August 2003 Criterion titles

[asphodel5]

First up is Terminal Station/ Indiscretion of an American Wife by De Sica:

[asphodel5]

The Ingmar Bergman Trilogy

[asphodel5]

Through a Glass Darkly

[asphodel5]

forgot to attach it...

[asphodel5]

Winter Light

[asphodel5]

The Silence

I've never seen the De Sica films. Apparently one is the television version of the other. I'm sure that someone else can elaborate. I'm not sure what I'll do as far as the Bergman discs are concerned. I own two out of the three on UK dvds. Unless the supplements are stunning, I will probably just buy The Silence from the UK and save the hassle of selling off the other two. The UK transfers are good enough for me, so it all rests with the extras.

[water]

Indiscretion was the original 1953 (63m) release. Terminal Station was De Sica's original version, about twenty minutes longer, restored in 1983. I'll pass on this one.

I am very excited about the Bergman set. Add this to the upcoming MGM releases and it looks to be a great year for my Bergman collection!

[FurryHumanBeing]

More movies I've never heard of

[Darksim]

Originally posted by FurryHumanBeing
More movies I've never heard of

Shit, man, that's exactly what I've said all the time. I guess us mainstream movie watchers are left out in the cold, again.

The point of Criterion, however, is to release movies that aren't mainstream, so there's not much we can do.

[orf]

INGMAR BERGMAN TRILOGY!
Looks like I'll be saving up for those.
You two (Darksim and FHB) should be watching Criterion DVDs. The movies they release are great. And it's gotten even better now that there's some new Bergmans coming.
I wonder if Criterion will ever do Persona. I've been thinking of picking Tartan's DVD of that up sometime. (EDIT: Ack, MGM owns the USA video rights to Persona. Well, as long as they release the uncut version and it's got a nice presentation, it's fine with me. Though IMDB says the US version is cut... )

[retroboy]

I'm definitely going to pick up the Bergman trilogy (and his other films on Criterion DVDs) when they're released. I'm also hoping MGM's wave of Bergman films in the Fall are outstanding--they usually release uncut versions of foreign films (knock on wood).

Yes, mainstream movie lovers, Bergman is GOOD for you.

[moviezzz]

Originally posted by FurryHumanBeing
More movies I've never heard of

Geez, you've never heard of these Bergman films????

GET TO A VIDEO STORE!!!!!!!!

Great titles.

[PaddyMcAloon]

Any news/cover art for Umberto D.? Also, i can't remember what month this is coming out. I must've got knocked out of the loop or something. Anyhow, these new Criterions sound promising. I'll definitely be picking up the Bergman box set.

[Cap42086]

I'm still waiting to see if Criterion will do an edition of American Psycho or Election.

But the Ingmar Bergman trilogies look like at least a decent rental.

[asphodel5]

The Umberto D specs/cover are up already at the criterion site. It comes out in July (if it isn't delayed). It's a lower price tier disc, but I think that the documentary is supposed to be pretty good.

These Bergman's aren't particularly obscure. I rented two out of the three from my local Hollywood video a few years back. If you're really interested in the Criterion films, don't just moan about how you haven't heard of them. Most can be rented from a video store or library. Some may not have the DVD version, but if you can find a watchable tape, at least you'll know if you like the movies.

[PaddyMcAloon]

Originally posted by asphodel5
The Umberto D specs/cover are up already at the criterion site. It comes out in July (if it isn't delayed). It's a lower price tier disc, but I think that the documentary is supposed to be pretty good.

These Bergman's aren't particularly obscure. I rented two out of the three from my local Hollywood video a few years back. If you're really interested in the Criterion films, don't just moan about how you haven't heard of them. Most can be rented from a video store or library. Some may not have the DVD version, but if you can find a watchable tape, at least you'll know if you like the movies.

Duh, I should've looked at the site before posting. Thanx for the info though, much appreciated.

About watching these "unknown films"; try your local library before a video store. this way, you can cut back on the cost and the only obligation you have is returning them on time. I do this all the time. Even though it's a tape rather than dvd, you still get to watch it. Though, my library has been really good at getting Criterion discs. I watched Pygmallion and The Long Good Friday this way. Libraries are cool now!

[asphodel5]

Originally posted by PaddyMcAloon


About watching these "unknown films"; try your local library before a video store.

I'll second that. I probably should have made it more explicit in my initial post. The library near my law school has hundreds of DVDs (new and old). They have even more tapes. I would estimate that they stock 2/3rds of the Criterion DVDs. If you take the films on tape into account they have close to 85%. It's a great resource.

[orf]

My public library rocks. I've gotten Seventh Seal, Andrei Rublev, Wild Strawberries, and Lord of the Flies there. My dad says the library at the seminary here has even more Criterion DVDs (all he's brought home is 'Cries & Whispers' and on my request, 'In the Mood for Love' though)... I'll have to check it out sometime.

[DrDetroit]

I'll fourth or fifth the library recommendation. Most of my filmic upbringing has come through the library. My local one has a great selection of vhs, and has recently acquired a whole bunch of criterion dvds also. I think so far I've borrowed Down by Law, Cries and Whispers, Walkabout, Hidden Fortress, Vagabond, The Red Shoes, and others I can't be sure of. Plus the central library even has more, I'd venture at least 2/3rds of the criterion line (not to mention other fine films which do not fall into the criterion makeup.)

[SkottDMD]

BAH! I wish they wern't so expensive here in Canada. I havn't seen any of them but I'm very interested in doing so Is it just me or does the font they used for the titles make those covers look like photoshop covers?

[asphodel5]

Synopsis:

An American housewife (Jennifer Jones) vacationing in Italy reluctantly decides to put an end to her brief affair with an Italian academic (Montgomery Clift). She flees to Rome’s Stazione Termini, where she bids him farewell, but he begs her to stay. The film’s plot is simple; its production was not. The troubled collaboration between director Vittorio De Sica and producer David O. Selznick resulted in two cuts of the same film. De Sica’s version, Terminal Station, was screened at a length of one-and-a-half hours, but after disappointing previews, Selznick severely re-edited it and changed the title to Indiscretion of an American Wife without De Sica’s permission. The Criterion Collection is proud to present both versions of this controversial release.

Specs: Includes new digital transfers of both versions of the film: Indiscretion of an American Wife: Selznick’s 72-minute cut, including the Patti Page-performed overture “Autumn in Rome” and “Indiscretion”; Terminal Station (Stazione termini): De Sica’s original 89-minute version

Exclusive audio commentary on Indiscretion by film scholar Leonard Leff (Hitchcock and Selznick: The Rich and Strange Collaboration of Alfred Hitchcock and David O. Selznick)

Original theatrical trailer

Promotional materials

Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

[electricsheep22]

That DeSica cover is wondreful; it reminds me a lot of David Lynch's "Nudes" photographs.

[water]

Kurosawa's 'The Lower Depths' has been added to the August schedule over at criterionco.com. Looks like this is going to be a very expensive month for me.

[papibear]

Originally posted by asphodel5
Synopsis:

An American housewife (Jennifer Jones) vacationing in Italy reluctantly decides to put an end to her brief affair with an Italian academic (Montgomery Clift). She flees to Rome’s Stazione Termini, where she bids him farewell, but he begs her to stay. The film’s plot is simple; its production was not. The troubled collaboration between director Vittorio De Sica and producer David O. Selznick resulted in two cuts of the same film. De Sica’s version, Terminal Station, was screened at a length of one-and-a-half hours, but after disappointing previews, Selznick severely re-edited it and changed the title to Indiscretion of an American Wife without De Sica’s permission. The Criterion Collection is proud to present both versions of this controversial release.

Specs: Includes new digital transfers of both versions of the film: Indiscretion of an American Wife: Selznick’s 72-minute cut, including the Patti Page-performed overture “Autumn in Rome” and “Indiscretion”; Terminal Station (Stazione termini): De Sica’s original 89-minute version

Exclusive audio commentary on Indiscretion by film scholar Leonard Leff (Hitchcock and Selznick: The Rich and Strange Collaboration of Alfred Hitchcock and David O. Selznick)

Original theatrical trailer

Promotional materials

Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

Oh wow, cool! I don't think I've ever seen a DeSica film. But I did recently catch a good chunk of Rossellini's "Paisan" on TCM and I liked it. I also saw a docu on George Stevens the other night (also on TCM, a terrific resource for "films I've never heard of"), which included scenes of his "A Place in the Sun" with Monty Clift, and am eager to see that one as well. Monty Clift could ACT, boy! Plus, I like Selznick films, and this one sounds like a title I'd be stupid to pass up! Worthy of a rental at the very least!

[asphodel5]

Water: Thanks for pointing out the Lower Depths posting. That's a wonderful surprise!

Director Akira Kurosawa’s transformation of Maxim Gorky’s classic proletarian play, The Lower Depths, demonstrates another side of the acclaimed filmmakers’s remarkable versatility. In contrast to his usual broad canvas and kinesthetic filmmaking style, here he explores the possibilities of the stage, finding intimacy in his examination of a group of destitutes set, ironically, within Japan’s prosperous Edo period. Starring an ensemble cast that includes Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, and Minoru Chiaki, this adaptation is a Buddhist meditation on the human condition, a poignant yet comic investigation of one of Kurosawa’s favorite themes—the conflict between illusion and reality.

New high-definition digital transfer

Audio commentary featuring Japanese-film expert Donald Richie (A Hundred Years of Japanese Cinema)

Original theatrical trailer

New essay by Keiko McDonald (From Book to Screen: Modern Japanese Literature in Films) and Thomas Rimer (A Reader’s Guide to Japanese Literature)

Cast biographies by Stephen Prince (The Warrior’s Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa)

New and improved English subtitle translation by renowned Japanese-film translator Linda Hoaglund

Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

[asphodel5]

Bergman Trilogy

Price: $79.95. Only available as a box set.

• New high-definition digital transfers
• Exploring the film: Video discussions of each film with Ingmar Bergman biographer Peter Cowie
• Optional English-dubbed soundtrack
• Original theatrical trailers
• Promotional poster gallery
• New English subtitle translations for all films
• More!

At the beginning of the 1960s, renowned film director Ingmar Bergman began work on what were to become some of his most powerful and representative works—the Trilogy. Already a figure of tremendous international acclaim for such masterworks as The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, and The Virgin Spring, Bergman turned his back on the abundant symbolism and exotic imagery of his ‘50s work to focus on a series of impacted, emotionally explosive chamber dramas examining faith and alienation in the modern age. Utilizing a new cameraman—the incomparable Sven Nykvist—Bergman unleashed Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, and The Silence in rapid succession, exposing moviegoers worldwide to a new level of intellectual and emotional intensity. Each film employs minimal dialogue, eerily isolated settings, and searing performances from such Bergman regulars as Max von Sydow, Harriet Andersson, Gunnar Bjornstrand, Ingrid Thulin and Gunnel Lindblom in their evocation of a desperate world confronted with God’s desertion. Drawing on Bergman’s own severely religious upbringing and ensuing spiritual crisis, the films in the Trilogy are deeply personal, challenging, and enriching works that exhibit the filmmaker’s peerless formal mastery and fierce intelligence. The Criterion Collection is proud to present The Ingmar Bergman Trilogy: Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, and The Silence.

[Squid Lips]

Oh man... August is going to hurt!

I love the fact that Criterion is cranking out the Kurosawa films. I look forward to slowly replacing all my foreign DVDs of his films as CC comes out with upgraded versions. I pray they get around to re-releasing Ikiru and doing Sanjuro Sugata...

As for Bergman...awesome! I actually bought Wild Strawberries blind and fell in love with it. I have seen neither of these three but will also just buy them unseen as I have a new appreciation for this filmmaker.

I still have to catch up with the damn Trufaut collection too.........

Go Criterion