The Loves of Pharaoh (Ernst Lubitsch, 1922)

[rezpekt]

Next year, German company Alpha-Omega Digital will release Ernst Lubitsch's The Loves of Pharaoh (Das Weib des Pharao, 1922) on Blu-ray.



Additional material:

• Booklet: 20. pages, color. Texts and images relating to the film and the restoration: Introduction by Thomas Bakels, personal message to the fans from Ms Nicola Lubitsch, Essay by Kristin Thompson, Interview with Frank Strobel, Text by Egyptology expert Bernt Müller
• Trailer: English, German
• Production documentation: location shots, photos of missing scenes, programme booklet - Filmkurier Berlin 1922
• The Return of Lubitsch’s Pharaoh: A documentary about the restoration of The Loves of Pharaoh, depicting the complex restoration project in pictures and narration about the making of the film, interviews with contributors and scene comparisons. Information about color selection, technical procedures and source material is provided as well as a context to the new recording of the original music score. (35mins)
• Film concert: A high-class program in its own right is this HD recording of WDR Rundfunkorchester performing the music score in Cologne, Germany, on 14th and 15th September 2011. This program was produced by ALPHA-OMEGA digital especially for this release. Assembled using footage from 16 cameras strategically placed within the orchestra, the music takes center stage and the film becomes the supporting act. The outstanding performance of the orchestra under the direction of Frank Strobel finally completes the film and can be experienced in full length and from close-up with this first ever recording of Künneke’s score. (100 mins)

Languages:
German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Arabic

The film is presented in 10 selectable language versions. The title cards are re-created as full screen intertitles as was common practice for foreign releases in the silent film era. The titles were translated by colleagues and friends who came to the project with a profound subject expertise. For the German, English, French and Italian versions the original type face could be used. The Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Arabic versions exhibit a different appearance due to their unique characteristics.

Specifications:
One BD50 disc
Duration: Main Feature: ca. 100min, Additional Material: ca. 144min
Frame Rate: 20 f/s
Resolution: HD 1920×1080
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 (1,33:1) (main feature)
Audio: PCM 2.0 Stereo| DTS-HD 5.1
Source Material: Original Russian and Italian nitrate release prints
FSK 0: No age restriction in Germany

Price:
Blu-ray: €34.90
International shipping: €6.50


Read more about the film, the restoration and the Blu-ray release.

[McCrutchy]

With all the available versions, do we know if the copious extras will be subtitled in English?

[McCrutchy]

The Loves of Pharaoh Blu-ray

I shot an e-mail off to Thomas Bakels from the Alpha-Omega web site, and he replied very quickly:

The main movie is titled in 10 languages with full frame intertitles, of course english is one of them.
The orchestra performing doesn't need any language versions since it's purely music.
The documentary is german audio and english subtitles. The menus are all in german and english.

You might have read that we're running late on the release, but I promise we're working very hard on getting
it done soon. Too many want to "eat our cake" before we see a dime and that needs to be different for us,
because we worked too long and too much for not being rewarded. - We're gettin there.

Please bear with us some more, it's gonna be worth it.
Thanks again and all the best for your new year 2012 !

Thomas Bakels
ALPHA-OMEGA digital GmbH

[Arkadin]

wow, this should be fantastic.
blu-ray really starting to have quite the silent library.

[rezpekt]

It's finally ready!

Dear Forum Members,

We are excited to announce the release of the DVD and BluRay of „The Loves of Pharaoh“ on 30th June 2012.

The production of the DVD and BluRay edition took longer than expected due to the complexity of the project and extraordinarily high production costs. The established production methods and distribution channels make an independent release in limited edition difficult to finance and hardly profitable. Despite the difficult and long journey we are proud to present a high-quality collectors edition with exciting content and packaging.

DVD UND BLURAY EDITION SPECIFICATIONS:
This digital restoration recreates the original color tinting scheme in accordance to the only surviving projection print fragments. This release makes the original orchestral score available for the first time ever on recorded media.

Special features:
- Digibox packaging
- Booklet: 20. pages, color. Texts and images relating to the film and the restoration: Introduction by Thomas Bakels, personal message to the fans from Ms Nicola Lubitsch, Essay by Kristin Thompson, Interview with Frank Strobel, Text by Egyptology expert Bernt Müller- Trailer: English, German- Production documentation: location shots, photos of missing scenes, programme booklet - Filmkurier Berlin 1922 (BluRay disc only)
- The Return of Lubitsch’s Pharaoh: A documentary about the restoration of The Loves of Pharaoh, depicting the complex restoration project in pictures and narration about the making of the film, interviews with contributors and scene comparisons. Information about color selection, technical procedures and source material is provided as well as a context to the new recording of the original music score. (35mins)
- Film concert: A high-class program in its own right is this HD recording of WDR Rundfunkorchester performing the music score in Cologne, Germany, on 14th and 15th September 2011. This program was produced by ALPHA-OMEGA digital especially for this release. Assembled using footage from 16 cameras strategically placed within the orchestra, the music takes center stage and the film becomes the supporting act. The outstanding performance of the orchestra under the direction of Frank Strobel finally completes the film and can be experienced in full length and from close-up with this first ever recording of Künneke’s score. (100 mins)

Language Versions:
German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, ArabicThe film is presented in 10 selectable language versions. The title cards are re-created as full screen intertitles as was common practice for foreign releases in the silent film era. The titles were translated by colleagues and friends who came to the project with a profound subject expertise. For the German, English, French and Italian versions the original type face could be used. The Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Arabic versions exhibit a different appearance due to their unique characteristics.

Technical Specifications:
DVD Edition: 1*DVD9 + 1*DVD9
BluRay Edition: 1*BluRay50
Duration: Main Feature: approx. 100min, Additional Material: approx. 144min
Frame Rate: 20 f/s
Resolution: PAL, 720×576 (DVD) | NTSC, 720×480 (DVD) | HD 1920×1080 (BD)
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 (1,33:1) (main feature)
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 (DVD) | PCM 2.0 Stereo (DVD & BluRay)| DTS-HD 5.1 (BluRay)
Source Material: Original Russian and Italian nitrate release prints

You can place the order on the Alpha-Omega digital online shop:
http://www.alpha-omega.de/doku.php?i...oom:pharao_dvd

We hope you enjoy the restored version of this long lost Lubitsch spectacle!

Your ALPHA-OMEGA digital Team

http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/...393892#p393892

[McCrutchy]

Excellent news.

[fait]

You can order it from the Alpha-Omega website for 41.80€ shipped to the UK.

[kishiro]

My Blu-Ray of 'Weib des Pharao' which I bought in 2012 just stopped working. The disc is completely unplayable. Tested in several players. ...so I bought another one... Got it today. That one is also unreadable!... Are we looking at a bad batch/disc-rot ? Can anyone else test their discs and let me know if it works or not ?

[Erasmus Craven]

Originally Posted by kishiro

My Blu-Ray of 'Weib des Pharao' which I bought in 2012 just stopped working. The disc is completely unplayable. Tested in several players. ...so I bought another one... Got it today. That one is also unreadable!... Are we looking at a bad batch/disc-rot ? Can anyone else test their discs and let me know if it works or not ?

Yup, mine's dead as well. Tested on Oppo 203, Oppo 105 and Sony BDP119.

Edit: mailed Alpha/Omega about this, I don't believe they ever pressed more than one batch - chances are all the discs are dead and gone.

[kishiro]

Originally Posted by Erasmus Craven

Yup, mine's dead as well. Tested on Oppo 203, Oppo 105 and Sony BDP119.

Edit: mailed Alpha/Omega about this, although I don't really think they'll get back to me. Also, I don't believe they ever pressed more than one batch - chances are all the discs are dead and gone.

Thnx for checking Erasmus I've also e-mailed them. Let's hope they do a second printing...

[bigshot]

Ordered. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. If it doesn't work, I'll just get a PayPal refund. No problem.

If you can do it, you might try and see if you can rip your dead discs on a computer. Odds are it's a firmware issue in your player.

[kishiro]

Originally Posted by bigshot

If you can do it, you might try and see if you can rip your dead discs on a computer. Odds are it's a firmware issue in your player.

It does not seem to be a firmware issue. The Pioneer BD-writer on my computer can't even read the discs. Too many errors or no disc/invalid disc. Can't even run an error-scan. (that's both my discs).

[Eddiedane]

Mine doesn't work either. Bummer.

[Aclea]

Same here. And after all that meticulous restoration work...

[John_Drake]

Ack, mine too.

[Erasmus Craven]

After I mailed Alpha Omega yesterday, I just received a very friendly reply. They are going to test their remaining stock, I will keep you posted when I have more info.

Edit: and more info already: Mr. Bakels, founder and head of restauration at Alpha-Omega Digital, has kindly okayed me to post that everybody with an unplayable Blu may return it to Alpha Omega (disc only!) and will receive a new disc (if the remaining stock is ok, I guess). Get in touch with them via their website at http://alpha-omega.de/en/englisch-home/

[Aclea]

That was fast. Thanks for your efforts - wasn't expecting a happy ending on this one. Sometimes it's nice to be wrong.

[Erasmus Craven]

Originally Posted by Aclea

That was fast. Thanks for your efforts - wasn't expecting a happy ending on this one. Sometimes it's nice to be wrong.

We're not quite there yet... As I suspected, there only ever was one batch of 1000 pressed, so we'll have to wait until they have checked if their remaining stock is ok. There's a chance that all discs have gone bad...
But Mr. Bakels was very forthcoming in his mails and I believe he will do everything possible to rectify the situation. If all things fail, we might have to settle for a DVD replacement disc (Both NTSC and PAL discs were made). Keep in mind, Alpha-Omega is not a regular label but a restoration company (with an impressive list of classics they have worked on) and this is the only title they have ever released on physical media. Let's hope for the best...

[thatguamguy]

If they aren't planning to press further discs, they should have no reason not to offer an digital copy of the HD version.

[bigshot]

A DVD replacement won't make people happy. They would do better to order a batch of BD-Rs to replace the defective discs.