Zabriskie Point

[miless]

maybe outside the US they license titles to third parties?

[der_Artur]

maybe outside the US they license titles to third parties?

At least they did so with a lot of titles for the "Süddeutsche Zeitung Cinemathek". The Titles are released afterwards directly via Warner.

[indy81]

TCM reports that ZP was removed from the schedule by Standards & Practices for "strong content." Grrr...

[Dylan]

TCM reports that ZP was removed from the schedule by Standards & Practices for "strong content." Grrr...

Which is bullshit, of course. This film would barely get a PG-13 in 2008.

My guess is that there is a severe rights hold-up, although I have no idea what it would be aside from ownership. Regarding the music rights, MGM has released the soundtrack CD in recent years so that doesn't seem like it would be one of the problems.

[Via_Chicago]

TCM reports that ZP was removed from the schedule by Standards & Practices for "strong content." Grrr...

More anti-sex bias. They showed The Terminator only a few months ago, and that's an infinitely more objectionable film, with casual acts of violence every ten minutes or so. Who knew that the MPAA were running TCM?

[tryavna]

TCM reports that ZP was removed from the schedule by Standards & Practices for "strong content." Grrr...

Well, considering that TCM have canceled their regularly scheduled silents and foreign-language movies for the month of May in order to make room for Frank Sinatra, perhaps the "strong content" actually refers to the demandingness of Antonioni's cinema....

[ellipsis7]

Apparently the journalist from LOOK caused a lot of friction on set resulting in...

ZABRISKIE POINT's spectacular finale unmistakably carries out Antonioni's trenchant critiscism of a wasteful, greedy America fueled by consumerism. the fallout from the explosion includes goods and products like Wonder Bread floating through the flames. This more than anything else in the film, would enrage critics and commentators, especially the journalist from Look, who didn't appreciate seeing his magazine incinerated in slow motion. -- Beverley Walker, 'Michelangelo and the Leviathan', Film Comment, Sept 1992

One way to deal with the critics!...

[Barmy]

I just bought that Look on eBay (I was dying to know if Debbie Reynolds would make it as TVs new Lucy).

A bit simplistic to say ZP is an attack on consumerism, but whatever floats one's boat...

[ellipsis7]

Actually full Beverley Walker article (how can you post a pdf here?) is full of revealing stuff about the production (Frechette's psychiatric report etc., union, studio interference and hostility, press prurient interest etc), while defending Antonioni and the film (she was drafted in as unit publicist & kept on right through post-prodn)... Absolutely fascinating piece, and more on the LOOK journalist who made a really threatening phone call apparently and is accused of misrepresentation, while Sight and Sound's Marsha Kinder also raised hackles... Read whole thing, and it is apparent that no picnic was enjoyed, but somehow Antonioni extracted something of a fine film reflecting the times...

[domino harvey]

upload the pdf to sendspace.com and then post the link here

[Antoine Doinel]

For whatever it's worth, the "new print" is still making the arthouse rounds and hits Montreal next week.

[thomega]

I just received the German DVD of Zabriskie Point. When I read "4:3" on the cover, I braced myself for a non-anamorphic transfer of a scope film. But it's even worse: the thing is panned and scanned for 1.33.

Colors and sharpness are ok (on my CRT), but there's too much stuff chopped at the sides. Avoid it.

[Barmy]

Thank you. Maybe you should try to return it. The cheapness certainly made it look unpromising. Maybe it's a knockoff of that Russian DVD.

[thomega]

Maybe it's a knockoff of that Russian DVD.

It starts with the regular "blue sky" Warner logo. I doubt that the publisher would get away with bootlegging a film owned by Warner in Germany. Anyway, it's still going back (my retailer listed it as "widescreen" in his online catalogue...)

[yoshimori]

I just received the German DVD of Zabriskie Point. When I read "4:3" on the cover, I braced myself for a non-anamorphic transfer of a scope film. But it's even worse: the thing is panned and scanned for 1.33.

Un-f#$%^-believable! The amazon.de page says clearly: "Bildseitenformat: 16:9"

[Barmy]

And ZP returns to NYC as part of Walter Reade's commie/1968 series in early May. =D> =P~

[tojoed]

Warner France are releasing Zabriskie Point on 3 December 2008.

[ellipsis7]

Couleur, Plein écran, Mono, Cinémascope, PAL

Full screen.... cinemascope... ??!!...

Couldn't be unclearer...

However Warner France's site tells all...

Public:
Interdit aux moins de 16 ans.
Format vidéo:
2.35

Zone: 2
Spécificités produit:
Keep Case
Couleurs
DVD-9
Audio:
Français:DD1.0
Français:DD2.0mono
Anglais:DD1.0
Anglais:DD2.0mono
Sous-titres:
Français Suppléments:
Pas de bonus

Hallelujah, it's really is widescreen... Full details here

[der_Artur]

Widescreen but not anamorphic.

Oh well...

[ellipsis7]

So near yet so far - there's there 'the technical basis of a beautiful edition'...

Have this French disc in hand - is letterboxed 2.35:1, as described in the French review - but despite that is a very nice crisp sharp picture and a great improvement on the German pan and scan disc, all the composition is now there, just a pity it is not a full anamorphic transfer....

[miless]

If you're in Portland tomorrow (Sunday, Dec. 7th), Zabriskie Point is playing at the NWFilm Center (located at the Portland art museum) at 4:30pm
I hope to be there (although the last time they screened Red Desert from what looked like an old VHS)

[foggy eyes]

R1 at last!

[ellipsis7]

Great... Anamorphic widescreen at last (hopefully)...

[Forrest Taft]

Zabriskie Point (1970)
Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni (Blowup) directs his first American film: a surreal view of late ’60s America, as seen through the portrayal of two of its children. Sometime secretary Daria is working for a developer (Rod Taylor) building a village in the California desert, while dropout Mark is running from the authorities for allegedly killing a policeman during a student riot. Their lives intersect at Zabriskie Point in Death Valley with an explosive finale. Harrison Ford has an uncredited part as an airport worker, and the soundtrack features music from various artists, including Pink Floyd, The Youngbloods, The Kaleidoscope, Jerry Garcia, Patti Page, and the Grateful Dead.

DVD Special Features:
Theatrical trailer

Christ, I added the Harrison Ford info to imdb when I was twelve years old, after reading it in an unauthorized Harrison Ford biography ( ). I doubt it´s true, as I don´t think anyone has ever managed to spot him in the movie. The fact that Warner presumably will include this info (some dude in the marketing department discovered on imdb) on the back cover is proof they couldn´t care less about Zabriskie Point. Antonioni directed this for chrissake. This should be loaded with extras. Hope the transfer is nice, but it´s a shame this isn´t coming to blu-ray. They dump Zabriskie, yet Falling Down gets one of of those Special-Blu-ray-Book-release-things supposedly reserved to their most important films. ](*,)

[Barmy]

This seems boycottable for the Harrison Ford reference alone. I've seen the film a gazillion times and never noticed him, not that I was looking for him. [-(