Jornal da Mostra

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“Hamlet”, by Svend Gade e Heinz Schall

RETROSPECTIVES AND TRIBUTES PAID AT THE 57TH BERLINALE

One of the weekend attractions at the 57th Berlin Festival was the premiere of the restored copy of the masterpiece Berlin Alexanderplatz by Rainer Werner Fassbinder; take a look at the other classics on exhibition in the retrospectives and tributes

The thirteen parts (and the epilogue) of the classic epic Berlin Alexanderplatz by the biggest post-war German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder were shown in session. Berlin Alexanderplatz is Fassbinder’s extremely radical and personal view of Alfred Döblin’s literary work. The thoroughly restored copy of this classic of 1980 also serves to register the 25th anniversary of this German master’s death (1945-1982). Stefan Döblin, Döblin’ nephew, was present at the exhibition as well as the protagonists Günter Lamprecht (the unforgettable Franz Biberkopf), Hanna Schygulla, Barbara Sukowa and Gottfried John. The music for the projection shown in high definition in the Admiralpalast room was provided by Max Raabe and Palast Orchester. There is a whole generation of movie-goers that have not gotten in contact with this masterpiece which is the most refined expression of melodrama in the movies, containing a historical and existential urgency that defines everlasting works of art. The thirteen parts and the epilogue were shown at the 09th Mostra.

Big tribute was paid, with the retrospective of his work, to the American filmmaker Arthur Penn, born in 1922 and author of important titles such as ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ (Uma Rajada de Balas) (1967), ‘Night Moves’ (Um Lance no Escuro) (1975) and ‘Four Friends’ (Amigos para Sempre) (1982). The filmmaker also came to take part in a debate with Robert McFüller, co-author of the only monograph written in German about the director.

Berlin has also programmed the viewing of the restored copy of the Italian silent epic Cabiria (1913/14) by Giovanni Pastrone, who was one of the main stars of the 30th Mostra. This movie is considered to be the first monumental success of the international cinema history. Therefore, both the original version with musical accompaniment, and the 1931 version including soundtrack, believed to be hopelessly lost, will be shown. The Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin is responsible for the restoration.

Another big highlight in the program of Berlinale 2007 is the first global exhibition of a recently discovered restored and colorized copy of ‘Hamlet’, a German production of 1920/21 directed by Sved Gade and Heinz Schall, starring Asta Nielsen, one of the greatest names of the German silent movies. A great part of her filmography was lost. However, only a black and white version of this film had been heard of up till now. Michael Riessler, the vanguard composer and clarinetist, has written an original soundtrack that mixes acoustic and electronic instruments as well as sounds of nature. The restoration was a joint project of DIF, the German cinema institute, and the TV networks ZDF and ARTE .