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Turksib
(1929)

Directed by Viktor Turin, this propaganda documentary was charged with the task of convincing the Soviet people of the need for a railroad to connect Siberia and, what is today, Kazakhstan.

Flicker Alley
2011 DVD edition

Landmarks of Early Soviet Film (1924-1930),
black & white, 595 minutes total, not rated,
including Turksib (1929), black & white, 57 minutes, not rated.

Flicker Alley, FA0022, UPC 6-17311-67639-0.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (four DVDs in the set); 1.19:1 aspect ratio picture in windowboxed 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 5.2 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 12 chapter stops; 28-page insert booklet; four slimline DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $69.99.
Release date: 20 September 2011.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 7 / additional content: 6 / overall: 6.

This DVD edition of Mikhail Kalatozov’s Turksib (1929) has been mastered from the 1997 analog video transfer of (what appears to be) a 16mm reduction print of an American release print with English intertitles by John Grierson, originally produced by David Shepard for release on VHS videotape. With its approximate 1.19:1 frame ratio, the source print appears to have had, at some point, a synchronized soundtrack. The print has the usual amount of dust and speckling, loose splices, and some moderate print flaws.

The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on synthesizer by Zoran Borisavljevic.

Supplemental material includes a 28-page insert booklet with short essays and notes on the films by Maxim Pozdorovkin and Ana Olenina.

This is the only DVD home video edition of the film that we are aware of. Even though the boxset is now out-of-print, it is recommended.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.