Colonel Redl Blu-ray - Klaus Maria Brandauer

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Oberst Redl" or "Redl ezredes" or "Colonel Redl")

directed by Istvan Szabo
Yugoslavia | Hungary | Austria | West Germany 1985

Set in the lead-up to WWI, István Szabó's Academy Award® nominated Colonel Redl charts the meteoric rise of Alfred Redl (Klaus Maria Brandauer, Mephisto) from a family of railway workers to his post leading counter-intelligence in the Austro-Hungarian Army, rubbing elbows with the Crown Prince (Armin Mueller-Stahl, Eastern Promises). His hidden homosexuality, however, is used against him by enemies of the state, putting both his professional standing and his country's security in dire straits. The film was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar®, following a nomination for Confidence (1980) and a win for Mephisto (1981), the most extraordinary run in the history of Hungarian cinema.

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Set during the fading glory of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the film tells of the rise and fall of Alfred Redl, an ambitious young officer who proceeds up the ladder to become head of the Secret Police only to become ensnared in political deception.

Posters

Theatrical Release: February 20th, 1985

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Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	2:31:46.931
Video	1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 41,642,262,366 bytes Feature: 38,413,651,968 bytes Video Bitrate: 29.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	DTS-HD Master Audio Hungarian 1976 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1976 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino 1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 41,642,262,366 bytes Feature: 38,413,651,968 bytes Video Bitrate: 29.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • The Central Europe of István Szabó (3:11) • Remembrance of production designer József Romvári, directed by Sophy Romvari (6:11) • Trailer (1:39) Booklet with introduction by István Szabó and essay by film critic Bilge Ebiri Blu-ray Release Date: July 21st, 2020 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 11

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (July 2020): Kino have transferred István Szabó's Colonel Redl to Blu-ray. They are releasing three films by the Hungarian director; Mephisto, Colonel Redl and Confidence to Blu-ray on July 21st, 2020. All three are cited as being from "4K restorations by the Hungarian National Film Archive". The 1080P image is similar to the others with thick, pleasing, film textures. There are a number of close-ups that show a film-like heaviness with fine detail. Generally the HD presentation is consistent, clean and appears to faithfully represent the film.

NOTE: We have added 68 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original Hungarian language (NOTE: IMDb states it was in German - but this is Hungarian as far as my ears can discern.) There is a score by Zdenkó Tamássy (who composed for Mephisto and many television movies), plus Johann Strauss's Radetzky-Marsch (main title), Kaiser-Walzer - Op. 437 (Emperor Waltz) and Wiener Blut (waltz.) It sounds rich and full in the lossless. Dialogue is clean and clear without sync issues that I noticed. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray has no commentary and the same extras as Confidence; a brief montage of the director's films entitled "The Central Europe of István Szabó" and Remembrance of production designer József Romvári, directed by Sophy Romvari his granddaughter. József Romvári was a prolific production designer in Hungary. He created set designs for over 140 films in his career from the 1960s to the early 2000s. There is also a re-release trailer for the three films, Mephisto, Colonel Redl and Confidence, and the package has a 16-page booklet with photos and an introduction by István Szabó and essay by film critic Bilge Ebiri on Colonel Redl.

István Szabó's Colonel Redl is more of his masterful cinema. Brandauer's controlled portrayal is brilliant. I would love to see Szabó's Hanussen (also with Klaus Maria Brandauer)considered the third film of the director's Trilogy (the first, "Mephisto", Colonel Redl the second and "Hanussen" the third.) Kudos to Kino and this 4K restoration presentation of the film on Blu-ray. Despite by desire for a commentary we still give this package (and all three films) our highest recommendation!. This is must-own cinema.

Gary Tooze