Berlin: Symphony of a Great City

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City
by Walter Ruttmann

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City
Our Price: $142.89
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $71.94 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details


(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD details

Director: Walter Ruttmann
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC, Silent
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 72 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-05-04
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Image Entertainment

Description of Berlin: Symphony of a Great City

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.
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
Bestsellers in DVD
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] ImageThe Story of Jeremiah [VHS]
Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS] ImageWresting With God [VHS]
by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops: $19.99
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS] ImageStudy Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]
Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops: $44.00
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS] ImageTempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]
HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops: $9.98
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/Party Video [VHS] ImageTempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]
HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Strike the Original Match [VHS] ImageStrike the Original Match [VHS]
New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops: $14.95
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] ImageMedjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]
JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008 ImageMayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008
by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops: $1,463.24
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single User ImagePediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single User
by Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops: $1,463.24
Cost Accounting [VHS] ImageCost Accounting [VHS]
by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Citizen Kane (Two-Disc Special Edition) ImageCitizen Kane (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Citizen; Release date: 2001-09-25; DVD
Best price: $16.95
Price in other shops: $26.98
Brazil ImageBrazil
MCA; Release date: 1998-03-31; DVD
Best price: $7.48
Price in other shops: $14.98
Pepe Le Moko (The Criterion Collection) ImagePepe Le Moko (The Criterion Collection)
Criterion; Release date: 2003-01-07; DVD
Best price: $18.99
Price in other shops: $29.95
Paris, Texas (The Criterion Collection) ImageParis, Texas (The Criterion Collection)
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2010-01-26; DVD
Best price: $28.41
Price in other shops: $39.95
Good Bye, Lenin! (Special Edition) ImageGood Bye, Lenin! (Special Edition)
Sony Pictures; Release date: 2004-08-10; DVD
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops: $19.99
The Phantom Carriage (Criterion Collection) ImageThe Phantom Carriage (Criterion Collection)
IMG; Release date: 2011-09-27; DVD
Best price: $17.10
Price in other shops: $29.95
Berlin's Hidden History ImageBerlin's Hidden History
by John Woods, Brian Ladd
Release date: 2002-10-01; DVD
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops: $19.95
The Complete Metropolis ImageThe Complete Metropolis
KNV; Release date: 2010-11-16; DVD
Best price: $16.64
Price in other shops: $29.95
Man with the Movie Camera ImageMan with the Movie Camera
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2002-02-26; DVD
Best price: $12.89
Price in other shops: $24.98
Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927) Documentary of Pre-Nazi Berlin ImageBerlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927) Documentary of Pre-Nazi Berlin
Quality Information Publishers, Inc.; Published: 2008; DVD
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops: $12.49
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners