This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from the 2014 2K digital restoration of the film which utilized an original nitrate 35mm restoration print held by EYE that is touted as the only surviving complete 35mm print. The print, struck from the original negative, was brought to Amsterdam in 1931 by Vertov himself. Another objective of the 2014 restoration was to include the entire picture as shot with its original 1.33:1 framing. Many commonly-available prints of the film were copied from sound-reissue prints that masked-off a portion of the left part of the picture for the placement of a synchronized optical soundtrack in release prints — the state that many of us have seen the film for years.

The film is presented with a music score composed and performed by The Alloy Orchestra.

This is our recommended home video edition of the film.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from 35mm print materials held by the British Film Institute. As with other commonly-available prints of the film, this print was copied from sound-reissue prints that masked-off a portion of the left part of the picture for the placement of a synchronized optical soundtrack in release prints.

The film is presented with a lively orchestral music score by Michael Nyman and performed by the Michael Nyman Orchestra. Nyman has also scored the Vertov films A Sixth Part of the World and The Eleventh Year.

The supplementary material includes audio commentary by historian Adrian Martin; an interview on Dziga Vertov with Ian Christie (46 minutes); and a video essay on Vertov by David Cairns (20 minutes).

Alternatively, this is an optional recommended home video edition of the film.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

This DVD edition has been licensed from the British Film Institute. The image quality is similar to the Kino Lorber Blu-ray Disc noted above.

The film is accompanied by a lively orchestral music score by Michael and performed by the Michael Nyman Orchestra. Nyman has also scored the Vertov films A Sixth Part of the World and The Eleventh Year.

The supplementary material includes information on Dziga Vertov, composer Michael Nyman, and cinematographers Mikhail and Boris Kaufman.

This is our recommended DVD edition of the film for North American collectors.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

This early DVD edition, originally prepared by David Shepard for release on laserdisc and VHS videotape in 1996, appears to have been transferred from a very-good-to-excellent 35mm early synchronized-sound print of the film from the 1930s.

Framing evidence on this disc suggests that the surviving source material had an optical soundtrack running along the left side of the filmprint, leaving only approximately 1.20:1 of the original camera negative aperture on the rerelease print, or — to state it another way — approximately 10-percent of the left side of the original image had been sacrificed to accommodate the rerelease print soundtrack.

For an older analog video transfer, a very-good job has been done of capturing the fine details and broad greyscale range of the source material. Only some occasional RGB artifacts are seen in tight horizontal picture details and some trellised fringing of the yellow English-language subtitles bespeak of the older video transfer technology that was utlized. The transfer is good enough to create a nearly filmlike picture on high-definition equipment capable of upconverting a standard-definition NTSC signal to a 1080p HD signal.

The presentation features an original music score by The Alloy Orchestra, following the written music directions of Dziga Vertov, originally produced for the Pordenone Silent Film Festival in 1995 and recorded in 1996, and an audio commentary by researcher Yuri Tsivian.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Not recommended sight unseen, and why would you? See above.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Other RUSSIAN and SOVIET FILMS of the silent era available on home video.

Other DOCUMENTARY FILMS of the silent era available on home video.