Criterion Random Speculation Vol.4

Message

justeleblanc · #451 Post by **justeleblanc** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 4:06 pm

Does anyone know who holds the rights to Kaurismaki's I HIRED A CONTRACT KILLER? Hopefully this isn't repeating a previous conversation here, but I just recently started watching and appreciating Kaurismaki and I want to say this is the only film of his that remains unavailable on DVD. If I'm wrong let me know. Regardless, has Criterion made any mention in the past about whether or not they would release any Kaurismaki?

Ornette · #452 Post by **Ornette** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 4:36 pm

There exists a Scandinavian edition. It's included in a box-set that I own, but I also found it available seperately on eBay.

justeleblanc · #453 Post by **justeleblanc** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 5:21 pm

Thanks.

Still, Kaurismaki would be a nice inclusion.

pauling · #454 Post by **pauling** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 9:47 pm

It sure would. Sadly, I've emailed Criterion several times over the last couple years about releasing some Kaurismaki and have been shot down every time.

LightBulbFilm · #455 Post by **LightBulbFilm** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 10:15 pm

criterionaficionado wrote:I think CC should focus on getting films out by such greats as mizoguchi, naruse, rossellini, eustache (mother and the whore...i wish!!!), rivette, duras (india song hopefully), joris ivens, rocha, duarte, michael snow (wavelenght 1967), bruce conner (report, a movie, crossroad, mongoloid, looking for mushrooms - wow what a great ecplise box these 5 films would make!!!), etc, just to name a few off the top of my head ...

let me know your thoughts, both from lightbulb as well as the rest of the forum panel. sorry if i stepped on anyone's toes...just expressing some viewpoints.

I completely understand. I completely agree (Especially with the Conner films and Rossellini) but at the same time we can't rule out the films that are getting treated poorly... I love to see rarely seen and sometimes unseen films come out via Criterion, but I'd also like to see just as many great films that have poor transfers, that aren't being treated right come from Criterion so they can give them complete makeovers.

mattkc · #456 Post by **mattkc** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:27 am

The Bruce Conner Eclipse box set is a really good idea. And I agree with criterionaficionado. I'm most anxious to see as much Naruse as possible, but Rossellini, Mizoguchi, Rivette, and others would be great. It's probably already been mentioned, but an Eclipse of Duelle and Noroit, or of both parts of Jeanne la Pucelle, would make sense. And Snow has so much more than just Wavelength. You could include with it a bunch of his early short films on one disc. La Région centrale too would obviously be great, but I would like to see some of the more obscure ones just as much, like Presents. What makes the most sense on DVD, though, is his video work. *Corpus Callosum is a major work.

Also, when are we going to finally start seeing Garrel and Pialat films released (w/subtitles)? And I'd love to have a box set of good transfers of Hou's 90s work.

criterionaficionado · Fri Mar 28, 2008 5:10 am

I totally have to agree with what a member said earlier. kaurismaki needs to have CC treatment (leningrad cowboys anyone?).
i like the idea of an eclipse boxset of michael snow, especially the movies mentioned along with Wavelength (now that would be an awesome eclipse boxset right?). i just watched wavelength on google earlier tonite and it blew me away. michael snow deserves to be a fixture in the criterion/eclipse collection(s).
I also agree with lightbulb, that although we all want to see diverse films and little known discoveries, it's also rewarding to watch the highly known great pics we all love so much on the transfer they deserve to be seen in.
I think we need to bombard tamara with hourly emails and let criterion know what their most dedicated fans/consumers (i own all of the criterion films ever released on DVD - from spine# 1 to present) are demanding...michael snow eclipse, rivette, bruce conner eclipse, mizoguchi, naruse, rossellini, etc.
my last suggestion before i go; stop the ozu flics at least until next year? I love ozu but lets focus our energy (and money) on directors whom have yet to crack the region 1/north american dvd market, and in some cases, the dvd market period, in any world region!!!
later...keep the responses going lightbulb and mattkc, as well as others of course. i would alos like to hear from tow of my favorite contributors to this forum, that being domino harvey as well as cinephrenic on this and other topics...

Michael Kerpan · #458 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:21 pm

I would love to see a minimum of 30 Naruse films available on subtitled DVD -- but it's not going to happen. Even in Japan, there are only 13 films out on DVD. Of course, in Japan one could watch them (all but one or two) on televsion -- on more than one occasion and on more than one channel.

I fear there is just too small an American market to justify release of many Naruse films. I assume that had Criterion's marvelous Woman Ascending DVD sold like hotcakes, we would be seeing more releases promised....

Steven H · #459 Post by **Steven H** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:14 pm

Michael Kerpan wrote:I fear there is just too small an American market to justify release of many Naruse films. I assume that had Criterion's marvelous Woman Ascending DVD sold like hotcakes, we would be seeing more releases promised....

Yeah, I don't think that one went over as well as they thought it would. I understand it did poorly the first few months (I forget where I heard this, maybe it's BS) but I think what's often a good indication of how a title has gone over is the Trade section of the forum, and maybe I was looking for it, but I seemed to notice a whole lot of When A Woman... discs on the offer there.

Then again, it seems the MoC set is a treasure few want to part with. *shrug* Fingers crossed for more Naruse goods of course, but I feel a wall has gone up.

souvenir · #460 Post by **souvenir** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 7:37 pm

Steven H wrote: I think what's often a good indication of how a title has gone over is the Trade section of the forum, and maybe I was looking for it, but I seemed to notice a whole lot of When A Woman... discs on the offer there.

To be fair, Amazon had the Criterion for only $14.40 for a little while so I'd imagine plenty of people scooped up several for trade bait.

Adam · #461 Post by **Adam** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 8:10 pm

mattkc wrote:The Bruce Conner Eclipse box set is a really good idea. And I agree with criterionaficionado. I'm most anxious to see as much Naruse as possible, but Rossellini, Mizoguchi, Rivette, and others would be great. It's probably already been mentioned, but an Eclipse of Duelle and Noroit, or of both parts of Jeanne la Pucelle, would make sense. And Snow has so much more than just Wavelength. You could include with it a bunch of his early short films on one disc. La Région centrale too would obviously be great, but I would like to see some of the more obscure ones just as much, like Presents. What makes the most sense on DVD, though, is his video work. *Corpus Callosum is a major work.

Michael Snow is a good idea.

Bruce Conner won't be happening any time soon, as he has pulled all his films from circulation. He's gotten afraid that he will be sued for using footage and music without licensing it.

That said, there have been limited edition DVDs sold by his gallery in Los Angeles sold as fund raisers for a non-profit, the name of which escapes me. So video masters exist. But they are so filmic, it's almost criminal to watch on video.

Fan-of-Kurosawa · Sun Mar 30, 2008 12:03 pm

I agree with Steven H. We need more Naruse (fingers crossed). From all the great Japanese directors he is the one that is less represented on DVD. We only have 6 of his films with eng subs.

Now, I love Ozu, Kurosawa and Mizoguchi and I would like to have all of their films if possible, but count how many of their films we have.
I have counted 25 Kurosawa films (including the awful AE version of Derzu Uzala and Yume's equally awful Silent Duel).

I have counted 10 Mizoguchis (The 8 MOCs and the 2 AEs).

And as far as Ozu is concerned, we have 14 from Criterion and Eclipse
and another 3 from Tartan.( I refer to the 3 Ozu films that have not come out yet from Criterion).

I know that as far as Ozu and Mizoguchi are concerned these films represent only a fraction of their total output but if you think about it the films that we have are more or less their best. Most of them are from the '50s and represent their most "mature" work.

Whereas from Naruse, where is Mother, Lightning, Summer Clouds, Scattered Clouds, A Woman's Place etc. etc. etc.

If Steven H is right and When a Woman Ascends the Stairs sold badly and that is the reason Criterion is delaying the Naruse releases it will be a great shame. We will have to rely on MOC but even MOC seems to delay the release of Naruse Volume 2. (Maybe Volume 1 didn't sell well either).

sidehacker · #463 Post by **sidehacker** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 1:09 pm

Mother actually has a Spanish DVD release. Hard to find, but certainly worth doing so.

Lest we forget there are NO English-friendly releases for the works of Heinosuke Gosho, Tadashi Imai, (early) Yoji Yamada, Tomu Uchida, etc. Thanfully, there are custom subtitles.

colinr0380 · #464 Post by **colinr0380** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 1:36 pm

Fan-of-Kurosawa wrote:I know that as far as Ozu and Mizoguchi are concerned these films represent only a fraction of their total output but if you think about it the films that we have are more or less their best. Most of them are from the '50s and represent their most "mature" work.

Techincally there are three more Ozu films with English subtitles that have been released by Tartan in their Ozu boxsets: An Autumn Afternoon, Record of a Tenement Gentleman and Flavour Of Green Tea Over Rice (the latter two together in one volume, which helps to stop duplication of titles!)

Did you also count the Yume disc of Madadayo for Kurosawa?

What you say is relatively true, but don't forget that it was only a year ago that there were only the Artificial Eye Mizoguchis and the Ugetsu from Criterion and no Naruse at all (and that for a number of years Criterion had only released Good Morning (in 2000) out of all Ozu's films, with Tartan and Artificial Eye bringing out their own sets slowly seemingly leaving Criterion in the dust until they brought out Tokyo Story in 2003). Last year was a good year for bringing a lot of all the work of the directors you mention to the West, the only disappointment being that Michael Kerpan and others had been lobbying for it for some time so there was more a sense of relief that something was out there than just excitement at seeing the films.

I wouldn't be so quick to jump on Criterion and MoC for not releasing more Naruse yet (even if we did get that newsletter comment in 2006 that suggested Criterion had forgotten how little Ozu they had released!). I know it can be frustrating if you want more representation but I would not get seriously concerned about trying to draw their attention (that with releasing some Naruse and Mizoguchi they seem to have committed to at least recognising the talent of!) until maybe the end of the year when we've seen the announcements for the first couple of months of 2009. Especially as I could see MoC releasing a second Naruse boxset near to the end of the year for the holidays.

If possible I would like to start lobbying for a Seijun Suzuki Eclipse set, though at the moment I'm still calming down from the announcement of the Mishima Patriotism film! =P~

Fan-of-Kurosawa · Sun Mar 30, 2008 3:09 pm

Colin, you are right. We should be grateful for the dvds that we already have (and I am). As you say, until a few years ago we didn't have almost anything. Besides, all the films that we have are so good and so rich that require multiple viewings. So I am not saying by any means that I want Naruse films because I have seen everything else and I am bored etc.

Absolutely not. After all, we are still waiting for the 2 last MOC Mizoguchi releases and the Silent Ozu box set that will come out at the end of April.

However, the delay of the Naruse films is worrying me. And I found Steven's comment about the poor sales of When a Woman Ascends the Stairs even more alarming.

When the Eclipse series was announced and they mentioned the Naruse and Mizoguchi box sets we all thought that those were going to be among the first releases. And now we are almost 1,5 year later and still nothing. And what is worse, there are no Eclipse releases at all in May and June.

And as for MOC's Naruse Volume 2, it won't come out in 2008. Take a look at the "Awful Teaser" thread in the MOC forum.

P.S. Yes, I know about An Autumn Afternoon, Record of a Tenement Gentleman and Flavour Of Green Tea Over Rice. To these 3 films I was referring when I wrote about the 3 Tartan releases that have not come out from Criterion yet.

tryavna · #466 Post by **tryavna** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 3:22 pm

Fan-of-Kurosawa wrote:I have counted 25 Kurosawa films (including the awful AE version of Derzu Uzala and Yume's equally awful Silent Duel).

A very minor sidenote, but are you not aware of the much better R1 release of Quiet Duel by Adness? It surprises me how little attention this perfectly respectable release gets. (I presume that the R2 Yume is another one of their NTSC->PAL ports...?)

justeleblanc · #467 Post by **justeleblanc** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 4:25 pm

This may have been mentioned elsewhere, but now that Film Forum is showing a brand new print of My Life to Live as part of their Godard 60s retrospective, I assume the DVD isn't that far away. Like last year's Breathless, we may see a Criterion My Life to Live street in the fall.

So make that TWO upcoming Criterion Godards.... rather, 2 or 3.

sidehacker · #468 Post by **sidehacker** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:30 pm

It might just be a coincidence but the previous disc of My Life to Live was recently (i.e within the past 4 months) pulled off of Netflix.

#469 Post by **domino harvey** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:34 pm

sidehacker wrote:It might just be a coincidence but the previous disc of My Life to Live was recently (i.e within the past 4 months) pulled off of Netflix.

It's been OOP for at least a year if not longer

sidehacker · #470 Post by **sidehacker** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:44 pm

Oh? Time flies, I suppose then. I can vividly recall renting it not so long ago.

criterionaficionado · Thu Apr 03, 2008 2:53 am

If sidehacker is interested, there is a region 2 DVD of "Vivre Sa Vie" which you can purchase at xploitedcinema.com. I have both the out of print version as well as the aforementioned copy. Both are more than acceptable transfers considering the price I purchased these movies. However, I can't wait for the CC version of one of godard's brilliant films.

As a sad side note -- I just want to express my deepest regret at having just found out that one of my all time fave directors just passed away today, that being Jules Dassin. I just got through watching night and the city and brute force back to back, and boy was i, as usual, blown away by both. I will now pop in Thieves Highway. Mr Dassin will be missed...

sidehacker · #472 Post by **sidehacker** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 3:05 am

Oh, I know where to get a competent release of My Life to Live. I just don't need one. I thought Netflix's removal may have been a result of the rights switching distributors...or something like that.

#473 Post by **domino harvey** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 3:09 am

fuck the R2, the R4 is beautiful and has a wonderful commentary track

#474 Post by **domino harvey** » Thu Apr 03, 2008 4:59 am

lol the Vivre se vie commentary is probably my favorite Godard-comm

criterionaficionado · Thu Apr 03, 2008 9:27 pm

since i already have 2 versions vivre se vie, i will just have to take domino harvey's word. however, the only issue i was addressing was the availability of where a dvd copy of vivre se vie could be purchased. if the discussion was about who gives good commentary, then i would have mentioned those comments in the designated forum/chat. but, nonetheless, i appreciate, as always, domino harvey's "EXPERT OPINION" since DH knows the most about anything and everything...

i would like to see a boxset of these 5 godard pics; 2 or 3 things, one pm, alphaville remastered, made in usa and un film comme les autres (wishful thinking of course).

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