Alexander Kluge Box Set

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Der Müde Tod · #1 Post by **Der Müde Tod** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 8:08 pm

The German publisher 2001 offers all Kluge films on 16 DVD in a box set for 99 Euro. They come with subtitles in english, french, spanish, chinese, and russian.

Wittsdream · #2 Post by **Wittsdream** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 11:16 pm

This release is outstanding news, as Kluge was perhaps the most under-represented of the key German "new wave" filmmakers on DVD, alongside Straub-Huillet. Very much looking forward to obtaining this boxset.

Thanks!

solent · #3 Post by **solent** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 12:16 am

Does the current German Kluge 2 disc set of ABSCHIED VON GESTERN & GELEGENHEITSARBIT EINER SKLAVIN [YESTERDAY GIRL & OCCASIONAL WORK OF A FEMALE SLAVE] have English subtitles?

shirobamba · #4 Post by **shirobamba** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 2:11 am

Does the current German Kluge 2 disc set of ABSCHIED VON GESTERN & GELEGENHEITSARBIT EINER SKLAVIN [YESTERDAY GIRL & OCCASIONAL WORK OF A FEMALE SLAVE] have English subtitles?

The above mentioned 16 DVD boxset contains the double disc sets currently released by Edition Filmmuseum, only much cheaper. All Kluge's from EF are english-friendly. Even the huge pdf booklets are bilingual German & English

Scharphedin2 · #5 Post by **Scharphedin2** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 5:18 am

shirobamba wrote:
Does the current German Kluge 2 disc set of ABSCHIED VON GESTERN & GELEGENHEITSARBIT EINER SKLAVIN [YESTERDAY GIRL & OCCASIONAL WORK OF A FEMALE SLAVE] have English subtitles?
The above mentioned 16 DVD boxset contains the double disc sets currently released by Edition Filmmuseum, only much cheaper.
All Kluge's from EF are english-friendly. Even the huge pdf booklets are bilingual German & English

Hi Shiro, this sounds like an absolutely amazing release! This is the kind of thing that I had always hoped that the DVD medium would be used for to a far greater extent -- "The Complete Works of..." I read the description, but my German must be getting a little rusty. It says that it contains (or at least I think it says) all of Kluge's 57 films. The list of contents adds up to some 30+ titles. Are there a number of unlisted short films included that are not listed?

accatone · #6 Post by **accatone** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 5:54 am

Interesting is that not even all titels have been released/available from EDITION FILMUSEUM yet (for a much higher price!). "2001" do have their own shops in Germany - i just called them and they are expecting the box to be in store by tuesday next week.

acquarello · #7 Post by **acquarello** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 9:08 am

Scharphedin2 wrote:It says that it contains (or at least I think it says) all of Kluge's 57 films. The list of contents adds up to some 30+ titles. Are there a number of unlisted short films included that are not listed?

Some of the one minute short films aren't listed, like 5 Stunden Parsifal on the Artists in the Big Top: Perplexed EM disc or So tückisch sind Friedensschlüsse on the War and Peace disc.

Alas, I already bought the films separately (The Blind Director is supposed to ship when available), but this is definitely a great deal. All the transfers look a lot better than the prints that the Anthology were screening last year for their Kluge retrospective.

shirobamba · #8 Post by **shirobamba** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 3:13 pm

Scharphedin2 wrote:The list of contents adds up to some 30+ titles. Are there a number of unlisted short films included that are not listed?

Can't say for sure, because I haven't seen the box yet, but I think that's the case. The list clearly states "All of Kluge's 57 cinematic films", which only excludes huge parts of his TV work.

acquarello wrote:Some of the one minute short films aren't listed, like 5 Stunden Parsifal on the Artists in the Big Top: Perplexed EM disc or So tückisch sind Friedensschlüsse on the War and Peace disc.

I guess their listing is incomplete (as is the listing on the EFM website). Very likely, these DVDs will be identical in authoring and content to the EF DVDs, because the Kluge project was a coproduction with 2001 from the beginning. But next week we'll know for sure.

Not available from EF, exclusive to the 2001 edition is the accompanying bonus DVD containing drafts, textlists, essays by Kluge and complete books like "Die Patriotin" and "Die Macht der Gefühle"

These pdfs have been in the extra section of the EF releases. I don't know, if 2001 doubled them to create an extra bonus disc.

Second bonus is a 116 p. book entitled "Neon Tubes of the Sky. A film album". It is hardcover and will contain filmstills and documentary stills.

I'm not sure if the pdf texts on this bonus disc or the texts in the book are translated.

Like aquarello, I've already bought the EF releases and can vouch for the transfers. For me this box set is the release of the year so far.

solent · #9 Post by **solent** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 7:04 pm

Who should I order this box from? I've never bought from Germany before and I don't read German.

I checked the list against an extensive filmography and only 2 films seem to be missing but I may have misread. It seems that THE DESTROYER (1971 short) and the revised version of WILLI TOBER re-titled IN TREPIDATION (1977) are not included. I also wonder if alternate versions (or which versions) of STRONG MAN FERDINAND & THE BIG DUST UP are used. Great news and certainly an apt way of presenting this very intellectual artists work.

Der Müde Tod · #10 Post by **Der Müde Tod** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 7:58 pm

solent wrote:Who should I order this box from? I've never bought from Germany before and I don't read German.

Send an email to service@zweitausendeins.de (in English), tell them what you want, and ask for shipping costs etc.

solent · #11 Post by **solent** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 12:29 am

Thanks to all who posted here. This is why I love this site, we all share our knowledge and alert one another to what is available in the obscure world of 'intelligent' DVDs. I will order only 4 specific DVDs rather than the box but in doing so I will still have the essential works of Kluge [i.e. YESTERDAY, BIG TOP, DUST-UP, TOBLER, FEMALE SLAVE, MIDDLE ROAD & STRONG MAN]. All these DVDs, as already mentioned, come with great extras like shorts & interviews and the total price for me - in Australia - is about $20 a disc. This is less than any foreign DVD sold in Australia itself (and of usually lesser quality). The box comes out even cheaper per disc.

Does anyone know of an English-subbed version of JAGDZSZENEN AUS NIEDERBAYERN [HUNTING SCENES ON BAVARIA (1968)] or DIE LINKSHANDIGE FRAU [THE LEFT-HANDED WOMAN (1977)]?

accatone · #12 Post by **accatone** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 8:05 am

Just bought the Box! It contains eight cases with 2 dvds in each case plus a book named "Album". The book is in german language only! Can't comment on sound and image quality yet but expect it to be as good as the former Edition Filmmuseum ones. The packaging quality of the cases is, imo, pretty poor but than the price beats all disbelieversâ€¦ This release is the bomb - thats all i can say!!!!!

accatone · #13 Post by **accatone** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 8:45 am

Just watched the Godard interview (which allready had been published in Kluges last book "Geschichten vom Kino") and the dvd-menu is the same as the Edition Filmuseum one - so again: those must have the same production sources!

tavernier · #14 Post by **tavernier** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 10:56 am

Der Müde Tod wrote:
solent wrote:Who should I order this box from? I've never bought from Germany before and I don't read German.
Send an email to service@zweitausendeins.de (in english), tell them what you want, and ask for shipping costs etc.

Their website has an English option....it was a breeze to order it online. The only problem was shipping to the States -- 32 euros! -- so I loaded up my shopping cart (lots of their DVDs are 10 euros) and paid the same amount for shipping for the boxed set and 6 other titles.

Telstar · #15 Post by **Telstar** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 9:59 am

Any suggestions of other titles worth ordering from them?

Mestes · #16 Post by **Mestes** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 8:44 am

Der Müde Tod wrote:Send an email to service@zweitausendeins.de (in english), tell them what you want, and ask for shipping costs

Hmmm. I did as Der Müde Tod suggested, and received this reply:

All we need is your full address, the items you wish to order
and a valid Visa or MasterCard (Cardnumber and Expiration Date).

Shipping and handling to the USA is 22,- EUR, if the weight is within two kg
weight (which applies for one copy of the Kluge-Set).

From two kg on, we charge 32,- EUR, no matter how heavy the parcel is.

We ship fully insured via Economy Airmail through DHL.

If you have any further questions feel free to contact me

solent · #17 Post by **solent** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 6:58 pm

After watching two of the Edition filmmuseum Kluge DVDs I can only say that I am impressed with both the transfers and the DVD layouts. [The English subtitles are better than most produced for foreign films in the English-speaking world, especially here in Australia.]

Kluge's films are certainly challenging but by no means pretentious. The Godardian influence is obvious but Kluge's films for me are not mere copies of the master, they show an individual talent whose intellectual approach is both didactic and photographically beautiful. Watching YESTERDAY GIRL, ARTISTS AT THE BIG TOP & WORK OF A FEMALE SLAVE brings to my mind Godard films like VIVRE SA VIE, MASCULIN FEMININ & TWO OR THREE THINGS. Kluge's films seem to follow the VIVRE SA VIE path more closely in the sense that he keeps his characters firmly entrenched within the fictional/realisitc narrative line. But his "filmed essay" approach is constant. This is a link to his love of documentary film.
(I haven't seen the sci-fi films of STRONG MAN yet so my initial assessment is limited I admit.)

The 1970 TV interview shows a clean cut Kluge who, like Godard in his tie & suit, looks more like a civil servant than a 'radical' artist. The dialogue between the four men is heavy at times but I cannot agree with the fifth man who stops the program to accuse Kluge of manipulation. The conversation was flowing as naturally as possible and it seemed to me that the other two men were criticising Kluge constantly and thereby forced him to defend himself. I can't imagine a purely intellectual program like this on 21st century TV. Analytic/educational television programs today are too entertainment laced to accept real ideas and discussions. Audiences - certainly in Australia - are now permantly "dumbed-down" and kept there by the powers-that-be. Those of us hungering for intellectual meat go to private media for satisfaction.

denti alligator · #18 Post by **denti alligator** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 7:44 pm

We need a comparison of the films in this box with the Edition Filmmuseum versions. If they're comparable or the same, the box is obviously the way to go (for those with limited funds). Can we get some screen caps up?

Der Müde Tod · #19 Post by **Der Müde Tod** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 11:13 pm

denti alligator wrote:We need a comparison of the films in this box with the Edition Filmmuseum versions. If they're comparable or the same, the box is obviously the way to go (for those with limited funds). Can we get some screen caps up?

My guess is that the Filmmuseum versions are identical to the ones included in the 2001 box. I'll be happy to post screen caps of the 2001 box as soon as it arrives, but I haven't received a shipping notification yet. It might take them a while to find a large enough box to fit all the things in I ordered...

tavernier · #20 Post by **tavernier** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:02 pm

Just got my shipment with the Kluge box and several Wenders and Riefenstahl titles...the box's packaging looks gorgeous, but I don't have time right now to watch anything.

Looks like zweitausendeins.de is the real deal to the States: decent shipping time, nicely packed, no problems.

Der Müde Tod · #21 Post by **Der Müde Tod** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 9:48 pm

Received my box today. The last page of the book states that all double-packs will be released individually in the Edition Filmmuseum. This makes it pretty clear that these are the same DVDs, including extras. If someone wants to see screenshots from a particular film, I'll be happy to post them here.

yoshimori · #22 Post by **yoshimori** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 10:32 pm

I've been working through the set. Am now on disc 5. The transfers look great to me.

I was blown away by one "extra" in particular: the two-hour "Open End" TV interview program solent mentions above, with Kluge, a Munich film critic whose central theme was that all film is bourgeois and should be censured, another filmmaker who railed against "art" in film, and the host who tried to referee it all. Kluge was so articulate in his political defense of (politically indefensible) art in film that the politically militant program editor handed the host a hand-written note 45 minutes into the program castigating the latter for letting Kluge dominate the discussion. Kluge saw the note and claimed it was a perfect example of the kind of anti-philosophical strong-arm strategy typical of WDR TV he'd been on about. The whole program then falls apart - cameramen, grips, etc getting into the meta-discussion about how TV works and whether the program should air, all on camera for another hour-plus.

What a window into another time!

solent · #23 Post by **solent** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 10:49 pm

Have fun with the two sci-fi films. Both are very similar and feature Kluge's regular actors. Without a doubt they are the strangest films I have ever seen. In the case of TOBLER we get detailed scenes showing the hapless Tobler saying rather mundane things (or is it gibberish?) and we see neo-slapstick shots of him being promoted and then later demoted, etc... What one would expect from a conventional narrative, i.e. plot sequences, are passed over either (a) without comment or (b) via a voice-over narrative. Nevertheless they are interesting films and quite unique. Be warned: they are the only films in the series without chapter stops.

STRONGMAN FERDINAND is Kluge's most accessible and perhaps conventional film. I was even able to show this one to my wife which is something I haven't achieved with any of Godard's films (she sees these in snatches only). THE MIDDLE ROAD was a lot more interesting than I expected perhaps due to its historical grounding. My favourite, at present, is PART-TIME WORK OF A SLAVE.

Anyone considering these films should use Edition Filmmuseum. They sent my discs via Fedex without extra charge or despite the amount ordered. Be warned: they might list the shipment as DHL (as they did with my second) but it was still sent Fedex. Check with them after shipment to get the tracking number. All the films are picture boxed.

denti alligator · #24 Post by **denti alligator** » Thu Jul 05, 2007 11:03 pm

They'll be selling a box with ALL of Kluge's films in January 08. That means, including the television stuff, which is really exciting. I can't imagine the price being better than it is now, but I'm going to have to wait.

EDIT: Yeah, for 199 Euros, this is the way to go. Can't wait!!

My Man Godfrey · #25 Post by **My Man Godfrey** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:03 pm

I hadn't seen any of Kluge's stuff before, but took a chance on the box set because of my interest in the New German Cinema (and b/c Rainer Fassbinder liked Kluge's films) . . .

For the money, I think this may be one of the best sets I've ever bought. The films themselves are just fascinating, and the transfers really are, as the German Filmmuseum website promises, "of archival quality." And the extras -- one commenter above correctly put the word in quotes -- are unreal: scads of brilliant shorts (I loved the recent doc on Edison's "Electrocuting an Elephant" -- a perfect companion piece for Artists Under the Big Top: Perplexed).

I'm still only halfway through, and I'm sure I'll have tons of questions and thoughts about the movies when I'm done.

One question I have about Part-time Work of a Domestic Slave: for that abortion scene, did Kluge film an actual abortion? (I thought I was unshockable, but . . .)

Also: this has been discussed in the bootleg thread, and it isn't strictly Kluge-related, but fo any of you who missed this: superhappyfun.com is now selling a subtitled version of Fassbinder's 3-hour World of Wires miniseries. The picture-quality is poor, as you'd expect, but still: pretty rad. (I also picked up The Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick, which was not what I was expecting, but worth a look.)

Thanks to everyone on this site for posting so much information about Kluge in general and this set in particular. I'll definitely be picking up Kluge's TV work next year.