The Loves of Pharaoh Blu-ray comes close to perfection with top scores all around making it one of the best Blu-ray's ever
The Ethiopian King Samlak offers his daughter Makeda to the powerful Pharaoh Amenes in order to secure peace between the two countries. What was intended as a political move ends as a debacle. Instead of Makeda, Amenes chooses Samlak's beautiful slave girl Theonis. Nevertheless, Amenes can not secure the love of Theonis as she is in love with the young Egyptian Ramphis. Having suffered humiliation, the Ethiopians declare war on Egypt. Amenes is injured in a battle and perishes - but only seemingly. The happy union between Theonis and Ramphis is in peril when Pharaoh Amenes returns to claim his wife and his throne.
Ernst Lubitsch's "Das Weib des Pharao" a.k.a "The Loves of Pharaoh" (1922) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of German label Alpha-Omega. The supplemental features on the disc include German and English trailers for the new reconstruction of the film; in-depth look at the history and massive reconstruction of the film; concert presentation of "The Loves of Pharaoh", in six acts, by WDR Rundfunkorchester; production stills; collection of missing scenes; and more. The release also comes with an 18-page illustrated booklet with notes on the film and the restoration by Mr. Thomas Bakels from Alpha-Omega Digital, article on the film by film theorist and writer Kristin Thompson, article on the production history of the film by Bernt Muller, interview with conductor Frank Strobel, and additional notes on the restoration and reconstruction of the film. With optional English, German, Thai, French, Arabic, Mandarin, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, and Italian intertititles and text cards for the main feature. Region-Free.
At the Palace
Ernst Lubitsch's legendary film The Loves of Pharaoh has recently been given a new life by German label Alpha-Omega. This is the one and only release I've seen from the label, but I must say that it is already one of my favorite acquisitions. I truly hope that this is a successful release so that we could see more classic silent films given a similar treatment by Alpha-Omega.
The Loves of Pharaoh was meant to be one of Lubitsch's last German films. It was an ambitious production meant to impress on both sides of the Atlantic, with massive sets and thousands of actors, a film that could one day stand proudly next to such epic films as Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments. In fact, I truly believe that the one and only reason why today The Loves of Pharaoh does not share the reputation of DeMille's film has to do with the fact that for years it could not be seen - large fragments of the film were scattered all over Europe while entire rolls of footage were simply missing. Actually, even today, after Alpha-Omega's impressive reconstruction approximately 600m of footage that was part of the film's original theatrical release is still missing.
Amenes (the great Emil Jannings), the Egyptian Pharaoh, has agreed to marry Makeda (Lyda Salmonova), the daughter of Samlak (Paul Wegener), a powerful Ethiopian King, to prevent a war that could destroy his country. The marriage will legitimize an important peace treaty which the two countries have accepted.
Samlak has sent a letter to Amenes to inform him that together with Makeda he is also bringing plenty of priceless gifts. Amenes cannot wait to see them and then place them in the new treasury his men are building. As Samlak approaches his palace, Amenes orders his men to hurry up and finish the treasury. Overworked and exhausted, many of them collapse and die.
Meanwhile, somewhere along the Nile, Ramphis (Harry Liedtke), the son of Amenes' chief architect, sees Theonis (Dagny Servaes), a beautiful Greek slave, who has been sent to bring water to Makeda. He talks to her and offers to help. But out of nowhere a slave master appears and proceeds to punish Theonis because she isn't allowed to talk to strangers. Without thinking about the consequences, Ramphis knocks him out and then brings Theonis back home.
In the meantime, Samlak is greeted by Amenes. After he introduces Makeda and gives Amenes his gifts, Samlak demands that Theonis is brought back and the man who stole her from him punished. Determined to please his guest, Amenes immediately orders his men to find the thief and Theonis. But when Theonis is brought to the palace, Amenes falls madly in love with her and in the days that follow cancels his marriage with Makeda. The angry Samlak vows to destroy him and orders his troops to invade Egypt.
Despite the fact that there is still some footage (which was part of the original theatrical version) missing from this excellent reconstruction, it is impossible not to be impressed by Lubitsch's vision. The huge sets, decors, and impressive movement of people in The Loves of Pharaoh are indeed quite remarkable. The second half of the film, in particular, where the big battles are, looks simply spectacular.
The story is very easy to follow. The main characters are well defined and the subplots well developed. If there are gaps, the reconstruction uses stills and intertitles that convincingly bridge the restored footage. There are two sets of intertitles - blue and white. The blue intertitles are based on original titles from various primary elements. The white intertitles were added by the restorers during the reconstruction of the film to bring clarity to specific areas where certain scenes are missing.
As impressive as the visuals are, the film is also complimented by a spectacular score by the great Eduard Kunneke. The music has distinctive operatic qualities that effectively enhance the already stunning visuals. Unlike the film, Kunneke's score was largely intact, and the new adaptation by Frank Strobel essentially realigns it with the restored footage.
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ernst Lubitsch's The Loves of Pharaoh arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of German label Alpha-Omega.
The following text is included with this release:
"No complete copy of Ernst Lubitsch's Das Weib des Pharao (The Loves of Pharaoh, 1922) is known to survive. This reconstruction and digital restoration began in 2003 and was completed in 2005. It is based on two incomplete, tinted original nitrate prints with Russian and Italian titles from the Federal Film Archive and the Roberto Pallme Collection at George Eastman House respectively. The closing sequence was taken from an internegative with German flash titles held by the Munich Film Museum. Additional material came from outtakes surviving as b/w 16mm reduction copies. Additional image restoration has been performed in 2010 and 2011.
All elements were scanned and digitally restored at 2K resolution. The original editing has been reconstructed using the original script and vintage plot summaries. Missing titles were re-created from fragmentary censorship records and the script. Some titles had to be translated from the foreign language prints. Gaps due to missing scenes have been bridged using stills and explanatory titles. Presently about 600m of footage are still missing compared to the film's original release length of 2976 meters."
The reconstruction of The Loves of Pharaoh is quite remarkable, and easily the most unusual presentation of an early film released on Blu-ray to date. Not only has the restoration produced marvelous results, but the current version of the film, which uses various stills and title cards, effectively eliminates all of the problematic gaps. Considering the amount of missing footage, the restorers have done a small miracle with the elements they had to work with.
Detail and image depth are often breathtaking. Some of the large panoramic shots are so crisp and well detailed that it is hard to believe that the film is nearly 80 years old. The overshots, in particular, look stunning (see screencapture #15). Despite the fact that footage from different prints was used, close-ups also look stable, boasting tremendous detail and fluidity (see screencapture #3). Where frames are missing, small skips are noticeable, but the restorers have made sure that the transitions are handled as best as possible. Contrast is also enormously impressive - there are virtually no inconsistencies between the footage that has been sourced from the tinted prints. Furthermore, there is a layer of surprisingly well and evenly distributed light grain that gives the film a wonderful organic look (see screencapture #12). Some small inherited vertical lines pop up here and there, but there is virtually no dirt, large specks, debris and large warps, and portions of the film actually look a lot better and healthier than quite a few recent films that have transitioned to Blu-ray. Finally, there are no serious compression issues to report in this review. All in all, this is a tremendous reconstruction of The Loves of Pharaoh, and in my opinion clearly one of the most impressive presentations of an early silent film to appear on Blu-ray. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0. For the record, Alpha-Omega have provided optional English, German, Thai, French, Arabic, Mandarin, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, and Italian intertititles and text cards.
The original score by Eduard Kunneke was adapted by Frank Strobel, and the new version was performed and recorded in HD by WDR Rundfunkorchester in Cologne, Germany. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tarck handles the score very well - the sound is rich, potent, and well rounded. The brass section, in particular, often shines. There are portions of the film where the timpani also make an impression. The overall dynamic movement is excellent. In terms of balance, the differenct orchestral groups never overshadow each other. There are no pops, cracks, or audio dropouts to report in this review.
Note: The adaptation of the original score has determined the projection speed of the newly reconstructed version of The Loves of Pharaoh, which is 20 frames per second. The new running time of the film is approximately 100 minutes.
Note: All of the supplemental features included on this Blu-ray release are perfectly playable on North American Blu-ray players, including the PS3.
Trailer - original English for the newly reconstructed The Loves of Pharaoh. Music only. (2 min, 1080p).
Trailer - original German for the newly reconstructed The Loves of Pharaoh. Music only. (3 min, 1080p).
The Return of Lubitsch's Pharaoh - a fascinating in-depth look at the history and massive reconstruction of Ernst Lubitsch's The Loves of Pharaoh. The documentary also includes various interviews with many of the specialists who contributed or are directly responsible for the reconstruction of the film, including Thomas Bakels (Alpha-Omega Digital), Karl Griep (Bundesachiv Filmarchiv), Dr. Nikolaus Wostry (Filmarchiv Austria), and conductor Frank Strobel, among others. In German, with optional English subtitles. (38 min, 1080p).
1. Chapter 1: The Film.
2. Chapter 2: The Restoration
3. Chapter 3: Q&A
Film Concert by the WDR Rundfunkorchester - a concert presentation of The Loves of Pharaoh, in six acts. The WDR Rundfunkorchester is conducted by Frank Strobel. Music only. (100 min, 1080/60i).
Production Stills - a collection of production stills. (6 min, 1080p).
Missing Scenes - a collection of missing scenes, with text descriptions in English. (3 min, 1080p).
Program Booklet - a digital version of a program booklet for The Loves of Pharaoh. The booklet is in German. (3 min, 1080p).
Booklet - 18-page illustrated booklet with notes on the film and the restoration by Mr. Thomas Bakels, article on the film by film theorist and writer Kristin Thompson, article on the production history of the film by Bernt Muller, interview with conductor Frank Strobel, and additional notes on the restoration and reconstruction of The Loves of Pharaoh. In English and German.
Digitally restored and reconstructed by the same image restoration team that worked on Fritz Lang's Metropolis, Ernst Lubitsch's The Loves of Pharaoh has literally been given a new life. The word spectacular does not even begin to describe what Mr. Thomas Bakels and the rest of the folks at Alpha-Omega Digital have accomplished. I would argue that the quality of the work is as impressive as that done by Lobster Films on their restoration of Georges Melies' A Trip to the Moon. Truly, this is one of the most stunning presentations of a silent film that I've seen on Blu-ray to date. And one that also gives me a lot of hope that one day we could see a similar presentation of Abel Gance's epic Napoleon. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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