443-445 La ronde, Le plaisir, The Earrings of Madame de...

Discuss releases by Criterion and the films on them. Threads may contain spoilers!
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ptmd
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#76 Post by ptmd » Tue May 20, 2008 7:20 pm

Not trying to be a jerk, but genuinely asking - why would Signora and Liebelei be certainties? They're Janus controlled in the US?
I was wondering the same thing. Liebelei was originally distributed by Kino and Signora di Tutti was distributed by an even smaller company that is now defunct. Neither is listed in the catalog of Janus holdings that I use for non-theatrical film bookings, so I'm not quite sure where that information is coming from. They do definitely own Earrings of Madame De, Le Plaisir, and La Ronde, and those three make an obvious box set. My guess is that Lola Montes will come later as a single-disc release once the rights issues are worked out and anything else will show up on Eclipse.

Perkins Cobb
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#77 Post by Perkins Cobb » Wed May 21, 2008 12:56 pm

The Marcel Ophuls restoration of Lola Montes premiered in Cannes over the weekend (and I'll bet Peter Becker was over there checking it out), so my money is that they'll wait for that version to circulate before doing anything with the film.

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ellipsis7
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#78 Post by ellipsis7 » Wed May 21, 2008 1:26 pm

In 2007, the Cinémathèque française and Les Films du Jeudi (Laurence Braunberger) started, with the help of Marcel Ophuls, the restoration of Lola Montes, directed in 1955 by Max Ophuls. Inspired by the scandalous life of the Countess of Landsfeld, better known as Lola Montes, this film is Max Ophuls’ last work but equally his only film in colour. The colours, the sound and image format have been restored in the original editing of this cult film. This restoration has been made possible thanks to the Thomson Foundation for Film and Television Heritage and with the support of the Franco-American Cultural Fund. This presentation of the new Technicolor print will equally mark the occasion honouring Max Ophuls.

The Technicolor restoration of LOLA MONTÈS is to have its world premier, presented by the Cinémathèque française, on Saturday May 17th/Cannes Classics

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justeleblanc
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#79 Post by justeleblanc » Wed May 21, 2008 1:52 pm

Perkins Cobb wrote:The Marcel Ophuls restoration of Lola Montes premiered in Cannes over the weekend (and I'll bet Peter Becker was over there checking it out), so my money is that they'll wait for that version to circulate before doing anything with the film.
Scroll up. I mentioned this already.

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ellipsis7
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#80 Post by ellipsis7 » Wed May 21, 2008 2:01 pm

Believe there are also several versions of LOLA - this must be the French one...
Shot in three separate language versions - French, German and English - this was premiered at around 140 minutes, but subsequently much recut. The English version - The Sins of Lola Montes in the US, The Fall of Lola Montes in GB - ran 90 minutes, but is seldom seen now. Prints of the French and German versions currently in circulation are approximately 112 minutes

academyleader
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#81 Post by academyleader » Wed May 21, 2008 7:57 pm

For its U.S. release Lola Montes was recut into chronological order. It's not a version I suggest anyone should see.

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Jeff
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#82 Post by Jeff » Tue Jun 17, 2008 5:44 pm

Three by Ophuls. Sans box. Details in the initial post.

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zedz
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#83 Post by zedz » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:05 pm

The absence of a box seems odd - maybe Criterion will package these together as a 'collector's box' like they did with the Samurai films a while back, so they're available together and separately.

Whatever, it's great news.

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souvenir
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#84 Post by souvenir » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:06 pm

$40 for Le plaisir? Really?

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denti alligator
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#85 Post by denti alligator » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:10 pm

souvenir wrote:$40 for Le plaisir? Really?
No. $120 for three films. That's a little unfair, I think, especially when buying the three Malle films in a box got you an extra disc of supplements and saved you $10.

Narshty
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#86 Post by Narshty » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:17 pm

If there was a boxset, they'd have not only have to pay for a box but essentially give one away for free. Which is clearly untenable.

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denti alligator
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#87 Post by denti alligator » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:19 pm

Narshty wrote:If there was a boxset, they'd have not only have to pay for a box but essentially give one away for free. Which is clearly untenable.
How was it tenable for them to sell the Dreyer box set for $80? Even without commentaries on those films, there are techincally four spinesand still it's $40 cheaper.

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Tom Hagen
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#88 Post by Tom Hagen » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:25 pm

denti alligator wrote:
Narshty wrote:If there was a boxset, they'd have not only have to pay for a box but essentially give one away for free. Which is clearly untenable.
How was it tenable for them to sell the Dreyer box set for $80? Even without commentaries on those films, there are techincally four spinesand still it's $40 cheaper.
Same story with Criterion's boxes of Bergman's trilogy, Wadja's war trilogy, Fassbinder's BRD trilogy, Oliver's Shakespeare*, and the aforementioned Malle box.

*Edit: this box was issued later, without a spine number.
Last edited by Tom Hagen on Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Jeff
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#89 Post by Jeff » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:25 pm

The only predictable about Criterion is their unpredictability. There is some precedent for this situation. Criterion released Rebecca, Notorious, and Spellbound with sequential spines and no box. The "Wrong Men, Notorious Women" box came later.

Narshty
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#90 Post by Narshty » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:29 pm

denti alligator wrote:
Narshty wrote:If there was a boxset, they'd have not only have to pay for a box but essentially give one away for free. Which is clearly untenable.
How was it tenable for them to sell the Dreyer box set for $80? Even without commentaries on those films, there are techincally four spinesand still it's $40 cheaper.
I was being droll about Criterion's rather extortionate stance, but never mind.

Incidentally, what's going on with La Ronde being 97 minutes still? What about this 110-minute "restored" version that's not been used (possibly to do with rights issues) - has anyone seen it?

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domino harvey
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#91 Post by domino harvey » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:42 pm

Wow, biggest disappointment of the year or what?

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Doctor Sunshine
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#92 Post by Doctor Sunshine » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:49 pm

Jeff wrote:The only predictable about Criterion is their unpredictability. There is some precedent for this situation. Criterion released Rebecca, Notorious, and Spellbound with sequential spines and no box. The "Wrong Men, Notorious Women" box came later.
Same for the Samurai Trilogy. And who's to say they won't shuffle some spine numbers around and/or make this into a regular box set before September. A possibility made more likely if they were, say, flooded with email requests to do so.

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domino harvey
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#93 Post by domino harvey » Tue Jun 17, 2008 6:55 pm

For those who already have the Second Sight Ophuls, La Ronde is coming out on August 4 with many of the same extras as the Criterion, rendering this entire cycle of releases basically worthless. Let them charge full price for three Ophuls films already widely available elsewhere, but don't expect applause for not doing anything more than that.

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zedz
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#94 Post by zedz » Tue Jun 17, 2008 7:20 pm

My hope (as noted above) is that they'll release these simultaneously as a collector's set a la Rebel Samurai, their motivation for not going the conventional box set route being to allow for / encourage sales of individual titles. If so, this is a win / win situation. Even if it's only three discs, extras-wise this would easily beat the Malle set, and those who already own some titles can just pick up what they want. The initial information from Criterion (now removed from the first post of this thread - EDIT: it's quoted in the second) specifically promised a box, though that was a year or so back.

If they're not doing this then boo and indeed hiss.

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Cronenfly
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#95 Post by Cronenfly » Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:21 pm

Could there be a licensing issue for keeping these three titles seperate?

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Jeff
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#96 Post by Jeff » Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:40 pm

Cronenfly wrote:Could there be a licensing issue for keeping these three titles seperate?
That is a possibility. La ronde is a Janus property outright, while Earrings and Plaisir are licensed by Janus from Gaumont.

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What A Disgrace
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#97 Post by What A Disgrace » Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:53 pm

Odd that the two docs from the R2 Le Plaisir aren't included here. At least, not yet. The high price tag is pretty dumpy, too. I'll wait for the big sale to make a decision. It does have its own extras, and may indeed prove to be superior to the Second Sight some how.

Madame de... looks like it could easily evolve into a two discer, if there are more supplements ahead. Even with the window boxing, it'll kick the Second Sight disc out of anyone's orbit. It has all the supplements, probably will not have the ghosting, and more supplements to boot.

La Ronde is just right.

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Darth Lavender
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#98 Post by Darth Lavender » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:55 pm

Am I the only one somewhat pleased by the individual releases?
I'd like to think Criterion actually listened to all the complaints about "Woman in the Dunes" only being available in a box-set.

Wether or not these titles are worth full price, I can't say; haven't really looked in detail at the extras. But, I can say; I already have Le Plaisir, and a lot of people already have both Plaisir and Madame de... (held off on the later, because of the PAL DVDs ghosting,) so being able to buy just La Ronde is a welcome opportunity.

Sure, in a perfect world, we'd have a choice of buying individual titles or a cheaper box-set (and, perhaps we will, later, like the Olivier Shakespeares, etc.) for that matter, in a perfect world, we'd get a simultaneous announcement of when/if the blu-ray is coming out.
But, things being as they are, I think this release shows Criterion is actually listening to consumers (re: complaints on the Teshigahara) and finally showing some consideration for those of us with multi-region players.

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GringoTex
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#99 Post by GringoTex » Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:17 pm

domino harvey wrote:For those who already have the Second Sight Ophuls, La Ronde is coming out on August 4 with many of the same extras as the Criterion, rendering this entire cycle of releases basically worthless. Let them charge full price for three Ophuls films already widely available elsewhere, but don't expect applause for not doing anything more than that.
The Second Sight discs are horrible transfers.

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denti alligator
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#100 Post by denti alligator » Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:54 pm

GringoTex wrote:
domino harvey wrote:For those who already have the Second Sight Ophuls, La Ronde is coming out on August 4 with many of the same extras as the Criterion, rendering this entire cycle of releases basically worthless. Let them charge full price for three Ophuls films already widely available elsewhere, but don't expect applause for not doing anything more than that.
The Second Sight discs are horrible transfers.
Does that go for Reckless Moment and Letter, too? I was planning on picking those up (especially the latter), now that I know they won't be appearing in the CC anytime soon.

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