Cinema (French publication)

Message

ola t · #1 Post by **ola t** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 3:57 pm

The DVD that comes with the upcoming issue #9 of the French semi-annual publication Cinéma is slated to contain three educational shorts by Eric Rohmer: Stéphane Mallarmé (1968), Victor Hugo: les Contemplations (1966) and Victor Hugo architecte (1969). Contributors to the book include Jacques Aumont, Jonathan Rosenbaum and Peter von Bagh, and there's a really tasty-sounding article by Charles Tesson called "Au bord de la mer: Ozu, Mizoguchi, Naruse".

(Uh, is "semi-annual" the right word? What I mean is, it comes out twice a year.)

Cinéma started including a DVD with issue #5. Here's a list of what's on the previous discs. Most of this information is probably available in various other threads, but I felt like putting it all in one place.

Issue #5 - The truncated version (about half an hour long) which is all that survives of Mizoguchi's silent feature Tokyo March (1929). French titles, no audio, PAL, no region code.

Issue #6 - Two films by Jean Eustache, Offre d'emploi and Le Jardin des délices de Jérome Bosch. French audio, no subtitles, PAL, no region code.

Issue #7 - Iranian documentaries: A Fire (1961) by Ebrahim Golestan and The House Is Black (1962) by Forough Farrokhzad. A Fire has English voiceover and optional French subtitles. The House Is Black has Farsi audio and fixed French subtitles. PAL, no region code.

Issue #8 - John Ford's feature Bucking Broadway (1917), long thought lost. Tinted, English titles, fixed (but unobtrusive, I'd say) French subtitles, no audio, PAL, region 2.

peerpee · #2 Post by **peerpee** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 4:21 pm

Great post!

(Uh, is "semi-annual" the right word? What I mean is, it comes out twice a year.)

Semiannual is okay, but "biannual" is more common for "twice a year".

"Biennial" means "every two years".

Michael Kerpan · #3 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 4:26 pm

On the side of the Atlantic (from peerpee), however, we tend to say "semi-annual" for "twice a year".

;~}

Jun-Dai · #4 Post by **Jun-Dai** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 4:59 pm

The nice thing about semiannual is that it can only mean "twice a year". Bi-annual, on the other hand, can mean either "twice a year" (semiannual) or "once every two years" (biennial).

ola t · #5 Post by **ola t** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:13 am

I can't say for sure whether those Rohmer films have appeared anywhere else, but for what it's worth, I can't find them in the supplement listings at DVDFr.com.

Arn777 · #6 Post by **Arn777** » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:19 am

Cinema only comes out twice a year. They have also published 2 volumes of Conferences organised by the French Cinematheque, which use a similar grey cover. The latest one published late last year and titled Les Voyages du Spectateur also included a dvd (Philippe Garrel's Le Revelateur, a silent film from 1968).

Edit: There is an article in Today's Liberation on Cinema 09. The dvd also includes an introduction (audio only) by Eric Rohmer recorded at the cinematheque, where he gives a couple of anecdotes such as for the film on Victor Hugo, Almendros lent him a camera from Cuba and he had to sleep with it to keep it warm!

ola t · #7 Post by **ola t** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 5:10 pm

From Jonathan Rosenbaum's column on DVDs in the new issue of Cinema Scope:

Straub-Huillet's En rachÃ¢chant (1982) and Cézanne (1989) are coming out without subtitles in the next issue of the biannual French journal Cinéma, which boasts a DVD as part of every issue (look for Cinéma 10, to be precise).

cafeman · #8 Post by **cafeman** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 7:04 pm

Can a person subscribe to this magazine somewhere? Is it expensive?

Arn777 · #9 Post by **Arn777** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 7:30 am

A one year (2 issues) subscribtion is 40 Euros including shipping abroad, payment via international money order. Their email is revuecinema@leoscheer.com

Arn777 · #10 Post by **Arn777** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 5:43 am

I have just received Cinema 010. It looks like a great issue with a long article by Tag Gallagher on Straub/Huillet & Ford, a 34 pages section on Preminger and a 50 pages one on Renoir, and lots of gorgeous photograms in B&W and colour throughout.
The dvd looks great, both 'En rachachant' & 'Cezanne' look absolutely fantastic.

backstreetsbackalright · #11 Post by **backstreetsbackalright** » Sat Oct 01, 2005 1:32 pm

Arn777 wrote:The dvd looks great, both 'En rachachant' & 'Cezanne' look absolutely fantastic.

No english subs though, right?

Arn777 · #12 Post by **Arn777** » Sun Oct 02, 2005 1:50 pm

Indeed, no subs.

Arn777 · #13 Post by **Arn777** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 5:52 am

Just received the new issue, Cinema 011, with essays on Rossellini and television, Antonin Artaud, several ones on Michael Snow, the first part of a piece by Francois Thomas on Welles and production troubles (he contributed to the booklet in the Complete Mr Arkadin). The DVD features 2 short films by Luc Moullet. All beautifully put together as usual.

ola t · #14 Post by **ola t** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 7:13 am

Snooping around on the Leo Scheer website reveals that the DVD included with Cinema 012 will contain "the last two films by King Vidor", one of which isn't even listed on IMDB. They are Truth and Illusion: An Introduction to Metaphysics (1965) and Metaphor, King Vidor Meets With Andrew Wyeth (1980).

Arn777 · #15 Post by **Arn777** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 5:55 am

I received a letter last week from the publisher (Léo Scheer), that Cinema 012 was the last one to be published. I just got an email from the editor and she said that they don't have any other publisher lined up yet, but hope to find one. I really hope they do, it was I think the most beautiful Cinema publication, with great lenghty articles (+ rare films on dvd).

whaleallright · #16 Post by **whaleallright** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 10:40 pm

Are most of the older issues out of print? Or can they still be purchased?

Arn777 · #17 Post by **Arn777** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 4:26 am

I think the first 3 or 4 are now out of print, and I don't think there are many left of the other ones. I actually spoke to Bernard Eisenschitz last night, as he wasn't even aware that Leo Scheer didn't want them anymore (!).

Arn777 · #18 Post by **Arn777** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 6:02 am

I checked on the Leo Scheer website, they show that only 05 and 06 are out of print, so time to get the other ones. They were only printing a couple of thousands if I remember correctly.

ellipsis7 · #19 Post by **ellipsis7** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 6:26 am

#090 looks especially good with those Rohmer docs...

Arn777 · #20 Post by **Arn777** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 6:35 am

They were all very good.

010 had 40 pages on Renoir + 2 Huillet/Straub films.

ellipsis7 · #21 Post by **ellipsis7** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 6:43 am

Yes, I'm tempted also by that one and 080 with the Ford stuff...

fred · #22 Post by **fred** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 12:25 pm

Arn777 wrote:They were all very good.

010 had 40 pages on Renoir + 2 Huillet/Straub films.

Doesn't come with the magazine, but there's a Japanese DVD which features the same two Huillet/Straub films (in equally nice transfers) plus Cezanne and Lothringen! Subs are Japanese only and removable (the Cinéma disc has no subs).

Hopefully they find a new publisher soon.

#23 Post by **zedz** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 7:20 pm

So far they're all good (I seem to have missed out on Mizoguchi, however). Most still seem to be available from alapage.

None of the discs have English subs. All of the transfers are excellent.

The Rohmers are minor but intriguing. They're very dense linguistically, so they probably pose the biggest problem to non-French speakers.

The silent Ford is terrific. Obviously no language issues here, but the French subs are forced.

Any Straub / Huillet on DVD is precious. Can't accurately comment on how difficult the French is, because I was already familiar with the Duras piece and knew what was going on.

The best disc so far of the ones I've seen is the Farrokhzad. It's her complete works (2 films). The House Is Black is a phenomenal film, and by the sounds of it this transfer is much better than the R1 disc. The language is simple and the French subtitles are very easy to follow if you have rudimentary knowledge of the language. From memory, A Fire actually has a minimal English soundtrack, and it's a great footnote for fans of Lessons of Darkness (or, at a pinch, The Wages of Fear)

It's sad to hear we may be at the end of the line with this publication. Here's hoping some other bold publisher takes it up.

ellipsis7 · #24 Post by **ellipsis7** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 7:38 pm

Yes I have a DVD dubb of that Farrokhzad Cinema disc... It's excellent... FIRE is fascinating - I think she worked as editor on this, and obviously THE HOUSE IS BLACK where she she was director and virtually everything...

It's an huge issue among liberal Iranians, how she met her death...

Kiarostami pays tribute in THE WIND WILL CARRY US, a line from a Farrokhzad poem....

ola t · #25 Post by **ola t** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 10:16 am

The rumors about the death of Cinéma may have been exaggerated, as Leo Scheer have put up some information about issue 013 on their website. To be released on May 18.

Maddeningly, they haven't listed the contents of the DVD, but I've squinted very very hard at the cover image and I think it says it will include Huillet and Straub's Lothringen! and Harun Farocki's Straub and Huillet at Work.