Published by the Munich Film Museum since 2005, this numbered DVD series pools restorations from German-language film archives, including the Austrian Film Museum and the Deutsche Kinemathek, with backing from the Goethe-Institut. It covers silent films with newly commissioned scores, documentaries and independent cinema of the 1960s to 1980s. Discs are PAL, region-free and bilingual, with English subtitles and extensive archival extras.
Filmmuseum
5 films on Best BluraysBest video release: 1 in HD4 in SD
Films where Filmmuseum's release is the pick. How picks are made
Films where Filmmuseum's release is the pick. How picks are made
1 in HD
Best video release on Blu-ray or HD streaming · by Letterboxd rating
Director: Max Ophüls
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · cinema-scope.com (opens in a new tab) · fredcamper.com (opens in a new tab) · +1 more
Video Notes:
French version: Criterion Blu-ray (Carlotta has no English subtitles)
German version: Filmmuseum DVD
Additional Info:
Carlotta Films corrects the mistakes of Criterion due to the compression on dark scenes and gives the gorgeous transfer of the restoration a better encode/compression and more bitrate.
The German cut, titled Lola Montez, is considered by Ophüls scholars such as Jonathan Rosenbaum, Dan Sallitt and Tag Gallagher to be superior to the French cut. It has only been reissued on the Filmmuseum DVD.
4 in SD
Best video release on DVD, SD streaming, LaserDisc or VHS · by Letterboxd rating
Director: G.W. Pabst
Sources: edition-filmmuseum.com (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
Germany Filmmuseum PAL DVD https://www.edition-filmmuseum.com/product_info.php/info/p81_Die-freudlose-Gasse.html
Germany Filmmuseum PAL DVD https://www.edition-filmmuseum.com/product_info.php/info/p81_Die-freudlose-Gasse.html has the most complete version of 151 minutes in its sixth 2020 edition of the DVD.
Although MoMA is also going to show a "2025 restoration" also from Filmmuseum so hopefully a newer home release is going to be soon.
Best English-Friendly:
Sources: thanhouser.org (opens in a new tab) · edition-filmmuseum.com (opens in a new tab) · vimeo.com (opens in a new tab)
Best Video:
Thanhouser or Germany Filmmuseum Screening the Poor 1888-1914 DVD
Directors: Leo McCarey & Fred Guiol
Sources: archive.org (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
The Internet Archive seems to have the same file as the DVD
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