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This special limited edition J-card MediaBook slipcase (designed by Adam Maida) is limited to 3,000 units and is only available on our website and at select indie retailers. Absolutely no major retailers will be stocking them.
Note: this release is available to be purchased on its own, or bundled with This Is Cinématographe: A Journal of American Cinema - Winter 2026 (Sold Out)
Taking its name from the Lumière Brothers invention of the same name, Cinématographe is a new sub-label from Vinegar Syndrome that seeks to fill gaps in the canon of American cinema. Offering a mix of auteur driven studio films produced during the New Hollywood era of the late 1960s and 70s all the way through the indie boom of the 1980s and 90s, Cinématographe will explore the wide breadth of American moviemaking, spanning numerous genres and scales of production. Curated and produced by Vinegar Syndrome's Justin LaLiberty, each limited edition release will be housed in a specially designed, cloth-bound, media book with embossed foil titles and custom molded disc trays accompanied by a slipcase featuring newly commissioned art and an individually numbered J-card.
Nick Kaminsky (Kevin Anderson, Sleeping with the Enemy), a young architecture professor, leaves his current home in upstate New York to visit his terminally ill biological mother Lillian (Kim Novak, Vertigo) in small town Illinois. Nick’s college friend Paul (Bill Pullman, Lost Highway) is in the process of preparing to demolish an aging department store building in town that was the site of a violent crime years prior, which Nick intends to study the architecture of before he leaves town. After meeting Paul’s wife Jane (Pamela Gidley, Twin Peaks), who he is immediately attracted to, Nick starts to unravel dark secrets about his past and his family.
A labyrinthine, erotically charged neo-noir from Academy Award nominated writer and director Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas), Liebestraum is a long overlooked entry in American crime cinema of the 1990s. Featuring stunning cinematography from Juan Ruiz Anchía (At Close Range), a tension building score from Figgis himself and bold production design from frequent Figgis collaborator Waldemar Kalinowski (Leaving Las Vegas, Internal Affairs). Cinématographe is proud to present Mike Figgis’s early 90s psychological thriller, in its uncensored director’s cut, in a new 2K restoration from its original negatives for its world blu-ray debut.
directed by: Mike Figgis
starring: Kevin Anderson, Pamela Gidley, Bill Pullman, Kim Novak
1991 / 112 min / 1.85:1 / English DTS-HD MA 2.0
Additional info:
Overall rating: 4.7272725 / 5 from 55 reviews.
This limited edition release of Liebestraum by Vinegar Syndrome features stunning cinematography and a tension-building score. The packaging is highly praised for its design, and the release includes new audio commentaries, interviews, and text essays, making it a valuable addition for fans of American cinema.
Review topics: [looks, packaging, film, release, movie, thriller, restoration, features, noir, performances, extras, presentation, transfer, atmosphere, director, addition, booklet].
"Nice restoration in this Lynchian effort by Mike Figgis. Totally feels like an episode of the last season of Twin Peaks with very weird performances. Totally enjoyed it and it was very surreal which is something you usually don't get with a Figgis film. Always love seeing anything with Pamela Gidley too. She is a gem!"
"When Cinematographe and Neo-Noirs are paired together, it is usually a grand slam. This one is no different. I love the packaging, and I love that I hadn't heard of this movie until they put it out. That is exactly what I was hoping for and love from this label. Thanks so much!"
"Mike Figgis' David Lynchian 90s noir, so difficult to see for many years is finally available in yet another stunning edition from Cinématographe. Great film that easily equals his other work around that time (the Heat precursor that is Internal Affairs and his beautiful but heart-rending oscar winner Leaving Las Vegas). Great film, great extras, great packaging, as always. "
"Was mesmerized by this, catching an IFC screening decades ago. One of Figgis' most interesting and unique films, which captures a subtly Lynchian atmosphere more successfully than most (the influence now confirmed in the extras). Check out that back cover art! Great extras, incredible transfer. Happy to finally add it to the library."
"Presented in a gorgeous box with booklet. A neo noir thriller with great cinematography. The transfer shows great black and whites and colors."
"A moody neo-noir thriller that looks incredibly beautiful but has a slow, confusing story."
"Liebestraum is one of those strange, moody thrillers that feels more like a dream than a straightforward mystery. The film slowly pulls you into its atmosphere with haunting visuals, a melancholy tone, and an unsettling sense that something is always slightly off. Bill Pullman gives a quietly compelling performance, and the movie’s mix of noir, romance, and psychological drama makes it feel unique even when the plot gets a little tangled. It’s definitely not for everyone, but if you like eerie early-90s neo-noir films with a hypnotic vibe, it’s worth experiencing."
"For the first hour, this really feels like something David Lynch might’ve dreamt up. Imagine his take on something like DEAD AGAIN (which came out the same year as this movie) and you kinda get what this is. Sort of an erotic thriller, sort of a neo-noir, almost a ghost story? It’s certainly a vibe."
"Buy this Sumptuous looking movie for the giallo lighting that is candy to the eye. This movie has never looked better and is a whole vibe. Pamela Gidley and Bill Pullman are fantastic. Loved the little book let that came with and the case is chef's kiss. If you're thinking about buying - go for it!"
"Cast iron erotica. Malignantly horny in a fashion unique to writer-director Mike Figgis, one of my favourite and most intellectual big screen perverts. Spectral, obliquely psycho-analytical, but never not turned on. Only Figgis could make the demolition of a building feel like a sexual transgression. Even a scene that has the longest screen piss in the history of cinema feels like a sexual release. Most ‘90s erotic thrillers want to get straight to the clothes-shedding sax, but jazz musician Figgis offers no such cheap thrills. His characters talk the trashiest lines imaginable (some real howlers) and are unapologetically carnal, but physical connections are voyeuristically and imaginatively drawn out, everything in service of the gradual build up of energy, volume and rhythmic density, to create knife edge film noir tension that walks up to the line of transgressive possibilities and tantalizes us with them. DP Juan Ruiz Anchía’s beautifully lit burning reds feel like a dry run for his work on Glengarry Glen Ross but also an emulation of Lynchian nightmare, with the contorted gargoyle faces to back it up— Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me star Pamela Gidley among them. It’s certainly every bit as dark and daring, while the casting of Bill Pullman (brilliant) predates the cuck frustrations of Lost Highway; his character’s drunken revelation of his wife cutting off all her long, beautiful hair that he so adored, as revenge for an infidelity, is a wonderfully played moment. Kim Novak’s physically tortured performance leaves a strong impression, despite her false, somewhat recent assertion that Figgis cut all her best scenes—this is the same woman, who in her 60’s, was convinced she could play a 21-year-old younger version of her character. What was cut from the American theatrical release and DVD (which was how I first experienced the film) is the single best and most audacious scene in a whorehouse, that retro actively helps unlock the whole mystery. The Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray is the format at its peak. It looks so good, that I can’t imagine the majority of viewers who will be discovering it for the first time won’t be wowed by its visual artistry. Figgis’ tale of the film’s disastrous test screening and his comfort with failure in Hollywood is worth the purchase price alone."
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