hans Scheib
Art direction:...
- 5/22/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
After unveiling the discs that will be arriving in April, including Bong Joon Ho’s Memories of Murder, Olivier Assayas’ Irma Vep, and more, Criterion has now announced what will be coming to their streaming channel next month.
Highlights include retrospectives dedicated to Guy Maddin, Ruby Dee, Lana Turner, and Gordon Parks, plus selections from Marlene Dietrich & Josef von Sternberg’s stellar box set. They will also present the exclusive streaming premieres of Bill Duke’s The Killing Floor, William Greaves’s Nationtime, Kevin Jerome Everson’s Park Lanes, and more.
Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, which recently arrived on the collection, will be landing on the channel as well, along with a special “Lovers on the Run” series including film noir (They Live by Night) to New Hollywood (Badlands) to the French New Wave (Pierrot le fou) to Blaxploitation (Thomasine & Bushrod) and beyond. Also...
Highlights include retrospectives dedicated to Guy Maddin, Ruby Dee, Lana Turner, and Gordon Parks, plus selections from Marlene Dietrich & Josef von Sternberg’s stellar box set. They will also present the exclusive streaming premieres of Bill Duke’s The Killing Floor, William Greaves’s Nationtime, Kevin Jerome Everson’s Park Lanes, and more.
Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, which recently arrived on the collection, will be landing on the channel as well, along with a special “Lovers on the Run” series including film noir (They Live by Night) to New Hollywood (Badlands) to the French New Wave (Pierrot le fou) to Blaxploitation (Thomasine & Bushrod) and beyond. Also...
- 1/26/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
One Shot is a series that seeks to find an essence of cinema history in one single image of a movie. Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel (1930) is showing May 29 - June 28, 2020 in the United States in the series Weimar Cinema.Josef von Sternberg was a mathematician. He invented the formula: looking + a lot of light = passion. The formula seems rather simple but hundreds of variants make it highly complex. In many of his films, including The Blue Angel (1930), light seems to be merely an assistant when it comes to the ever so morally dangerous and beautiful act of seduction. Somebody directs the light as if it were Cupid’s arrow. But who is it? The image of the actress holding a light is clearly a deception. The light is on her. Yet, being not only a mathematician but also a physicist, von Sternberg knew that with light three...
- 5/29/2020
- MUBI
Orson Bean, whose subtle wit made him a staple on television in the 1950s and 1960s, was killed in a pedestrian traffic accident Friday in Venice, Calif. He was 91 and his death was confirmed by the Los Angeles County coroner.
Bean was struck by a car and killed while crossing Venice Boulevard in Venice at 7:35 Pm. A “car coming westbound did not see him and clipped him,” Los Angeles Police Department Captain Brian Wendling told ABC7.
A second driver, who “was distracted by people trying to slow him down” then struck Bean, Wendling said.
Bean was crossing the busy street to get to the Venice Resident Theatre. His wife of 27 years, actress Alley Mills, was reportedly already at the location.
Both drivers remained at the scene and cooperated with police. Investigators have initially said they believe the crash was an accident.
Many remember Bean from his appearances on talk shows,...
Bean was struck by a car and killed while crossing Venice Boulevard in Venice at 7:35 Pm. A “car coming westbound did not see him and clipped him,” Los Angeles Police Department Captain Brian Wendling told ABC7.
A second driver, who “was distracted by people trying to slow him down” then struck Bean, Wendling said.
Bean was crossing the busy street to get to the Venice Resident Theatre. His wife of 27 years, actress Alley Mills, was reportedly already at the location.
Both drivers remained at the scene and cooperated with police. Investigators have initially said they believe the crash was an accident.
Many remember Bean from his appearances on talk shows,...
- 2/8/2020
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
This can’t-lose comedy is ace writer-director Billy Wilder’s first solo directing credit; he and writing partner Charles Brackett concoct a side-splitting crowdpleaser guaranteed to secure his Hollywood future. Ginger Rogers was never more adept, playing a fake 11 year-old in a farce that’s both code-iffy and censor proof; Ray Milland shines as well with the limitlessly clever and witty screenplay. And look out for Diana Lynn, the terrific teenage comedienne that Wilder found before Preston Sturges did.
The Major and the Minor
Blu-ray
Arrow Academy
1942 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 100 min. / Street Date September 24, 2019 / Available from Arrow Video / 39.95
Starring: Ginger Rogers, Ray Milland, Diana Lynn, Rita Johnson, Robert Benchley.
Cinematography: Leo Tover
Film Editor: Doane Harrison
Original Music: Robert Emmett Dolan
Written by Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder from a story and a play by Fanny Kilbourne, Edward Childs Carpenter
Produced by Arthur Hornblow, Jr.
Directed by Billy Wilder
Paramount...
The Major and the Minor
Blu-ray
Arrow Academy
1942 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 100 min. / Street Date September 24, 2019 / Available from Arrow Video / 39.95
Starring: Ginger Rogers, Ray Milland, Diana Lynn, Rita Johnson, Robert Benchley.
Cinematography: Leo Tover
Film Editor: Doane Harrison
Original Music: Robert Emmett Dolan
Written by Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder from a story and a play by Fanny Kilbourne, Edward Childs Carpenter
Produced by Arthur Hornblow, Jr.
Directed by Billy Wilder
Paramount...
- 9/28/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Mexico’s Arturo Ripstein, who began his career as an A.D. on Luis Buñuel’s 1962 “The Exterminating Angel,” is back, bringing his latest collaboration with screenwriter Paz Alicia Garciadiego, a black and white film that picks up on most all of the director’s hallmarks.
A weighty drama, “Devil Between the Legs” dives from the get-go into unsettling territory as it follows the strained relationship of a married couple in their old age that struggles between desire, jealousy, violence and love. Beatriz (skillfully portrayed by Sylvia Pasquel) endures the wrath of her husband (Alejandro Suárez) while playing along to fulfill his fantasies. This dark love relationship unspools in the confines of a shabby house under the gaze of a maid. The film, that plays with a 19th century Spanish and high high-contrast cinematography, eludes naturalism to deliver a reminder of the complexities of human relationships in a modern world...
A weighty drama, “Devil Between the Legs” dives from the get-go into unsettling territory as it follows the strained relationship of a married couple in their old age that struggles between desire, jealousy, violence and love. Beatriz (skillfully portrayed by Sylvia Pasquel) endures the wrath of her husband (Alejandro Suárez) while playing along to fulfill his fantasies. This dark love relationship unspools in the confines of a shabby house under the gaze of a maid. The film, that plays with a 19th century Spanish and high high-contrast cinematography, eludes naturalism to deliver a reminder of the complexities of human relationships in a modern world...
- 9/12/2019
- by Emiliano Granada
- Variety Film + TV
A Look Back: Murnau’s ‘Faust’A fun evening with friends including my friend Christa Lang Fuller, who introduced me to the 96 year old former actress Noreen Nash, (see blog) not too long ago. Christa hosted an evening with Justin from the Academy Museum, from next door and French American producer Martine Melloul and me to watch the vintage film ‘Faust’.
Christa is my age, German born, and was a young actress in Paris when she met the director Sam Fuller. At 23 she married him and eventually they left Paris for the U.S. They had a daughter, Samantha and she has a daughter, Samia. Sam died in 1997 and so the three women live in a beautiful warm and welcoming home on Woodrow Wilson Drive.
Christa has a sort of salon and along with her stories she feeds us food in abundance. This time Justin from the Academy Museum brought...
Christa is my age, German born, and was a young actress in Paris when she met the director Sam Fuller. At 23 she married him and eventually they left Paris for the U.S. They had a daughter, Samantha and she has a daughter, Samia. Sam died in 1997 and so the three women live in a beautiful warm and welcoming home on Woodrow Wilson Drive.
Christa has a sort of salon and along with her stories she feeds us food in abundance. This time Justin from the Academy Museum brought...
- 7/30/2019
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday.
This week’s question: What is the worst performance by a great actor you usually love?
Carlos Aguilar (@Carlos_Film), The Wrap, Remezcla, MovieMaker Magazine
Collectively, Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna have been enlisted to enhance films by Almodovar, Spielberg, Larraín, Korine, and, of course, Alfonso Cuarón; in addition to many more efforts by the world’s leading directors. Both have also tried their hand at directing, with Luna having a more notable run behind the camera, and more recently basked in the attention of worldwide mainstream success in the form of “Coco” and “Rogue One.”
Yet, buried underneath that steady stream of good marks and auteur-driven opportunities, most of which this critic has been a champion of, is “Casa de Mi Padre.” Matt Piedmont’s debut feature, a Spanish-language satire starring Will Ferrell,...
This week’s question: What is the worst performance by a great actor you usually love?
Carlos Aguilar (@Carlos_Film), The Wrap, Remezcla, MovieMaker Magazine
Collectively, Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna have been enlisted to enhance films by Almodovar, Spielberg, Larraín, Korine, and, of course, Alfonso Cuarón; in addition to many more efforts by the world’s leading directors. Both have also tried their hand at directing, with Luna having a more notable run behind the camera, and more recently basked in the attention of worldwide mainstream success in the form of “Coco” and “Rogue One.”
Yet, buried underneath that steady stream of good marks and auteur-driven opportunities, most of which this critic has been a champion of, is “Casa de Mi Padre.” Matt Piedmont’s debut feature, a Spanish-language satire starring Will Ferrell,...
- 1/14/2019
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Ingmar Bergman’s ‘sad comedy’ finds desperation and adultery in his favorite milieu, the theater. He also gets to contrast the self-important thespians with those dubious circus nomads, even as both groups are shunned by civilian society.
Sawdust and Tinsel
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 412
1953 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 92 min. / Gycklarnas afton / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date December 18, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Ake Grönberg, Harriet Andersson, Hasse Ekman, Anders Ek, Gudrun Brost, Annika Tretow, Erik Strandmark, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Curt Löwgren, Kiki.
Cinematography: Hilding Bladh, Sven Nykvist
Film Editor: Carl-Olov Skeppstedt
Original Music: Karl-Birger Blomdahl
Produced by Rune Waldekranz
Written and Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Criterion just issued a monster gift box of their entire collection of Ingmar Bergman films on Blu-ray, but they’re also continuing with single releases of the Swedish maestro’s classic titles. Step back before 1957 or so, and one will find more variety of tone in Bergman’s output.
Sawdust and Tinsel
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 412
1953 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 92 min. / Gycklarnas afton / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date December 18, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Ake Grönberg, Harriet Andersson, Hasse Ekman, Anders Ek, Gudrun Brost, Annika Tretow, Erik Strandmark, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Curt Löwgren, Kiki.
Cinematography: Hilding Bladh, Sven Nykvist
Film Editor: Carl-Olov Skeppstedt
Original Music: Karl-Birger Blomdahl
Produced by Rune Waldekranz
Written and Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Criterion just issued a monster gift box of their entire collection of Ingmar Bergman films on Blu-ray, but they’re also continuing with single releases of the Swedish maestro’s classic titles. Step back before 1957 or so, and one will find more variety of tone in Bergman’s output.
- 12/11/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“Light, Shadow, And Marlene”
By Raymond Benson
I love it when The Criterion Collection produces a lavish boxed set containing multiple features, an abundance of supplements, and a thick and illustrated booklet. What better collection is there than one featuring the six Hollywood films made between 1930 and 1935 by Josef von Sternberg and starring the exquisite Marlene Dietrich? Hats off to producer Issa Clubb for overseeing what could be one of Criterion’s better products.
These adventure-romances showcased a star who immediately defined the word “exotic”—a German-born, English-speaking, beautiful, sultry, seductress who could act, sing, and dance. Like Greta Garbo, who had arrived in Hollywood during the silent era, Marlene Dietrich exhibited a European mystery to American audiences of the early Depression years. Her self-styled gender-bending wardrobes and mannerisms, her sometimes ambiguous but often overt sexuality, and her allure of “knowing something we didn’t” made her an overnight star…...
By Raymond Benson
I love it when The Criterion Collection produces a lavish boxed set containing multiple features, an abundance of supplements, and a thick and illustrated booklet. What better collection is there than one featuring the six Hollywood films made between 1930 and 1935 by Josef von Sternberg and starring the exquisite Marlene Dietrich? Hats off to producer Issa Clubb for overseeing what could be one of Criterion’s better products.
These adventure-romances showcased a star who immediately defined the word “exotic”—a German-born, English-speaking, beautiful, sultry, seductress who could act, sing, and dance. Like Greta Garbo, who had arrived in Hollywood during the silent era, Marlene Dietrich exhibited a European mystery to American audiences of the early Depression years. Her self-styled gender-bending wardrobes and mannerisms, her sometimes ambiguous but often overt sexuality, and her allure of “knowing something we didn’t” made her an overnight star…...
- 7/6/2018
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Delirious silver-screen glamour never disappoints! Marlene Dietrich’s six Paramount pictures for Josef von Sternberg arrive in a beautifully annotated disc set. The most creative director-muse relationship of the 1930s created an all-conquering German siren-goddess, a screen icon vom kopf bis fuss.
Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood
Blu-ray
Morocco, Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress, The Devil is a Woman
The Criterion Collection 930
1930-1035 / B&W / 1:19 Movietone (2), 1:37 flat Academy (3) / 542 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date July 3, 2018 / 124.95
Starring: Marlene Dietrich, Gary Cooper, Victor McLaglen, Clive Brook, Herbert Marshall, Cary Grant, Sam Jaffe, Lionel Atwill, Cesar Romero.
Directed by Josef von Sternberg
Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood assembles a package we’ve long desired, a quality set of the duo’s highly artistic Paramount pictures from the first half of the 1930s. The Scarlet Empress arrived in a sub-par Criterion disc early in 2001, and three more...
Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood
Blu-ray
Morocco, Dishonored, Shanghai Express, Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress, The Devil is a Woman
The Criterion Collection 930
1930-1035 / B&W / 1:19 Movietone (2), 1:37 flat Academy (3) / 542 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date July 3, 2018 / 124.95
Starring: Marlene Dietrich, Gary Cooper, Victor McLaglen, Clive Brook, Herbert Marshall, Cary Grant, Sam Jaffe, Lionel Atwill, Cesar Romero.
Directed by Josef von Sternberg
Dietrich & von Sternberg in Hollywood assembles a package we’ve long desired, a quality set of the duo’s highly artistic Paramount pictures from the first half of the 1930s. The Scarlet Empress arrived in a sub-par Criterion disc early in 2001, and three more...
- 6/30/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Cannes 1968: The Year Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut Led Protests That Shut Down The Festival
Saturday May 18. The 1968 Cannes Film Festival was about to enter its second week when a press conference was called for 10Am in the Jean Cocteau Theater at the old Palais Croisette. Just a few yards down the road, a budding starlet was preparing to hold court on the beach, imagining she would make headlines with her saucy topless photo-call. No one came. Instead, on a bright, sunny day, the world’s media was crammed into a small, stuffy screening room, watching the festival implode.
Taking the stage and representing themselves as The Cinémathèque Defence Committee were French New Wave stalwarts Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, the former known for his increasingly radical politicization, the latter not, which made what he was about to say all the more surprising. France, said Truffaut, was in a state of siege, after a spate of recent student protests had escalated into nationwide strikes and violent rioting.
Taking the stage and representing themselves as The Cinémathèque Defence Committee were French New Wave stalwarts Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, the former known for his increasingly radical politicization, the latter not, which made what he was about to say all the more surprising. France, said Truffaut, was in a state of siege, after a spate of recent student protests had escalated into nationwide strikes and violent rioting.
- 5/18/2018
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
Stanley Tucci and Addison Timlin, in Submission. Photo courtesy of Great Point Media/Paladin (c)
Writer/director Richard Levine’s film Submission is being promoted as a modern updating of the novel “The Blue Angel.” The book was famously adapted into a 1930 film The Blue Angel by director Josef von Sternberg, a film which made Marlene Dietrich an international star.
In the Dietrich film, a straight-laced, aging professor becomes enamored with a beautiful young singer (Dietrich) in a local nightclub called the Blue Angel. The professor’s obsession with the singer has disastrous results, particularly for him. This forbidden passion is particularly risky for a man expected to set a moral example for his pupils, so he tries to keep it hidden lest he lose his livelihood and reputation, but he is under a compulsion he can’t resist.
In this updated version, the man is still a professor but...
Writer/director Richard Levine’s film Submission is being promoted as a modern updating of the novel “The Blue Angel.” The book was famously adapted into a 1930 film The Blue Angel by director Josef von Sternberg, a film which made Marlene Dietrich an international star.
In the Dietrich film, a straight-laced, aging professor becomes enamored with a beautiful young singer (Dietrich) in a local nightclub called the Blue Angel. The professor’s obsession with the singer has disastrous results, particularly for him. This forbidden passion is particularly risky for a man expected to set a moral example for his pupils, so he tries to keep it hidden lest he lose his livelihood and reputation, but he is under a compulsion he can’t resist.
In this updated version, the man is still a professor but...
- 3/9/2018
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Kayti Burt Feb 2, 2018
Stanley Tucci is headlining Seduction, a film about a college professor and his student. Here's the first trailer...
The first trailer for Submission, a film about a male college professor and his younger, female student, has just hit the web.
Stanley Tucci stars alongside Addison Timlin, Kyra Sedgwick, Janeane Garofalo, and Peter Gallagher in a story that follows Ted Swenson (Tucci), a writer and professor at a small liberal arts college. When one of his creative writing students, Angelo Argo (Timlin), begins to write a story about a young woman embarking on a sexual relationship with her professor, the lines between their relationship begins to blur.
Video of Submission Starring Stanley Tucci - Trailer
In many ways, this seems like a timely film, but from the looks of the trailer, which asks the question who is the victim and who is the victimizer in this situation, it...
Stanley Tucci is headlining Seduction, a film about a college professor and his student. Here's the first trailer...
The first trailer for Submission, a film about a male college professor and his younger, female student, has just hit the web.
Stanley Tucci stars alongside Addison Timlin, Kyra Sedgwick, Janeane Garofalo, and Peter Gallagher in a story that follows Ted Swenson (Tucci), a writer and professor at a small liberal arts college. When one of his creative writing students, Angelo Argo (Timlin), begins to write a story about a young woman embarking on a sexual relationship with her professor, the lines between their relationship begins to blur.
Video of Submission Starring Stanley Tucci - Trailer
In many ways, this seems like a timely film, but from the looks of the trailer, which asks the question who is the victim and who is the victimizer in this situation, it...
- 2/1/2018
- Den of Geek
Take a trip into the depths of German silent film in a documentary that links expressionist cinema with dark political undercurrents. Director Rüdiger Suchsland’s essay adapts a famous & worthy but slightly outdated book, yet is an excellent overview of movies in the Weimar period.
From Caligari to Hitler: German Cinema in the Age of the Masses
DVD
Kino Lorber
2014 / Color & B&W / 1:78 widescreen / 118 min. / Von Caligari zu Hitler: Das deutsche Kino im Zeitalter der Massen / Street Date January 9, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber Video Store / 29.95
Starring: Rüdiger Suchsland (voice), Hans Henrik Wöhler (voice), Fritz Lang (voice), Volker Schlöndorff, Fatih Akin, Thomas Elsaesser, Eric D. Weitz, Elisabeth Bronfen.
Cinematography: Frank Reimann, Harald Schmuck
Film Editor: Katja Dringenberg
Original Music: Henrik Albrecht, Michael Hartmann
Written by Rüdiger Suchsland, from the book by Siegfried Kracauer
Produced by Martina Haubrich
Directed by Rüdiger Suchsland
I’ve always sought out good documentaries about films...
From Caligari to Hitler: German Cinema in the Age of the Masses
DVD
Kino Lorber
2014 / Color & B&W / 1:78 widescreen / 118 min. / Von Caligari zu Hitler: Das deutsche Kino im Zeitalter der Massen / Street Date January 9, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber Video Store / 29.95
Starring: Rüdiger Suchsland (voice), Hans Henrik Wöhler (voice), Fritz Lang (voice), Volker Schlöndorff, Fatih Akin, Thomas Elsaesser, Eric D. Weitz, Elisabeth Bronfen.
Cinematography: Frank Reimann, Harald Schmuck
Film Editor: Katja Dringenberg
Original Music: Henrik Albrecht, Michael Hartmann
Written by Rüdiger Suchsland, from the book by Siegfried Kracauer
Produced by Martina Haubrich
Directed by Rüdiger Suchsland
I’ve always sought out good documentaries about films...
- 1/16/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Philip French’s screen legends: No 21
‘I am not a myth,’ she said - one of her least convincing statements. Born in Berlin, the daughter of a military family, she broke on to the international scene with the coming of sound as the nightclub performer Lola Lola, humiliating and destroying schoolteacher Emil Jannings in The Blue Angel (1930), a role on which she was to play variations for the rest of her life. The film was directed in Berlin by Joseph von Sternberg, the Hollywood aristocrat born into a working-class Jewish family in Vienna. Both self-creations, their conspiratorial Svengali-Trilby relationship continued back in the Us with six exotic, erotic melodramas at Paramount, in which exquisite decor accompanied the subversion of social decorum. Most of the films were produced before the Hollywood code was strictly enforced. Blonde Venus (1932), for instance, begins with Marlene and five other fräuleins bathing in the nude observed by six American hikers.
‘I am not a myth,’ she said - one of her least convincing statements. Born in Berlin, the daughter of a military family, she broke on to the international scene with the coming of sound as the nightclub performer Lola Lola, humiliating and destroying schoolteacher Emil Jannings in The Blue Angel (1930), a role on which she was to play variations for the rest of her life. The film was directed in Berlin by Joseph von Sternberg, the Hollywood aristocrat born into a working-class Jewish family in Vienna. Both self-creations, their conspiratorial Svengali-Trilby relationship continued back in the Us with six exotic, erotic melodramas at Paramount, in which exquisite decor accompanied the subversion of social decorum. Most of the films were produced before the Hollywood code was strictly enforced. Blonde Venus (1932), for instance, begins with Marlene and five other fräuleins bathing in the nude observed by six American hikers.
- 12/27/2017
- by Guardian Staff
- The Guardian - Film News
The cream of German Expressionist filmmaking of the 1920s is increasingly accessible to modern audiences. The curated restoration of F.W. Murnau’s expressionist masterpiece is a beauty — we finally can experience the film in its full original form.
The Last Laugh
Blu-ray
Kino Lorber Kino Classics
1924 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 90 min. / Der letze mann / Street Date November 14, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring: Emil Jannings, Georg John.
Cinematography: Karl Freund
Film Editor: Elfi Böttrich
Production Design: Edgar G. Ulmer
Original Music: Giuseppe Becce
Written by Carl Mayer
Produced by Erich Pommer
Directed by F. W. Murnau
Back in the early 1970s film school professors had limited resources. They lectured, assigned readings from a short list of authoritative film scholars and screened 16mm prints of renowned world classics. The only problem is that it was often difficult to correlate the classics described in the texts with the ragged film prints available.
The Last Laugh
Blu-ray
Kino Lorber Kino Classics
1924 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 90 min. / Der letze mann / Street Date November 14, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring: Emil Jannings, Georg John.
Cinematography: Karl Freund
Film Editor: Elfi Böttrich
Production Design: Edgar G. Ulmer
Original Music: Giuseppe Becce
Written by Carl Mayer
Produced by Erich Pommer
Directed by F. W. Murnau
Back in the early 1970s film school professors had limited resources. They lectured, assigned readings from a short list of authoritative film scholars and screened 16mm prints of renowned world classics. The only problem is that it was often difficult to correlate the classics described in the texts with the ragged film prints available.
- 11/14/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Film culture moves awfully fast sometimes. I had never even heard of The Saga of Anatahan when the New Beverly here in Los Angeles showed it (under the title Ana-ta-han) about a year and a half ago on 16mm. It being Josef von Sternberg’s final feature, it was paired with another not-on-dvd title of his, The King Steps Out (1936). Now here we are, Anatahan has toured in a full restoration and is now available on Blu-ray for all to see. The somewhat-superior The King Steps Out has not yet had its day, sadly, but I’m glad for any von Sternberg on Blu in general, and for the chance to revisit and further consider this sincerely odd film.
Von Sternberg was born to a Jewish family in Vienna, emigrated to the United States when he was seven, then back to Vienna three years later, and back to the United States three years after that.
Von Sternberg was born to a Jewish family in Vienna, emigrated to the United States when he was seven, then back to Vienna three years later, and back to the United States three years after that.
- 9/10/2017
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1972 / 1:85 / Street Date July 18th, 2017
Starring: Woody Allen, Gene Wilder, Tony Randall, Burt Reynolds
Cinematography: David M. Walsh
Film Editor: Eric Albertson
Written by Woody Allen
Produced by Jack Brodsky, Elliott Gould
Music: Mundell Lowe
Directed by Woody Allen
A how-to book for fledgling libertines, David Reuben’s bestselling Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask) was the kind of sex manual that could remain on the coffee table when the in-laws arrived. An everyman’s guide to the birds and the bees, it ambled through its range of racy topics, from sodomy, cunnilingus to, um, plastic surgery for the genitalia, with both commonsensical and alarmingly retrograde attitudes, dispensing its advice with all the excitement of an insurance agent’s visit. When Woody Allen was given the opportunity to adapt it,...
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1972 / 1:85 / Street Date July 18th, 2017
Starring: Woody Allen, Gene Wilder, Tony Randall, Burt Reynolds
Cinematography: David M. Walsh
Film Editor: Eric Albertson
Written by Woody Allen
Produced by Jack Brodsky, Elliott Gould
Music: Mundell Lowe
Directed by Woody Allen
A how-to book for fledgling libertines, David Reuben’s bestselling Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask) was the kind of sex manual that could remain on the coffee table when the in-laws arrived. An everyman’s guide to the birds and the bees, it ambled through its range of racy topics, from sodomy, cunnilingus to, um, plastic surgery for the genitalia, with both commonsensical and alarmingly retrograde attitudes, dispensing its advice with all the excitement of an insurance agent’s visit. When Woody Allen was given the opportunity to adapt it,...
- 9/2/2017
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Eureka! Entertainment has announced the latest titles to join its revered Masters of Cinema label, with highlights including Josef von Sternberg’s The Saga of Anatahan and Naomi Kawase’s The Mourning Forest. The last film directed by von Sternberg, already in the collection with The Blue Angel and The Last Command, The Saga of Anatahan (also known as simply Anatahan) is the story of 12 Japanese soldiers, marooned on a remote island during WWII, who tear each other apart over control of two pistols and a beautiful local woman. The film will be receive a dual-format release on 14 August. Cannes darling Naomi Kawase won the Grand Prix in 2007 for The Mourning Forest, the story of a bereaved care-giver (Machiko Ono) who embarks...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 6/10/2017
- Screen Anarchy
Take one fiercely individual auteur fed up with the Hollywood game, put him in Kyoto with a full Japanese film company, and the result is a picture critics have been trying to figure out ever since. It’s a realistic story told in a highly artificial visual style, in un-subtitled Japanese. And its writer-director intended it to play for American audiences.
The Saga of Anatahan
Blu-ray
Kino Lorber
1953 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 91 min. / Anatahan, Ana-ta-han / Street Date April 25, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring: Akemi Negishi, Tadashi Suganuma, Kisaburo Sawamura, Shoji Nakayama, Jun Fujikawa, Hiroshi Kondo, Shozo Miyashita, Tsuruemon Bando, Kikuji Onoe, Rokuriro Kineya, Daijiro Tamura, Chizuru Kitagawa, Takeshi Suzuki, Shiro Amikura.
Cinematography: Josef von Sternberg, Kozo Okazaki
Film Editor: Mitsuzo Miyata
Original Music: Akira Ifukube
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Written by Josef von Sternberg from the novel by Michiro Maruyama & Younghill Kang
Produced by Kazuo Takimura
Directed by Josef von Sternberg...
The Saga of Anatahan
Blu-ray
Kino Lorber
1953 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 91 min. / Anatahan, Ana-ta-han / Street Date April 25, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring: Akemi Negishi, Tadashi Suganuma, Kisaburo Sawamura, Shoji Nakayama, Jun Fujikawa, Hiroshi Kondo, Shozo Miyashita, Tsuruemon Bando, Kikuji Onoe, Rokuriro Kineya, Daijiro Tamura, Chizuru Kitagawa, Takeshi Suzuki, Shiro Amikura.
Cinematography: Josef von Sternberg, Kozo Okazaki
Film Editor: Mitsuzo Miyata
Original Music: Akira Ifukube
Special Effects: Eiji Tsuburaya
Written by Josef von Sternberg from the novel by Michiro Maruyama & Younghill Kang
Produced by Kazuo Takimura
Directed by Josef von Sternberg...
- 4/11/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Noah Baumbach has never seen “Withnail and I.” Kenneth Lonergan has always wanted to see “Yi Yi.” Sandra Bernhard hasn’t had the chance to catch “Lola.” As part of New York City’s Quad Cinema’s newly announced “First Encounters” screening series, they (and more creative types) are going to finally remedy that — and they’d like you to join them.
The newly revamped four-screen theater — set to reopen in less than in a month — has announced the first lineup of their newest series, which sees notable New Yorkers (helped by programmers Christopher Wells and Gavin Smith) picking a film they’ve never seen (but have always wanted to) to show on the big screen, complete with a post-showing Q&A with the rest of audience.
Check out the first official lineup for First Encounters below, with descriptions and other information provided by Quad Cinema.
Read More: New York...
The newly revamped four-screen theater — set to reopen in less than in a month — has announced the first lineup of their newest series, which sees notable New Yorkers (helped by programmers Christopher Wells and Gavin Smith) picking a film they’ve never seen (but have always wanted to) to show on the big screen, complete with a post-showing Q&A with the rest of audience.
Check out the first official lineup for First Encounters below, with descriptions and other information provided by Quad Cinema.
Read More: New York...
- 3/20/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Allied (Robert Zemeckis)
That thing we can’t take for granted: a film whose many parts – period piece, war picture, blood-spattered actioner, deception-fueled espionage thriller, sexy romance, and, at certain turns, comedy – can gracefully move in conjunction and separate from each other, just as its labyrinthine-but-not-quite plot jumps from one setpiece to the next with little trouble in maintaining a consistency of overall pleasure. Another late-career triumph for Robert Zemeckis,...
Allied (Robert Zemeckis)
That thing we can’t take for granted: a film whose many parts – period piece, war picture, blood-spattered actioner, deception-fueled espionage thriller, sexy romance, and, at certain turns, comedy – can gracefully move in conjunction and separate from each other, just as its labyrinthine-but-not-quite plot jumps from one setpiece to the next with little trouble in maintaining a consistency of overall pleasure. Another late-career triumph for Robert Zemeckis,...
- 2/17/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
The twentieth entry in an on-going series of audiovisual essays by Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin. Mubi will be showing Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel (1930) from February 14 - March 16, 2017 in the United States.The Blue Angel (1930) is a film that stands at many, superimposed crossroads. It represents a transition between the expressive language of silent cinema and the new technology of sound cinema. Before the reign of dubbing took hold around the world, it was a heroic instance of a project shot in two different language versions (German and English) simultaneously. It juxtaposes two very different sorts of acting performance: the expressive histrionics of Emil Jannings, characteristic of the silent period, and the more understated naturalness of its rising star, Marlene Dietrich. In its drama, it plays out the clash, and the changeover, between an institutionalized form of high, literary culture (as transmitted in Professor Rath’s classroom), and the unruly,...
- 2/14/2017
- MUBI
Island of Lost Souls: Von Sternberg’s Lost Post-Colonial Swan Song Resurrected
Best remembered for his indelible string of films starring Marlene Dietrich in the early 1930s, from their iconic 1930 breakthrough The Blue Angel to the string of English language films which ended in their sixth title, 1935’s The Devil is a Woman, Austrian import Josef Von Sternberg’s tortured filmography following the dissolution of his relationship with his muse are all items which have, for the most part, fallen into obscurity.
Continue reading...
Best remembered for his indelible string of films starring Marlene Dietrich in the early 1930s, from their iconic 1930 breakthrough The Blue Angel to the string of English language films which ended in their sixth title, 1935’s The Devil is a Woman, Austrian import Josef Von Sternberg’s tortured filmography following the dissolution of his relationship with his muse are all items which have, for the most part, fallen into obscurity.
Continue reading...
- 2/5/2017
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Kino Lorber is issuing a new 2K restoration of Josef von Sternberg’s final film “Anatahan“ in theaters next month. Von Sternberg was a prominent figure in the late silent-movie era of the ’20s and transitioned easily to sound pictures. In his 1930 film, “The Blue Angel,” he introduced Marlene Dietrich to the world; they would collaborate together on six more pictures, including “Morocco” (1930), “Blonde Venus” (1932) and “The Devil Is A Woman” (1935).
Continue reading The War Isn’t Over In Trailer For Josef von Sternberg’s Newly Restored ‘Anatahan’ at The Playlist.
Continue reading The War Isn’t Over In Trailer For Josef von Sternberg’s Newly Restored ‘Anatahan’ at The Playlist.
- 1/25/2017
- by Christian Gallichio
- The Playlist
Recommended Viewing Paul Thomas Anderson has directed a relaxed, plaintive music video for Radiohead's "The Numbers."The teaser trailer for Olivier Assayas and Kristen Stewart's truly odd-ball psychic thriller-melodrama, Personal Shopper.The teaser trailer for the second biopic directed by Pablo Larraín this year, Jackie, starring Natalie Portman. Tag Gallagher makes some of the very best video essays around, rich in detailed analysis and poetics. Here is his video dedicated to the silent films of The Blue Angel director, Josef von Sternberg. Chinese mega-director Feng Xiaogang (Aftershock) won top prize, the Golden Shell, as well as Best Actress, at the San Sebastien Film Festival last month, and we're super intrigued by this irised (!) trailer.We think Jim Jarmusch's Paterson is one of the best films of the year. Amazon has cut an unexpectedly lovely trailer for it, though—warning—it has some minor spoilers throughout.Okay, this isn't exactly a film,...
- 10/6/2016
- MUBI
Utilizing a tremendous premise in the most laborious way possible, Josef von Sternberg’s The Last Command has to rank among his least dynamic and interesting films. Taking inspiration from an actual Russian general who fled the motherland and was forced to work as a day-player extra in early Hollywood, the 1928 film only treats its present-day setting as a framing device to house a too-familiar tale. Sergius Alexander (Emil Jannings), grand duke and army commander, had a special fervor for quashing revolutionary movements, but, as he’s living on the brink of the Russian Revolution, this task is sure to overwhelm him. Stretching this exposition across an hour of screentime, even someone of Sternberg’s genius cannot find purchase in anything of interest. There’s nothing distinctive about Sergius’s fall from glory, nor the manner in which he wields his power. Nothing in this section is a fraction as...
- 8/12/2016
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
While cinema is moving pictures, language and dialogue play an essential role in the unfolding of most films. Dialogue is used to reveal character, plot, and exposition. It can be used as a masking device or as clear explanation. But what happens when dialogue is translated to another language? The image remains the same, but the voices or words change. Is authenticity lost, or is laziness in translation the prime issue?
This video essay by Fandor Keyframe delves into the odd practice of dubbing and subtitling, where more often than not, liberties are taken. In an example from Stalker, the English dub replaces the Russian dialogue with a vocal delivery that sounds more akin to a science audiobook than a film performance. Similarly, an example from Belle du Jour shows complete changes to dialogue between the original French writing and the English dub (“the scent of decay?”).
Of particular interest is the essayists conviction that animation is easier to accept when translated than live action. He ruminates on why this is with an example from My Neighbor Totoro, with no concrete answer. One conclusion he does arrive at is this: the only thing in cinema you can trust is the image.
Watch the full essay below, including examples from Aguirre: Wrath of God, The Blue Angel, and of course, Lost in Translation.
This video essay by Fandor Keyframe delves into the odd practice of dubbing and subtitling, where more often than not, liberties are taken. In an example from Stalker, the English dub replaces the Russian dialogue with a vocal delivery that sounds more akin to a science audiobook than a film performance. Similarly, an example from Belle du Jour shows complete changes to dialogue between the original French writing and the English dub (“the scent of decay?”).
Of particular interest is the essayists conviction that animation is easier to accept when translated than live action. He ruminates on why this is with an example from My Neighbor Totoro, with no concrete answer. One conclusion he does arrive at is this: the only thing in cinema you can trust is the image.
Watch the full essay below, including examples from Aguirre: Wrath of God, The Blue Angel, and of course, Lost in Translation.
- 6/16/2016
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
The Nazis can't even keep the National Socialist propaganda out of a simple science fiction fable. Hans Albers is the Aryan King Midas as a scientist, and gorgeous Brigitte Helm the Englishwoman who thinks he's peachy keen. The climax is pure Sci-Fi heaven, an unstable 'Atomic Fracturing' installation, wa-ay deep down in a mineshaft under the ocean. Gold (1934) Blu-ray Kino Classics 1934 / B&W / 1:33 flat Full Frame / 117 min. / Street Date June 14, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Hans Albers, Friedrich Kayßler, Brigitte Helm, Michael Bohnen, Ernst Karchow, Lien Deyers, Eberhard Leithoff, Rudolf Platte. Cinematography Otto Baecker, Werner Bohne, Günther Rittau Art Direction Otto Hunte Film Editor Wolfgang Becker Original Music Hans-Otto Borgmann Written by Rolf E. Vanloo Produced by Alfred Zeisler Directed by Karl Hartl
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The Hardy Encyclopedia of Science Fiction still teases Sci-fi fans that want to see everything listed in its pages. Thankfully, videodisc companies catering to collectors make possible the sale of titles that might never show up on some (authorized) streaming service. Video disc has brought us the original Der Schweigende Stern and Alraune from Germany, and I hope to someday see good copies of Kurt Siodmak and Karl Hartl's F.P. 1 Does Not Answer and the Harry Piel Sci-fi trilogy An Invisible Man Roams the City, The World Unmasked (an X-ray television camera) and Master of the World (a robot with a death ray). I've read about Karl Hartl's 1934 Gold for at least fifty years, since John Baxter's Science Fiction in the Cinema told us (not quite correctly) that its final reel had been borrowed for the conclusion of Ivan Tors' 1953 Sci-fi picture The Magnetic Monster. As it turns out, Kino is releasing both movies in the same week. Sometimes referred to as the Nazi Metropolis, Hartl's Gold is a follow-up to the director's very successful F.P.1. Does Not Answer, a spy thriller about a fantastic airport in the mid-Atlantic called Floating Platform One. Both pictures were filmed in simultaneous foreign versions to maximize the box office take. The German original of F.P. 1 starred matinee idol Hans Albers (The Blue Angel) Sybille Schmitz (Vampyr) and Peter Lorre, while a concurrent French version used Charles Boyer, Danièle Parola and Pierre Brasseur. A third English version starred Conrad Veidt, Jill Esmond and Donald Calthrop. The French version starred Brigitte Helm in the same role, but star Hans Albers reportedly rebelled at making two movies for the price of one. According to reports, the exceedingly expensive Gold was in production for fifteen months. We can see the cost immediately in the enormous main set for the 'atomic fracturing' machine built to transmute lead into gold. Otto Hunte and Günther Rittau designed and filmed special effects for Metropolis and the impressive set is very much in the same style. Off the top of my head I can't think of any technical apparatus quite so elaborate (and solid-looking) built for a film until the 1960s and Ken Adam's outlandish settings for UA's James Bond films. Writer Rolf E. Vanloo had worked on the silent classic Asphalt and is the sole writer credited on the popular Marlene Dietrich vehicle I Kiss Your Hand, Madame. His screenplay for Gold is tight and credible, even if its theme is even more simplistic than -- and somewhat similar to -- that of Thea von Harbou for Metropolis. Scientist Werner Holk (Hans Albers) aids the visionary Professor Achenbach (Friedrich Kayßler) in testing what looks like an electric atom smasher. The experiment: to turn lead into gold. The 'Atomic Fracturer' explodes, killing the old genius, whose work is discredited. Holk barely survives, thanks to a blood transfusion from his faithful girlfriend Margit Moller (Lien Deyers). When agents for the fabulously wealthy Englishman John Wills (Michael Bohnen) contact Holk, he realizes that the experiment was sabotaged. Werner allows himself to be taken to a fabulous yacht and from there to a Scottish castle, where, hundreds of feet under the ocean, Wills has constructed his own, far larger atom smasher with plans stolen from Achenbach. Split between his need for revenge and a desire to prove the dead Achenbach's theories, Holk goes through with the experiment. Wills' daughter Florence (Brigitte Helm), a gorgeous playgirl, is attracted to the German visitor, Holk finds that the workers' foreman, Schwarz (Rudolf Platte) is of a like mind on economic issues. But Wills' engineer Harris (Eberhard Leithoff) is jealous of Holk's talent, and cannot be trusted. Gold begins by repeating the 'big money hostile takeover of science' theme from Fritz Lang's Frau im mond: a pioneering German scientific exploit is siezed by an unscrupulous international business entity. The unspoken message is that the weakened Germany is being cheated in the world economy because it lacks the resources to exploit its superior technology. The avaricious John Wills makes big financial decisions all day long. There's no gray area in this conflict, as Wells murders, steals and spies on people to get what he wants. We've seen his ruthless agents wreck Achenbach's original, modest experiment. This 'England plays dirty' theme mirrors Germany's bitterness toward England for at least the better part of a century of colonial, naval and financial competition. Versailles and WW1 aren't mentioned, but that had to be on the minds of the audience as well: Germany innovates and works hard, but is consistently handed a raw deal. The scenes with the sleek, fascinating Brigitte Helm would be better if they went somewhere; her Florence does what she can to entice Herr Holk but withdraws when he declares his love for his faithful girl back home, the one whose life blood now flows in his veins. 'Das Blut' cannot be dishonored, even if Holk is half convinced that Wills is going to have him murdered after the giant machine starts turning out Gold by the ton. Act Two instead becomes a conflict between Big Capitalism and the lowly-but-virtuous Working Man. Down in the underground warren of tunnels (another Metropolis parallel) Wills' Scottish workforce of sandhogs and technicians side with Holk against their boss. After a preliminary test yields a tiny bit of gold, we get the expected montages of worldwide economic panic, standard material in socially oriented sci-fi as diverse as La fin du monde and Red Planet Mars. Wells plans to grow rich by flooding the world with his artificially produced gold, a strategy that will have to be explained to me. Gold is the world's standard of value precisely because it's rare; it can't be printed up like money. Thirty years later, the surprisingly sophisticated scheme of Auric Goldfinger is to increase the value of his stash of gold bullion by rendering America's gold reserves radioactive, and therefore worthless. If scarcity raises the value of the element, making more should do the opposite. (On the other hand, what about artificial diamonds? Is there any correspondence there?) [I'm acutely aware that discussing the subject matter of movies mainly points up how much I don't know, about anything but movies.] The Incredible Holk convinces the mob of workers that he represents their interests better than the greedy John Wills. The idea that rich English capitalists need to be rejected in favor of honest German morality is the only real message here. It's as simple as the 'heart mediating between the hands and the brain' slogan of Metropolis, but with a slightly arrogant nationalism added. The lavishly produced Gold was filmed on a series of truly impressive sets, including Wills' enormous Scottish mansion. But the giant setting for the climax, deep in a mine under the ocean floor, is the stuff of core Sci-fi. Millions of volts of electricity are harnessed to transmute lead into Gold. That's got to be a heck of an electricity bill; factor in the other enormous overhead costs and we wonder if Wills will ever turn a profit. The special effects for this sequence are sensational. The enormous apparatus is suspended on huge oversized porcelain insulators. The giant glass tubes atop the specimen stage are apparently visualized with mattes and foreground miniatures. But the camera pans and trucks all over the hangar-sized set; it all looks real, with bolts of electricity flashing like crazy. It's a dynamic special effect highlight of the 1930s. The actors sell the conflict well. Beefy Hans Albers sometimes looks like George C. Scott. He exudes personal integrity and a calm force of will. Lien Dyers is as wholesome here as she was wantonly sexualized six years earlier in Fritz Lang's Spies. Michael Bohnen is more than convincing as a powerful man trying to corner all business on an international scale. Although mostly in for decoration, Brigitte Helm is a sophisticated dazzler. Those penciled eyebrows remind us that she had become the Marlene Dietrich that didn't go to Hollywood. Although she did have offers, Helm wanted to stay in Germany. The Nazification of the film industry and the appalling political climate motivated her to leave for Switzerland in 1935, abandoning her career. Although the gist of Gold fits in with Josef Goebbels' National Socialist propaganda aims, the movie doesn't attack England directly. Ufa may have held hopes of foreign distribution. The one man in Scotland that Holk knows he can trust is the captain of Wills' yacht, a fellow German. Nine years later, Josef Goebbels' anti-British version of Titanic would make a German the single ethical person in authority on the doomed ocean liner. The fellow is constantly badmouthing the craven captain and the venal English ship owner. When Hans Albers finishes this movie with a ten-cent moral about love being the only real treasure, the show seems plenty dumb. But that amazing special effect set piece is too good to dismiss so easily. Gold is a classic of giddy '30s science fiction. The Kino Classics Blu-ray of Gold (1934) is a good encoding of the Wilhelm Murnau Stiftung's best copy of this once-rare item. The print we see is intact and with has good audio, but the contrast is rough. It shifts and flutters a bit, especially in some scenes in the middle. I did notice that the final special effects sequences looked better than much of the rest of this surviving print. But the parts of the movie repurposed for The Magnetic Monster look better on that 1953 science fiction film than they do here. In his book Film in the Third Reich David Stewart Hull explains that when the occupation forces reviewed the recovered German films, they ordered this one destroyed. They were concerned that the Alchemy / Atomic Fracturing machine might have some connection to Germany's wartime nuclear program. So how could Ivan Tors have bought the footage from Ufa, if the U.S. Army had seized it? I have a feeling - just idle speculation -- that it might have been obtained in a special deal made through government connections. Since the image looks much better on The Magnetic Monster, Ivan Tors might even have cut up Gold's only existing printing element to make his movie. After finally seeing Gold, one more thing impresses me besides the grandiose special effects. It's sort of a 'brain-drain' movie. In the '30s, Germany had a reputation for the best precision engineering in the world. Werner Holk is semi-kidnapped to serve John Wills' greedy science project, which was pirated from Germany in the first place. Also in awe of German scientific prowess is Brigitte Helm's Florence. The playgirl finds Werner Wolk's brilliance and clarity of mission irresistible. He's both smarter and more ethical than her father. Holk just stands there looking like he's posing for a statue, and Florence is carried away. Ms. Helm is terrific, but it would be nice if her character had a more central role to play in the story. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Gold (1934) Blu-ray rates: Movie: Very Good Video: Fair + This may be a rare surviving print. Sound: Good - Minus Supplements: none Deaf and Hearing Impaired Friendly? Yes; Subtitles: English Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 10, 2016 (5137)
Visit DVD Savant's Main Column Page Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: dvdsavant@mindspring.com
Text © Copyright 2016 Glenn Erickson...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The Hardy Encyclopedia of Science Fiction still teases Sci-fi fans that want to see everything listed in its pages. Thankfully, videodisc companies catering to collectors make possible the sale of titles that might never show up on some (authorized) streaming service. Video disc has brought us the original Der Schweigende Stern and Alraune from Germany, and I hope to someday see good copies of Kurt Siodmak and Karl Hartl's F.P. 1 Does Not Answer and the Harry Piel Sci-fi trilogy An Invisible Man Roams the City, The World Unmasked (an X-ray television camera) and Master of the World (a robot with a death ray). I've read about Karl Hartl's 1934 Gold for at least fifty years, since John Baxter's Science Fiction in the Cinema told us (not quite correctly) that its final reel had been borrowed for the conclusion of Ivan Tors' 1953 Sci-fi picture The Magnetic Monster. As it turns out, Kino is releasing both movies in the same week. Sometimes referred to as the Nazi Metropolis, Hartl's Gold is a follow-up to the director's very successful F.P.1. Does Not Answer, a spy thriller about a fantastic airport in the mid-Atlantic called Floating Platform One. Both pictures were filmed in simultaneous foreign versions to maximize the box office take. The German original of F.P. 1 starred matinee idol Hans Albers (The Blue Angel) Sybille Schmitz (Vampyr) and Peter Lorre, while a concurrent French version used Charles Boyer, Danièle Parola and Pierre Brasseur. A third English version starred Conrad Veidt, Jill Esmond and Donald Calthrop. The French version starred Brigitte Helm in the same role, but star Hans Albers reportedly rebelled at making two movies for the price of one. According to reports, the exceedingly expensive Gold was in production for fifteen months. We can see the cost immediately in the enormous main set for the 'atomic fracturing' machine built to transmute lead into gold. Otto Hunte and Günther Rittau designed and filmed special effects for Metropolis and the impressive set is very much in the same style. Off the top of my head I can't think of any technical apparatus quite so elaborate (and solid-looking) built for a film until the 1960s and Ken Adam's outlandish settings for UA's James Bond films. Writer Rolf E. Vanloo had worked on the silent classic Asphalt and is the sole writer credited on the popular Marlene Dietrich vehicle I Kiss Your Hand, Madame. His screenplay for Gold is tight and credible, even if its theme is even more simplistic than -- and somewhat similar to -- that of Thea von Harbou for Metropolis. Scientist Werner Holk (Hans Albers) aids the visionary Professor Achenbach (Friedrich Kayßler) in testing what looks like an electric atom smasher. The experiment: to turn lead into gold. The 'Atomic Fracturer' explodes, killing the old genius, whose work is discredited. Holk barely survives, thanks to a blood transfusion from his faithful girlfriend Margit Moller (Lien Deyers). When agents for the fabulously wealthy Englishman John Wills (Michael Bohnen) contact Holk, he realizes that the experiment was sabotaged. Werner allows himself to be taken to a fabulous yacht and from there to a Scottish castle, where, hundreds of feet under the ocean, Wills has constructed his own, far larger atom smasher with plans stolen from Achenbach. Split between his need for revenge and a desire to prove the dead Achenbach's theories, Holk goes through with the experiment. Wills' daughter Florence (Brigitte Helm), a gorgeous playgirl, is attracted to the German visitor, Holk finds that the workers' foreman, Schwarz (Rudolf Platte) is of a like mind on economic issues. But Wills' engineer Harris (Eberhard Leithoff) is jealous of Holk's talent, and cannot be trusted. Gold begins by repeating the 'big money hostile takeover of science' theme from Fritz Lang's Frau im mond: a pioneering German scientific exploit is siezed by an unscrupulous international business entity. The unspoken message is that the weakened Germany is being cheated in the world economy because it lacks the resources to exploit its superior technology. The avaricious John Wills makes big financial decisions all day long. There's no gray area in this conflict, as Wells murders, steals and spies on people to get what he wants. We've seen his ruthless agents wreck Achenbach's original, modest experiment. This 'England plays dirty' theme mirrors Germany's bitterness toward England for at least the better part of a century of colonial, naval and financial competition. Versailles and WW1 aren't mentioned, but that had to be on the minds of the audience as well: Germany innovates and works hard, but is consistently handed a raw deal. The scenes with the sleek, fascinating Brigitte Helm would be better if they went somewhere; her Florence does what she can to entice Herr Holk but withdraws when he declares his love for his faithful girl back home, the one whose life blood now flows in his veins. 'Das Blut' cannot be dishonored, even if Holk is half convinced that Wills is going to have him murdered after the giant machine starts turning out Gold by the ton. Act Two instead becomes a conflict between Big Capitalism and the lowly-but-virtuous Working Man. Down in the underground warren of tunnels (another Metropolis parallel) Wills' Scottish workforce of sandhogs and technicians side with Holk against their boss. After a preliminary test yields a tiny bit of gold, we get the expected montages of worldwide economic panic, standard material in socially oriented sci-fi as diverse as La fin du monde and Red Planet Mars. Wells plans to grow rich by flooding the world with his artificially produced gold, a strategy that will have to be explained to me. Gold is the world's standard of value precisely because it's rare; it can't be printed up like money. Thirty years later, the surprisingly sophisticated scheme of Auric Goldfinger is to increase the value of his stash of gold bullion by rendering America's gold reserves radioactive, and therefore worthless. If scarcity raises the value of the element, making more should do the opposite. (On the other hand, what about artificial diamonds? Is there any correspondence there?) [I'm acutely aware that discussing the subject matter of movies mainly points up how much I don't know, about anything but movies.] The Incredible Holk convinces the mob of workers that he represents their interests better than the greedy John Wills. The idea that rich English capitalists need to be rejected in favor of honest German morality is the only real message here. It's as simple as the 'heart mediating between the hands and the brain' slogan of Metropolis, but with a slightly arrogant nationalism added. The lavishly produced Gold was filmed on a series of truly impressive sets, including Wills' enormous Scottish mansion. But the giant setting for the climax, deep in a mine under the ocean floor, is the stuff of core Sci-fi. Millions of volts of electricity are harnessed to transmute lead into Gold. That's got to be a heck of an electricity bill; factor in the other enormous overhead costs and we wonder if Wills will ever turn a profit. The special effects for this sequence are sensational. The enormous apparatus is suspended on huge oversized porcelain insulators. The giant glass tubes atop the specimen stage are apparently visualized with mattes and foreground miniatures. But the camera pans and trucks all over the hangar-sized set; it all looks real, with bolts of electricity flashing like crazy. It's a dynamic special effect highlight of the 1930s. The actors sell the conflict well. Beefy Hans Albers sometimes looks like George C. Scott. He exudes personal integrity and a calm force of will. Lien Dyers is as wholesome here as she was wantonly sexualized six years earlier in Fritz Lang's Spies. Michael Bohnen is more than convincing as a powerful man trying to corner all business on an international scale. Although mostly in for decoration, Brigitte Helm is a sophisticated dazzler. Those penciled eyebrows remind us that she had become the Marlene Dietrich that didn't go to Hollywood. Although she did have offers, Helm wanted to stay in Germany. The Nazification of the film industry and the appalling political climate motivated her to leave for Switzerland in 1935, abandoning her career. Although the gist of Gold fits in with Josef Goebbels' National Socialist propaganda aims, the movie doesn't attack England directly. Ufa may have held hopes of foreign distribution. The one man in Scotland that Holk knows he can trust is the captain of Wills' yacht, a fellow German. Nine years later, Josef Goebbels' anti-British version of Titanic would make a German the single ethical person in authority on the doomed ocean liner. The fellow is constantly badmouthing the craven captain and the venal English ship owner. When Hans Albers finishes this movie with a ten-cent moral about love being the only real treasure, the show seems plenty dumb. But that amazing special effect set piece is too good to dismiss so easily. Gold is a classic of giddy '30s science fiction. The Kino Classics Blu-ray of Gold (1934) is a good encoding of the Wilhelm Murnau Stiftung's best copy of this once-rare item. The print we see is intact and with has good audio, but the contrast is rough. It shifts and flutters a bit, especially in some scenes in the middle. I did notice that the final special effects sequences looked better than much of the rest of this surviving print. But the parts of the movie repurposed for The Magnetic Monster look better on that 1953 science fiction film than they do here. In his book Film in the Third Reich David Stewart Hull explains that when the occupation forces reviewed the recovered German films, they ordered this one destroyed. They were concerned that the Alchemy / Atomic Fracturing machine might have some connection to Germany's wartime nuclear program. So how could Ivan Tors have bought the footage from Ufa, if the U.S. Army had seized it? I have a feeling - just idle speculation -- that it might have been obtained in a special deal made through government connections. Since the image looks much better on The Magnetic Monster, Ivan Tors might even have cut up Gold's only existing printing element to make his movie. After finally seeing Gold, one more thing impresses me besides the grandiose special effects. It's sort of a 'brain-drain' movie. In the '30s, Germany had a reputation for the best precision engineering in the world. Werner Holk is semi-kidnapped to serve John Wills' greedy science project, which was pirated from Germany in the first place. Also in awe of German scientific prowess is Brigitte Helm's Florence. The playgirl finds Werner Wolk's brilliance and clarity of mission irresistible. He's both smarter and more ethical than her father. Holk just stands there looking like he's posing for a statue, and Florence is carried away. Ms. Helm is terrific, but it would be nice if her character had a more central role to play in the story. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Gold (1934) Blu-ray rates: Movie: Very Good Video: Fair + This may be a rare surviving print. Sound: Good - Minus Supplements: none Deaf and Hearing Impaired Friendly? Yes; Subtitles: English Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 10, 2016 (5137)
Visit DVD Savant's Main Column Page Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: dvdsavant@mindspring.com
Text © Copyright 2016 Glenn Erickson...
- 6/14/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Banished by Josef Goebbels and threatened by the Reich, the creative core of the German film industry found itself in sunny Los Angeles, many not speaking English but determined to carry on as writers, directors and actors. More than simply surviving, they made a profound impact on Hollywood moviemaking. Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 2009 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 117 min. / Street Date April 12, 2016 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Cinematography Joan Churchill, Emil Fischhaber Film Editor Anny Lowery Meza Original Music Peter Melnick Written, Produced and Directed by Karen Thomas
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood is the perfect docu to introduce people to the way film and world history are intertwined... and also to generate interest in older movies and classic cinema. Instead of a story about the making of movies, it's about a fascinating group of filmmakers forced to abandon...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Cinema's Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood is the perfect docu to introduce people to the way film and world history are intertwined... and also to generate interest in older movies and classic cinema. Instead of a story about the making of movies, it's about a fascinating group of filmmakers forced to abandon...
- 5/10/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Joop van den Berg's 1929 poster for AtlanticE.A. Dupont achieved early fame for Varieté (1925), a grimly saucy slice of Weimar doom and spiciness, and followed it up with prestigious British productions Moulin Rouge (1928) and Piccadilly (1929), the latter starring Anna May Wong—but just as his career was on the upswing he fell prey to the advent of sound, producing a big-budget version of the Titanic disaster in English and German versions.Atlantic, or Atlantik, became something of a laughing-stock in Britain, owing to Dupont's unfortunate combination of Teutonic tendencies and technical trepidation. The actors were directed to communicate as slowly as possible, perhaps so that Dupont could follow what they were saying. His desire to inflect each syllable with suitable weight and portent robbed the film of any sense of urgency, despite it being set on a ship that starts sinking around twenty minutes in (none of the ninety-minute time-wasting...
- 3/31/2016
- by David Cairns
- MUBI
Lousy Smarch is almost here and the debut schedules for all the movies and series that will be hitting Netflix in March have arrived. We also have the Amazon Prime folks covered as well! The second season of Marvel’s Daredevil and the premieres of the fourth season of House of Cards and the first season of the new comedy Flaked, with Will Arnett hit the small screen. Did you forget about the premiere of the Judd Apatow-produced Pee-wee’s Big Holiday? We didn’t.
On the Amazon Prime front, check out below to see what you’ll be able to stream for free and what’s going to have a cost. Let’s watch!
All Title Dates are Subject to Change
Netflix U.S. Release Dates Only
Available 3/1
Adult Beginners (2015)
Ahora o Nunca (2015)
Aldnoah.Zero: Season 2
American Pie Presents: Beta House (2007)
American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile...
On the Amazon Prime front, check out below to see what you’ll be able to stream for free and what’s going to have a cost. Let’s watch!
All Title Dates are Subject to Change
Netflix U.S. Release Dates Only
Available 3/1
Adult Beginners (2015)
Ahora o Nunca (2015)
Aldnoah.Zero: Season 2
American Pie Presents: Beta House (2007)
American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile...
- 2/23/2016
- by Graham McMorrow
- City of Films
This adult film noir masterpiece showcases the most glamorous pin-up dream girl of the 1940s. Rita Hayworth, a young Glenn Ford and a sinister George Macready form a sophisticated, poisonous love triangle. Criminal intrigues and killer striptease fill out the bill. Gilda Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 795 1946 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 110 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date January 19, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia, Steven Geray, Joe Sawyer, Gerald Mohr, Ludwig Donath, Argentina Brunetti, Eduardo Ciannelli, Ruth Roman. Cinematography Rudolph Maté Film Editor Charles Nelson Music underscore Hugo Friedhofer Written by Marion Parsonnet, Jo Eisinger, E.A. Ellington Produced by Virginia Van Upp Directed by Charles Vidor
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Some of the best 'movie' times I remember were seeing classic pictures cold, with no knowledge beforehand. Back at film school they'd show us things we'd never heard of, often in prints of incredible good quality.
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Some of the best 'movie' times I remember were seeing classic pictures cold, with no knowledge beforehand. Back at film school they'd show us things we'd never heard of, often in prints of incredible good quality.
- 1/30/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Every week we dive into the cream of the crop when it comes to home releases, including Blu-ray and DVDs, as well as recommended deals of the week. Check out our rundown below and return every Tuesday for the best (or most interesting) films one can take home. Note that if you’re looking to support the site, every purchase you make through the links below helps us and is greatly appreciated.
The Apu Trilogy (Satyajit Ray)
Although it premiered 60 years ago this week at the Museum of Modern Art, Satyajit Ray‘s Pather Panchali remains among both the most accomplished of debuts and cinema’s most universally relatable experiences. Accentuating the basics of human emotions to result in the most complex of reactions, Ray’s subsequent trilogy of films follows the hardships of a Bengali boy as he passes into adulthood, a delicately powerful tale of transition that’s now been gloriously restored.
The Apu Trilogy (Satyajit Ray)
Although it premiered 60 years ago this week at the Museum of Modern Art, Satyajit Ray‘s Pather Panchali remains among both the most accomplished of debuts and cinema’s most universally relatable experiences. Accentuating the basics of human emotions to result in the most complex of reactions, Ray’s subsequent trilogy of films follows the hardships of a Bengali boy as he passes into adulthood, a delicately powerful tale of transition that’s now been gloriously restored.
- 11/17/2015
- by TFS Staff
- The Film Stage
Part I. A Filmmaker’s Apotheosis
April 20th, 1938 marked Adolf Hitler’s 49th birthday. In the past five years, he’d rebuilt Germany from destitute anarchy into a burgeoning war machine, repudiated the Versailles Treaty and, that March, incorporated Austria into his Thousand-Year Reich. In Nazi Germany, fantasy co-mingled with ideology, expressing an obsession with Germany’s mythical past through propaganda and art. Fittingly, Hitler celebrated at the Ufa-Palast am Zoo in Berlin, Germany’s most prestigious cinema.
There, Nazi officials and foreign diplomats joined dignitaries of German kultur. Present were Wilhelm Furtwangler, conductor of Berlin’s Philharmonic Orchestra; Albert Speer, Hitler’s architect and confidante; actor Gustaf Grundgens, transformed from Brechtian Bolshevik to director of Prussia’s State Theater; and movie star Emil Jannings, Oscar-winner of The Lost Command and The Blue Angel, now an Artist of the State. Also Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, who nationalized German cinema in...
April 20th, 1938 marked Adolf Hitler’s 49th birthday. In the past five years, he’d rebuilt Germany from destitute anarchy into a burgeoning war machine, repudiated the Versailles Treaty and, that March, incorporated Austria into his Thousand-Year Reich. In Nazi Germany, fantasy co-mingled with ideology, expressing an obsession with Germany’s mythical past through propaganda and art. Fittingly, Hitler celebrated at the Ufa-Palast am Zoo in Berlin, Germany’s most prestigious cinema.
There, Nazi officials and foreign diplomats joined dignitaries of German kultur. Present were Wilhelm Furtwangler, conductor of Berlin’s Philharmonic Orchestra; Albert Speer, Hitler’s architect and confidante; actor Gustaf Grundgens, transformed from Brechtian Bolshevik to director of Prussia’s State Theater; and movie star Emil Jannings, Oscar-winner of The Lost Command and The Blue Angel, now an Artist of the State. Also Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, who nationalized German cinema in...
- 7/8/2015
- by Christopher Saunders
- SoundOnSight
Jan Miller is a connector – and she loves doing it! Supporting producers around the world is in her DNA. After she invited us to speak at the second Strategic Partners in Halifax, (which she created and directed for 15 years), we would then meet Jan regularly in Cuba, Berlin and Cannes where she is a regular moderator at the Producers’ Network Breakfasts. Cartegena was also on her regular beat. She is in demand everywhere as a trainer for directors, writers and producers of pitching and content development as well as an international consultant, from regular events like Poland’s ScriptEast, to Guangzhou, Manaus, Capetown, Glasgow, Yellowknife and most recently, Tehran to name just a few of the more exotic locales.
After bringing the stars in alignment to launch Canada’s first national film school, the National Screen Institute and its highly regarded Features First and Drama Prize programs almost three decades ago, Jan moved from Canada’s west to the east coast where she launched Strategic Partners, Canada’s premiere international co-production market.
In Sp’s 10th year, Jan was approached by Nadja Radojevic of the The Erich Pommer Institut – Epi to partner on a brand new training concept Trans Atlantic Partners (Tap) where Jan Miller serves as its Head of Studies. Together they have developed the program in to one-of-a-kind training that brings together experienced producers from Europe, Canada and the U.S. with a team of Experts, to develop projects for international co-production and co-venturing. Tap is co-presented by the Erich Pommer Institut and the Canadian Media Production Association – Cmpa. Industry partners are Telefilm Canada and Canada Media Fund.
Always responding to the industry, Tap began with only European and Canadian involvement but both Nadja and Jan realized bringing U.S. indie producers into the mix would take the program to a whole other level. Each year, three additional producers from beyond these three ‘regions’ are also selected to participate in this two-module program.
The Tap 2015 line-up includes producers from India, Australia and Mexico. And now in its 7th year, Tap, responding to the industry needs, has opened its program to independent producers with international television series projects in development as well.
This year’s expert line-up of award winning producers include Belladonna’s René Bastian of Belladonna Productions whose film “ Cold in July” is directed by Jim Mickie, and whose newest film “Live Cargo” was presented at Ifp’s No Borders and Us in Progress this past month, K5’s Oliver Simon, Dynamic Television’s Klaus Zimmermann (“100 Code”, “Borgia”, “Death In Paradise”, “The Transporter”), international television consultant Lorri Faughan (“Pillars Of The Earth”), and Buffalo Gal’s Phyllis Laing, (“Aloft”, “Keyhole”, Heaven is for Real”) of Buffalo Gal Pictures, Canada, who was herself a Tap’er in its very first year.
Jan says that they often draw on previous Tap producer talent to come back as resources as so many have remarkable track records.
The Erich Pommer Institut of Germany is a leading training provider in the European media industry dealing with cutting-edge legal and economic topics. Nadja Radojevic, has recently moved into the CEO and Director of Training.
Epi was founded in 1998. Erich Pommer himself was the producer of “Metropolis” and “The Blue Angel”. He left Germany in the war and his grandson, Erich Pommer is a Los Angeles entertainment attorney. The Institute’s core business is advanced professional training in film and media. Aside from Trans Atlantic Partners which is held in Berlin in June and in Halifax in September post Tiff, Epi hosts a European TV Drama Series Lab following the American model with top showrunners and Scandinavian trainers. Now in its fourth edition - former editions featured Showrunners James Manos (“Sopranos”), Carol Flint (“West Wing”, “Emergency Room”), Frank Spotnitz (“The X-Files”), Simon Mirren (“Criminal Minds”) and Glen Mazzara of “Walking Dead” – David Semel, Executive Producer “Madam Secretary”, Co-Executive Producer “House MD” and Director of “The Man in the High Castle”, “Hannibal”, Hemlock Grove”, “Homeland”, “Heroes”will be trainer amongst others.
Epi also hosts Essential Legal Framework, a program consisting of three independent workshops for European professionals on negotiating, European coproduction and digital strategies. A national section for German speakers only, runs four hours a day with 20-30 seminars per year. Its focus is on media law and deals with television, film production, labor and tax revisions which – one of their best-selling seminars as there have recently been quite a lot of changes in tax law in Germany. Classes in film financing and film funding are also popular.
There is also a Copyright Policy Congress, Writers Room Simulation and other conventions featuring various current topics relevant to the media industry. In fall Epi is pioneering with Epi e:training starting with a course on European Co-Production. Epi e:training is offering crucial knowledge and business insights by top-level experts online – at your own pace and wherever and whenever you want. “We developed the online training program according to the demands of today’s media industry. It offers more flexibility and adapts to individual preferences," comments Nadja Radojevic. Epi is located at the historic Babelsberg Studios and can be found at www.epi-medieninstitut.de
Trans Atlantic Partners (Tap) is designed for experienced film and television producers from Europe, Canada and the U.S. including 3 additional seats for International producers. The 24 Tap 2015 producers below were selected by the Erich Pommer Institut (Epi) (Germany) and the Canadian Media Production Association (Cmpa) (Canada).
European Producers
-Simon Amberger, Germany (Producer, "Eastalgia", Molodist Int. Ff 2012, Tallinn Int. Ff 2013 | Producer, Blockbustaz, 2014, Winner ZDFneo TV Lab 2014 | Producer, Ada, 2014)
-Sebastien Aubert, France ("Patardzlebi" (Brides), 2014, Berlinale 2014, 3rd Audience Award)
-Rudolf Biermann, Czech Republic (Producer, "Kawasaki's Rose," 2009, Berlinale 2010, Ecumenical Award Panorama Section, Czech Lion 2010 | Executive Producer, "I Served the King of England," 2006, Berlinale 2006, Fipresci Critics Award | Producer, "Garden," 1995, Karlovy Vary Iff 1995, Jury Award)
-Jacqueline de Goeij, Belgium (Producer, "Allez, Eddy!," 2012, Chemnitz Ff, Main Prize & Diamant Award For Most Convincing Acting Performance Of A Child, Palm Springs Best of the Fest Selection | Producer, "Zus & Zo," 2002, Academy Awards, Nominee Best Foreign Language Film, Dutch Ff, Golden Calf Best Actor)
-Sylvia Günthner, Germany (Producer, "Bela Kiss: Prologue," 2013, Twisted Celluloid Ff Ireland 2013, Audi Festival of German Films Australia 2014)
-Martin Heisler, Germany (Producer, "Houston," 2013, Sundance Ff 2013, Independent Ff Boston 2013, Special Prize of the Jury | Producer "Forget Me Not," 2012, Ff Locarno, Settima Della Critica 2012, Best film | Producer "David Wants to Fly," 2010, Berlinale 2010)
-Rachel Lysaght, Ireland (Producer, "Patrick's Day," 2015, Ifta 2014, Best Script, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Sound | Producer, "One Million Dubliners," 2014, TV Award Sandford Saint Martin Trust, UK, Irish Ff Boston 2015, Director's Choice, Galway Film Fleadh Ireland 2014, Best Feature Documentary)
-Christof Neracher, Switzerland (Producer, "War" (Chrieg), 2014, San Sebastian Ff 2014, Max Ophüls 2014, Max Ophüls Prize | Producer Vitus, 2006, Shortlist Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film 2006, Berlinale 2006, AFI Fest 2006, Audience Award)
-Diarmid Scrimshaw, UK (Producer / Production Co., "Tyrannosaur," 2012, Sundance 2011, Best Director, Satellite Awards 2011, Best First Feature)
Canadian Producers
-Coral Aiken, Canada (Producer, Big Muddy, 2014, Toronto Iff 2014, Arizona Iff 2015 | Producer, "The People Garden")
-Patrick Banister, Canada (Executive Producer, "Bitten," 2014 | Executive Producer, "Whistler," 2006)
-John Barbisan, Canada (Executive Producer, "Bitten," 2014 | Executive Producer, "Whistler," 2006)
-Amy Belling, Canada (Producer / DoP / Cam Op / Post Supervisor, Songs She Wrote About People She Knows, 2014, Toronto Iff 2014, Santa Barbara Iff 2015 | Producer / DoP / Cam Op / Post Super, Stress Position, 2013, Sci Fi London 2013, Las Vegas Ff 2013, Best Cinematography / Best Supporting Actor)
-Isaac Clements, Canada (Senior Production Executive, "The Pinkertons," 2014-15 | Production Executive, "Sunnyside,"2014-15 | Associate Producer, "Silent Night," 2012)
-Jeff Kopas, Canada (Producer / Director / Writer, "An Insignificant Harvey," 2011, Busan Iff 2012, Audience Award)
-Linda Ludwick, Canada (Exec. Producer/Producer: "Mohawk Girls Season 2," 2014, Yorkton Ff 2015, Banff Media Festival 2015 | Exec. Producer/Producer, "Smoke Traders," 2012, Yorkton Ff 2013 | Exec. Producer/Producer, "Reel Injun," 2009, 3 Gemini awards 2010 | Exec. Producer/Producer, "Moose TV," 2006, "Cfpta" 2008)
-Robyn Wiener, Canada (Producer, "Numb," 2015 | Producer, "Black Fly," 2014, Viff 2014 , Marché du Film Telefilm Perspective Canada Cannes 2015| Co-Producer / Line Producer, "Lawrence & Holoman," 2013, "Viff" 2013, Best Director | Co-Producer / Line Producer, "American Mary," 2012, London Fright Ff 2012)
American Producers
-Mollye Asher, USA (Producer, "Fort Tilden," 2015, SXSW 2014 Grand Jury Prize | Producer, "She's Lost Control," Independent Spirit Award Nominee 2015, Berlinale 2014 | Producer, "Songs My Brother Taught Me," 2015, Sundance 2015, Cannes 2015)
-Diane Houslin, USA (Producer, "Yelling to the Sky," 2011)
-Tommy Oliver, USA (Producer, 1982, 2015, Toronto Ff 2013, Austin Ff 2013, Marquee Audience Award | Producer, "The Perfect Guy," 2015 | Producer, "Kinyarwanda," 2011, Sundance Ff 2011, World Audience Award, AFI Fest 2011, Audience Award)
-Riel Roch Decter, USA (Producer, "The Wait," 2014, South by Southwest 2013, Deauville 2013 | Producer, "Bottled Up," 2014, Tribeca Film Festival 2013 | Producer, "Life After Death from Above 1979," 2014.
International Producers
-Vivek Kajaria, India (Producer, "Fandry," 2014, Indian Ff of La 2014, Grand Jury Prize Best Film, Fipresci India 2014, Film Critic Award Best Indian Film 2013 | Presenter, "Anumati," 2013, National Film Award for Best Actor 2013, New York Indian Ff 2013, Best Film Award | Producer, "Siddhant," 2015, Mumbai 2014)
-Ozcar Ramirez Gonzalez, Mexico (Producer, "Ciclo," 2013, DocsDF 2012, Vancouver Latino Iff 2013, Audience Award | Producer, "The Compass is Carried by the Dead Man," 2013, Tokyo Iff 2011, La Iff 2012 | Producer, "Days of Grace," 2012, Cannes Iff 2011, Guadalajara Iff 2012, Best Director, Best Score, Press Award)
-Lisa Shaunessy, Australia (Executive Producer, "Killing Ground," 2016 | Co-Producer, "Black & White & Sex," 2012, Iff Rotterdam 2012, Sydney Ff 2011, Best Experimental Film | Producer, "Hipsters," Sbs Australia, 2015)
Who is Jan Miller and how did she arrange such an organization?
It’s in Jan’s nature to look for opportunities to support the individual filmmaker, her local industry and work internationally as well. Most recently Jan served as an international consultant for the Canadian Media Production Association helping to develop their international strategy and contributing to Cmpa led delegations to Berlin and Rio de Janeiro. In March she led a delegation of 18 production companies to the Hk Filmart for Creative BC and Cmpa BC.
Jan divides her time on Tap, on international contracts, on teaching and on Wift-at.
How do you see the place of women in the film industry?
Recognizing that there was a real need in Atlantic Canada for women to come together and support, celebrate and learn from each other in the industry, I started Women in Film and Television - Atlantic which I headed up as Founding Chair and architect for six years. During this time I was working with a remarkable team to launch Women Making Waves an annual Conference that brings in the best female talent to offer master classes, panels, conversations and networking opportunities to men and women in the industry. I continue as one of the organization’s primary resources and mentors. And most recently, strongly believing that women in the industry need to strengthen their entrepreneurial skills and business strategies, I worked with Mount Saint Vincent University’s Centre for Women in Business, to launch Wift-at’s first six month Advanced Management and Mentoring Program.
Can you explain your connection to the music business?
Close to a decade ago, I was approached by Canada’s vibrant east coast music industry to adapt my pitching workshop into a program that has become “export readiness for the music industry”... During this intensive workshop I work with artists, bands and managers to develop their communication and pitch skills to present their work to international music supervisors, festival programrs and tour managers in 1-2-1 meetings. It was a very steep learning curve, but I loved the challenge of redesigning her training to fit a new market.
Can you explain your connection to romance writers?
When the Music Export Readiness workshops took off, other disciplines began approaching me to ask if I could adapt her teaching for a workshop for Romance Writers wanting to pitch to potential film and TV producers and then theatre practitioners wanting to pitch their properties internationally. My un-designed career path came full circle!
How did you come into the film world?
I first came into the entertainment industry through my theatre troupe that performed clown and mask shows internationally for 10 years as one of Canada’s cultural calling cards. During this period I successfully auditioned for a short film and the seed was planted …
What do you do in Nova Scotia? (or What did you do?)
Amazingly I call home Nova Scotia. Living 40 feet from the ocean, I connect daily to the world and travel the world almost as often. I am an international resource for the local industry and mentor talent both for the short term and long term as the demand requires. My husband and I also breed standard poodles!
How would you sum up your “portfolio”?
I am an initiator, a passionate connector devoted to helping people do what they want to do well.
After bringing the stars in alignment to launch Canada’s first national film school, the National Screen Institute and its highly regarded Features First and Drama Prize programs almost three decades ago, Jan moved from Canada’s west to the east coast where she launched Strategic Partners, Canada’s premiere international co-production market.
In Sp’s 10th year, Jan was approached by Nadja Radojevic of the The Erich Pommer Institut – Epi to partner on a brand new training concept Trans Atlantic Partners (Tap) where Jan Miller serves as its Head of Studies. Together they have developed the program in to one-of-a-kind training that brings together experienced producers from Europe, Canada and the U.S. with a team of Experts, to develop projects for international co-production and co-venturing. Tap is co-presented by the Erich Pommer Institut and the Canadian Media Production Association – Cmpa. Industry partners are Telefilm Canada and Canada Media Fund.
Always responding to the industry, Tap began with only European and Canadian involvement but both Nadja and Jan realized bringing U.S. indie producers into the mix would take the program to a whole other level. Each year, three additional producers from beyond these three ‘regions’ are also selected to participate in this two-module program.
The Tap 2015 line-up includes producers from India, Australia and Mexico. And now in its 7th year, Tap, responding to the industry needs, has opened its program to independent producers with international television series projects in development as well.
This year’s expert line-up of award winning producers include Belladonna’s René Bastian of Belladonna Productions whose film “ Cold in July” is directed by Jim Mickie, and whose newest film “Live Cargo” was presented at Ifp’s No Borders and Us in Progress this past month, K5’s Oliver Simon, Dynamic Television’s Klaus Zimmermann (“100 Code”, “Borgia”, “Death In Paradise”, “The Transporter”), international television consultant Lorri Faughan (“Pillars Of The Earth”), and Buffalo Gal’s Phyllis Laing, (“Aloft”, “Keyhole”, Heaven is for Real”) of Buffalo Gal Pictures, Canada, who was herself a Tap’er in its very first year.
Jan says that they often draw on previous Tap producer talent to come back as resources as so many have remarkable track records.
The Erich Pommer Institut of Germany is a leading training provider in the European media industry dealing with cutting-edge legal and economic topics. Nadja Radojevic, has recently moved into the CEO and Director of Training.
Epi was founded in 1998. Erich Pommer himself was the producer of “Metropolis” and “The Blue Angel”. He left Germany in the war and his grandson, Erich Pommer is a Los Angeles entertainment attorney. The Institute’s core business is advanced professional training in film and media. Aside from Trans Atlantic Partners which is held in Berlin in June and in Halifax in September post Tiff, Epi hosts a European TV Drama Series Lab following the American model with top showrunners and Scandinavian trainers. Now in its fourth edition - former editions featured Showrunners James Manos (“Sopranos”), Carol Flint (“West Wing”, “Emergency Room”), Frank Spotnitz (“The X-Files”), Simon Mirren (“Criminal Minds”) and Glen Mazzara of “Walking Dead” – David Semel, Executive Producer “Madam Secretary”, Co-Executive Producer “House MD” and Director of “The Man in the High Castle”, “Hannibal”, Hemlock Grove”, “Homeland”, “Heroes”will be trainer amongst others.
Epi also hosts Essential Legal Framework, a program consisting of three independent workshops for European professionals on negotiating, European coproduction and digital strategies. A national section for German speakers only, runs four hours a day with 20-30 seminars per year. Its focus is on media law and deals with television, film production, labor and tax revisions which – one of their best-selling seminars as there have recently been quite a lot of changes in tax law in Germany. Classes in film financing and film funding are also popular.
There is also a Copyright Policy Congress, Writers Room Simulation and other conventions featuring various current topics relevant to the media industry. In fall Epi is pioneering with Epi e:training starting with a course on European Co-Production. Epi e:training is offering crucial knowledge and business insights by top-level experts online – at your own pace and wherever and whenever you want. “We developed the online training program according to the demands of today’s media industry. It offers more flexibility and adapts to individual preferences," comments Nadja Radojevic. Epi is located at the historic Babelsberg Studios and can be found at www.epi-medieninstitut.de
Trans Atlantic Partners (Tap) is designed for experienced film and television producers from Europe, Canada and the U.S. including 3 additional seats for International producers. The 24 Tap 2015 producers below were selected by the Erich Pommer Institut (Epi) (Germany) and the Canadian Media Production Association (Cmpa) (Canada).
European Producers
-Simon Amberger, Germany (Producer, "Eastalgia", Molodist Int. Ff 2012, Tallinn Int. Ff 2013 | Producer, Blockbustaz, 2014, Winner ZDFneo TV Lab 2014 | Producer, Ada, 2014)
-Sebastien Aubert, France ("Patardzlebi" (Brides), 2014, Berlinale 2014, 3rd Audience Award)
-Rudolf Biermann, Czech Republic (Producer, "Kawasaki's Rose," 2009, Berlinale 2010, Ecumenical Award Panorama Section, Czech Lion 2010 | Executive Producer, "I Served the King of England," 2006, Berlinale 2006, Fipresci Critics Award | Producer, "Garden," 1995, Karlovy Vary Iff 1995, Jury Award)
-Jacqueline de Goeij, Belgium (Producer, "Allez, Eddy!," 2012, Chemnitz Ff, Main Prize & Diamant Award For Most Convincing Acting Performance Of A Child, Palm Springs Best of the Fest Selection | Producer, "Zus & Zo," 2002, Academy Awards, Nominee Best Foreign Language Film, Dutch Ff, Golden Calf Best Actor)
-Sylvia Günthner, Germany (Producer, "Bela Kiss: Prologue," 2013, Twisted Celluloid Ff Ireland 2013, Audi Festival of German Films Australia 2014)
-Martin Heisler, Germany (Producer, "Houston," 2013, Sundance Ff 2013, Independent Ff Boston 2013, Special Prize of the Jury | Producer "Forget Me Not," 2012, Ff Locarno, Settima Della Critica 2012, Best film | Producer "David Wants to Fly," 2010, Berlinale 2010)
-Rachel Lysaght, Ireland (Producer, "Patrick's Day," 2015, Ifta 2014, Best Script, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Sound | Producer, "One Million Dubliners," 2014, TV Award Sandford Saint Martin Trust, UK, Irish Ff Boston 2015, Director's Choice, Galway Film Fleadh Ireland 2014, Best Feature Documentary)
-Christof Neracher, Switzerland (Producer, "War" (Chrieg), 2014, San Sebastian Ff 2014, Max Ophüls 2014, Max Ophüls Prize | Producer Vitus, 2006, Shortlist Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film 2006, Berlinale 2006, AFI Fest 2006, Audience Award)
-Diarmid Scrimshaw, UK (Producer / Production Co., "Tyrannosaur," 2012, Sundance 2011, Best Director, Satellite Awards 2011, Best First Feature)
Canadian Producers
-Coral Aiken, Canada (Producer, Big Muddy, 2014, Toronto Iff 2014, Arizona Iff 2015 | Producer, "The People Garden")
-Patrick Banister, Canada (Executive Producer, "Bitten," 2014 | Executive Producer, "Whistler," 2006)
-John Barbisan, Canada (Executive Producer, "Bitten," 2014 | Executive Producer, "Whistler," 2006)
-Amy Belling, Canada (Producer / DoP / Cam Op / Post Supervisor, Songs She Wrote About People She Knows, 2014, Toronto Iff 2014, Santa Barbara Iff 2015 | Producer / DoP / Cam Op / Post Super, Stress Position, 2013, Sci Fi London 2013, Las Vegas Ff 2013, Best Cinematography / Best Supporting Actor)
-Isaac Clements, Canada (Senior Production Executive, "The Pinkertons," 2014-15 | Production Executive, "Sunnyside,"2014-15 | Associate Producer, "Silent Night," 2012)
-Jeff Kopas, Canada (Producer / Director / Writer, "An Insignificant Harvey," 2011, Busan Iff 2012, Audience Award)
-Linda Ludwick, Canada (Exec. Producer/Producer: "Mohawk Girls Season 2," 2014, Yorkton Ff 2015, Banff Media Festival 2015 | Exec. Producer/Producer, "Smoke Traders," 2012, Yorkton Ff 2013 | Exec. Producer/Producer, "Reel Injun," 2009, 3 Gemini awards 2010 | Exec. Producer/Producer, "Moose TV," 2006, "Cfpta" 2008)
-Robyn Wiener, Canada (Producer, "Numb," 2015 | Producer, "Black Fly," 2014, Viff 2014 , Marché du Film Telefilm Perspective Canada Cannes 2015| Co-Producer / Line Producer, "Lawrence & Holoman," 2013, "Viff" 2013, Best Director | Co-Producer / Line Producer, "American Mary," 2012, London Fright Ff 2012)
American Producers
-Mollye Asher, USA (Producer, "Fort Tilden," 2015, SXSW 2014 Grand Jury Prize | Producer, "She's Lost Control," Independent Spirit Award Nominee 2015, Berlinale 2014 | Producer, "Songs My Brother Taught Me," 2015, Sundance 2015, Cannes 2015)
-Diane Houslin, USA (Producer, "Yelling to the Sky," 2011)
-Tommy Oliver, USA (Producer, 1982, 2015, Toronto Ff 2013, Austin Ff 2013, Marquee Audience Award | Producer, "The Perfect Guy," 2015 | Producer, "Kinyarwanda," 2011, Sundance Ff 2011, World Audience Award, AFI Fest 2011, Audience Award)
-Riel Roch Decter, USA (Producer, "The Wait," 2014, South by Southwest 2013, Deauville 2013 | Producer, "Bottled Up," 2014, Tribeca Film Festival 2013 | Producer, "Life After Death from Above 1979," 2014.
International Producers
-Vivek Kajaria, India (Producer, "Fandry," 2014, Indian Ff of La 2014, Grand Jury Prize Best Film, Fipresci India 2014, Film Critic Award Best Indian Film 2013 | Presenter, "Anumati," 2013, National Film Award for Best Actor 2013, New York Indian Ff 2013, Best Film Award | Producer, "Siddhant," 2015, Mumbai 2014)
-Ozcar Ramirez Gonzalez, Mexico (Producer, "Ciclo," 2013, DocsDF 2012, Vancouver Latino Iff 2013, Audience Award | Producer, "The Compass is Carried by the Dead Man," 2013, Tokyo Iff 2011, La Iff 2012 | Producer, "Days of Grace," 2012, Cannes Iff 2011, Guadalajara Iff 2012, Best Director, Best Score, Press Award)
-Lisa Shaunessy, Australia (Executive Producer, "Killing Ground," 2016 | Co-Producer, "Black & White & Sex," 2012, Iff Rotterdam 2012, Sydney Ff 2011, Best Experimental Film | Producer, "Hipsters," Sbs Australia, 2015)
Who is Jan Miller and how did she arrange such an organization?
It’s in Jan’s nature to look for opportunities to support the individual filmmaker, her local industry and work internationally as well. Most recently Jan served as an international consultant for the Canadian Media Production Association helping to develop their international strategy and contributing to Cmpa led delegations to Berlin and Rio de Janeiro. In March she led a delegation of 18 production companies to the Hk Filmart for Creative BC and Cmpa BC.
Jan divides her time on Tap, on international contracts, on teaching and on Wift-at.
How do you see the place of women in the film industry?
Recognizing that there was a real need in Atlantic Canada for women to come together and support, celebrate and learn from each other in the industry, I started Women in Film and Television - Atlantic which I headed up as Founding Chair and architect for six years. During this time I was working with a remarkable team to launch Women Making Waves an annual Conference that brings in the best female talent to offer master classes, panels, conversations and networking opportunities to men and women in the industry. I continue as one of the organization’s primary resources and mentors. And most recently, strongly believing that women in the industry need to strengthen their entrepreneurial skills and business strategies, I worked with Mount Saint Vincent University’s Centre for Women in Business, to launch Wift-at’s first six month Advanced Management and Mentoring Program.
Can you explain your connection to the music business?
Close to a decade ago, I was approached by Canada’s vibrant east coast music industry to adapt my pitching workshop into a program that has become “export readiness for the music industry”... During this intensive workshop I work with artists, bands and managers to develop their communication and pitch skills to present their work to international music supervisors, festival programrs and tour managers in 1-2-1 meetings. It was a very steep learning curve, but I loved the challenge of redesigning her training to fit a new market.
Can you explain your connection to romance writers?
When the Music Export Readiness workshops took off, other disciplines began approaching me to ask if I could adapt her teaching for a workshop for Romance Writers wanting to pitch to potential film and TV producers and then theatre practitioners wanting to pitch their properties internationally. My un-designed career path came full circle!
How did you come into the film world?
I first came into the entertainment industry through my theatre troupe that performed clown and mask shows internationally for 10 years as one of Canada’s cultural calling cards. During this period I successfully auditioned for a short film and the seed was planted …
What do you do in Nova Scotia? (or What did you do?)
Amazingly I call home Nova Scotia. Living 40 feet from the ocean, I connect daily to the world and travel the world almost as often. I am an international resource for the local industry and mentor talent both for the short term and long term as the demand requires. My husband and I also breed standard poodles!
How would you sum up your “portfolio”?
I am an initiator, a passionate connector devoted to helping people do what they want to do well.
- 6/22/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Translators introduction: This article by Mireille Latil Le Dantec, the second of two parts, was originally published in issue 40 of Cinématographe, September 1978. The previous issue of the magazine had included a dossier on "La qualité française" and a book of a never-shot script by Jean Grémillon (Le Printemps de la Liberté or The Spring of Freedom) had recently been published. The time was ripe for a re-evaluation of Grémillon's films and a resuscitation of his undervalued career. As this re-evaluation appears to still be happening nearly 40 years later—Grémillon's films have only recently seen DVD releases and a 35mm retrospective begins this week at Museum of the Moving Image in Queens—this article and its follow-up gives us an important view of a French perspective on Grémillon's work by a very perceptive critic doing the initial heavy-lifting in bringing the proper attention to the filmmaker's work.
Passion...
Passion...
- 12/11/2014
- by Ted Fendt
- MUBI
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