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Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (1968)
Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (1968) poster

Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (1968)

Chronik der Anna Magdalena Bach

Music, Drama • 1h 34m

Directors: Danièle Huillet & Jean-Marie Straub

Cast: Gustav Leonhardt, Christiane Lang, Paolo Carlini, Ernst Castelli, Hans-Peter Boye, Joachim Wolff, Rainer Kirchner, Eckart Bruntjen, Walter Peters, Kathrien Leonhard, Anja Fahrmann, Katja Drewanz, Bob van Asperen, Andreas Pangritz, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Hellmuth Costard

Best English-friendly release

Updated 1 year ago

Best video release


About the film

The life and music of Johann Sebastian Bach as presented by his wife, Anna.

TSPDT
2026: #706
2025: #699
2024: #693
2023: #688
2022: #688

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Directors: Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet

Best Video:

Grasshopper's Moses and Aaron Blu-ray bonus

Sources: grasshopperfilm.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Available in Grasshopper's Moses and Aaron's bonus https://grasshopperfilm.com/film/moses-and-aaron/

Directors: Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet

More Music on Blu-ray

Directors: Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger

4K · Excellent
Best Video & Audio:

Imprint 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Imprint AU 4K is world UHD debut and encoded by FiM. Part of the The Cinema Of Powell & Pressburger - Collection Two set.

Director: Anthony Mann

Best Video & Audio:

Shout! Factory Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Shout! Factory's Blu-ray has both cuts of the film in addition to the 3.0 stereo and 2.0 mono mixes making it the first time the full theatrical cut is available with the 3.0 mix. The new commentary is good. The 3.0 stereo sounds wonderful and the mono sounds solid.
That's where the positives end. This is the same terrible Universal DVD master slapped on a Blu-ray disc with a terrible encode making both versions share the disc separately taking up more space. This master was already poor for DVD and is nearly unwatchable here on the Shout! Factory disc. It looks virtually identical to the upscaled DVD most of the time with only a bit less noise due to it being 1080p. This is one of the most appalling cases of "DVD master slapped on a Blu-ray disc" you can possibly find. Absolutely shameful video presentation. This should have never been released this way. Sadly it's still ever so slightly better than the DVD and the only way you get the proper theatrical cut with lossless 3.0 stereo. This is still the best source we have for the film.

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: George Pal

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Directors: Chris Appelhans & Maggie Kang

Best Video & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

"Sing-Along Edition" not included on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray, only available on Netflix Streaming

Director: Masaaki Yuasa

Best Video:

US GKIDS Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Japan Aniplex Blu-ray is severely lowpassed, which is not an issue on the US release

Director: Damien Chazelle

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent
Upcoming Release:

US Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray re-release announced with Dolby Vision, a new exclusive bonus, and the previously retailer pre-order bonus-exclusive/Hong Kong-exclusive bonus interviews in HD

Video Notes:

Italy Eagle Pictures has DV, better encode, and no brightness shifts compared to Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray for the original Dolby Atmos mix

Additional Info:

Hong Kong Panorama 4K Blu-ray has two interviews available in HD that are SD everywhere else and only included as retailer-exclusive pre-order bonus DVDs with the US Blu-ray

Directors: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

Best Video:

UK StudioCanal UHD

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: Vincente Minnelli

Best Audio:

1991 MGM LaserDisc

Director: Morton DaCosta

Best Video:

Warner Bros Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray Nov 24th

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· last reviewed 1 year ago

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