El Sur (The South) (Victor Erice, 1983)
Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2016 3:57 am
The BFI are re-releasing this theatrically in September, so a blu-ray will almost certainly follow soon after.
http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/
http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=14539
We don't at all, and of course it may well not be the case. European arthouse cinema in particular is often picked up just for theatrical distribution.rapta wrote:Plenty of stuff is re-released theatrically by the BFI and doesn't make it to Blu-ray thought...but generally because they don't have the home video rights (e.g. studio pictures). Do we know if a Blu-ray is particularly certain in this case?
True. Since writing this I had a look at the BFI DCP list and noticed that most of the titles they have released theatrically have been released on home video either by themselves or another label (or at least the rights are presumably still with another label...for example Rohmer's Le Rayon Vert is with Arrow).MichaelB wrote:We don't at all, and of course it may well not be the case. European arthouse cinema in particular is often picked up just for theatrical distribution.rapta wrote:Plenty of stuff is re-released theatrically by the BFI and doesn't make it to Blu-ray thought...but generally because they don't have the home video rights (e.g. studio pictures). Do we know if a Blu-ray is particularly certain in this case?
Does anyone have the DVD? I never managed to get hold of it. It might be a case where the materials aren't in particularly good shape for an HD transfer and would require restoration, in which case it would be a long-term project. But then that doesn't explain why nobody else has released it since, even on DVD. An odd one that's for sure...Calvin wrote:Optimum's release went OOP, so I presume it reverted to the Spanish rightsholder. But I'd be surprised if any UK label hadn't tried to pick it up since.Finch wrote:Who's got Spirit of the Beehive in the UK? I know there was a DVD but I don't remember who put it out (Optimum, in which case it'd be with Studio Canal now?).
A Spanish Blu-Ray was released a few years back. Caps-a-holic comparison with the Criterion DVD here. It looks like it needs tweaking (too dark?), but I'm not sure it requires an entirely new restoration.rapta wrote:Does anyone have the DVD? I never managed to get hold of it. It might be a case where the materials aren't in particularly good shape for an HD transfer and would require restoration, in which case it would be a long-term project. But then that doesn't explain why nobody else has released it since, even on DVD. An odd one that's for sure...
Presumably everyone's waiting on somebody to restore it. Either that or some particularly fiddly rights issues.
More importantly, hopefully this will encourage Erice to make a new feature film. Apart from some occasional shorts, he didn't make a new full-length film after "El sol del membrillo". What are the reasons for this absence?rapta wrote: Hopefully this will encourage more Erice releases in the UK!
I have the Vertice Spanish Blue for EL SUR (English subs) OOP, and the quality is not at all bad.Spanish label Divisa have released a lot of both directors' work on Blu-ray, but not sure what the transfers are like.
There was a series of these inter-filmmaker correspondences, and they're all available in a Spanish box set except for the Erice / Kiarostami ones. They vary wildly in approach. Some are just glorifed video-letters, some are proper stand alone short films (Alonso), and Albert Serra contributes a feature.ellipsis7 wrote:Basically Erice - Kiarostami - Correspondances was an exchange of ten filmic letters which formed a video correspondence between the two directors (i.e. five created & sent by each to the other)... This in turn formed an installation - a juxtaposition of two creative worlds - which exhibited first in Barcelona, Madrid & Paris, and was curated by Alain Bergala and Jordi Balló... 2 catalogues were published, one by the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona & the other by the Pompidou Centre in Paris... Trailer for the installation showing in Melbourne here... Not sure about a 96 minute feature length version, presumably the ten video missives together, perhaps with additional material...
The film inspired an exhibition by the same name at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 2007. http://mediation.centrepompidou.fr/educ ... stami.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;Tommaso wrote:rapta wrote: !
However, imdb now lists a 2016 documentary (?) called "Victor Erice: Abbas Kiarostami: Correspondencias", 96 minutes long. Does anyone know more about that film? There was a 2006 book of the same title, but I don't know it
No, (see my previous post) the installation/exhibition came first, the feature film is clearly an afterthought...markhax wrote:The film inspired an exhibition by the same name at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 2007. http://mediation.centrepompidou.fr/educ ... stami.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;Tommaso wrote:rapta wrote: !
However, imdb now lists a 2016 documentary (?) called "Victor Erice: Abbas Kiarostami: Correspondencias", 96 minutes long. Does anyone know more about that film? There was a 2006 book of the same title, but I don't know it
El Sur (The South)
A film by Víctor Erice
“One of the best in Spanish cinema history” Pedro Almodóvar
Recalling her youth in northern Spain during the 1950s, Estrella revisits her relationship with her beloved father Agustín, who was raised in the south, and realises how little she knew of him and his secrets. Víctor Erice’s delicate and mysterious film reveals his abiding fascination with memory and loss, missed opportunities and the links between private dreams and political realities.
Following its well-received theatrical release in September, El Sur now comes to DVD and Blu-ray, released by the BFI on 23 January 2017 in a Dual Format Edition.
The performances, like the meticulously lit compositions and the evocative soundtrack, are superb throughout; Omero Antonutti is a charismatic Agustín, while Sonsoles Aranguren and Icíar Bollaín shine, as respectively, the young and teenaged Estella.
Although less well-known than Erice’s The Spirit of the Beehive, El Sur is exquisitely beautiful and profoundly moving.
Special features
• Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition
• Haunted Memory: The cinema of Víctor Erice (Adrian Martin, Cristina Álvarez López, 2016, 13mins): a video essay celebrating the great Spanish director
• Víctor Erice interviewed by Geoff Andrew (UK, 2003, 83mins, audio only)
• Theatrical re-release trailer (2016)
• Fully illustrated booklet featuring essays by Geoff Andrew and Mar Diestro-Dópido and full film credits
Product details
RRP: £19.99/ Cat. no. BFIB1229 / Cert PG
Spain / 1983 / colour / 95 mins / Spanish language with English subtitles / original aspect ratio 1.66:1 // BD50: 1080p, 24fps, PCM mono audio (48k/24-bit) // DVD9: PAL, 25fps, Dolby Digital mono audio (192 kbps)