52-59 / BD 36-37, 71-72 Late Mizoguchi: Eight Films, 1951-56

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Dr Amicus
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Re: 52-59 / BD 36-37, 71-72 Late Mizoguchi: Eight Films, 195

#501 Post by Dr Amicus » Thu Apr 17, 2014 4:36 am

Eureka wrote:For those that are interested, we've got ten copies left that I'll be making available tomorrow. Will tweet on the MoC twitter when they are up.
And can someone crosspost here as well please? The work PC has a social media filter (but does let me access here!)

Thanks

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Re: 52-59 / BD 36-37, 71-72 Late Mizoguchi: Eight Films, 195

#502 Post by Eureka » Thu Apr 17, 2014 8:41 am

Dr Amicus wrote:
Eureka wrote:For those that are interested, we've got ten copies left that I'll be making available tomorrow. Will tweet on the MoC twitter when they are up.
And can someone crosspost here as well please? The work PC has a social media filter (but does let me access here!)

Thanks
Last ten copies: http://bit.ly/1kRvLby" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Dr Amicus
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Re: 52-59 / BD 36-37, 71-72 Late Mizoguchi: Eight Films, 195

#503 Post by Dr Amicus » Thu Apr 17, 2014 10:54 am

Great - and ordered thanks.

I've been in two minds about whether or not to get it - I have the DVDs - but this was enough to finally make me go for it.

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Re: 52-59 / BD 36-37, 71-72 Late Mizoguchi: Eight Films, 195

#504 Post by Eureka » Thu Apr 17, 2014 1:42 pm

Dr Amicus wrote:Great - and ordered thanks.

I've been in two minds about whether or not to get it - I have the DVDs - but this was enough to finally make me go for it.
Going on your location I can deduce that you got in just at the last minute, you got the last one we had!

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swo17
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Re: 52-59 / BD 36-37, 71-72 Late Mizoguchi: Eight Films, 195

#505 Post by swo17 » Thu Apr 17, 2014 1:45 pm

And Amazon's now down to just 5 copies.

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: 52-59 / BD 36-37, 71-72 Late Mizoguchi: Eight Films, 195

#506 Post by Michael Kerpan » Thu Apr 17, 2014 2:23 pm

Once everyone gets their sets, can we have a nice long discussion of the films? ;-}

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Re: 52-59 / BD 36-37, 71-72 Late Mizoguchi: Eight Films, 195

#507 Post by swo17 » Thu Apr 17, 2014 2:28 pm

Again, this thread is technically meant for discussion of the boxset itself (or, I suppose, for Mizoguchi in general), whereas there are individual threads just for commenting on the films themselves:

52-53 / BD 36 Ugetsu monogatari + Oyū-sama

54-55 / BD 37 Sanshō dayū + Gion bayashi

56-57 / BD 71 Chikamatsu monogatari + Uwasa no onna

58-59 / BD 72 Akasen chitai + Yokihi

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: 52-59 / BD 36-37, 71-72 Late Mizoguchi: Eight Films, 195

#508 Post by Michael Kerpan » Thu Apr 17, 2014 2:43 pm

swo17 wrote:Again, this thread is technically meant for discussion of the boxset itself (or, I suppose, for Mizoguchi in general), whereas there are individual threads just for commenting on the films themselves...
Strictly speaking, the place for discussing Mizoguchi in general is:

viewtopic.php?t=6155" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I just hope the discussions happen ... somewhere. ;-}

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Gregory
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Re: 52-59 / BD 36-37, 71-72 Late Mizoguchi: Eight Films, 195

#509 Post by Gregory » Fri Apr 18, 2014 1:31 pm

Michael Kerpan wrote:Ozu's Hollywood prefernce seems to have been for films like those of Lloyd and Lubitsch, rather than melodramas. Certainly he was influenced by films like Docks of New York (and Last Laugh) -- but films like these were more of an influence on 1930s Mizoguchi -- while there is little to suggest that Mizoguchi took much interest in American comedies.
According to Noël Burch, Ozu had a particular fondness for Ophüls. I'd like to know more, but would love to think that he saw and appreciated great Hollywood melodramas such as Letter from an Unknown Woman and The Reckless Moment. I certainly find that a plausible thing to suppose, given Burch's comment (though of course Ophüls's use of the camera was very different from Ozu's own, to say the least).

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Re: 52-59 / BD 36-37, 71-72 Late Mizoguchi: Eight Films, 195

#510 Post by Michael Kerpan » Fri Apr 18, 2014 2:33 pm

Basically Ozu saw almost everything Western he could get his hands on during the period prior to the cut-off of Western films in the late 30s. In terms of more serious directors, Ozu really admired Ford and King Vidor. And then he saw a huge trove of later, "contraband" Western films during 1944-45, while posted in Singapore to make propaganda films (that he never made much progress towards completing). Not sure how much he watched during the post-war period, perhaps his diaries tell us (once available in French translation, now long out of print -- alas, I didn't get these in time). We know he saw -- and disliked -- widescreen films. My sense is that while Late Summer shows some traces of 40s Hollywood, he did not follow through with this in his later films.

Some Japanese directors were also quite enthusaiastic about French cinema -- for instance Gosho was a big fan of Rene Clair.

Getting back to Mizoguchi, during the 50s, he was apparently quite obsessed with William Wyler's films -- and considered him his only real "competitor" (Bordwell, Figures Traced in Light).

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Re: 52-59 / BD 36-37, 71-72 Late Mizoguchi: Eight Films, 195

#511 Post by Drucker » Tue Jun 24, 2014 4:29 pm

With a day left, there's a copy on ebay with a current bid of $107.50.

This thing is already at Naruse territory for price.

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Re: 52-59 / BD 36-37, 71-72 Late Mizoguchi: Eight Films, 195

#512 Post by Michael Kerpan » Tue Jun 24, 2014 4:38 pm

Don't it always seem to go. That you don't know what you've got. Till it's gone.

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Re: 52-59 / BD 36-37, 71-72 Late Mizoguchi: Eight Films, 195

#513 Post by MichaelB » Fri Jul 04, 2014 6:56 am

The Cinema Ritrovato Awards for 2014 have just been announced, including:
BEST SPECIAL FEATURES ON BLU-RAY: LATE MIZOGUCHI – EIGHT FILMS, 1951-1956
(Kenji Mizoguchi, Japan) – Eureka Entertainment

The publication of eight indisputable masterpieces in stellar transfers on Blu-Ray is a cause for celebration. If Eureka is not exclusive in offering these individual titles, what makes this collection especially praiseworthy and indispensable is the scholarship, imagination and care that went into the accompanying 344-page booklet. Over 60 rare production stills are included, many featuring Mizoguchi at work. Striking essays by Keiko I. McDonald, Mark Le Fanu, Mori Ogai, and Nakagawa Masako are anthologized along with extensively annotated translations of some of the key sources of Japanese literature that inspired some of Mizoguchi’s late films. The volume closes with tributes to the great director written by Tarkovsky, Rivette, Godard, Straub, Angelopoullos, Shinoda, and others. Tony Rayns provides spoken essays and some full-length commentaries.
(Full press release and other winners here)

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