The Tales of Hoffman (Criterion Collection)(1951) on Blu-ray

Actor: Robert Rounseville, Moira Shearer, Frederick Ashton, Robert Helpmann, Pamela Brown
Director: Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell
Genre: Musicals
Year: 1951
Studio: Criterion Collection
Length: 133
Released: 06/07/2022
Rating: NR
Format: Blu-ray
Misc: NTSC, Color
Language: English
Subtitles: N/A

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger create a phantasmagoric marriage of cinema and opera in this one-of-a-kind take on a classic story. In Jacques Offenbach’s fantasy opera The Tales of Hoffmann, a poet dreams of three women—a mechanical performing doll, a bejeweled siren, and the consumptive daughter of a famous composer—all of whom break his heart in different ways. Powell and Pressburger’s feverishly romantic adaptation is a feast of music, dance, and visual effects, and one of the most exhilarating opera films ever produced

Special Features

-4K digital restoration by The Film Foundation and the BFI National Archive, in association with STUDIOCANAL, featuring newly rediscovered footage and with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
-Audio commentary from 1992 by filmmaker Martin Scorsese and critic Bruce Eder, newly updated by Eder
-Interview with filmmaker George A. Romero from 2005
-The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1956), a short musical film based on the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe story and directed by Michael Powell
-Collection of production designer Hein Heckroth’s design sketches and paintings
-Gallery of production and publicity photographs
-Trailer
-English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
-Plus: An essay by film historian Ian Christie