Lubitsch in Berlin: Six Films 1918-1921

Synopsis: This set collects six recently restored works from the silent phase of Lubitsch’s career, and casts new light on the director both as a fully-formed comic master, and as a virtuoso of cinematographic technique.

ICH MOCHTE KEIN MANN SEIN (I Wouldn’t Like to Be a Man) is a concise sketch of society life in three acts.

Die PUPPE (The Doll), based in turn on a tale from E. T. A. Hoffmann).

As Die Austernprinzessin [The Oyster Princess.]: A comic high-point in the master’s oeuvre, Die Austernprinzessin showcases the trademarks of the "Lubitsch Touch" and its ten-fingered dexterity, resulting in a film that is simultaneously clever, concise, and risqué.

SUMURUN: By turns melodramatic and grotesquely comic, Sumurun brings together performances by star-players Paul Wegener (Der Golem.), Pola Negri, Harry Liedtke, and Ernst Lubitsch himself (in the role of an ultra-pathetic hunchbacked minstrel) for this ensemble tale pulled from the milieu of The Arabian Nights.

Die Bergkatze [The Mountain-Lion / The Wildcat] finds Lubitsch in exuberantly expressionistic mode, employing a host of optical masks to create perhaps the most visually audacious comic spectacle of his career. Pola Negri plays the daughter of a band of thieves.
Series: Masters of Cinema
Language: German (Standard)
Country: Germany
Year of production: 1918
Notes: With English subtitles.
Subjects: Film studies
Keywords: German cinema; silent films

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Notes: An independent distributor specialising in releasing classic and early/silent films on DVD, including the Masters of Cinema curated collection of classic and world cinema. Sale via retail outlets.

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