Krysař [Pied Piper of Hamelin, The] ◾︎ Jiří Barta ◾︎ 1985

Les Films du Paradoxe

Reviewed by dvdfreak

Published on Friday 27th October 2006
Last modified on Friday 13th March 2026, 08:23:23 PM

Česká verze / Return to index

Label: Les Films du Paradoxe (France)

Region: 2

RCE protection: No

Copyright protection system: None

Disc type: DVD5 (the data occupy 2.90 GB)

Playback time (hh:mm:ss.frames): 52:50.07

Video: PAL

Aspect ratio: 1.31:1 non-anamorphic

Bitrate (min / avg / max): 6.78 / 7.44 / 8.19 Mbps

Audio:

German Dolby Digital 2.0 mono* / 192 kbps

Subtitles:

French (burnt-in)

Menus available in:

French

Special features:

"Jiri Barta" (text notes, 2 pages, in French)

12-page booklet (in French)

Notes:

In this version, at the beginning of the film, there's a short narration (in German with burnt-in French subtitles), introducing the story. Characters in the film, however, speak in a made-up nonsense language.

*difference between channels is -70.18 dB (0.03 %)

Kino International

Reviewed by dvdfreak

Published on Friday 27th October 2006
Last modified on Friday 13th March 2026, 08:23:24 PM

Česká verze / Return to index

Label: Kino International (USA)

Region: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8

RCE protection: No

Copyright protection system: None

Disc type: DVD9 (the data occupy 7.45 GB)

Playback time (hh:mm:ss.frames): 52:45.29

Video: NTSC

Aspect ratio: 1.29:1 non-anamorphic

Bitrate (min / avg / max): 3.80 / 5.01 / 8.39 Mbps

Audio:

Dolby Digital 2.0 mono* / 192 kbps

Subtitles:

None

Menus available in:

English

Special features:

None

Notes:

Now this is a nice surprise indeed! After all those ugly fieldblended transfers of Jan Švankmajer's short films (reviewed here, and here), Kino finally made a transfer that's not a pain to watch. Albeit it runs with PAL speed-up (compare the playback time with the French edition), it uses a complex combination of different pull-down patterns to get from 25 to 29.97 fps.

"OK, so the transfer is progressive," you say, "but what about the quality?" Well, you decide! ;-) And remember:

ALWAYS PAY OFF YOUR LOCAL FRIENDLY** RAT-CATCHER!

Only available on "Jiri Barta: Labyrinth of Darkness" DVD,
together with:

"Balada o zeleném dřevu" ("A Ballad About Green Wood")
"Diskjockey" ("Disc Jockey")
"Hádanky za bonbón" ("Riddles for a Candy")
"Klub odložených" ("The Club of the Laid Off")
"Poslední lup" ("The Last Theft")
"Projekt" ("The Design")
"Zaniklý svět rukavic" ("The Vanished World of Gloves")

*difference between channels is -50.85 dB (0.29 %)
**if you want him to stay that way ;-)

Image Forum Video

Reviewed by dvdfreak

Last modified on Friday 13th March 2026, 08:23:23 PM

Česká verze / Return to index

Label: Image Forum Video (Japan)

Region: 2

RCE protection: No

Copyright protection system: CSS / CPPM

Disc type: DVD5 (the data occupy 4.22 GB)

Playback time (hh:mm:ss.frames): 55:07.29

Video: NTSC

Aspect ratio: 1.30:1 non-anamorphic

Bitrate (min / avg / max): 0.59 / 4.59 / 10.00 Mbps

Audio:

Dolby Digital 2.0 mono* / 192 kbps

Subtitles:

None

Menus available in:

Japanese

Special features:

None

Notes:

Only available on "Jiří Barta: The Labyrinth of Darkness & Light" DVD,
together with:

"Autoportrét" ("Self-portrait")
"Klub odložených" ("The Club of the Laid Off")
"Poslední lup" ("The Last Theft")
"Zaniklý svět rukavic" ("The Vanished World of Gloves")

*difference between channels is -59.94 dB (0.10 %)

Levné knihy KMa

Reviewed by dvdfreak

Published on Monday 31st August 2009
Last modified on Friday 13th March 2026, 08:23:24 PM

Česká verze / Return to index

Label: Levné knihy KMa (Czech Republic)

Region: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8

RCE protection: No

Copyright protection system: None

Disc type: DVD5 (the data occupy 3.31 GB)

Playback time (hh:mm:ss.frames): 52:49.12

Video: PAL

Aspect ratio: 1.30:1 non-anamorphic

Bitrate (min / avg / max): 2.98 / 5.50 / 8.31 Mbps

Audio:

Dolby Digital 2.0 mono* / 224 kbps

Subtitles:

None

Menus available in:

Czech

Special features:

Interview with Jiří Barta (0:54, in Czech)

Notes:

Only available on "3x Jiří Barta" DVD, together with:

"Diskjockey" ("Disc Jockey")
"Zaniklý svět rukavic" ("The Vanished World of Gloves")

*difference between channels is -77.15 dB (0.01 %)

Deaf Crocodile / Blu-ray

Reviewed by dvdfreak

Published on Friday 13th March 2026
Last modified on Friday 13th March 2026, 08:23:23 PM

Česká verze / Return to index

Label: Deaf Crocodile (US)

Region: A, B & C (?)

RCE protection: n/a

Copyright protection system: AACS

Disc type: BD25 & BD50 (the data occupy 21.99 & 36.44 GB)

Playback time (hh:mm:ss.frames): 55:19.00

Video: MPEG-4 AVC, 1080p24/1.001

Aspect ratio: 1.39:1

Bitrate (min / avg / max): 0.00 / 30.01 / 47.22 Mbps

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono* / 1,502 kbps

Subtitles:

English (for the closing credits)

Menus available in:

English

Special features:

Disc 1

Commentary by Irena Kovarova & Peter Hames (in English Dolby Digital 2.0 / 192 kbps)
"Zaniklý svět rukavic," a short film by Jiří Barta ("The Vanished World of Gloves," 17:28,
music only with optional English subtitles for the opening credits)
"Kronika Krysaře," an ultra-rare behind-the-scenes look at the making of Barta's masterpiece
("Chronicle of the Pied Piper," 13:14, in Czech**)
New interview*** with Jiří Barta (51:39, Dolby Digital 2.0 / 112 kbps)

Disc 2

Continuation of the interview*** with Jiří Barta (1:16:12, Dolby Digital 2.0 / 192 kbps)
"Pushed to the Margins: The Shorts of Jiří Barta," a visual essay featuring Irena Kovarova
& Peter Hames (29:40, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 / 192 kbps)
Jiří Barta's short films
- "Hádanky za bonbón" ("Riddles for a Candy," 8:13, in Czech**)
- "Diskjockey" ("Disc Jockey," 9:47, music only)
- "Projekt" ("The Design," 6:01, music only)
- "Zaniklý svět rukavic" ("The Vanished World of Gloves," 17:28, music only)
- "Balada o zeleném dřevu" ("A Ballad About Green Wood," 10:39, music only)
- "Poslední lup" ("The Last Theft," 20:58, music only)
- "Klub odložených" ("The Club of the Laid Off," 25:14, in Czech**)

(Unless noted otherwise, all extras are MPEG-4 AVC, 1080p24/1.001, DTS-HD MA 2.0.)

Notes:

Disc 1 is identical to the 2023 single-disc release.

To see the screenshots in glorious

, click here.

*difference between channels is -81.85 dB (0.01 %)
**with optional English subtitles
***conducted by Dennis Bartok in English; Barta answers in Czech, Ms Kovarova translates

Česká verze / Return to index

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Les Films du Paradoxe | Kino International | Image Forum Video | Levné knihy KMa | Deaf Crocodile / Blu-ray