Die Austernprinzessin Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Die Austernprinzessin Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 24, 2020

Note: This film is available as part of Lubitsch in Berlin 1918-1921.

Ernst Lubitsch’s vaunted “touch” made him something of a rarity in Golden Age Hollywood, namely a star director in a town which more typically tended to be all about "real" stars (as in the kind up there on the silver screen). But what’s interesting about Lubitsch’s Hollywood career is that while it lasted decades and offered scores of films, when you get right down to it, the so-called “Lubitsch touch” might be best remembered for only a veritable handful of outings like Trouble in Paradise, Design for Living, Ninotchka, The Shop Around the Corner and To Be or Not to Be. Now, it perhaps goes without saying that with a handful like that, who really cares if not all of Lubitsch’s films have managed to penetrate into the public consciousness, but for devoted cineastes with a taste in World Cinema, and in this case World Silent Cinema, this aggregation of six silents Lubitsch made when he was still in Germany may be a bit revelatory, both in terms of subject matter but also in terms of what would soon enough become known as the “Lubitsch touch”.

Ossi Oswalda is back to strut her stuff and occasionally throw a temper tantrum as the titular character, the daughter of a guy named Quaker (Victor Janson) who has built a considerable fortune on oysters, and is therefore the Oyster King. Already some may be sensing that this is another early Lubitsch effort that has a kind of fairy tale ambience to it, though in this case there’s some typically Lubitschian trenchant humor combined with a somewhat farcical aspect whereby Ossi, wanting to marry a prince, ends up marrying the prince’s “wingman”, who had been sent by the prince to check her out. There’s some supposed social critique bubbling just beneath the surface of this odd effort, but its often surreal presentational style tends to undercut its immediacy.

Note: As might be gleaned from the representations in the original poster art, above, some of this film's depictions of blacks could well be offensive (The Oyster King is attended to by a coterie of black "servants").

Die Austernprinzessin Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Eureka Entertainment provided check discs for the purposes of this review.

Die Austernprinzessin is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment's Masters of Cinema imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. This is another film in this set which doesn't have any introductory text cards discussing the element or restoration process. This is also a presentation that has no obvious toning or tinting, and as such has a more traditional "black and white" appearance. In that regard, this looked just slightly dark to me a lot of the time, so that grain can appear a bit gritty against lighter backgrounds, and blacks occasionally crush in the more shadowy scenes. There's some recurrent damage toward the right side of the frame, but this is another presentation that is pretty regularly dotted with a fair supply of nicks, scratches and other signs of age related wear and tear. Intertitles tend to be a bit unstable, and there are some obvious "jumpy" moments into and out of many of the intertitles. All of this said, though, this is another completely watchable presentation given an understanding of the age of the piece.

Die Austernprinzessin Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

All of the films in this set feature LPCM 2.0 renderings of musical underscore. Aljoscha Zimmermann and Ensemble provide a vaguely "gypsy" sounding score here which features a lot of piano and violin. Fidelity is fine throughout the presentation, and I noticed no issues whatsoever with regard to any distortion, dropouts or other damage.

Die Austernprinzessin Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

While there are no supplements tied to individual films included with this set, Disc Three offers the following comprehensive documentary, which does get into at least some of the films and this general era of Lubitsch's life:

• Ernst Lubitsch in Berlin: From Schönhauser Allee to Hollywood (HD; 1:26:41) is a well done piece that includes some really sweet reminiscences from some Lubitsch relatives (including his daughter, Nicola), as well as copious footage of Lubitsch's childhood and young man haunts in Berlin. There's quite a bit of information and some appealing stills and archival video of his early work as an actor, including with Max Reinhardt, and a good overview of his early film career as a director. In both German (with English subtitles) and English, depending on the speaker.

Eureka Entertainment only provided check discs for purposes of this review, and so I can't authoritatively comment on non-disc swag, though their website mentions an insert booklet with essays.

Die Austernprinzessin Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Die Austernprinzessin is a fascinating viewing experience, but my hunch is many modern day viewers may find at least some elements here objectionable, and the film's presentational style doesn't seem to totally meld with its subject matter or its supposed skewering of relationships (or perceptions) between Germans and Americans. Video has some age related obstacles, but audio is fine, for those considering a purchase.