Chantal Akerman on DVD/BD

[Don Lope de Aguirre]

Apologies if this is all ready public knowledge but it seems as if 2007 will be the year for Mme Akerman on DVD. According to Amazon.fr and alapage.com there will be a 6 DVD boxset of her 70s work which includes:

Hôtel Monterey / Je, tu, il, elle / Jeanne Dielman (also available seperately), / News from home / Les Rendez-vous d'Anna

This should be released by Carlotta films on April 18 2007.

(Additionally, 'Jeanne Dielman...' will be screened at the NFT (London) on Sat March 17th and Wed 21 March 2007.)

[pianocrash]

I think I am going to cry (even if they're unsubbed).

Okay, I'll cry anyway.

[Anonymous]

FINALLY! About fucking time that Jeanne Dielman gets released! Absolutely essential stuff, Akerman is one of modern cinema's true visionaries.

[Zillertal]

according to this website, there will be no subtitles, i'm afraid.

[Don Lope de Aguirre]

Just to confirm: I have called Carlotta and, no, there will not be any subtitles...

[Barmy]

A ludicrously overrated filmmaker. Jeane Dielman and The Captive, fine. Golden Eighties ::shudder::.

[fred]

Gosh, it's been a while, but I recall Golden Eighties being a charming, if not entirely successful, minor work. I'm not sure who's going around ludicrously overrating Akerman. Abject ignorance/indifference seems the more common reaction.

I'm sure it's been said before, but you seem to spend most of your time watching movies you don't like.

[Barmy]

so true

[backstreetsbackalright]

In the cases of News From Home and Hotel Monterey, the lack of subs shouldn't be an issue. And considering my very high opinion of News, that's enough to warrant a purchase for me. This is like a dream collection for me, but it's a damn dirty shame that there's no subs on the rest of the set.

[Anonymous]

Overrated? In think Akerman is still criminally underrated! Jeanne Dielman is one of the most important and visionary films ever made, a work of extraordinary intensity and at the same time subtlety. Yvone Margulies, J. Hoberman and Amy Taubin have all written very intelligently about Akerman. I recommend their stuff for a deeper understanding of her work.

[John Cope]

I haven't had the opportunity to see much of her work and, I get the impression, what I have seen is considered pretty minor. Having said that, A Couch in New York is actually very pleasant if you like that kind of thing (I certainly didn't see any attempt at deconstruction in it; I assume it was a for hire job) but, yes, Barmy's right, Golden Eighties is thoroughly insufferable.

It's always nice to hear about movement of this kind on the video scene for more obscure directors who don't get a lot of representation. But other than Dielman, of course, the only film of hers I have any real driving interest in seeing is D'Est and that does not appear to be on the horizon.

[backstreetsbackalright]

But other than Dielman, of course, the only film of hers I have any real driving interest in seeing is D'Est and that does not appear to be on the horizon.

If you haven't already, you should check out From The Other Side, which is cut from the same cloth as D'Est. It isn't available in any retail edition, but it is easy to find in university library systems.

[Barmy]

Her episode in "Tous les garçons et les filles de leur âge..." is sublime. Is that on DVD?

I guess I've never forgiven her for "Je tu...", which just reeked of self pity. I still haven't recovered from the sugar eating scene. The other stuff I've seen for the most part hasn't left much of an impression.

She is constantly cited in lists of woman directors, which is a bit sad. That's what I mean by ludicrously overrated.

[paa400]

Did anyone ever find out if these have english subs? I went to the carlotta home page, but I'm just a dumb American and cannot read French.

[paa400]

I translated the page and it doesn't say if it has english subs-guess I'll have to wait for beaver.

[paa400]

Did anyone pick this up?

[backstreetsbackalright]

Did anyone pick this up?

I'm moving to Germany in a little over a month, so I'm holding off until then to pick it up.

[franco]

I just ordered Jeanne Dielman. Nevertheless, I am quite certain that it contains no subtitle of any kind:

Sous-titres disponibles
Aucun.

Sous-titres malentendants disponibles
Aucun.

[paa400]

I've actually seen Jeanne Dielman on the big screen twice so Im tempted just to pick that one up even without subs.

[Oedipax]

Potential big news by way of Gary from DVD Beaver: apparently there is a Belgian port of the French Akerman box set with all five films with English subtitles.

The info can be found here, and I found one site already selling it here (does anyone know if the site is reliable? do they ship to the U.S.?)

I'm really anxious to find out if this is the real deal or not. Exciting times!

[Wittsdream]

A Chantal Akerman box set with those great 1970's films of hers WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES is easily one of the key DVD releases of the year, IMO.

Sensational news, if true!

[paa400]

I can't wait to find out!

[backstreetsbackalright]

Nor can I. Is it possible to wear out my browser's Refresh button?

[Hashi]

here (does anyone know if the site is reliable? do they ship to the U.S.?)

I've ordered from Azur a couple of times and so far I can only give my high recommendations. Very fast and reliable, but unfortunately I have no idea about shipping to US.

[Jeff LeVine]

I haven't checked the whole Carlotta set (which just arrived here yesterday), but it isn't accurate to say there are no subtitles, as Jeanne Dielmann 23 actually has Dutch subtitles. Don't know if that helps anybody here...