Berlin Alexanderplatz

Epic feels like too small a word to describe Rainer Werner Fassbinder's "Berlin Alexanderplatz." A sprawling story in 14 parts, the TV miniseries has undeniable cinematic qualities that propel it beyond standard television art. Some may argue what category Fassbinder's work falls into, but it doesn't quite matter. At 15 hours, it's a daunting task to undertake when you view it as a film. But as a TV series, is it much different from something one would binge on Netflix?

"Berlin Alexanderplatz" was a production that took nearly a year to create. Its director, the legendary Fassbinder, had already made over thirty films despite his relatively young age of 34. Upon its completion, and through its subsequent existence in cinematic history, the impact it had on filmmakers and critics was unmistakably grand. Visual artists like Francis Ford Coppola and Michael Mann have named the series as an influence on their work, and director Todd Haynes even mirrored visuals of the film's epilogue for a sequence in his film, "Velvet Goldmine."

New to the Criterion Collection in a brilliantly assembled set, "Berlin Alexanderplatz" comes to us in a high-definition digital restoration by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation and Bavaria Media, supervised and approved by director of photography Xaver Schwarzenberger. It also comes with an incredible array of informative and insightful bonus features, which include:

� Two documentaries by Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation president Juliane Lorenz: one from 2007 featuring interviews with the cast and crew, the other from 2006 on the restoration
� Hans-Dieter Hartl's 1980 documentary "Notes on the Making of 'Berlin Alexanderplatz'"
� Phil Jutzi's 1931 feature-length film of Alfred D�blin's novel, from a screenplay co-written by D�blin himself
� Interview from 2007 with Peter Jelavich, author of "Berlin Alexanderplatz": Radio, Film, and the Death of Weimar Culture
� A book featuring an essay by filmmaker Tom Tykwer, reflections on the novel by Fassbinder and author Thomas Steinfeld, and an interview with Schwarzenberger

"Berlin Alexanderplatz"
Criterion Collection Blu-ray
$79.96
https://www.criterion.com/films/839-berlin-alexanderplatz