Moscow Elegy

[zone_resident]

Moscow Elegy by Sokurov will be available in Region 1: Details here.

Any comments about the studio ("Ideale Audience")??

[Buttery Jeb]

They appear to be an imprint of EMI, mostly specializing in Classical Music performances and archival pieces.

What that spells for the quality of their releases, I don't know.

-BJ

[Barmy]

Facets' name is on the DVD cover. Glad to know it has their seal of approval.

I like some of Sokurov, but didn't much care for this.

[John Cope]

Sokurov's film on Shostakovitch is also available from this same source, I think. What I'm most excited about is the imminent release of Elegy of a Voyage. Perhaps there will be an Elegies box set.

[acquarello]

Wow, that boxset does look cool! My favorite from the three elegies in the set is actually Mariya (titled Elegy Of The Land in the catalog), it still has that spectral vibe that runs through his work, but it's not as murky and abstract as Elegy of a Voyage. The aesthetic reminds me more of Abbas Kiarostami, especially in the reunion sequence at the end. Moscow Elegy is more about Tarkovsky's absence than a documentary on him, so it's not informative in that sense, but it's probably the closest to a visual representation of a musical composition that he's done (ironically, the Shostakovich is more of a straightforward documentary than a visual interpretation of a musical work).

[zone_resident]

Can someone comment on the transfer quality for Sokurov's Elegy of the Land? (Region 0 - NTSC - Ideale Audience / Facets)
I couldn't find any on-line reviews.

Also, Elegy of a Voyage will be released tomorrow (April 24).

[whaleallright]

Idéale Audience is a company in France that distributes and sometimes produces Sokurov's "essay" works. They supply Facets with the masters, so there's no concern here with getting a subpar Facets product.

As for the DVD of "Elegy of the Land," it is actually two films--1988's "Maria" and 1978's "Last Day of a Rainy Summer." The latter was one of Sokurov's student films, as the very detailed PDF file that comes on the DVD explains. "Maria" was shot in color 35mm and looks gorgeous. "Last Day" in B&W 16mm and still looks good. The transfers seem on par with Idéale Audience's other Sokurov releases, that is, impeccable.

"Elegy of a Voyage" will be accompanied by "Hubert Robert, a Fortunate Life," both some of Sokurov's best and most hallucinatory work.

Now if only someone would get the rights to his masterpiece, "Whispering Pages."

[zone_resident]

Thanks for these comments, Jonah. I remember watching Maria years ago; it's a pretty impressive film too.

I was concerned about the quality of Ideale Audience / Facets releases after reading DVDBeaver's review of Moscow Elegy.

[whaleallright]

Re. "Moscow Elegy": I suspect that the DVD reproduces faithfully the flaws that inhere in the source material. It's a very muddy-looking film, with many segments taken from old video footage, re-re-rephotographed film, etc. I've never seen a truly good copy (on film or VHS).