Berlin
Alexanderplatz from Criterion in November
9
September 2007
 |
Ready
for 15 hours of Rainer Werner Fassbinder at his absolute
best? Well his extraordinary, controversial but acclaimed
1980 TV miniseries Berlin Alexanderplatz
should fit the bill nicely. Based on the great modernist
novel by Alfred Döblin, this is considered by many
to be the crowning achievement of a remarkable career
that was soon to be cut tragically short. It follows the
hulking, childlike ex-convict Franz Biberkopf (Günter
Lamprecht) as he attempts to "become an honest soul"
amid the corrosive urban landscape of Weimar-era Germany.
With equal parts cynicism and humanity, Fassbinder details
a mammoth portrait of a common man struggling to survive
in a viciously uncommon time. Direction, performances,
cinematography, music and production design all shine
in this remarkable 14-part television event, one of the
few non-theatrical works to make it to Time's 100 All
Time Best Movies list. As critic Richard Corliss says:
"Put a weekend aside to savor the director in full
fester. What may seem like an ordeal will end in enthrallment."
Restored
to its full, uncut glory in 2006, it is now for the first
time to be released on DVD in the US courtesy of Criterion
as a mammoth seven-disc set with the following features:
- New
high-definition digital transfer from the 2006 restoration
by the Fassbinder Foundation and Bavaria Media, supervised
and approved by director of photography Xaver Schwarzenberger;
- Two
new documentaries by Fassbinder Foundation president
Juliane Lorenz: one featuring interviews with the cast
and crew, the other on the restoration;
- Hans-Dieter
Hartl's 1980 documentary Notes on the Making of
"Berlin Alexanderplatz";
- Phil
Jutzi's 1931, ninety-minute film of Alfred Döblin’s
novel, from a screenplay co-written by Döblin himself;
- New
video interview with Peter Jelavich, author of Berlin
Alexanderplatz: Radio, Film, and the Death of Weimar
Culture;
- New
and improved English subtitle translation.
Berlin
Alexanderplatz will be released in the US by Criterion
on 13th November 2007 at the SRP - wait for it - of $124.95.
