but it was still weirdly Hollywoodlike for an Archers film.

That squares with what I mostly hear about that movie. It's the Archers movie I've been least eager to see. I still mean to see it eventually, though.

Did you watch The Sorcerer's Apprentice included on the Tales of Hoffmann DVD? I just watched it last night--beautiful sets and costumes, but apparently it was edited down from Powell's original thirty minute cut, and it has a distracting, redundant narration.