Artificial Eye / Curzon Film World

[Via_Chicago]

Les Vampires cover art

Certainly different from the typical AE cover art designs.

They should be applauded for the originality and boldness of the design (especially for a silent film), but i'm not actually sure i like it that much, it looks kind of cartoony and amateurish.

Well it's not like some kind of cartoon that AE designed just for the cover. It has been used before.

[Oedipax]

Artificial Eye to release three Bresson films on April 21: the already-mentioned the Devil, Probably along with A Man Escaped and Lancelot du lac!

This is GREAT!!! Thanks!

Awesome news. Those New Yorker discs are getting the heave-ho.

[What A Disgrace]

I hope these Bressons are in a box. It'd be one of the best releases of the year.

[Awesome Welles]

A box would be great, hopefully with at least some minimal extras (we can't expect too much from AE) the documentary The Road to Bresson would be lovely.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

A box would be great, hopefully with at least some minimal extras (we can't expect too much from AE) the documentary The Road to Bresson would be lovely.

As would the 'Cineaste de notre temps' episode on Bresson

[foggy eyes]

DVD Times reviews of Fassbinder Volume I & II - both appear to be excellent releases.

[Stefan Andersson]

Maybe my memory is wrong, but I think somebody posted in this thread (or another) that the upcoming AE LES VAMPIRES would only run to about five hours, unlike the approx. 8-hour Image disc runtime. How long does the Gaumont run? Hopefully AE hasn´t decided to speed up the video!
Please comment on this if anybody wants to!

[Kinsayder]

How long does the Gaumont run?

The Gaumont is 6h30 (according to the box); the Image is 6h39 (according to this review).

The AE will presumably be the same as the Gaumont, as was the case with Fantômas.

[MichaelB]

The AE will presumably be the same as the Gaumont, as was the case with Fantômas.

There's no reason to assume otherwise - they're hardly going to do a brand new transfer given the likely sales of this title.

[What A Disgrace]

The three Bresson titles are up for pre-order at Play, each for the standard 19.99 rebated to 14.99. All only available separately, no specs listed.

According to Amazon UK, Artificial Eye is releasing a "Satyjit Ray Collection: Volume 1" on May 28. Three discs, no specs revealed, nor which three films are in the box.

Exciting. To say the least. Volume *1*. I'll happily buy this if the supplements are reasonably healthy, or if they're mostly barebones like the Kaurismaki set, and all the better if these sets come out in quick succession like the Kaurismaki sets.

My fingers are already crossed for Sembene, Angelopoulos, and early Tarr sets.

Here is a link to the pre-order...since AE isn't too keen on spelling his name right.

[miless]

aren't they planning a (either full or late) Tarr set after The Man From London comes out on DVD?

[ellipsis7]

It's interesting, following the sale of the company there was recently managerial musical chairs with the longstanding stalwarts at the helm moving on to set up their own company... Interesting to see if there are any changes in AE policy - has their DVD release schedule shifted up a gear?

While some filmmakers are moving on also..

New Wave takes Ceylan's Cannes-bound Daydreams for UK
Geoffrey Macnab in Berlin
14 Feb 2008/Screen Daily

New Wave Films, the new UK distribution company set up by former Artificial Eye bosses Robert Beeson and Pam Engel, has made its second acquisition of the Berlin market, taking Daydreams, the latest feature from Turkish maestro Nuri Bilge Ceylan from Pyramide International.

[Wittsdream]

According to Amazon UK, Artificial Eye is releasing a "Satyjit Ray Collection: Volume 1" on May 28. Three discs, no specs revealed, nor which three films are in the box.

According to Upcoming Ray Films information on the Artificial Eye website, the three titles figure to be Three Daughters, Devi and Days and Nights in the Forest, since Chess Players has already been released by their label.

[FilmFanSea]

According to Amazon UK, Artificial Eye is releasing a "Satyjit Ray Collection: Volume 1" on May 28. Three discs, no specs revealed, nor which three films are in the box.

According to Upcoming Ray Films information on the Artificial Eye website, the three titles figure to be Three Daughters, Devi and Days and Nights in the Forest, since Chess Players has already been released by their label.

The Amazon UK listing is hard to find since they misspelled Ray's first name, but it lists the contents as

Mahanagar (The Big City) / 1963
Charulata (The Lonely Wife) / 1964
Nayak (The Hero) / 1966

The MSRP seems reasonable at £29.99 (~$59 USD).

[What A Disgrace]

This is an utterly exciting and much needed release, regardless of whether or not there are any supplements, and even without specifics on which films will be available. Charulata is my friend's favourite Ray film; he insists that it is one of the most perfect films in cinema, so he is going to be giggly and giddy over this boxed set. I can't say I'm neither of those.

If Artificial Eye were to put out all of Ray's filmography in boxed sets of this size, sans Apu Trilogy, Chess Players and Abhijaan, and including his short films, I think that makes eight volumes. I'm not keeping my hopes up, but I'm crossing my fingers.

[MichaelB]

If Artificial Eye were to put out all of Ray's filmography in boxed sets of this size, sans Apu Trilogy, Chess Players and Abhijaan

...and, sadly, The Adversary, currently available in a dire transfer from Mr Bongo.

[Cinetwist]

If Artificial Eye were to put out all of Ray's filmography in boxed sets of this size, sans Apu Trilogy, Chess Players and Abhijaan

...and, sadly, The Adversary, currently available in a dire transfer from Mr Bongo.

That's depressing to hear. I had high hopes for this company and they tried to take on an Artificial Eye type image, with their space in Sight and Sound. It's a shame that their choice of titles is so good and transfers, so bad.

[MichaelB]

That's depressing to hear. I had high hopes for this company and they tried to take on an Artificial Eye type image, with their space in Sight and Sound. It's a shame that their choice of titles is so good and transfers, so bad.

With The Adversary they clearly had poor materials to work from, but there's no such excuse with Cronaca di un amore - I sensed a pretty good Digibeta source under the jerky movement and horribly over-compressed soundtrack. So I'm guessing they're authoring their DVDs as quickly and cheaply as possible.

[Adam]

This is an utterly exciting and much needed release, regardless of whether or not there are any supplements, and even without specifics on which films will be available. Charulata is my friend's favourite Ray film; he insists that it is one of the most perfect films in cinema, so he is going to be giggly and giddy over this boxed set. I can't say I'm neither of those.

If Artificial Eye were to put out all of Ray's filmography in boxed sets of this size, sans Apu Trilogy, Chess Players and Abhijaan, and including his short films, I think that makes eight volumes. I'm not keeping my hopes up, but I'm crossing my fingers.

I concur. Charulata is perhaps my favorite Ray as well (of the 9 or 10 that I've seen, along with Pather Panchali & World of Apu). I'm glad someone is taking these on.
To the best of my knowledge, a lot of Ray films were being preserved and possibly restored at the Academy Film Archives. I wonder if they are using these elements. The rights were the big problem

[Wittsdream]

The Amazon UK listing is hard to find since they misspelled Ray's first name, but it lists the contents as

Mahanagar (The Big City) / 1963
Charulata (The Lonely Wife) / 1964
Nayak (The Hero) / 1966

That's a bit of a surprise as none of those titles was previously hinted at on the Artificial Eye site. In some way, these announcements are good news, as it portends well for those previously referenced Ray films to get released sometime soon thereafter. Moreover, the only previous incarnation of Charulata on DVD was the paltry Bollywood DVD from a couple of years ago.

[What A Disgrace]

A bit of AE speculation.

When they get around to releasing Angelopoulos' films at long last, would anyone agree that it is likely for them to box them together according to their placement as thematic trilogies?

Artificial Eye does have a love for boxed sets lately.

[HerrSchreck]

Dying to see how their Les Vampires measures up to the Shepard (beyond the touch of cropping to be eliminated and the insertion of modern french intertitles), which with the extras & booklet essay, is one of his better releases for sure.

But these films are sublime, and I love Vampires the most, even over Fantomas (which I like just a touch more than Judex-- which I love too).

Ti Minh & Barabbas god damnit.

[Tommaso]

Even better (for me): AE will release Rivette's new film "Don't touch the axe" on April 14!! Pre-order at play.com.

Finally!

[domino harvey]

\:D/

[Barmy]

Glad they're using nudity to sell Bresson to the hoi polloi.