Schwarzenberger. Berlin Alexanderplatz.

First, it's an honor to have as a regular reader someone who works with the probably the greatest DVD label in the world, the Criterion Collection. Pointing to the June 10 entry, "Fassbinder's legacy @ 25," Issa Clubb comments that I've been "mostly laying out the case for the plaintiff, as it were," which is true insofar as I've been following and reporting on coverage in the German press of what more or less amounts to two ongoing stories: a rift between the Fassbinder Foundation and several people who worked with Fassbinder; and a dispute over the level of brightness in the restoration of Berlin Alexanderplatz. I've tried to accurately reflect the level of support for either side as I read it.

In the meantime, too, I've been wondering if Criterion, which reportedly plans to release its Alexanderplatz package before the end of this year, has been hearing from concerned cinephiles who've been tipped off, one way or the other, regarding the brouhaha. According to Issa Clubb, they have. One possible and certainly significant response is a translated interview with Alexanderplatz cinematographer Xaver Schwarzenberger, who, supervising the restoration, has undoubtedly worked with tremendous dedication and passion. "This is the result, which I can endorse from the bottom of my heart. If someone has a different opinion, he's entitled to that - but then his or her vision has nothing to do with the film as we shot it and as it was meant to be."

No single voice in the debate can carry more weight than Schwarzenberger's, but whether it'll withstand the pressure of collective critique is still an open question. It doesn't help, unfortunately, that the rather fawning questions in this interview have been posed by the Süddeutsche Zeitung, which, as pointed out in that June 10 entry, has a vested interest in this restoration.

Posted by dwhudson at June 21, 2007 4:08 PM