Criterion Newsletter (Part 2)

[Matt]

Quality of the movie aside, at least it's 1) their first movie directed by a non-white woman, and 2) their first movie made in India. So, a little credit, please.

[Max von Mayerling]

That was somewhere in the back of my mind. Fair enough.

But I remember seeing this movie, and I'm fairly certain that I don't want to see it again. (Of course, I once felt that way about Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? What a fool I was.) (But I'm fairly certain that Rock Hunter this ain't.)

[jon]

The River was technically made in India, though I guess it isn't a native film.

[knives]

The River was technically made in India, though I guess it isn't a native film.

The same with some of the Malle docs in the eclipse set if I'm remembering correctly. While I do think that it's good that they're mining India now, even if I haven't seen an Indian film I particularly liked, the fact that it's in print with, from what I hear, a good edition does make this a tad silly. Thief... or a non-Ozu silent this month will prevent me from complaining further though.

[George Kaplan]

When I read it I was sure it was The Bride Wore Black.

What's the cow reference about, other than Jeanne Moreau looking like one in the film?

Forgetting whether these clues tend to be mono or multi-directional in nature, THE BRIDE WORE BLACK sounds like a good bet for the "brutal bridal" part of the clue, especially if MISSISSIPPI MERMAID is also slated, thereby constituting a "downpour."

India seems pretty likely as well (if it is MONSOON WEDDING who else is ready to mutiny?) but I'm hoping it might indicate Rossellini's INDIA: MATRI BHUMI or Mehboob's MOTHER INDIA, both restored in recent years.

Here's to Rossellini becoming Criterion's new Ozu!

[Doctor Sunshine]

It could be worse, it could have been a Vanity Fair clue. So we have that.

[colinr0380]

Quality of the movie aside, at least it's 1) their first movie directed by a non-white woman, and 2) their first movie made in India. So, a little credit, please.

And a Mira Nair film has been a possibility ever since Criterion interviewed her on the Battle of Algiers disc.

[ellipsis7]

Quality of the movie aside, at least it's 1) their first movie directed by a non-white woman, and 2) their first movie made in India. So, a little credit, please.

Mira Nair is an intelligent original director, and in line with CC's recent tendency towards contemporary films and filmmakers, MONSOON WEDDING may well be worth adding to the collection - I have this & SALAAM BOMBAY with commentaries my Nair, I think on Film 4 DVD... Spent several days with her during Film Fest a couple of years ago, and she was very down to earth and stimulating company... Certainly SALAAM BOMBAY has honesty and authenticity, something SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (which I admit I have not seen yet ) seems to lack, being a massive product placement by production company Celador of their lucrative quiz show... BTW a superb extra for MONSOON WEDDING could be Nair's wonderful half hour docu LAUGHING CLUB OF INDIA (1999) - a film about a group of people who get together to practice laughing as a therapeutic experience...

Renoir's THE RIVER was Criterion's first movie made in India, and there's also PHANTOM INDIA and CALCUTTA in Eclipse #2 THE DOCUMENTARIES OF LOUIS MALLE, while Powell & Pressburger's BLACK NARCISSUS although set in India, was very definitely not made there, being shot mainly in Denham Studios, England, with central characters English and Irish nuns... MONSOON WEDDING would however be Criterion's first movie made in India by an Indian person (who was educated by Irish nuns at Loreto Convent, Tara Hall in Simla!)...

[Matt]

Yes, I should have said "made in India by (mostly) Indians." I temporarily forgot how literal-minded and pedantic everyone is here.

[ellipsis7]

Talking of movies 'made in India', just watching INDIA MATRI BHUMI, and reading this extraordinary recent book 'Under Her Spell - Roberto Rossellini in India' by Dileep Padgaonkar about RR filming in the subcontinent, and the scandalous affair where he abandoned Ingrid Bergman for Sonali Das Gupta, his co screenwriter, mother of 2 small children, and wife of filmmaker Hari Das Gupta (who had worked with Renoir who had given his name as an Indian contact)... Book only available in India (can be sourced via Abebooks)...

[Antoine Doinel]

God, who is writing the Criterion press releases these days? Found this idiotic gem in today's email blast about Oshima:

We’ll take Travis Bickle over this rickshaw driver from Empire of Passion any day of the week.

#-o

[Matt]

I'm a little annoyed at Criterion turning the newsletter mailing list into an opportunity to spam us about every single new DVD release or new thing to buy in their web store. What was once a pleasant monthly e-mail full of interesting stuff has now become a more-than-weekly intrusion. I've received 6 messages from them this month alone. If I wanted to know every little thing they were up to, I'd (ugh) follow their Twitter.

[Tribe]

I'm a little annoyed at Criterion turning the newsletter mailing list into an opportunity to spam us about every single new DVD release or new thing to buy in their web store. What was once a pleasant monthly e-mail full of interesting stuff has now become a more-than-weekly intrusion.

I think they've been doing the same thing for a few years now...only until relatively recently the bulk of the stuff they've been emailing used to be grouped under Press Notes...which was a separate subscription list. I don't mind the frequency of the emails, but I'd rather be receiving something with a bit more meat and substance than just reminders, for example, that such and such is coming next week. It would be best if they went back to the Press Notes system and let folks opt in to receive that sort of stuff and limit their mailings to once a month.

[Tom Hagen]

God, who is writing the Criterion press releases these days? Found this idiotic gem in today's email blast about Oshima:

We’ll take Travis Bickle over this rickshaw driver from Empire of Passion any day of the week.

#-o

The best line was the part about people being "die-hard" Oshima fans. What a hilarious, unintentional double entendre for this particular film!

[Matt]

It would be best if they went back to the Press Notes system and let folks opt in to receive that sort of stuff and limit their mailings to once a month.

Apparently they are working on something like that.

[Gregory]

The latest ad messages have had really dippy slogans: "The Beales for reals"? "Painleve: wet and wild"? I know they're trying to be fun and appeal to a mass audience, but this borders on dumbing things down. It's a violation of article VI section 3 of their mission statement, for crying out loud.

[kinjitsu]

[img]http://criterion_images.s3.amazonaws.com/Other/ImagesneedingURLs/wackyparisianbunnies1.jpg[/img]

[Matt]

Sounds like Rossellini's war trilogy, but I'll be damned if I can figure out what "Parisian bunnies" have to do with it.

[swo17]

That newsletter commits the cardinal sin of namedropping L'amour fou in the service of an essay about Oshima. I guess at least this means they know who Rivette is.

[justeleblanc]

That newsletter commits the cardinal sin of namedropping L'amour fou in the service of an essay about Oshima. I guess at least this means they know who Rivette is.

They dedicated two sentences to this film in their recent blog post. If I didn't know better I would say they are wetting our appetites. But I know better.

Unless the parisian bunnies are metaphors for L'amour fou. And the chicken would be a Herzog title.

[AfterTheRain]

Sounds like Rossellini's war trilogy, but I'll be damned if I can figure out what "Parisian bunnies" have to do with it.

Parisian bunnies? Wait a second, I've got it! You must be talking about Paisan! Now, if only I could figure out what the other two animals represent (in terms of the other two postwar films).

[ellipsis7]

I agree it is probably Rossellini's WAR TRILOGY...

But it could be Rossellini's INGRID TRILOGY/BOX SET based on the rather obtuse clue...

For Rossellini, Bergman starred in...

an episode from the 1953 compilation film Siamo donne, alias We, the Women, which bears the self-explanatory title “Ingrid Bergman”, except in the USA where it was called “The Chicken”.

Also...

In Stromboli there is also a scene of a ferret killing a rabbit. This was cut in the RKO version.

Plus - Ingrid Bergman was apparently born in the Year of the Rabbit...

Despite this, I think we might expect the WAR TRILOGY (JM recently: Rossellini's War Trilogy is active on our production schedule but we have not yet scheduled a release date)... Except the verbal clue says 'Three times the postwar devastation' - only GERMANY YEAR ZERO is set postwar - ROME OPEN CITY & PAISA are set in the closing stages of the war, with fighting still going on...

Could it be possible that Criterion are releasing both a Rossellini WAR TRILOGY and an INGRID TRILOGY this fall/autumn? There were copious clips of both in Tag Gallagher's visual essay accompanying LOUIS XIV...

[TheGodfather]

I hope it`s the War trilogy, been waiting like for ever to see a decent enough version of Paisan and Rome Open City.

Could it be possible that Criterion are releasing both a Rossellini WAR TRILOGY and an INGRID TRILOGY this fall/autumn?

Now that I would love to see!

[Rich Malloy]

Ugh, Monsoon Wedding. Did Criterion lose a bet?

Seriously. And the current DVD which is still very much in print has a commentary and making-of thingy. I really don't see the point of this release.

Color me very late to the party (preferably in a gorgeous saffron hue), but I couldn't be more pleased by this announcement. Although there's not a single other Mira Nair film I like, I love this one. I love it, love it, love it in that gushingly awkward, irrepressible, cascading endorphins flooding my noodle sorta way. I lurv this movie.

And the old DVD is a non-anamorphic wreck that's salvaged only by a strong DTS track and an excellent director's commentary (Criterion should consider porting it over). The UK edition looks even worse - even though anamorphically enhanced - and the audio is a considerable step down from the US DTS track. A new release is not only warranted, but necessary.

[HerrSchreck]

I agree with folks above... I'm getting annoyed with receiving an email every time someone waxes the floor in their fucking restrooms.

Actually, I wouldnt mind getting emails about that.

Actually, yes I would mind..