The Cathedral of New Emotions: Standard Edition – Deaf Crocodile (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Germany, 2006
Director: Helmut Herbst
Writers: Helmut Herbst, Klaus Wyborny

Release Date: June 10th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 60 Minutes 37 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 German
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $29.95

"a commune of Berlin stoners and intellectuals who get set adrift in space in 1972 in a packing container clutched in a giant flying hand." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

The Cathedral of New Emotions comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 30.6 GB

Feature: 16.9 GB

Fidelity In Motion delivers a solid encode; the source looks excellent.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in German with removable English subtitles. The audio sounds clear, balanced, and robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras for this release include director Helmut Herbst’s animated sci-fi short with characters that would be more fully explored in The Cathedral of New Emotions titled Container Interstellar (7 minutes 20 seconds, 1.78:1 aspect ratio, LPCM stereo German with removable English subtitles), an archival documentary titled Werkinterview Filmkunst: Helmut Herbst, featuring interviews with Herbst and clips from his acclaimed experimental films (26 minutes 7 seconds, LPCM stereo German with removable English subtitles), a video essay by experimental filmmaker and film scholar Stephen Broomer (18 minutes 12 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with film historian Rolf Giesen, and an insert with a URL that has a PDF for the video essay.

Summary:

The Cathedral of New Emotions was directed by Helmut Herbst, a filmmaker whose films were influenced by the Dada avant-garde art movement in the early 20th century. The Cathedral of New Emotions is an adaptation of Helmut Herbst’s 1974 live-action film The Fantastic World of Matthew Madson.

An amnesiac navigates a spaceship shaped like a packing container, clutching a giant flying hand.

The Cathedral of New Emotions narrative is best described as a series of bizarre events. The spaceship is filled with stoners and intellectuals who all speak in robot-sounding, indistinguishable voices. The events that unfold lack a linear structure, as they disregard the concepts of time and space. At 60 minutes in length, the narrative feels longer than it is.

The Cathedral of New Emotions is overflowing with symbolism and subversive content; it is a collage of surrealism that resembles an acid trip. Though there is an abundance of dialog, it is the images that drive the narrative. Ultimately, The Cathedral of New Emotions is a truly one-of-a-kind cinema experience.

The Cathedral of New Emotions gets an excellent release from Deaf Crocodile that comes with a solid audio/video presentation, a bonus short film, and insightful extras.

Note: There is a deluxe release of The Cathedral of New Emotions that comes in a slipcase and a 60-page book with an essay by film critic Walter Chaw (Film Freak Central) and an essay by film programmer Alexander McDonald.

Written by Michael Den Boer