- Actors: Paul von Hindenburg
- Directors: Walter Ruttmann
- Writers: Karl Freund, Walter Ruttmann, Carl Mayer
- Producers: Karl Freund, Stefan Drössler
- Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, Silent, NTSC
- Region: All Regions
- Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
- Number of discs: 1
- MPAA Rating:
- Studio: Paradox
- Release Date: Oct 1 2002
- Run Time: 72 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- ASIN: 6305301697
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#46,526 in DVD (See Top 100 in DVD)
- #5 in DVD > Classics > Silent Films > International
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon.com
The title says it all: this is a visual symphony in five movements celebrating the Berlin of 1927: the people, the place, the everyday details of life on the streets. Director Walter Ruttman, an experimental filmmaker, approached cinema in similar ways to his Russian contemporary Dziga Vertoz, mixing documentary, abstract, and expressionist modes for a nonnarrative style that captured the life of his countrymen. But where Vertov mixed his observations with examples of the communist dream in action, Ruttman re-creates documentary as, in his own words, "a melody of pictures." Within the loose structure of a day in the life of the city (with a prologue that travels from the country into the city on a barreling train), the film takes us from dawn to dusk, observing the silent city as it awakens with a bustle of activity, then the action builds and calms until the city settles back into sleep. But the city is as much the architecture, the streets, and the machinery of industry as it is people, and Ruttman weaves all these elements together to create a portrait in montage, the poetic document of a great European city captured in action. Held together by rhythm, movement, and theme, Ruttman creates a documentary that is both involving and beautiful to behold. The original score by Timothy Brock is lyrical and dramatically involving, complementing the mood and movement marvelously. Also included is the avant-garde short Opus 1, an abstract study in animated shapes and movement. --Sean Axmaker
Video Details
At once an invaluable photographic record of life in Weimar Berlin and a timeless demostration of the cinema's ability to enthrall on a purely visceral level, "Berlin, Symphony of a Great City" (1927, 62 min.) offers a kaleidoscopic view of a single day in the life of the bustling metropolis. Also included on this DVD is "Opus 1" (1922, 10 min.), a rare example of the German avant-garde cinema. Director Walther Ruttmann's hand-colored film is an exploration of the geometry of movement.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
A Poignant Journey
Aug 2 2001
Format:DVD
Berlin, Symphony of a Great City is a dazzling film full of wonderful images. It starts with a train journey into Berlin, a journey with a real sense of speed and the thundering of the tracks. This speed continues throughout the film through the use of fast paced editing. If there is a story to the film, it is simply a day in the life of the city. The film starts with the morning and ends with night and in between shows how Berliners went about their daily lives. The focus is not on the great buildings, the famous Berlin landmarks, but on the streets where people lived and worked. Thus the film is no travelogue of tourist destinations, but rather an experience of the Berlin which Berliners saw every day.
This film has gained something since it was made. It has gained poignancy because the Berlin it shows is now lost. Anyone who has seen photos of Berlin in 1945 will realise that almost all the buildings in Berlin, Symphony of a Great City have less than twenty years left to live. The same can be said for many of the people. While watching the film, and especially scenes of happy schoolchildren, I kept wondering what happened to them. There is a joy in this Berlin of the twenties. It looks like a fine place to live, but these people and this city are about to enter a nightmare. There is something quite moving about this.
The print used for the Image DVD is very good. The black and white images are clear and detailed and there is hardly any apparent damage. Music is especially important with a film described as a symphony and the music composed by Timothy Brock adds a great deal to the film. It fits in well with the action and the various moods of the film. The DVD also includes a short film by the same director as Berlin, Symphony of a Great City. Opus 1 is a bizarre little film consisting of abstract shapes interacting with each other. It is hand-coloured and actually rather beautiful and hypnotic.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
If you have motion sickness take a Dramamine before viewing
Aug 2 2000
Format:DVD
Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Gro'stadt (1927), Berlin of 1927 before it was flattened and rebuilt. If you remember this you are in trouble. It is a beautifully designed black & white film that starts out with a steam engine train ride. We then travel through the city and through the different hours of the day until evening when we must leave. Try to spot the main streets and buildings. It is like taking a day trip into history. The music score is by Timothy Brock. The same person that wrote the score for Liebe der Jeanne Ney, Die (1927)
After watching the movie you need to look at the book "Lost Berlin" by Susanne Everett
After watching the movie you need to look at the book "Lost Berlin" by Susanne Everett
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
An amazing film... deserves way more stars than five!!
Dec 10 2002
Format:DVD
Pioneering German director Walther Ruttman weaves a beautiful , rapturous look at Berlin during the height of the Weimar Republic. Everyday life is captured and extolled, from the heights of wealth to the nobility of labor, along with the splendor of modernity, from vast, efficient factories (which still look impressive) to the leggy glamour girls of the capital city's globally notorious nightlife. Most of all, though, there's the immense artistic vision of the director, piling on one perfectly composed, poetically thoughtful shot after another, rhythmically editing them together in a groundbreaking montage style. "Berlin" was indeed a seminal film; numerous other "city symphonies" proliferated in its wake, and the music-montage style is clearly echoed in Godfrey Reggio's "Koyaanisqatsi," and its sucessors, "Powaqqatsi" and "Baraka." This is where it all started -- a masterful and fascinating film, and a nice glimpse at life in one of Europe's greatest cities. Pity, then, that Ruttman went on to become a Nazi propagandist, and died making films for the Reich during WWII, although really, I suppose it was inevitable.
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Most recent customer reviews
A Wonderful View Of One Of The Greatest Cities Of The World
How we forget how beautiful Berlin was before WWII. Although still a beautiful city, the pre-war Berlin was a truly wonderful place... Read more
Published on Nov 4 1999
Good print; great cinematography; decent score; experimental
Berlin: Symphony of a Great City ranks with Dziga Vertov's "Man with a Movie Camera" as one of the great non-narrative documentaries: an attempt to capture the pulse and... Read more
Published on May 15 1999 by Darrell W. Moore
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