MoC Forthcoming, Wishlist, and Random Speculation

[HerrSchreck]

God I'm greedy. But now that the R1 disc of Epstein's The Fall of the House of Usher is OOP (hell, even if it wasn't!) this would be an amazing title to release.

Whack on some of his shorts and some nice extras and it'd probably be my favourite dvd ever created. I take back all my other wishes and evryone elses (if you haven't seen the film, trust me, you'll thank me) and ask for this one film, and some of his others why not.

Does anyone have any rational explanation why the world is so depleted of Epstein? Even in France. Is there some sort of Beatrice the Bag lady character gumming up the works?

It's a good question why not. To start with I'm very surprised that the Epstein Usher went oop-- I recall at one point after flipping for Christ In Concrete and the Epstein (and always really digging Kalat's comments/commentary) I sought out and acquired Kalat's email address and made contact with him. Just to basically thank him profusely for the films, encourage him to keep it up, etc. This is years ago. In the course of our exchange he mentioned that Chute de la maison Usher turned out to be a surprisingly excellent seller. Which was ironic he said since it was originally supposed to be a dual layer disc with a commentary (I can't remember if it was supposed to be Kalat-- can you imagine? best dude for commentary on the greatest film ever made-- or someone else i e a scholar on French silents/Epstein) and other extras he was preparing to produce... but his co-financiers/producers (at Image, maybe?) would not spring for the costs. The disc had to come in at single layer, end of story.

And the disc supposedly sold very well, embarassing the tightwads-- strictly via word of mouth.. apparently regular folks beyond silent enthusiasts/cineastes really flipped for the film and felt something special about it.. and told their friends who themselves flipped... who in turn told their friends who themselves flipped.. etc. I guess in the long run, the disc's little sales peak came and went-- or shortsighted producers won out in the end. Or there's a rights problem-- maybe someone else acquired them and a Criterion is coming....... could you imagine a two disc set with copious extras & shorts, the Epstein documentary, a book of his excerpted film writings, and the source short-stories from Poe (the film draws from multiple POes, not just the magesterial Usher)? Itd be great to see a joint effort from CC-MoC like they did on Vampyr: mutual commitment by both for editions in their respective regions secured new HD telecine, etc.

NOT A HINT-- IT'S AN ORDER GUYS! And drop the Aumont recitation of the intertitles, but keep that music track! It's sublime!

Here's hoping. Aside from this there are quite a number of very obscure otherweise-unavailable Epsteins floating around back channels, some of them quite nice. Lion des Mogols, Belle Nivernais, Finis Terrae, Advertures Robert Macaire, L'Homme à l'Hispano... you can hunt these up with some effort. In the meantime-- 'officially' I assume you guys have not only Usher, but the ravishingly beautiful Coeur Fidele, the astoundingly avant La Glace a trois faces, plus La Tempestaire?

[StevenJ0001]

Farewell My Concubine

How about Yellow Earth? Never been released on an English subtitled DVD (or perhaps even unsubtitled) anywhere in the world to my knowledge.

And completely unrelated, I wish MoC (or Criterion, or almost ANYBODY!) could/would release something from Jan Troell's oeuvre. Recently saw The Emigrants and The New Land at LACMA and they're incredible. "Epic" doesn't even begin to describe them.

[Michael Kerpan]

How about Yellow Earth? Never been released on an English subtitled DVD (or perhaps even unsubtitled) anywhere in the world to my knowledge.

Seems like a release that would relieve a lot of pent-up demand.

[peerpee]

We hear ya re: Epstein. We're currently in Paris, working on the situation!

[Cold Bishop]

We hear ya re: Epstein. We're currently in Paris, working on the situation!

As long as you're making dreams come true... can you try to dig out Raoul Ruiz's Le Destins de Manoel from the vaults while you're there.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

We hear ya re: Epstein. We're currently in Paris, working on the situation!

I gotta go and have a wank!

[PimpPanda]

We hear ya re: Epstein. We're currently in Paris, working on the situation!

As long as you're making dreams come true... can you try to dig out Raoul Ruiz's Le Destins de Manoel from the vaults while you're there.

I'm sure that there is an available copy somewhere; there is a clip on Google Video with English subtitles!

[Cold Bishop]

I'm well aware of the existence of the bootleg, but finding it is a whole different mystery unto itself.

Either way, on the list of films which should be criminal to be unavailable on DVD, this is near the top, and one would imagine its not one which would be too difficult to license.

[Fan-of-Kurosawa]

Nick, do you have any news about the third Ichikawa film?
Or can you tell us at least if it is going to be The Burmese Harp as reported by dvdtimes? (I certainly hope not) [-o<

[Cinetwist]

We hear ya re: Epstein. We're currently in Paris, working on the situation!

I love you Nick....

[peerpee]

Nick, do you have any news about the third Ichikawa film?
Or can you tell us at least if it is going to be The Burmese Harp as reported by dvdtimes? (I certainly hope not) [-o<

Sorry to disappoint you, but yes, our third Ichikawa film will be THE BURMESE HARP.

[Stefan Andersson]

More Epstein on DVD - yes please thank you!

A daring idea: for MoC to license the Flicker Alley LA ROUE and combine it with relevant material from the Lausanne print, which was not accessed by FA if I understand correctly.

[Fan-of-Kurosawa]

Thank you, Nick for your quick response.

I am slightly disappointed about The Burmese Harp only because I am happy with the Criterion release and I was hoping that your third Ichikawa release would be another film that is not available with eng subs anywhere.

But anyway, do you happen to know anything about Enjo? Who has the rights in the States or in the UK? Thanks.

[mattkc]

We're currently in Paris, working on the situation!

Is it crazy to hope for something of 70s or 80s Philippe Garrel in the near future? Releasing something like Le berceau de cristal, or anything, would be absolutely amazing.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

We hear ya re: Epstein. We're currently in Paris, working on the situation!

Having calmed down after my masturbatory frenzy could you possibly let us know whether you are porting Coeur Fidele or planning something more comprehensive that goes beyond the Kino Avant Garde collection stuff ?

I sincerely hope it's the latter. If you could round up some Kirsanoff and early Franju shorts too i'll get blisters.
Isn't there supposed to be extra footage of Menilmontant somewhere?

[HerrSchreck]

(Gets up off floor)

I doubt he'd go to Paris simply to acquire a beta/rights. My sixth sense tells me this is in reference to Usher.

Nick, if you're doing what I think you're doing, you are The Man.

[Tommaso]

My sixth sense tells me this is in reference to Usher.

Hope you're right, but somehow my sixth sense points to "Finis Terrae", which has been beautifully restored not too long ago, and curiously hasn't been picked up yet for dvd by arte France nor Germany (though of course they have shown it on TV). But as MoC like to release two or more films by the same director at the same time, I hope they'll do both films. I think they both provide enough possibilities to come up with lots of essays for the booklets.

[Cinetwist]

Does Finis Terrae have a big enough reputation though? I know that's not a huge concern, but when the UK has never seen an Epstein release, it seems unlikely that Finis would be the first. My money's on Usher too. And because of the length of Usher, I'd be gobsmacked if some of his 'shorts' weren't included too. Despite the Kino release, it's probably likely to be paired with La Glace à trois faces, due to its convenient length, good/available source and the fact it was made directly before Usher.

[Tommaso]

Does Finis Terrae have a big enough reputation though? I know that's not a huge concern, but when the UK has never seen an Epstein release, it seems unlikely that Finis would be the first.

Well, I would say that the reputation of "Finis" and "Usher" in the 'wider world' is pretty similar: close to zero. Epstein just isn't Lang, Murnau or Eisenstein, whom most people at least would have heard the name of (which doesn't mean Epstein is less important, of course). "Finis" is very interesting because it's one of the first examples of what is close to be a film genre of its own, and which describes the difficult life of people by the sea, with far better known examples like "Man of Aran" or "La terra trema" following in later years. An elucidation of that 'genre' would be a good topic for an extensive booklet essay, for instance. And "Finis" is completely visually striking, too.

But I think both films would fit very well with what MoC has released so far, and so I still suspect/hope they will release both of them. If I had to choose just one, I'd go for "Usher", too, of course. The All Day disc seems to be OOP, anyway.

[Murdoch]

We hear ya re: Epstein. We're currently in Paris, working on the situation!

*Pounds fists in the air in excitement* =D> Truly amazing news.

[HerrSchreck]

I sincerely doubt it's Finis Terrae. The film, despite some incredible visuals, just isn't on a par with Usher, Glace, or Fidele-- bonafide masterpieces. My money is on Usher plus some bitching shorts, or the Epstein doc Knappen was torturing me with a week or so ago,

[Hopscotch]

Is anymore of Epstein's criticism still floating around untranslated? That'd be wonderful as a supplement also. He was quite a cinephile, and there are some essential "keys" to French Impressionist cinema in his writing/ Cendrars/ Aragon etc.

[Cinetwist]

Is anymore of Epstein's criticism still floating around untranslated? That'd be wonderful as a supplement also. He was quite a cinephile, and there are some essential "keys" to French Impressionist cinema in his writing/ Cendrars/ Aragon etc.

I don't know. But if it is floating around, it'll be floating around at the Cinematheque and the Bibliotheque (du Film) in Paris. So hopefully Nick will have a visit whilst he's there, if he's not going there already for whatever print(s) he's after. I'm not sure what the CF's relationship is with regards to dvd distributors though, that is, whether it's a source of prints for them or not.

[HerrSchreck]

Has his Bonjour Cinema even been translated? Knappen helpfully provided a link to download some of his theoretical works on the Epstein thread, but these are in the original French.

[TheGodfather]

the April titles by the end of January, and so on... if all goes to plan.

Bring on those announcements