NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Masters of Cinema Blu-ray (November 2021): Masters of Cinema have also transferred G.W. Pabst's The Love of Jeanne Ney to Blu-ray. They supply both the German and US versions. Both are from the same restoration, and description of such, with the same light marks and scratches as well as the same scores: Bernd Thewes for the German version and music by Andrew Earle Simpson for the US version. How they differ is that The Masters of Cinema have given the longer German version a slightly more robust 1080P rendering. In comparisons I wasn't able to identify significant image differences. The audio, the UK transfer use linear PCM 2.0 channel tracks as opposed to Kino's DTS-HD Master for the wonderful scores.

The most significant difference is in the extras. Masters of Cinema has no commentary track but does include a new, 25-minute, video essay by David Cairns and Fiona Watson. Pabst's history and career is discussed as well as talking separately to each actor, never picking up a script and political controversies. The collaborations with Louise Brooks, the author's Ilja Ehrenburg dissatisfaction and much more are addressed. It is excellent. There is also a collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Philip Kemp.

G.W. Pabst's The Love of Jeanne Ney is important expressionist filmmaking. I loved the style with extensive tracking shots and an artistic level of editing. It was released as Lusts of the Flesh in the United Kingdom. As J. Hoberman states "the culminating works of silent cinema" as "an ambitious attempt to synthesize Soviet montage, Hollywood action-melodrama, and German mise-en-scène." Nice to see Brigitte Helm directly after Metropolis. Silent Era fans now have the option of two restored-image Blu-ray packages with both versions and valuable supplements. It should be considered a must-own by serious cinephiles.      

***

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (April 2020): Kino have transferred G.W. Pabst's The Love of Jeanne Ney to Blu-ray. They supply both the German and US versions. Text screens, before the German presentation, state: "Two separate versions of The Love of Jeanne Ney were created for its initial release. Each was assembled from original camera negatives, which sometimes differed greatly in terms of content and composition. Neither of the original negatives has survived. The "A" negative was used for the American market, and the "B" negative was for European distribution. In the 1930s, a print was struck from the "B" negative on behalf of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which replaced the German intertitles with English. The MoMA print (derived from the original "B" negative) was the primary source material for this 2K restoration. German intertitles have been re-inserted, using the original text as preserved in censor records."
For the US version:
"For The Love of Jeanne Ney, two complete negatives were compiled from the exposed footage, each with slightly different camera positions. None of these first-generation negatives have survived, only prints and duplicate negatives. The "A" negative was used for the American market. This edition of the U.S. release version was mastered from an edited copy preserved by the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv, Berlin."

We've compared some scenes (the captures are not able to be exact - but are in the vicinity). Damage is more prevalent in the shorter US version but I think I prefer those camera angles. Grain is present (more notable on the US) and for Silent-Era films the 1080P presentations are pleasing with relatively good contrast.

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel tracks (24-bit) with music adapted and orchestrated by Bernd Thewes for the German version and music by Andrew Earle Simpson for the US version. Both are quite different but sounds clean and crisp in the lossless transfer. Kino offer optional English subtitles for the re-inserted German intertitles of the German version (see sample below). The disc is a Region 'A'-locked Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by film historian Eddy von Mueller for the hour and 3/4 German version. He discusses the Weimar era (1918-1933) -and considers it a 'Golden age' for German cinema. Eddy appreciates the way Pabst navigates scenes with the camera. He deciphers many political intents and describes historical context of the film. It's worth the indulgence. There are no other extras. 

Gary Tooze