CLICK to order from:

BFI

Region 2 - PAL

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 5.52 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Biography of Evgenii Bauer
• Video Essay by Yuri Tsivian (36:49)

DVD Release Date: June 24th, 2002
Keep Case

Chapters 3

Evgenii (or Yevgeni depending on how you want to transliterate his name) Bauer stands out as one of the great figures of pre-Soviet Russian cinema. Although few of his more than 80 films now survive, thanks to the BFI we can now see a trio of his works all based on obsessive love (Note that a North American version is also available from Image Entertainment HERE). The films included in this collection are quite good, with "After Death" and "The Dying Swan" standing out as particularly rich and atmospheric love stories. Be warned though if you're looking for light romantic fare, then this is not for you. The romances in this trio of Bauer's films owe much to the 19th century Russian novel and more closely resemble the doomed lover of a Tolstoy novel than they do anything coming out of Hollywood these days.

Since the films in this set are nearly a hundred years old, there is a fair amount of damage to them. "Twilight of a Woman's Soul" looks like its fared the worst, but all of the films are still watchable, and at times even look good. That being said, there are numerous instances of dirt, dust, scratches, and other damage on the films on this disc. As with any film of this age, you shouldn't expect a miracle when encountering it, but if you go in knowing that you have a usable, but heavily damaged print (likely the best available), then I doubt that you'd be disappointed by it.

All three films are silent, but come with scores newly commissioned for this release. I honestly have nothing bad to say about the scores, as I thought that they were a perfect accompaniment to the images on the screen. The soundtrack to "Twilight of a Woman's Soul" and "The Dying Swan" are presented in a competent Dolby Digital 2.0 track that nicely convey the individual soundtracks, but the real treat here is the music for "After Death" which is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and simply sounds marvelous. The credits and titles at the beginning of the films have forced subtitles, but since these are silent films, the subtitles only reappear for the intertitles.

Aside from the notes on the individual films on the inside of the cover, the set also comes with a few extras. The first are some fairly standard biography for the director, but there's also an extensive and enjoyable visual essay by Yuri Tsivian in which he analyzes Bauer's films and cinematography.

Despite the fact that the films look about what you'd expect for their age, this a great set and really a wonderful bargain since you get three gorgeous silent films for the price of one. Highly recommended.

 - Brian Montgomery

CLICK to order from:

BFI

Region 2 - PAL