(aka "Woman in the Moon" or "By Rocket to the Moon" or "Girl in the Moon" )
Germany 1929
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Frau im Mond is: (a) The first
feature-length film to portray space-exploration in a serious
manner, paying close attention to the science involved in launching
a vessel from the surface of the earth to the valleys of the moon.
(b) A tri-polar potboiler of a picture that manages to combine
espionage tale, serial melodrama, and comic-book sci-fi into a
storyline that is by turns delirious, hushed, and deranged. (c) A
movie so rife with narrative contradiction and visual ingenuity that
it could only be the work of one filmmaker: Fritz Lang. In this, Lang’s final silent epic, the legendary filmmaker spins a tale involving a wicked cartel of spies who co-opt an experimental mission to the moon in the hope of plundering the satellite’s vast (and highly theoretical) stores of gold. When the crew, helmed by Willy Fritsch and Gerda Maurus (both of whom had previously starred in Lang’s Spione), finally reach their impossible destination, they find themselves stranded in a lunar labyrinth without walls — where emotions run scattershot, and the new goal becomes survival. A modern Daedalus tale which uncannily foretold Germany’s wartime push into rocket-science, Frau im Mond is as much a warning-sign against human hubris as it is a hopeful depiction of mankind’s potential. |
Posters
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Theatrical Release: unknown
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Associated Reading (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)
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Fritz Lang: Photographs and Documents.
Vienna-Berlin-Paris-Hollywood by Rolf Aurich, Wolfgang Jacobsen, Cornelius Schnauber |
Fritz Lang's Metropolis : Cinematic Visions of
Technology and Fear by Michael Minden (Editor), Holger Bachmann |
The Films of Fritz Lang: Allegories of Vision and
Modernity (Distributed for British Film Institute) by Tom Gunning |
German Expressionist Films (Pocket Essentials) by Paul Cooke |
The First Female Stars : Women of the Silent Era by David W. Menefee |
Silent Players: A Biographical and Autobiographical
Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses by Anthony Slide |
Silent Stars Speak: Interviews With Twelve Cinema
Pioneers by Tony Villecco |
Haunted Screen Expressionism in the German Cinema by Lotte Eisner |
DVD Comparison:
Kino - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 0 - PAL vs. Divisa Red - Region 2 - PAL
Big thanks to Bram Blijleven for the Divisa Red captures!
(Kino - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Eureka - Region 0 - PAL MIDDLE vs. Divisa Red - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)
| DVD Box Covers |
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| Distribution | Kino Video - Region 1 - NTSC |
Eureka - Masters of Cinema
- Spine # 41 Region 0 - PAL |
Divisa Red Region 2 - PAL |
| Runtime | 2:49:15 | 2:42:30 (4% PAL speedup) | 2:42:00 (4% PAL speedup) |
| Video |
1.33:1
Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.75 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
1.33:1
Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.44 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s |
1.33:1
Original Aspect Ratio |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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| Bitrate:
Kino |
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| Bitrate:
Eureka MoC |
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| Bitrate:
Divisa Red |
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| Audio | Music (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby) | Music (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby) |
Piano score by Javier Pérez Azpeitia (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby) |
| Intertitles | English (non-changeable) | English, or none | Original German, or Spanish translation |
| Features |
Release Information: Edition Details: • Gallery
of Images (33 in click through fashion) |
Release Information:
Aspect Ratio: Edition Details:
• Documentary (14:02) |
Release Information:
Aspect Ratio: Edition Details:
• Gallery of images |
| Comments: |
ADDITION: Eureka Masters of Cinema - January 08': The Eureka use the brand new film restoration by F. W. Murnau-Stiftung... but beyond that they have competently, progressively, transferred it to a dual-layered PAL DVD. It improves over both releases in all areas - it is sharper, far better contrast/greyscale. The Kino is interlaced and the visible combing (see last captures) is annoying and irritating. The MoC uses the original German intertitles with newly-translated optional English subtitles. The Kino shows some chroma - the Divisa is contrast boosted. No contest visually. The Eureka also includes a 15 minute featurette: The First Scientific Science-Fiction Film – German made documentary (with English subtitles) about Frau im Mond made by Gabriele Jacobi. Plus we have another of MoC's wonderful liner notes booklets - 36-pages worth which includes a newly revised analysis by Michael E. Grost on the film, and on Fritz Lang’s body of work as a whole.
ON THE KINO vs. the DIVISA:
To me the Divisa Red looks to have extensive
brightness boosting. I think it does
have a sharper picture, but one really needs the English translation of
the intertitles (well, I do anyway).
Gary Tooze
*****
This
Divisa Red version has the original German intertitles and is a Transit
Film restored print, like more of the German films released by Kino
recently. The film runs 2hours 42 mins, so the Kino version may not be a
PAL-NTSC conversion because the Kino disc seems to run a bit longer.
Maybe the difference is caused by the title cards. The Spanish DVD lacks
the usual intro title cards at the beginning of the film telling us
about the restoration. There is a piano score by Javier Pérez Azpeitia
which is quite nice. Extra's are some text cards in Spanish and a
gallery of 38 photo's. Since I do not speak Spanish I have no idea what
is on the cards... |
DVD Menus
(Kino - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs.
Masters of Cinema - Region 0 - PAL - RIGHT)
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Divisa Red - Region 2 - PAL
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Screen Captures
(Kino - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 0 - PAL MIDDLE vs. Divisa Red - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(Kino - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 0 - PAL MIDDLE vs. Divisa Red - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(Kino - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 0 - PAL MIDDLE vs. Divisa Red - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(Kino - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 0 - PAL MIDDLE vs. Divisa Red - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(Kino - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 0 - PAL MIDDLE vs. Divisa Red - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
BOTTOM: Example of intertitles translated to Spanish on the Divisa Red
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(Kino - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Masters of Cinema - Region 0 - PAL BOTTOM)
NOTE: Very visible combing on the Kino
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Report Card:
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Image: |
MoC |
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Sound: |
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| Extras: | MoC |
| Menu: | MoC |
| DVD Box Covers |
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| Distribution | Kino Video - Region 1- NTSC |
Eureka - Masters of Cinema
- Spine #41 Region 0 - PAL |
Divisa Red Region 2 - PAL |
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Gary Tooze
Mississauga, Ontario, CANADA |
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Many Thanks...