I just mailed Artifical Eye, and got this response today:
To: Robert Beeson
Subject: Satantango
Hello,
I've heard possible rumors you are working on a DVD of Bela Tarr's film Satantango. Can you confirm this? If so, are any extras planned? And eventually, approximately when will this be released?
Thanks in advance,
Bjorn
We will be, but we don't have a date or anything about extras yet
Best regards
Robert Beeson
Artificial Eye have got big balls. I'm going to buy three copies and give two to friends who would never chance across it.
I am worried that the bbfc will want to censor the "cat-torturing scene" though. I hope this isn't a problem for them.
Yes; Laszlo Krasznahorkai's The Melancholy of Resistance is what Werckmeister's based on. It's an interesting novel, though I didn't love it. The scene with the children bouncing on the bed is much funnier in the book, though: one of them has gotten their father's (the policeman's) loaded gun and is running around with it. The book goes into the stories of the supporting cast much more than the film. It will be a maddening read for the average reader, though the type of person who loves Tarr is clearly patient and should have no problems. Satantango is yet to be fully translated into English, but a nice excerpt from it has been translated and is available in the literary journal 3rd Bed, the most recent issue, I believe. You can check it out here: http://www.3rdbed.com.
I found Melancholy of Resistance a bit too formalist and rigid, a little too cynical in its portrayals and a bit too verbose. The "immense sentence" structure does capture some of the ennui and chaotic instabilities it envelops. But as a technique it is more interesting on film.
dont know about region 2 and AE, but it looks like the region 1 release will come from...facets.
lets hope they dont fuck it up.
Satantango
Hungarian auteur Bela Tarr's 7-hour, black-and-white epic based on the novel by Laszlo Karsznahorkai took two years to film. The complex story follows a group of people living in a dilapidated village in post-communist Hungary. Tarr examines their standstill lives through a series of episodes told from each person's point-of-view. Winner of the Caligari Film Prize and the Ecumenical Jury Prize Special Mention at the 1994 Berlin International Film Festival. In Hungarian with English subtitles.
Next year will see the release of another of Krasznahorkai's novels, War and War.
I enjoyed Melancholy of Resistance, though it may not be everyone's cup of tea. I remember reading that the translator, George Szirtes spent three or four years (or more) on the translation. So Satantango (the book) may take a while. Though perhaps the previously mentioned excerpt bodes well for a release...
godardslave wrote:dont know about region 2 and AE, but it looks like the region 1 release will come from...facets.
lets hope they dont fuck it up.
Has anyone ever seen a decent transfer from Facets? A long time ago I received the worst VHS cassettes I've ever seen in my life of 2 rare Hani films from them. Exceptional expensive ($ 40 each, if my memory serves me) Ridiculous p/q and unreadable subs in the center of the picture etc., etc. I never bought anything else from them.
Since Facets also stocks non-Region 1 DVDs, it's possible that the "coming soon" listing on their website is referring to the eventual Artificial Eye release (a $79.95 US price would roughly equate to a UK price of £39.99--though that price would be cheaper than the 3-disc Apu Trilogy, with an SRP of £49.99).
Or maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part.
That's possible, even though AE's "release schedule" seems to spread over many years. Nick Wrigley mentioned that Tarr himself talked about Facets releasing many of his works...at that time I assumed he meant this as well (apart from the ones they already released...).
Frankly, the bootleg one can get from SHF will probably end up being of similar wuality as the Facets release...I see no reason to upgrade now (assuming one has the bootleg).
FilmFanSea wrote:Since Facets also stocks non-Region 1 DVDs, it's possible that the "coming soon" listing on their website is referring to the eventual Artificial Eye release (a $79.95 US price would roughly equate to a UK price of £39.99--though that price would be cheaper than the 3-disc Apu Trilogy, with an SRP of £49.99).
Or maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part.
Facets does indeed import R2 titles, but they sell them at an exorbitant markup. Facets routinely charges something like $80 for single disc imports, so a set as large as this one will surely be would command a couple of hundred dollars from these vipers. No, $79.95 is the humble asking price for their own wretched forthcoming hack job.
Has anyone ever seen a decent transfer from Facets?
I'm happy with the transfer on their DVD of Daisies. I was thinking about buying the Facets DVD of Chytilova's follow-up, Fruits of Paradise, during the last DDD sale but forgot. Still, I know that DVDs produced by Facets are generally to be avoided.
