The Threepenny Opera [2 Discs] [Criterion Collection]

Director: G.W. Pabst, Georg W. Pabst G.W. Pabst

Overview

Filmmaker G.W. Pabst's adaptation of Bertoldt Brecht and Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera (Die Dreisgoschenoper) is every bit as good as the stage original, and sometimes even better. Filmed in both German and French versions with different casts (a planned English-language version was abandoned), Threepenny is most readily available today in its German incarnation. Rudolf Forster stars as robber captain MacHeath -- aka Mackie Messer, or Mack the Knife -- who falls in love with Polly (Carola Neher), daughter of beggar king Peachum (Fritz Rasp). Despising MacHeath, Peachum plots the thief's downfall with his best friend, corrupt police official Tiger Brown (Reinhold Schunzel). The satirical "happy ending" of the original -- MacHeath, en route to the gallows, suddenly and without motivation promoted to knighthood! -- is altered somewhat by Pabst and his scenarists to accommodate a swipe against Depression-era bankers. Lotte Lenya, Weill's wife, brilliantly repeats her stage role as Pirate Jenny. Stylistically, Threepenny Opera is a Georg Grosz drawing come to life; despite its 1890s London setting, the film's calculatedly tawdry veneer is clearly meant to represent the wide-open Berlin of the 1930s. For the record: the French version of Threepenny Opera starred Albert Prejean as MacHeath.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/17/2007
UPC:	0715515025720
Original Release:	1931
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:50:00
Sales rank:	5,768

Special Features

Disc One: ; New, restored high-definition digital transfer, made from a new film restoration element from the Bundesarchiv in Germany; Audio commentary by scholars David Bathrick and Eric Rentschler; Archival introduction by Threepenny stars Fritz Rasp and Ernst Busch; New, exclusive documentary on Threepenny's controversial journey from stage to screen; New and improved English subtitle translation; ; Disc Two: ; L'opéra de Quat'sous, Pabst's French-language version of the film, starring Albert Préjean and Florelle; A multimedia presentation by film scholar Charles O'Brien on the differences between the English and French versions; Archival interview with Fritz Rasp; Galleries of production photos by Hans Casparius and production sketches by art director Andrej Andrejew; Plus: A new essay by film critic Tony Rayns

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Rudolf Forster	Mackie Messer
Lotte Lenya	Jenny
Carola Neher	Polly Peachum
Fritz Rasp	Peachum
Reinhold Schunzel	Tiger Brown
Valeska Gert	Mrs. Peachum
Herman Thimig	Vicar,Vicar
Ernst Busch	Street-Singer
Paul Kemp	Mackie's Gang
Gustav Puttjer	Mackie's Gang
Oskar Hocker	Mackie's Gang
Krafft Raschig	Mackie's Gang
Herbert Grunbaum	Filch
Albert Prejean	Mackie Messer
Odette Florelle	Polly
Jack Henley	Tiger Brown
Gaston Modot	Peachum
Jane Marken	Mrs. Peachum
Margo Lion	Jenny
Antonin Artaud	Mackie's Gang
Vladimir Sokoloff	Mackie's Gang/Smith
Merminod	Mackie's Gang
Reinhold Schuenzel	Tiger Brown
Gustav Püttjer	Mackie Messer's Gang Member
Kurt Weill	Composer

Technical Credits

Laszlo Vajda

Leo Lania

Béla Balázs

Seymour Nebenzal	Producer
G.W. Pabst	Director,Director
Laszlo Vajda	Screenwriter
Leo Lania	Screenwriter
Béla Balázs	Screenwriter
Adolf Jansen	Sound/Sound Designer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Threepenny Opera: Feature
1. "How Does a Man Survive?" [2:53]
2. "Mack the Knife" [5:31]
3. The Cuttlefish Hotel [7:32]
4. Burglary and the Chief of Police [5:29]
5. "The Wedding Song for Poor People" [2:16]
6. "Liebeslied" [2:20]
7. The Wedding [7:36]
8. "Polly's Song" [5:22]
9. Tiger Brown Arrives [3:45]
10. Jonathan Jeremias Peachum [8:13]
11. A Visit to Tiger Brown [3:28]
12. "Song of Futility" [1:37]
13. Polly's Promotion [8:15]
14. Turnbridge Street [5:42]
15. "Pirate Jenny" [4:25]
16. Chase Scene [1:47]
17. Suky Tawdry [3:35]
18. Deputy Director Polly [3:29]
19. Jail [4:06]
20. Procession of the Poorest [4:33]
21. Reprise of "Song of Futility" [:31]
22. 10,000 Bail [5:48]
23. The Coronation [5:49]
24. 10,000 Investment [1:51]
25. "Cannon Song" [2:11]
26. Final Stanzas of "Mack the Knife" [2:35]
1. Brecht and Weill [10:51]
2. "Sure to Be a Flop" [11:22]
3. The Film [5:18]
4. A Number of Changes [18:27]
5. More Marxist? [2:21]
Disc #2 -- Threepenny Opera: Supplements
1. "How Does a Man Live?" [1:10]
2. "Mack the Knife" [5:40]
3. The Cuttlefish Hotel [7:26]
4. Burglary and the Chief of Police [5:22]
5. "The Wedding Song for Poor People" [2:14]
6. "Liebeslied" [2:17]
7. The Wedding [7:48]
8. "Polly's Song" [5:12]
9. Tiger Brown Arrives [3:22]
10. Jonathan Jeremias Peachum [7:50]
11. A Visit to Tiger Brown [2:46]
12. "Song of Futility" [1:29]
13. Polly's Promotion [7:21]
14. Turnbridge Street [5:32]
15. "Pirate Jenny" [3:18]
16. Chase Scene [2:31]
17. Suky Tawdry [3:24]
18. Deputy Director Polly [3:10]
19. Jail [3:12]
20. Procession of the Poorest [5:05]
21. Reprise of "Song of Futility" [:29]
22. 10,000 Bail [5:37]
23. The Coronation [2:30]
24. 10,000 Investment [2:45]
25. "Cannon Song" [3:01]
26. Final Stanzas of "Mack the Knife" [1:40]

Menu

Disc #1 -- Threepenny Opera: Feature
   Play the Movie
   Chapters
      Color Bars
   Commentary
      Off
      On
      Index
         Introduction
         The Epic Narrator
         Epic Theater
         Reinhold Schünzel
         Set Design
         "Love Song" Is Not One
         Kurt Weill
         Carola Neher as Polly
         Evoking the Front
         Peachum as Director
         Is Threepenny Culinary?
         Crisis of Popularity
         The Film's Polly
         Lotte Lenya
         A Flat Pirate Jenny
         Pabst and Brecht
         The Threepenny Trial
         Distrust of the Image
         Gestures
         Cynical Reason
         Song Commentary
         Bourgeois Cynicism
         Cold Surfaces
         The Different Endings
         Back to the Front
         Weimar Reflections
         Color Bars
   Fritz Rasp and Ernst Busch
      Play
   Brecht vs. Pabst
      Play
      Index
   Subtitles
      On
      Off
Disc #2 -- Threepenny Opera: Supplements
   L'Opéra de Quat'sous
      Play
      Chapters
         Color Bars
   Carles O'Brien on the Two Versions
      Play
   The Casparius Photos
      Play
   Production Sketches
      Enter
   Fritz Rasp Interview
      Play
   Subtitles
      On
      Off

Editorial Reviews

Librettist Bertolt Brecht was understandably upset with the considerable liberties taken in transferring his and Kurt Weill's monumental The Threepenny Opera to the screen. Still, while director G.W. Pabst and his collaborators may have altered too much of the material (including cutting some of the score's most memorable numbers) and may have (perhaps inevitably) changed the theatrical tone of the piece, the result is still fascinating. If Brecht's sense of theatrical alienation is missing, his attacks on capitalism still come through strongly. As with the play, there's a distinct remoteness to the piece; one watches the film and while one is never bored, one is also never engaged in the characters, thus making the viewer an observer rather than a participant. The cast is strong, with Rudolf Forster making a charmingly ruthless Mackie whose stern authoritarianism still has a softer side to it. Carola Neher captures both the tender and the tough sides of Polly, and Reinhold Schuenzel is an amusing Tiger Brown. Best of all, however, are Fritz Rasp and Lotte Lenya. Rasp's Peachum is a slimy marvel, a Fagin with no soul and no remorse. Lenya's performance is mesmerizing; she gives so much weight to the film that her character seems a major force, rather than the relatively minor role that it is, and her "Pirate Jenny" is both shilling and thrilling. Pabst and his designers have given the film a distinctive chiaroscuro look, and the director has created several sequences -- including the climactic march during the coronation -- that are simply stunning. Ultimately, the problems in adapting Threepenny to the screen keep the film from being a classic, but it's still a unique experience.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler