The decision to cut the film has very little to do with the producer or Ruiz for that matter. It has everything to do with the selection committee at the Berlinale which de facto made it clear that Klimt will not be run at its original 130+ form, for a number of reasons. So, the consequent 97min. version was done in a matter of days in order to meet the deadline and of course please the committee members.

Unfortunately, it is also the 97 min. version which was sold as the "final" cut to distributors after the show (hence the reason why there is a notable gap in the video department between the R1 and UK versions). I talked a bit about the issue in my review.

Anybody seen Daratt? It was part of the New Crowned Hope series, and also Sight & Sound's film of the month on release. Sounds interesting - better give it a rental.

Oh, and speaking of New Crowned Hope, if anyone could tell me how on earth to order the English subtitled Malba DVD of Paraguayan Hammock I'd be extremely grateful!

No word on Daratt, then.

DVD Times review of Leigh's Bleak Moments.

Incidentally, I watched Soda's disc of Téchiné's Strayed last night, and the picture quality was gorgeous. Anything shot by Agnès Godard demands a damn good transfer, and this did not disappoint - highly recommended.

Yes, and it's superb. Sparse, elegant, building to an extremely powerful (almost mythic) climax. A must-see. I had seen Haroun's Abouna beforehand, which was very good, but this goes to a new level.

I haven't seen all of the New Crowned Hope series (Paraguayan Hammock and the South African short have eluded me), but it seems to be extremely strong. Syndromes and a Century and Daratt are masterpieces; Half Moon is Ghobadi's best film and I Don't Want to Sleep Alone among Tsai's best (short of the top rank for me only because he's been so consistently great). Only Opera Jawa disappointed me: didn't have the visual zing I expected and there wasn't enough engaging content to make up for it.

Thanks, zedz - it's rocketed to the top of my rental list.

Yes, Syndromes is sublime, the Tsai great (back on firmer territory than The Wayward Cloud), and Opera Jawa slightly underwhelming (somehow it managed to feel rather bloated and curiously flat at the same time). I had the opportunity to see Half Moon last night, but opted for something else - now beginning to regret that decision somewhat! Hopefully someone will put it out on DVD soon.

Half Moon is very (very very) similar to Ghobadi's Marooned in Iraq in conception - it's almost a remake in that regard - but it steadily gets further and further away from any of the earlier films, with masterfully orchestrated and thoroughly disorienting shifts in tone taking the narrative further and further away from neo-realism (where we might have thought we were solidly grounded) and into the mystical, metaphysical and Beckettian absurdist. And yet it retains a sense that the absurdity and mounting existential dread are completely grounded in local reality. The diminishing returns I was seeing with Ghobadi's previous films are brilliantly, unexpectedly reversed with this one (particularly unexpected as this starts out as an apparent retread).

I've been trying to find a review of Soda's edition of After Life, but it seems as if there isn't any. I've been holding off buying the R2JP for several years now for some reason and was about to order it when I found this one. Since buying the Soda will save me about 10 bucks I'm very curious if anyone here could comment on it.

Ornette, After Life has a good transfer - not dazzling, but nothing to complain about. Unfortunately I don't have the disc to hand so can't post screen captures, but I doubt you'll be disappointed with it.

Oh, and thanks for the info on Half Moon, zedz - it sounds very promising. I can hardly remember a thing about Turtles Can Fly (probably not a good sign).

Actually, it is an absolutely stunning film. There are two scenes in particular that are beyond description (the little boy deactivating the mine...). With this in mind I would recommend that you opt for the Canadian disc as it features a more elaborate sound mix (5.1) as opposed to the US one (2.0).

Pro-B

I have made some screenshots, look here.

added some R2J comparisons right after the R2UK ones.

R2JP it is then -- somewhat more expensive, but well worth it, it seems. I was actually just about to order the R2UK, so thanks for steering me away from it.

Yeah, sorry Ornette - the Soda disc looks worse in the above caps than I remember. Glad somebody else stepped in.


Absolutely adored it.

If the whole 'contemporary contemplative cinema' tag holds, this could prove to be a central text - stupendously minimalist and quite beautiful. I urge anybody who likes this kind of thing to pick it up - can't imagine that Soda will sell more than half a dozen copies.

The transfer is probably a port of the Spanish disc, and looks great. Screen captures over in the appropriate thread.


Probably the wrong thread, but I can't remember if the film has been mentioned elsewhere. ICA Films are releasing this on DVD in August in the UK, and Strand released it in the US a couple of months ago. Although the former aren't exactly a bastion of quality, their release will probably be better than Strand's (judging by reputation).

As Little Dieter Needs to Fly doesn't appear to have been reviewed elsewhere online, I've posted screen caps here.

I am only just now getting around to buying this, 2 1/2 years later.

Who Killed Nancy? and La Zona were released last Monday.

Darratt is very dull, with flat mise-en-scene, simplistic characterisation and predictable-yet-unconvincing plotting, however at least it isn't as morally objectionable as Syndromes. You're better off with I Don't Want to Sleep Alone although, as is so frequently the case with Tsai, the film ultimately chokes on it's own desire to be kooky and wry. Haven't yet seen Half Moon, but very much looking forward to it (Ghobadis 1-3 are worth 5000x the lifetime output of any of the the above mentioned).

Couldn't disagree more--Daratt is a lovely film, as attentive to the nuances of bodily interaction and their interior implications as a Dardenne film (appropriate, given that it's cut by their editor, Marie-Hélène Dozo), and a great double feature with Lee Isaac Chung's wonderful Munyurangabo.

I've seen all the New Crowned Hope films, and my favorite was probably Hamaca Paraguaya (which doesn't begin to translate on video) followed closely by Opera Jawa, Syndromes and a Century, and Daratt. It's a rare example of a uniformly strong series. The only one I was so-so on was Half Moon, but it wasn't bad and I probably wouldn't mind giving it another chance if someone wanted to defend it.

Yeah, that's because you are the target audience for these films, played like a fiddle just the like the 14 year old kid in the front row at a screening of The Dark Knight. Saw Half Moon, btw - not Ghobadi's best but still preferable to anything else mentioned here, including the Dardennes and their dull attempts to copy Ken Loach whilst claiming a spurious connection to Bresson.

Could anyone please comment on their Norman McLaren set? It seems to carry all the extras from the region 1 set, but I wonder if includes also the english subtitles.

It's exactly the same box - Soda are just distributing it over here.

In other news, I'm so pleased they've picked up Wiseman's magnificent La Danse - first FW to have theatrical distribution in how long...?

Does that mean it might get an actual DVD release eventually?

I see no reason to believe that it wouldn't, and there'll be a Zipporah release next year too.

That's what I meant - a Soda release, on actual DVD, would be infinitely preferable to a $30 Zipporah DVD-R. I do own 17 of the Zipporah discs, but cheaper, more durable alternatives are always welcome.