Criterion Random Speculation Vol.4

[Cronenfly]

I forgot about Project X, but the Eustache (and a lot of New Yorker's holdings) seems to me more likely for Criterion release...although I'm not basing that on any specific evidence, just my gut feeling (and the not inconsiderable list of New Yorker titles that have been handled by Criterion).

[criterionaficionado]

thanks for the correction on the wrong info i had on eustache's mother and the whore. new yorker will be sitting on this forever.
i agree with cronenfly that this film would make more sense for CC to release as opposed to project x (just a hunch on the logistics of this one).
as for an earlier suggestion of purchasing this in australia or even japan (without commenting on the quality and price), the problem is that subs are not available and i don't speak french. CC needs to release this film yesterday!!!

from a personal standpoint, i also think paul thomas anderson's hard eight would be an awesome addition to CC along with the dirk diggler story and cigarettes and coffee shorts. to me, there will be blood was the best movie in 2007, not to take anything away from the great cohen brothers flick no country for old men.

[bradass]

From Janus Films:

A new print of Jean-Luc Godard's Vivre sa vie will be playing at New York City's Film Forum from May 30 to June 5. The film will screen as part of Godard's 60s, a month-long series featuring features, shorts, and rarities from Godard's first decade as a filmmaker.

Also at Film Forum this summer, new prints of Masaki Kobayashi's epic Human Condition trilogy will screen during July and August. The films will be shown as part of an exhaustive tribute to the legendary actor Tatsuya Nakadai, encompassing such classics as Kill!, High and Low, Yojimbo, and others, as well as a personal appearance by Mr. Nakadai.

[zedz]

Masaki Kobayashi's epic Human Condition trilogy will screen during July and August.

This has been rumoured for some time, but now the clock starts running. At last, a rumoured title (titles) I can actually get excited about!

[HerrSchreck]

You can bet the family plot the Kobayashi will be landing on CC within the next 14 mos.

[CSM126]

Is it possible that the rights to this, Celine and Julie Go Boating, Cruel Story of Youth, The Sun's Burial, My Dinner with Andre, 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (the latter two already strongly rumoured), and other unreleased on DVD New Yorker titles could be acquired by Criterion, a la Woman in the Dunes, Tokyo Story, Tout Va Bien, The Lovers, La Jetee/Sans Soleil, Koko, Pickpocket, The End of Summer, Le Samourai, etc? I remember Criterion mentioning somewhere that they had to pay out a lot to get the rights to Le Samourai (a former New Yorker property, I believe), so I'm guessing that money is the issue (surprise, surprise) with a lot of the unreleased NY titles Criterion could potentially license. As David said, if Criterion wants a title to happen badly enough, it will. Someone lean on Noah Baumbach to flex some muscle around Criterion, please...I think I'm regurgitating another forum member's plea, but I can't think of anyone better to help The Mother and the Whore to happen.

Well, I have no knowledge of most of those films but Criterion have My Dinner with Andre for sure - they confirmed this to DVDBeaver (noted in Beaver's review of the horrendous old Fox Lorber Andre DVD.)

[tryavna]

Unfortunately, I doubt the Peter Watkins discs were money makers, despite the time and energy donated to them.

Somebody must be buying their Watkins titles, considering how many they've released over a fairly extended period of time. Of course, Peerpee could probably give us a better sense of just how big a seller a Watkins film can be, but Watkins seems to have a fairly sizeable cult following. (How many members of this forum, for example, own all the Watkins titles released to date? With the exception of the new two-disc version of Munch, I know I do.)

[Cosmic Bus]

Does anyone know who's behind the restored Saragossa Manuscript print that's showing at BAM this week? I know the OOP DVD was issued by Image, so could a Criterion possibly be in the future?

[Cinephrenic]

I've noticed that too, but didn't know it was Image. I believe it was Scorsese's favorite film as well as others. Be great to see Criterion work at it.

[jaredsap]

Does anyone know who's behind the restored Saragossa Manuscript print that's showing at BAM this week?

It's actually not a restored print, despite misleading pieces to the contrary. It's from Contemporary Films in London. SARAGOSSA does not have a US rights holder.

[TheGodfather]

Masaki Kobayashi's epic Human Condition trilogy will screen during July and August.

This has been rumoured for some time, but now the clock starts running. At last, a rumoured title (titles) I can actually get excited about!

I e-mailed Tamara about that last week and she confirmed that The Human Condition trilogy will be released this year, she just didn`t know when exactly.

[PimpPanda]

I've only watched the first part of The Human Condition and I didn't think it was very good at all.

[Awesome Welles]

Do you not like Kobayashi's other work? I think The Human Condition Trilogy could at worst be described as melodramatic, but I found each part to be sublime and regard it as the best trilogy I have ever seen.

[PimpPanda]

I actually like Harakiri and Samurai Rebellion quite a bit - I don't know, this just seemed to be fully of simplistic moralizing and characters, and it all seemed very overwrought.

[Cinephrenic]

We will be getting to some Rossellini in the not-too-distant future, but I don't believe we have any plans for "Shoeshine," though we hope to get to more DeSica at some point. I hope this helps, and thanks for your email!

Sincerely,

Tamara

[Awesome Welles]

We will be getting to some Rossellini in the not-too-distant future... we hope to get to more DeSica at some point

Yippee! Have there been new restorations? The War Trilogy would be pretty cool Roma citta aperta/ Paisa / Germania Anno Zero with La Nave Bianca as a supplement?! Seriously, I'm holding out for Stromboli, which I have yet to see. As for De Sica I'm not as familiar but a great admirer of Miracle in Milan, wasn't this rumoured once?

[TheGodfather]

We will be getting to some Rossellini in the not-too-distant future,

Finally Rome, Open City??

[miless]

wasn't there something on the Criterion site about a year ago about how surprised they and Isabella were at the quality of the film elements from Rome, Open City? (something like how astonished they were that the film had such amazing grain for being cobbled together from so many different film-stocks, some of which were meant for still-photography)

[Scharphedin2]

Do you not like Kobayashi's other work? I think The Human Condition Trilogy could at worst be described as melodramatic, but I found each part to be sublime and regard it as the best trilogy I have ever seen.

I am completely with you, and this is my most anticipated Criterion release at the moment (in fact I purchased my first DVD player simply in order to finally be able to see this film(s) back almost ten years ago, when Image Entertainment released them).

That said, I can understand PimpPanda's experience. This film reminded me of some of the great Russian novels of the 19th century, where the project of reading can feel long and at times even tedious and the style overwrought, but where there are enough passages that take your breath away that you continue to the end, and by the last page, the greatness of the whole becomes clear.

Another Kobayashi film that I only saw recently, and which would make a wonderful Criterion is We Throw Away Our Lives for Nothing/Inn of Evil. I had heard very little about the film beforehand, but it bore many similarities to Harakiri, and felt almost like a companion piece.

What a great filmmaker!

[sidehacker]

Another example of the French being ahead of us when it comes to Japanese cinema: Kobayashi's Black River. A silly movie, for sure, but not without some bright spots, the brightest being Ineko Arima. Not really a fan of Kobayashi, though. I don't get the big deal behind Harakiri.

[PimpPanda]

We will be getting to some Rossellini in the not-too-distant future... we hope to get to more DeSica at some point

Yippee! Have there been new restorations? The War Trilogy would be pretty cool Roma citta aperta/ Paisa / Germania Anno Zero with La Nave Bianca as a supplement?! Seriously, I'm holding out for Stromboli, which I have yet to see. As for De Sica I'm not as familiar but a great admirer of Miracle in Milan, wasn't this rumoured once?

There were restorations in 06, I believe. I saw the new print of Rome: Open City in Nov.06. It was my first time watching the film, and I was extremely impressed.

That said, I can understand PimpPanda's experience. This film reminded me of some of the great Russian novels of the 19th century, where the project of reading can feel long and at times even tedious and the style overwrought, but where there are enough passages that take your breath away that you continue to the end, and by the last page, the greatness of the whole becomes clear.

Even stranger, because I love Dostoyevsky (haven't read muc h of the others)! I also really really love long films and that sort of "final page" effect where all the cumulative power just comes right at you. It's just this really annoyed me - I felt like it had simplistic views of moralizing and of characters. Maybe I'll watch it again in a few years?

[Tommaso]

Yippee! Have there been new restorations? The War Trilogy would be pretty cool Roma citta aperta/ Paisa / Germania Anno Zero with La Nave Bianca as a supplement?! Seriously, I'm holding out for Stromboli, which I have yet to see. As for De Sica I'm not as familiar but a great admirer of Miracle in Milan, wasn't this rumoured once?

Not wishing to let anybody down, as I'd also jump very much for a watchable disc of "Paisà" or "Stromboli", but I fear they will rather put out "Generale della Rovere", as this exists in an absolutely superb resto and is only out on an almost as superb disc in Italy at the moment. This would also fit into the De Sica announcement, as Vittorio plays the main character there. But I hope I'm wrong, and yes, "Miracle in Milan" would be great. Or perhaps some of his very early films as an Eclipse set?

[ellipsis7]

STROMBOLI is a Be-Ro (Bergman-Rossellini) Production for RKO Pictures, so I wonder how that pans out re. the CC potentially releasing, as it still has the RKO ident on the director's version that I recorded off the BBC some years back, so presumably the rights still rest in the RKO back catalogue... There were of course 2 versions, and 2 negatives which Rossellini had shot simultaneously, Howard Hughes ordering a recut, chopping 35 minutes to turn it into a more conventional Hollywood movie for the US release version... There was all sorts of coming and going, and a legal suit, driven not least by Hughes spite at losing Bergman...

[Cinephrenic]

Miracle in Milan and Gold of Naples is obvious to come from Criterion, but who owns the rights to Shoeshine? It has been oop for a couple of millenia.

[Jeff]

Miracle in Milan and Gold of Naples is obvious to come from Criterion, but who owns the rights to Shoeshine? It has been oop for a couple of millenia.

The rights to Shoeshine (except in Italy) are controlled by Alfredo Leone's International Media Films. His company licensed it to Image, but obviously that license has expired.