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Berlin
Symphony of a Great City
(1927)

This experimental feature film, directed by Walther Ruttmann, gives us a look into the street life and distractions of pre-war Berlin. From time to time, an intriging fragment of a story is presented incomplete, with its conclusion to be imagined by the viewer.

Flicker Alley
2018 Blu-ray Disc edition

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927), black & white and color-tinted black & white, 62 minutes, not rated, with Lichtspiel Opus I [Opus I] (1921), color-tinted and color-toned black & white, 10 minutes, not rated.

Flicker Alley, distributed by MovieZyng,
FA-MD3-054, UPC 8-10162-03724-6.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 Blu-ray Disc (BD-R BDMV); 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; LPCM 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate; German language intertitles (main titles only), no subtitles; chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $29.95 (reduced to $26.99).
Release date: 4 September 2018.
Country of origin: USA

This Blu-ray Disc (BD-R) edition has likely been mastered from a very-good 35mm preservation print.

The film is accompanied by an orchestral music score composed and conducted by Timothy Brock.

Supplemental material includes Ruttman’s short film Opus I (1921) presented with Max Butting’s 1922 score composed for the film as adapted and conducted by Timothy Brock.

This is our recommended home video edition of the film.

This Region 0 Blu-ray Disc (BD-R) edition is available from
FLICKER ALLEY through . . .

Flicker Alley
2017 DVD edition

Flicker Alley, distributed by MovieZyng,
FA-MD3-018, UPC 8-89290-09201-4.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; German language intertitles (main titles only), no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $19.95 (raised to $21.99).
Release date: 14 March 2017.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a very-good 35mm preservation print. This presentation should be the same as the 1999 Film Preservation Associates DVD edition noted below.

The film is accompanied by an orchestral music score composed and conducted by Timothy Brock.

Supplemental material includes Ruttman’s short film Opus I (1921) presented with Max Butting’s 1922 score composed for the film as adapted and conducted by Timothy Brock.

This edition should be of similar quality to the FPA disc noted below. This is our recommended DVD home video edition for North American collectors.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
FLICKER ALLEY through . . .

Edition Filmmuseum
2008 DVD edition

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927), black & white and color-tinted black & white, 65 minutes, not rated, with Melodie der Welt (1929), black & white, 48 minutes, not rated, Lichtspiel Opus I [Opus I] (1921), black & white, 11 minutes, not rated, Opus 2 (1922), black & white, 3 minutes, not rated, Der Sieger (1922), black & white, 3 minutes, not rated, Das Wunder (1922), black & white, 3 minutes, not rated, Opus 3 (1924), black & white, 3 minutes, not rated, Opus 4 (1925), black & white, 4 minutes, not rated, Das wiedergefundene Paradies (1925), black & white, 6 minutes, not rated, Der Aufsteig (1926), black & white, 4 minutes, not rated, Spiel der Wellen (1926), black & white, 3 minutes, not rated, Dort wo der Rhein . . . (1927), black & white, 3 minutes, not rated, Weekend (1930), black & white, 11 minutes, not rated, and In der Nacht (1931), black & white, 7 minutes, not rated.

Edition Filmmuseum, 39, unknown UPC/EAN number.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 PAL DVD disc (two DVDs in the set); 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 576 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 50 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; German language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; chapter stops; 20-page insert booklet; standard two-disc DVD keepcase; €29,95.
Release date: November 2008 (second edition, March 2009; third edition, October 2009; fourth edition, February 2010; fifth edition, August 2010; sixth edition, November 2010; twelfth edition, March 2016; thirteenth edition, November 2018; fourteenth edition, December 2020).
Country of origin: Germany

This PAL DVD edition has been produced by Filmmuseum München, Arte, Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv and the Goethe-Institut, München, from archival film elements.

The film is presented with the original orchestral music score composed by Edmund Meisel.

Supplemental material includes a DVD-ROM section (in German), including original documents by and about Walther Ruttman, program booklets and original scores, with photo galleries; a side-by-side comparison of surviving prints of Melodie der Welt; and an audio feature on Walther Ruttman (86 minutes).

This Region 0 PAL DVD home video edition is recommended for European collectors. North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.

This Region 0 PAL DVD edition is available directly from . . .

Film Preservation Associates
1999 DVD edition

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927), black & white, and color-tinted black & white, 62 minutes, not rated, with Lichtspiel Opus I [Opus I] (1921), color-tinted and color-toned black & white, 10 minutes, not rated.

Film Preservation Associates, distributed by Image Entertainment, ID4673DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-46732-1.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in windowboxed 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 6.8 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 30 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 384 Kbps audio bit rate; German language intertitles (main titles only), no subtitles; closed captions; 5 chapter stops; snapper DVD case; $24.99.
Release date: 11 May 1999.
Country of origin: USA •

Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 8 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.

This early DVD edition of Walther Ruttmann’s hand-tinted experimental feature has been mastered from a very-good 35mm preservation print. As would be expected of an edition originally produced for VHS videotape release in the early 1990s, there is a noticable amount of dust, speckling, and other print flaws present in the picture, with the additional telltale signs of edge-sharpening common to early DVD production in the late 1990s.

The film is accompanied by a fine orchestral music score composed and conducted by Timothy Brock, performed by the Olympia Chamber Orchestra. Both lively and entertaining.

Supplemental material includes Ruttman’s short film Opus I (1921) presented with Max Butting’s 1922 score composed for the film as adapted and conducted by Timothy Brock.

This review was updated in 2026.

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