14 November 2007

The 1929 Frau im Mond (Woman in the Moon) is generally regarded as the first feature-length film to take a present the concept of space travel in a serious manner, with close attention paid to the science of launching a vessel from the earth to the moon. It is also, however, an alternately low key, delirious and deranged blend of comic book science fiction, serial melodrama and espionage thriller whose narrative is so rife with contradictions, the press notes inform us, that it could only be the work on one filmmaker: Fritz Lang.

A wicked cartel of spies co-opt an experimental mission to the moon with the aim of plundering the satellite's supposedly vast stores of gold. When the crew, helmed by Willy Fritsch and Gerda Maurus, both of whom starred previously in Lang's previous film Spione (1928), finally reach their destination they find themselves in a lunar labyrinth without walls, where emotions run wild and the new goal is one of survival.

Running the almost epic length of 163 minutes, Frau im Mond uncannily foreshadows Germany's wartime experiments with rocket science and is, we are assured, as much a warning against the human hubris as it is a hopeful depiction of mankind's potential.

Previously unavailable on UK DVD, Frau im Mond has been announced for a January release by Eureka! as part of the Masters of Cinema series. The disc will include a brand new restoration of the film by F.W. Murnau-Stiftung, the original German intertitles with newly translated optional English subtitles, a 36-page booklet that includes a newly revised analysis by Michael E. Grost on the film and on Fritz Lang's body of work as a whole, and more to be confirmed.

Release date is set for 21st January 2008 at the RRP of £19.99.