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Hände:
Das Leben und die Liebe eines zärtlichen
Geschlechts
(1927)

Hände (1927), created by Miklós Bándy and Stella F. Simon, tells a love story in an abstract and visually intriguing fashion. The film’s subtitle translates as “The Life and Loves of the Gentler Sex”.

Kino Classics
2023 Blu-ray Disc edition

Silent Avant-Garde (1921-2022), black & white, color-tinted and color-toned black & white, and color, 188 minutes total, not rated, including Hände: Das Leben und die Liebe eines zärtlichen Geschlechts (1927), black & white, 13 minutes, not rated.

Kino Lorber, K26157, UPC 7-38329-26157-3.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24 fps progressive scan image encoded in SDR AVC format at ? Mbps average video bit rate; DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono sound encoded at 1.6 Mbps audio bit rate; German language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; no chapter stops (within the film); standard BD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 21 February 2023.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 7 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.

This Blu-ray Disc edition has been digitally mastered from the 2022 2K high-resolution restoration prepared by the Deutsches Filminstitut and Filmmuseum, presumably from the excellent 35mm print held by The Museum of Modern Art. Digital restoration work has been performed as the image is very stable and is nearly free of speckling, dust and other print flaws.

The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed by Marc Blitzstein from the source print’s monaural optical soundtrack.

This is the best-looking home video edition of the film available and it is highly recommended.

This Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc edition is available directly from . . .

Film Preservation Associates /
Anthology Film Archives
2005 DVD edition

Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant-Garde Film (1894-1947), black & white, color-toned black & white and color, 1127 minutes total, not rated, including Hände: Das Leben und die Liebe eines Zärtlichen Geschlechts (1927), black & white, 13 minutes, not rated.

Film Preservation Associates with Anthology Film Archives, distributed by Image Entertainment,
ID0592DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-05922-9.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (seven DVDs in the film); 1.20:1 aspect ratio picture in windowboxed 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 5.0 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at 224 Kbps audio bit rate; German language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; chapter stops; seven slimline DVD keepcases in cardboard box; $99.99.
Release date: 18 October 2005.
Country of origin: USA

Hände (1927) has been transferred from a very-good 35mm print held by The Museum of Modern Art.

The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed by Marc Blitzstein from the source print soundtrack. This early sound film utilized the RCA Photophone system.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .