The German Cuts Have Slightly More Footage, But Not Racier
[Cross-posted from fkfic-l, where one person referred to the vintage rumor of racier footage in the German cuts, and one of the German fans once again pointed out that there is no such footage, but in my opinion went a bit far by asserting that there is no extra footage at all. This was my reply.]
I don't mean to disagree, and of course you are absolutely right about there being no no "flesh shots," but I have seen dubbed VHS copies of one German airing of FK's first season, and what I saw does have some brief footage that is additional to the Canadian airings. In almost all cases, those shots are "atmosphere" extending the existing scenes -- the camera lingers longer on a set or prop, or a character walks a few more steps across a room or down a street. I do not recall any of them including dialogue. Nevertheless, those bits are additional to all the North American airings.
My favorite is Nick picking up and setting down a book on the credenza next to his answering machine. Just a few seconds -- but what a prize! :-) Nick reading! In his home! Knightie-bookworm joy. ;-)
The one scene in all of first season in which I found a substantive content addition in the German episodes I saw was what I think of as Ilsa's flashback inside Nick's flashback in "Dead Issue." It's only a handful of seconds long, again, but the German version I saw shows either Ilsa remembering, or Nick imagining, the painter attacking Ilsa, which
is not in any of the North American versions I've seen. This made a big impression on me, because of a long-past, intense dispute over the breadth of the painter's culpability in the story, and the painter character's relation to the real historical personage on whom he is based (Hieronymus Bosch). That dispute would have been different had we seen that brief footage [added on LJ: or, rather, had all of us seen that footage, because of course the German fans had seen it].
I do not know the ultimate origin of the German episodes I saw, but they were in German audio -- and adapted, not straight translated (cf. FIHS and what the women say on the phones) -- and they seemed to have been taped off a television broadcast. Perhaps they were the very first broadcast? I have heard that even in Canada, the very first new
run was clipped for the initial reruns, but I do not know that for a fact.
I do know, from a recent conversation with wiliqueen, that the DVDs are missing footage I have on my VHS tapes. We discovered missing dialogue in the flashbacks of "False Witness," darn it. My copy of the DVD completely lacks Lacroix and Nick's exchange about souls ("Why do you think that is, Nicholas? Is it because they have souls?" / "And you do not." / "We do not."). Instead, it just stops early with Lacroix saying, "I should play again, but I'll never compare to them." What a loss...
I don't mean to disagree, and of course you are absolutely right about there being no no "flesh shots," but I have seen dubbed VHS copies of one German airing of FK's first season, and what I saw does have some brief footage that is additional to the Canadian airings. In almost all cases, those shots are "atmosphere" extending the existing scenes -- the camera lingers longer on a set or prop, or a character walks a few more steps across a room or down a street. I do not recall any of them including dialogue. Nevertheless, those bits are additional to all the North American airings.
My favorite is Nick picking up and setting down a book on the credenza next to his answering machine. Just a few seconds -- but what a prize! :-) Nick reading! In his home! Knightie-bookworm joy. ;-)
The one scene in all of first season in which I found a substantive content addition in the German episodes I saw was what I think of as Ilsa's flashback inside Nick's flashback in "Dead Issue." It's only a handful of seconds long, again, but the German version I saw shows either Ilsa remembering, or Nick imagining, the painter attacking Ilsa, which
is not in any of the North American versions I've seen. This made a big impression on me, because of a long-past, intense dispute over the breadth of the painter's culpability in the story, and the painter character's relation to the real historical personage on whom he is based (Hieronymus Bosch). That dispute would have been different had we seen that brief footage [added on LJ: or, rather, had all of us seen that footage, because of course the German fans had seen it].
I do not know the ultimate origin of the German episodes I saw, but they were in German audio -- and adapted, not straight translated (cf. FIHS and what the women say on the phones) -- and they seemed to have been taped off a television broadcast. Perhaps they were the very first broadcast? I have heard that even in Canada, the very first new
run was clipped for the initial reruns, but I do not know that for a fact.
I do know, from a recent conversation with wiliqueen, that the DVDs are missing footage I have on my VHS tapes. We discovered missing dialogue in the flashbacks of "False Witness," darn it. My copy of the DVD completely lacks Lacroix and Nick's exchange about souls ("Why do you think that is, Nicholas? Is it because they have souls?" / "And you do not." / "We do not."). Instead, it just stops early with Lacroix saying, "I should play again, but I'll never compare to them." What a loss...