Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach

Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach

Straub-Huillet / 1968 / 94 minutes / Spine #17

Using correspondences and texts written by Johann Sebastian Bach, and read by his wife, Anna Magdalena, filmmakers Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet have crafted one of the most precise, rewarding biopics ever put to screen. Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach’s intense emotional pull can be understood by its status as a musical film in the most thorough sense: its performances—extended sequences set within the very spaces once occupied by Bach himself, as trained performers wear and play materials accurate to the period—are immense, bringing us closer to the sound than was ever thought possible. Immaculately restored on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach invites viewers to experience a bygone age.


BLU-RAY/DVD SPECIAL FEATURES

 

• New digital restoration
• Jean-Marie Straub introduces Chronicle at the Swiss Film Archive (2013, 34 minutes)
• Interview with actress Christiane Lang Drewanz (2012, 30 minutes)
• “The Cinema of Straub & Huillet,” an introduction by author Alicia Malone for FilmStruck (5 minutes)
The Bridegroom, The Actress, and The Pimp (1968, 23 minutes), a short film by Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet featuring Rainer Werner Fassbinder
The Mother (2011, 20 minutes), a short film by Jean-Marie Straub
• Theatrical Trailer


 THE PROJECTR BLOG

 

→ Read Jean-Marie Straub’s top 10 list

 

    BLU-RAY

    1 Disc

    SRP: $34.95
     

    Our Price:
    $27.95

    DVD

    1 Disc

    SRP: $29.95
     

    Our Price:
    $23.95

  • "Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet revolutionized the musical biography."

    — Dave Kehr, The New York Times
  • "The net effect is not having seen a film but having lived a real moment, in the presence of monumental music."

    — Michael Atkinson, The Village Voice
  • "The experience is both transcendent and material... It evokes the 18th century while feeling as present as a live concert."

    — J. Hoberman, The New York Times
  • "The strangest and most uncompromising of all musician biopics."

    — Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, The AV Club
  • "The beautiful result has the air of a crystal-clear meditation."

    — Tony Rayns, Time Out New York
  • "A masterpiece. This film is music."

    — Richard Roud, Sight & Sound
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