Masters of Cinema in November

Eureka Entertainment have announced the UK DVD release of F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror and a Mizoguchi Kenji double-bill Sansho Dayu & Gion Bayashi as part of their Masters of Cinema Series on 19th November 2007.

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror - An iconic film of the German expressionist cinema, and one of the most famous of all silent movies, F. W. Murnau's Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror is the original screen adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present, at long last, Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror in its definitive restoration, complete with original intertitles and accompanied by the score that played with the film at the time of its initial release.

Features include:

• 2 x DVD special edition of the 2007 F.W. Murnau-Stiftung restoration with the original score.
• Full-length audio commentary by Brad Stevens and R. Dixon Smith
• A 96-page book containing articles by David Skal (author of Hollywood Gothic: The Tangled Web of Dracula from Novel to Stage to Screen); Thomas Elsaesser (author of Weimar Cinema and After: Germany's Historical Imaginary); Gilberto Perez (author of The Material Ghost: Films and Their Medium); Enno Patalas (former director of the Münchner Stadtmuseum/Filmmuseum, where he was responsible for the restoration of many German classics, including Nosferatu); a newly translated archival piece on vampires by the film's producer Albin Grau; notes on the film's restoration; and archival imagery.
• 53-minute German documentary about Murnau and the making of NOSFERATU complete with fascinating footage of the film's locations today.
• Restoration demonstration
• More extras to be announced

Sansho Dayu + Gion Bayashi (Two Films by Mizoguchi) - Based on an ancient legend, as recounted by celebrated author Mori Ogai (in his short story of the same name, written in 1915), and adapted by Japanese director Mizoguchi Kenji, Sansho Dayu depicts an unforgettably sad story of social injustice, family love, personal sacrifice, and fateful tragedy.

Gion Bayashi is a drama set in the world of the courtesan, contrasting two different types of geisha – on one hand, Eiko (Wakao Ayako), a sixteen-year old orphan who wishes to be taken in and trained; on the other, Miyoharu (Kogure Michiyo), an older, more experienced geisha, who agrees to mentor the younger woman – living under the same roof in difficult personal circumstances. A fascinating, subtle insight into the lives of these women in 1950s Japan.

This double-bill (the first of four double-bill releases over the next few months in the Masters of Cinema series) pairs one of the revered director’s most respected and well known films, Sansho Dayu, with a lesser known rarity, Gion Bayashi -- both on DVD in the UK for the very first time.

Features include:

• Lavish 96-page book featuring archival imagery; articles by Robin Wood (film critic and author) and Mark Le Fanu (author of Mizoguchi and Japan); and a full reprint of an acclaimed translation of Mori Ogai's original 1915 story on which Sansho Dayu is based.
• Video discussions about both Sansho Dayu and Gion Bayashi by acclaimed Japanese film expert/critic, festival programmer, and filmmaker Tony Rayns.
• Original theatrical trailers.