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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
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Early Murnau - Five Films [ 3 Blu-rays ]
vs.
Kino Murnau The Haunted Castle / Finances of the Grand Duke [ Blu-ray ]
Schloß Vogelöd (The
Haunted Castle) 1921
Phantom 1922
Der Letzte Mann (The
Last Laugh) 1924
The Grand Duke's Finances 1924
Tartuffe 1926
| Five masterpieces from one of the finest
directors of the
Silent era on
Blu-ray for the first time in the
world, in one deluxe boxed set! SYNOPSIS: One of the most influential and revered figures in all of cinema, Friedrich Wilheim Murnau came to prominence in the first half of the 1920s with a diverse string of productions ranging from buoyant satire to swirling psychological drama. Five key works are presented here: Schloß Vogelöd, Phantom, Die Finanzen des Großherzogs (The Grand Duke's Finances), Der Letzte Mann (The Last Laugh) and Tartuffe. In the sinister mystery Schloß Vogelöd, terrible secrets from the past threaten a group of aristocrats' gathering at a country manor. In the delirious Phantom, an aspiring poet's chance encounter with a beautiful woman leads into obsession and deception. The delightful Die Finanzen des Großherzogs sees a rakish-but-impoverished duke setting out to rebuild his fortune via blissfully comic high adventure on the Mediterranean coast. In Der Letzte Mann, one of the undisputed masterpieces of the Silent era, Emil Jannings gives an overwhelming performance as a hotel porter with dreams of a higher station in life, and was a stylistic breakthrough for both Murnau and cinema in general. Finally, the slyly satiric Tartuffe features Jannings as Molière's iconic creation in a morality tale film-within-a-film as only Murnau could conceive. This collection features new high-definition transfers of all five films from the finest archival elements, all on Blu-ray for the first time in a special edition three-disc set. *** Before plumbing the depths of horror and despair with such films as Nosferatu (1922) and Faust (1926), Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau crafted a moody drama of a storm-bound manor and the grim mystery that Lurks within: The Haunted Castle (1921). A hunting party is interrupted by the arrival of a notorious Count (Lothar Mehnert), who is believed to have murdered his brother. The uninvited guest sets in motion an elaborate plot to resurrect the ghosts of the past and bring to light the dark secret that lies at the center of his brother's death. Breaking away from the dark, foreboding dramas for which he was becoming known, Murnau explored the realm of light comedy in a playful espionage thriller reminisent of Ernst Lubitsch: The Finances of the Grand Duke. Harry Liedtke stars as a "benevolent dictator" who must preserve the tiny nation of Abacco by fending off creditors, wooing a wealthy Russian princess (Mady Christians), and evading a band of demonic conspirators (including Nosferatu himself, Max Schreck). |
Titles
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Distribution |
Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray |
Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray |
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Subtitles |
Original German-language intertitles with newly translated optional English-language subtitles on all 5 films |
Original German-language intertitles with translated optional English-language subtitles for both films |
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Features |
Release Information: •
The Language of the Shadows: Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau and His Films, a
31-minute video piece by Luciano Berriatúa on the early works of Murnau
(30:54) |
Release Information: |
| Comments: |
NOTE: These Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. ADDITION - Kino (January 2019): Kino are putting out a lone Blu-ray with both The Haunted Castle and The Finances of the Grand Duke. I've compared the captures below and there are some different tints although technically the transfers are very similar. They start with these texts cards describing the restorations: For The Haunted Castle:
For The Finances of the Grand Duke:
It's nice to see some differences (how boring would it be if there weren't?) in the tints (Kino less harsh/intense) but otherwise the image is the same although the Kino is a shade darker overall. Audio is only 16-bit, uncompressed, on the Kino where it was 24-bit on the Masters of Cinema Blu-ray. Kino have the original intertitles as well and optional English subtitles (in a different translation.) The only extras is the audio commentary by film scholar David Kalat on The Grand Duke's Finances also found on MoC's Die Finanzen Des Grossherzogs Blu-ray from 2016 as well as its DVD from 2009. The Kino is Region 'A'-locked and provides plenty of value for those in North America without a Region FREE player. However, the Masters of Cinema Boxset is reason enough to obtain one. *** ADDITION: Masters of Cinema (September 2016): This is the another wonderful Masters of Cinema Blu-ray release Boxset. Without stating the obvious - you can see the difference in tints and resolution via the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung derived 1080P transfers. The five Murnau films from the Silent era are available on Blu-ray for the first time in the world! The films are spread over the 3 dual-layered Blu-ray discs as follows:
Disc one has
Schloß Vogelöd (The
Haunted Castle) and Phantom
Disc Two has
The Grand Duke's Finances and
Tartuffe
Disc Three has
Der Letzte Mann (The
Last Laugh)
Because of the higher resolution - damage (marks and scratches) can be
marginally more visible - but detail rises the same amount - with some
close-ups looking awesome. We've compared to all DVDs below, and you can
see the, often, extravagant differences and improvement.
All audio transfers use a linear PCM mono. The scores
sound very rich and buoyant. There are original German-language
intertitles with newly translated optional English-language subtitles on
all 5 films and, as stated, the 3
Blu-ray
discs are region 'B'-locked.
Masters of Cinema include The 31-minute Language of
the Shadows: Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau and His Films video piece by
Luciano Berriatúa on the early works of Murnau also found on their
The Haunted Palace DVD from 2011. But there is a new 16-minute video
essay by filmmaker and critic David Cairns entitled What Will You Be
Tomorrow? titled from the opening shot of Murnau's The Last Laugh.
It is revealing and excellent. There is an audio commentary by film
scholar David Kalat on The Grand Duke's Finances also found on
MoC's Die Finanzen Des Grossherzogs DVD from 2009. The Making
of The Last Laugh, is a 41-minute documentary by Murnau expert
Luciano Berriatúa also found on the previous Masters of Cienma DVD from
2008. Tartuffe: The Lost Film (Tartüff, der verschollene Film),
is another fine documentary by Berriatúa running 41-minutes. It was made
in 2004 and is in German with optional English subtitles. The package
also contains a 100-page book featuring writing by Charles Jameux, Lotte
H. Eisner, Janet Bergstrom, Tony Rayns, and archival imagery.
This has the usual MoC high quality - buy this 3
Blu-ray
discs set with extreme confidence. Our highest recommendation and it will
surely get upper-level votes in our year-end poll!
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Menus and Supplement Screens
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Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
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CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
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(aka "The Haunted Castle" or "Schloß Vogelöd" or "Schloß Vogelöd - Die Enthüllung eines Geheimnisses" or "Schloß Vogelöed" )
directed by F.W. Murnau
Germany 1921
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If the traditional
English-language title (The Haunted Palace) suggests
the supernatural, the film itself eschews goblins or golems
in favour of the hypnotic unfolding of a moral horror.
Although the identity of the murderer can be predicted,
what's unpredictable is the dream-like intensity that Murnau
builds from the restrained acting and refined staging, where
again and again characters move out of the depths toward the
foreground, like profound upwellings from the subconscious. |
Theatrical Release: 7 April 1921 (Germany)
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
| Box Covers |
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| Distribution |
Eureka Masters of Cinema - Spine # 108 Region 0 - PAL |
Kino Region 0 - NTSC |
Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray | Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray |
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| Bitrate MoC Blu-ray: |
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| Bitrate Kino Blu-ray: |
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| Schloß Vogelöd (The Haunted Castle) 1921 | ||
| Masters of Cinema | Kino | |
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Runtime: |
1:21:35.250 |
1:21:29.916 |
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Disc Size: |
47,690,426,491 bytes |
37,102,650,263 bytes |
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Feature Size: |
17,509,672,512 bytes |
18,842,186,496 bytes |
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Video Bitrate: |
24.98 Mbps |
27.66 Mbps |
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Chapters: |
8 |
8 |
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Audio: |
LPCM Audio 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit |
LPCM Audio 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit |
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
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1) Eureka Video (Masters of Cinema) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - SECOND 3) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - THIRD4) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Eureka Video (Masters of Cinema) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - SECOND 3) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - THIRD4) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Eureka Video (Masters of Cinema) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - SECOND 3) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - THIRD4) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Eureka Video (Masters of Cinema) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - SECOND 3) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - THIRD4) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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directed by F.W. Murnau
Germany 1922
| In Phantom, an aspiring poet on the verge of what he takes for a big break experiences a chance encounter with a beautiful woman in the street — and falls headlong into love and fantasy. With debts piling up and his promised literary celebrity failing to materialize, the poet descends into obsession, deception, and, ultimately, a criminal act in this delirious film that stands as an early precursor of Hitchcock’s Vertigo. |
Theatrical Release: November 13th, 1922
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
| DVD Box Cover |
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| Distribution | Eureka - Masters of Cinema - Spine #84 - Region 0 PAL | Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray |
| Bitrate Blu-ray: |
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| Phantom 1922 | |
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Runtime: |
2:01:27.250 |
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Disc Size: |
47,690,426,491 bytes |
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Feature Size: |
26,016,297,408 bytes |
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Video Bitrate: |
24.93 Mbps |
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Audio: |
LPCM Audio German 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit |
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Intertitle Sample
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1) Eureka Video (Masters of Cinema) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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Screen Captures
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1) Eureka Video (Masters of Cinema) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Eureka Video (Masters of Cinema) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Eureka Video (Masters of Cinema) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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Another Phantom Blu-ray Capture (showing tint)
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(aka "The Last Laugh")
directed
by F.W. Murnau
Germany - 1924
| A landmark work
in the history of the cinema, Der letzte Mann represents a
breakthrough on a number of fronts. Firstly, it introduced a method
of purely visual storytelling in which all intertitles and dialogue
were jettisoned, setting the stage for a seamless interaction
between film-world and viewer. Secondly, it put to use a panoply of
technical innovations that continue to point distinct ways forward
for cinematic expression nearly a century later. It guides the
Silent cinema’s melodramatic brio to its lowest abject abyss —
before disposing of the tragic arc altogether. The lesson in all
this? That a film can be anything it wants to be… but only Der
letzte Mann (and a few unforgettable others) were lucky enough
to issue forth into the world under the brilliant command of master
director F. W. Murnau. His film depicts the tale of an elderly hotel doorman (played by the inimitable Emil Jannings) whose superiors have come to deem his station as transitory as the revolving doors through which he has ushered guests in and out, day upon day, decade after decade. Reduced to polishing tiles beneath a sink in the gents’ lavatory and towelling the hands of Berlin’s most-vulgar barons, the doorman soon uncovers the ironical underside of old-world hospitality. And then — one day — his fate suddenly changes… Der letzte Mann (also known as The Last Laugh, although its original title translates to “The Last Man”) inaugurated a new era of mobile camera expression whose handheld aesthetic and sheer plastic fervour predated the various “New Wave” movements of the 1960s and beyond. As the watershed entry in Murnau’s work, its influence can be detected in such later masterpieces as Faust, Sunrise, and Tabu — and in the films of the same Hollywood dream-factory that would offer him a contract shortly after Der letzte Mann’s release. Excerpt from the Masters of Cinema website located HERE |
Theatrical Release: December 23rd, 1924 - Germany
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
| Box Covers |
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| Distribution |
Kino Video (Restored Deluxe Edition) Region 0 - NTSC |
Eureka Video
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Eureka
- Masters of Cinema # 23 Region 0 - PAL |
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Kino Video Region 1 - NTSC |
Films Sans Frontieres
Region 2 - PAL |
Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray |
| Bitrate Blu-ray: |
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| Der Letzte Mann (The Last Laugh) 1924 | |
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Runtime: |
1:30:14.041 |
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Disc Size: |
33,997,159,029 bytes |
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Feature Size: |
26,363,772,480 bytes |
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Video Bitrate: |
34.90 |
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Audio: |
LPCM Audio German 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit |
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
1) Kino
(Restored Deluxe Edition) - Region 0 - NTSC TOP 2) Eureka
(original release) - Region 2 - PAL 3) Masters of Cinema - Region 0 - PAL
THIRD 4) 5
6)
Masters of Cinema -
Region 'B' -
Blu-ray
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BOTTOM
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1) Kino (Restored Deluxe Edition) - Region 0 - NTSC TOP 2) Eureka (original release) - Region 2 - PAL SECOND3) Masters of Cinema - Region 0 - PAL THIRD 4) Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - FOURTH5 ) Films Sans Frontieres - Region 2 - PAL - FIFTH6) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Kino (Restored Deluxe Edition) - Region 0 - NTSC TOP 2) Eureka (original release) - Region 2 - PAL SECOND3) Masters of Cinema - Region 0 - PAL THIRD 4) Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - FOURTH5 ) Films Sans Frontieres - Region 2 - PAL - FIFTH6) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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More Blu-ray Captures
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(aka "The Grand Duke's Finances" )
directed by F.W. Murnau
Germany 1924
| Die
Finanzen des Großherzogs sees Murnau exploiting the
Mediterranean clime to film the tale of a rakish duke whose
lifestyle has dried up his noble coffers. When word arrives
about the existence of valuable sulphur deposits on his tiny
duchy of Abacco, a comic adventure of high-seas intrigue,
“animal impersonators”, and the Crown Princess of Russia
unreels at a sprightly pace. Max Schreck (the mythic actor
behind the makeup of Nosferatu’s Count Orlok two years
earlier) appears in a supporting role, in what might be
Murnau’s nimblest effort. After filming the landmark Nosferatu, the Silent cinema’s master innovator F. W. Murnau demonstrated the reach of his genre versatility with a pair of films that explored the dimensions of the psychodrama and the adventure-programmer. All the Murnau characteristics are present: a vibrant naturalism, exquisite imagery, passages of dreamlike revery, and an atmosphere redolent with romantic longing. Excerpt from the Masters of Cinema website HERE *** The 1994 restoration confirms that this is indeed a farce by FW Murnau, featuring such uncharacteristic ingredients as a madcap Russian princess, a happy go lucky duke, stolen letters, disguises and the like; and featuring Max Schreck, Nosferatu himself, as a comic revolutionary. Murnau takes it all at a fast clip, combining extensive location shooting with a couple of elaborate studio sets, and bringing off two or three shots which, independent of context, are as haunting as any in the canon. Agreeable yet quite forgettable, except for collectors of directorial anomalies, and Murnau-ites on the hunt for correspondences, gay subtexts, etc. |
| Box Covers |
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Also available in a Murnau boxset
HERE
which includes
Nosferatu /
Faust /
The Last Laugh /
Tartuffe /
The
Haunted Castle and
The Finances of the Grand Duke.
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The Masters of Cinema package contains a second dual-layered disc -
Murnau's Phantom (1922).
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| Distribution |
Kino Region 0 - NTSC |
Eureka - Masters of Cinema - Spine #85 - Region 0 PAL | Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray | Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray |
| Bitrate MoC Blu-ray: |
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| Bitrate Kino Blu-ray: |
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| The Grand Duke's Finances 1924 | ||
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Runtime: |
1:17:51.143 |
1:17:52.041 |
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Disc Size: |
37,564,394,309 bytes |
37,102,650,263 bytes |
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Feature Size: |
18,087,665,088 bytes |
18,121,932,096 bytes |
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Video Bitrate: |
24.89 Mbps |
27.62 Mbps |
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Audio: |
LPCM Audio 2304 kbps 2.0
/ 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit LPCM Audio English 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit |
LPCM Audio 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48
kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps / DN -4dB |
CLICK EACH
BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION 1)
Eureka Video (Masters of Cinema) - Region 0 - PAL
2)
Kino - Region 0 - NTSC -
SECOND
3)
4)
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1) Eureka Video (Masters of Cinema) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - SECOND 3) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - THIRD4) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Eureka Video (Masters of Cinema) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - SECOND 3) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - THIRD4) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Eureka Video (Masters of Cinema) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - SECOND 3) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - THIRD4) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Eureka Video (Masters of Cinema) - Region 0 - PAL - TOP2) Kino - Region 0 - NTSC - SECOND 3) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - THIRD4) Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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(aka 'Tartüff' or 'Tartuffe')
directed by F.W.
Murnau
Germany 1926
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F. W. Murnau made this film adaptation of Molière's satire for UFA early in 1925
and it was released the following year, shortly followed by
Faust. By
presenting the play as a film-within-a-film, Murnau takes the opportunity to
place the material in a contemporary setting, sandwiched inside a morality
lesson about greed and hypocrisy. |
Theatrical Release: January 25th, 1926 - Germany
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
| DVD Box Cover |
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The
Kino is also
available in a Murnau boxset
HERE
which includes
Nosferatu /
Faust /
The Last Laugh /
Tartuffe /
The
Haunted Castle and
The Finances of the Grand Duke.
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| Distribution | Eureka Video - Masters of Cinema #4 - Region 2 - PAL |
Kino Region 0 - NTSC |
Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray |
| Bitrate Blu-ray: |
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| Tartuffe 1926 | |
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Runtime: |
1:05:04.166 |
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Disc Size: |
37,564,394,309 bytes |
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Feature Size: |
13,926,669,888 bytes |
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Video Bitrate: |
24.91 Mbps |
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Audio: |
LPCM Audio German 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit |
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Screen Captures
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1) Eureka Video (Masters of Cinema Series) - Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Kino (The Restored Authorized Edition) - Region 0 - NTSC MIDDLE 3) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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1) Eureka Video (Masters of Cinema Series) - Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Kino (The Restored Authorized Edition) - Region 0 - NTSC MIDDLE 3) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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1) Eureka Video (Masters of Cinema Series) - Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Kino (The Restored Authorized Edition) - Region 0 - NTSC MIDDLE 3) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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