7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Drama | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
German: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region B (A, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Arrow's The Rainer Werner Fassbinder Collection: Volume 3.
Arrow has been curating interesting collections of Rainer Werner Fassbinder films courtesy of both The Rainer Werner Fassbinder Collection: Volume 1 and The Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Collection: Volume 2, and now with this latest third volume. The first two editions offered some of Fassbinder's better known efforts like The Marriage of Maria Braun and The Merchant of Four
Seasons, and while this third collection offers titles that will no doubt be known by Fassbinder aficionados, it might present more "cult"-ish
productions.
Satan's Brew is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. Arrow's insert booklet groups the films together in its informational verbiage about the restorations, as follows:
All films are presented in their original aspect ratios of 1.37:1* with mono sound. The restorations for The American Soldier, Gods of the Plague, Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven and Satan's Brew were produced and provided by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation from original 35mm camera negatives scanned on an Arriscan film scanner at Arri Media GmbH in Munich. The Niklahausen Journey, Rio das Mortes and Fear of Fear were originally made for television, with restorations produced and provided by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation from original 16mm camera negatives, and are presented in standard definition.*See individual reviews, since not all aspect ratios are actually 1.37:1.
Satan's Brew features LPCM Mono in the original German. While Peer Raben contributes another score to a Fassbinder film, this is a carnival ride in the sound design department courtesy of almost screwball level antics between characters, and with at least a hint of Howard Hawks-ian overlapping dialogue and sound effects. Despite the "noisiness" of much of the proceedings, dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
I mentioned Frances Farmer in my Fear of Fear Blu-ray review , and in a way Satan's Brew might be Fassbinder riffing on Farmer's lover Clifford Odets' frequent "art vs. commerce" dialectic. The comedy here is often just flat out weird, but this is certainly a tonal change of pace from many of the other films in the third Fassbinder volume from Arrow. Technical merits are generally solid, and the supplements very enjoyable.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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