7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.2 |
Spies (Spione) was the first independent production of German "thriller" director Fritz Lang. The years-ahead-of-its-time plotline involves Russian espionage activity in London. The mastermind is Haghi (Rudolph Klein-Rogge), a supposedly respectable carnival sideshow entertainer. Heading the good guys is Agent 326 (Willy Fritsch), with the help of defecting Russian spy Sonya (Gerda Maurus). The film moves swiftly to several potential climaxes, each one more exciting than its predecessor. Haghi's ultimate demise is a superbly staged Pirandellian vignette. Anticipating Citizen Kane by a dozen years, director Lang dispenses with all transitional dissolves and fade-outs, flat-cutting territory from one scene to another. The film was co-scripted by Lang and his then-wife Thea Von Harbou.
Starring: Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Willy Fritsch, Fritz Rasp, Gerda Maurus, Lien DeyersForeign | 100% |
Romance | 15% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Music: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Music: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Region B (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Fritz Lang's "Spione" a.k.a. "Spies" (1928) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment. The only supplemental feature on the disc is a wonderful documentary film produced by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung in Wiesbaden. The release also arrives with a 52-page illustrated booklet featuring an essay by Jonathan Rosenbaum and an exclusive article by French critic Murielle Joudet. With German intertitles and optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
Just another beautiful spy
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Fritz Lang's Spione arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Eureka Entertainment.
The following text precedes the opening credits:
"The restoration was carried out in 2004 by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung in Wiesbaden on the basis of a nitrate copy from the Narodni Filmovy archive in Prague. Additional copies from the Filmarchiv Austria in Vienna as well as from the National Film Sound Archive in Canberra and the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris were also used. Some of the original intertitles survived in the Vienna copy, as well as in a flash title in a dupe negative at Gosfilmofond Moscow. The missing opening credits were reconstructed on the basis of the censor-card. The copying was carried out by L'Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna. The master negative of this edit was used for the 2K digital version."
The restoration is very good. While some minor scratches, specks, and tiny dirt spots remain, detail and depth are excellent. In fact, many of the well-lit close-ups look quite spectacular, while the nighttime footage impresses with surprisingly good clarity (see the sequence where Doctor Masimoto meets the girl in the rain). There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening corrections. Unsurprisingly, excluding some minor density fluctuations, the film has a very solid organic appearance. Finally, there are a few shaky frame transitions and occasionally light frame instability pops up here and there, but they never become distracting. All in all, this is a good restoration of Spione that makes it quite easy to appreciate the vision of its creator. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
Spione can be viewed with optional scores by Donald Sosin and Neil Brand, both presented as LPCM 2.0 tracks. For the record, Eureka Entertainment have provided optional English subtitles for the German intertitles.
The two piano scores are drastically different. I prefer Neil Brand's score as it has a slightly more contemporary edge and because its harmonic structure is a lot more diverse. Depth and clarity are excellent and balance is very convincing (there are no sudden spikes or drops in dynamic activity). The mixing of Donald Sosin's score is equally pleasing, but its harmonic structure is different and as a result depth varies a bit. Regardless, you should experiment with the two scores and see which one you like better.
Fritz Lang's Spione can probably best be described as a transitional work. It has plenty of the unique atmosphere that makes Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler and Metropolis so fascinating to behold, but it also has many of the basic characteristics that define the likes of Ministry of Fear and Hangmen Also Die. I think that it works really well and even today it still looks remarkably stylish. Eureka Entertainment's Blu-ray release of Spione uses as a foundation a restoration of the film that was completed in 2004, which I thought was quite wonderful. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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