The Douglas Sirk Collection Blu-ray - To New Shores / La Habanera

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

(aka "To a Distant Shore" or "Life Begins Anew" or "To New Shores")

(aka "Cheated by the Wind")

Directed by Douglas Sirk (as Detlef Sierck)
German 1937

Douglas Sirk (All That Heaven Allows) would become synonymous with the 1950s American melodrama, but he was already reinventing the genre while working in Germany in the 1930s. This disc collects two of these rarely-seen, innovative films, both showcasing the talents of Swedish-born superstar Zarah Leander. To New Shores stars Leander as a woman sentenced to an Australian penal colony for a crime committed by her former lover (Willy Birgel). She eventually marries a farmer (Viktor Staal) and returns to the cabaret stage, but remains tragically fixated on the man who broke her heart.

In La Habanera, Leander plays Astree, a Swedish woman who marries a Puerto Rican land baron (Ferdinand Marian). As years pass, their love fades, and Astree’s passions are reawakened by a doctor (Karl Martell) who has come to help fight a devastating epidemic, igniting the fury of her jealous husband. While she bore certain resemblances to Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich (with her sultry insouciance, defiance of authority, and her low singing voice), Zarah Leander was in fact a striking original, and has largely been overlooked by American audiences because of the inaccessibility of her films (produced at Ufa when the studio was under Reich control).

Posters

Theatrical Release: August 27th, 1937 - December 18th, 1937

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

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

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	To New Shores: 1:42:22.177 / La Habanera: 1:37:29.633
Video	1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 43,869,766,528 bytes To New Shores: 22,373,244,480 bytes La Habanera: 21,388,936,320 bytes Video Bitrate: 25.79 / 25.90 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate To New Shores Blu-ray:
Bitrate La Habanera Blu-ray:
Audio	LPCM Audio German 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kino 1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 43,869,766,528 bytes To New Shores: 22,373,244,480 bytes La Habanera: 21,388,936,320 bytes Video Bitrate: 25.79 / 25.90 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Audio commentary for To New Shores by film historian Josh Nelson • Audio commentary for La Habanera by film historian Olaf Möller Blu-ray Release Date: May 11th, 2021 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 12 / 12

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (May 2021): Kino have transferred two Early Douglas Sirk films to Blu-ray; To New Shores and La Habanera - both released in 1937. These have been restored by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung. They share on dual-layered Blu-ray and look about the same quality - quite strong with pleasing contrast, surprising moments of impressive detail and aside from some frame-specific damage (see below) and some end-of-scene warping visible - I thought these were excellent in 1080P. Grain is supported well and there are only minor inconsistencies. My overall impression is they look just fine - I may lean to To New Shores being a bit more stable with a more dense source - but both are highly watchable. The cinematography of Franz Weihmayr (for both films) has wonderful shadows and lighting play that come across delightfully in the HD presentations.

NOTE: We have added 70 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use linear PCM mono tracks (16-bit) in the original German language for both films. I didn't notice them suffering from their production age and limitations much at all. Dialogue was clear - perhaps a bit hollow - but as clean as the image and very ascertainable. The scores by German composers, Ralph Benatzky for To New Shores - Yes Sir, Tiefe Sehnsucht (Ich hab' eine tiefe Sehnsucht in mir), Ich steh' im Regen and Ich bin eine Jungfrau performed numbers by Elfriede Datzig, Zarah Leander and Mady Rahl. Lothar Brühne is credited for the score for La Habanera. which has more musical numbers performed by Leander and use of La Marche des toréadors from opera "Carmen" composed by Georges Bizet. It all sounds very supportive in the uncompressed transfer. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentaries for both films. To New Shores by film historian Josh Nelson and on La Habanera by film historian Olaf Möller. They approach the films quite differently. Australian Josh Nelson takes a very academic and detailed look at the narrative, mise en scène, Sirk's politics, he quotes reviews and papers on the director and examines the era it was made. It is excellent. Möller narrates a bit and takes plenty of pauses but shares details on Zarah Leander, the other performers, the writer Gerhard Menzel etc.. There are no trailers or liner notes.

I didn't know what to anticipate with these films but I do know that they both vastly exceeded my expectations. Douglas Sirk's To New Shores and La Habanera are strong films with a glimpse to the director's 'Sirk-ian touch' in the melodramatic 50's films yet to come (All That Heaven Allows, There's Always Tomorrow, Magnificent Obsession, All I Desire). Swedish actress and singer Zarah Leander really connects with the camera. She's beautiful and expressive. Comparisons to Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich are certainly appropriate. I'm sure I have never seen her before - making these films a wonderful find. I am very pleased with this Kino Blu-ray. Strongly recommended!