'Forthcoming' Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.2

[Perkins Cobb]

... and that confirms both the info I had over a year ago that Gorin was slated for Criterion, not Eclipse; AND the general assumption here on the forum (& apparently in the Criterion offices too) once the Eclipse line materialized that it would make sense to banish Gorin into it.

[Ben Cheshire]

Hi all, long time lurker first time poster here. Just wanted to pop and confirm that Jean-Pierre Gorin's solo works are indeed in the pipeline for a Criterion (not Eclipse) box set release. ...
his relationship with Criterion has been tenuous as of late due to his misgivings about the label's apathetic attitudes towards "low-budget, rock-n-roll films shot on 16mm and other cheaper film stock" (which apparently cost considerably more to restore than films shot in 35mm or higher?

Welcome! That was indeed an excellent first post. Wow, I had to look him up, but then I remembered where I knew him from. I'm reading "Everything Is Cinema" Richard brody's book about Godard which gives a pretty unbiased view on Gorin's role in the Godard saga. There's an amazing story about them making Letter to Jane (? title?) which is basically just Godard and Gorin rapping over a still photo of Jane Fonda for 50 mins, made in the wake of Tout Va Bien, which starred Fonda, and which Gorin basically directed while Godard was sick. They baically jutwhich screens stationary while the soundtrack runs. Apparently it gives a really unfiltered look at their working method; which was improvised and recorded live.

Obviously he'd probably be annoyed by all of those generalisations made my people who weren't there, but it makes fascinating reading anyway.

[Dadapass]

Letter to Jane is included in the CC Tout va bien.
I always thought "the Gorin box"= the films of the Dziga Vertov Group but this is still good news!

[Ben Cheshire]

Letter to Jane is included in the CC Tout va bien.
I always thought "the Gorin box"= the films of the Dziga Vertov Group but this is still good news!

I thought it would be; its a shoe-in to always be an extra with that movie, barring any horrible rights problems. I've not seen it; I don't even know if I'll like Tout Va Bien. My favourites Godard discoveries lately are Vivre Sa Vie and La Chinoise.

[domino harvey]

I seem to recall someone asking Criterion about the Dziga Vertov films and getting a cool response

[GringoTex]

I always thought "the Gorin box"= the films of the Dziga Vertov Group but this is still good news!

IMO,the Gorin trilogy wipes the floor with the Dziga Vertov output.

[HistoryProf]

They better make the Gorin flicks available singly....they really screwed the pooch on the Teshigahara set in particular imo. I've long wanted to see Poto and Cabengo - but don't know about the other two and don't want pay $50 to get one movie I want. (a la Women in the Dunes....though I ultimately lucked out and was able to get it used from the local library....but i hate having no real case for it.)

so what are the chances on that front? There's no real rhyme or reason to how they do it....some have none available individually (Film Trilogy by Bergman, Teshigahara, Paul Robeson, Imamura)....some don't initially but later do (Cassavetes, Montery Pop, Brazil) while some others are later made up of previous individual releases (4 by Varda, Bergman Masterworks, Olivier's Shakespeare, etc).....Pigs Pimps & Prostitutes and Rosselini's War Trilogy are the latest and they seem to be box only....so i'm not hopeful, but I have to wonder why they'd do it that way? why NOT make them available separately too? seems like you are limiting sales if you ask me. I imagine a lot of people would likely buy one if they were made available, but don't buy at all because they don't want to spend so much.

[zedz]

Criterion's general policy with box sets seems to be not to release films in box sets individually, and in most cases that makes a lot of sense commercially. (Don't confuse box sets with their un-spine-numbered "collector's sets" like the Olivier and Bergman ones, or the many Samurai ones.) The only major exception I can think of is the Malle set. Others, like the two Vardas and 400 coups are special cases where existing titles were subsequently boxed (and revamped), and pulling a couple of titles out of a box years after release (Cassavetes) seems like a completely different proposition as well.

I suspect that, apart from the argument from coherence (these films are best seen as a distinct body of work - e.g. Doinel, the various trilogies) there's also a safety-in-numbers argument, in that obscure works generate much more publicity and commercial heft when packaged together as a Big Deal Criterion Box Set. I'm sure this was a significant factor with the Imamura box, as the company's dabblings with the Japanese New Wave and Imamura in particular have been tentative at best up until then, and this approach minimised the risk that all three films would sink without trace.

This is about 1000% more relevant with films as unknown (but wonderful) as the Gorins. If Gorin has any profile as a filmmaker, it's as Godard's partner during his most obscure period, and even then, their films together are hardly seen. And these documentaries have precious little in common with those works. Just about the only way Criterion will be able to generate much heat and light for these releases will be to build them up into some kind of event - i.e. a box set. Otherwise they might as well handstitch the booklets for Routine Pleasures, for all the units they'd sell (unless Criterion has a hitherto unsuspected in with the model train enthusiasts).

[knives]

Pardon the Ignorance, but what exactly are the Gorins like? Can I expect a Maysles sort or something along the line of the recent Herzog docs. Sorry for the silly question, but the rest of the internet is fairly barren on this portion of Gorin's career.

[Tommaso]

Re Box Sets: the only problem with the sets is that if one particular film in them needs to be re-done, it is very unlikely to happen. If "Le sang d'un poète" were available individually, I'm sure we would already have a better version, with original French titles a la the re-release of "La belle et la bete". Same probably for the misframed "Gertrud".

[Galen Young]

Does anyone think there could be any hope of Criterion picking up any films by Kim Ki-young? It would be great to see some of his work as he has been cited as a primary influence to many of today's best Korean directors. From what I've read "the Housemaid" (1960) is supposed to be his best.

You can purchase a marvellous English subtitled DVD here, if you want. (Only 20$, a low price for an Asian DVD!)

Thanks for the heads up on this -- what a fantastic film this turned out to be, and the DVD package is amazing! Is this collection of comparable quality, I'm leaning towards a blind buy on it.

[zedz]

Pardon the Ignorance, but what exactly are the Gorins like? Can I expect a Maysles sort or something along the line of the recent Herzog docs. Sorry for the silly question, but the rest of the internet is fairly barren on this portion of Gorin's career.

I'd say more Errol Morris than either of those, but Poto and Cabengo certainly has Herzogian subject matter. Squint and it could almost be another of his 'found' science fiction films. That said, Gorin is far, far more intrigued by and engaged with the theoretical and philosophical implications of his subjects than any of those directors - without the films ever becoming traditional this-is-your-director-speaking essay films. They're really distinctive and unusual documentaries, particularly P & C, which by all rights should be recognised as a landmark American documentary. Just you wait.

[knives]

Thank you, that gives a clearer picture and does sound interesting. I'll admit to not as easily enjoying docs as I should, but a philosophical exploration through Herzogian subject matters does seem like something I could get into.

[knives]

Has there been talk of a redo to M. Hulot's Holiday. The reason for my asking is that it along with Rashomon, which itself I believe is rumored for a redo, are coming to the local theater this month in new prints.

[ShellOilJunior]

Has there been talk of a redo to M. Hulot's Holiday. The reason for my asking is that it along with Rashomon, which itself I believe is rumored for a redo, are coming to the local theater this month in new prints.

I think it'd be ideal for a summer release. It's a quite a relaxing film best viewed when it's hot

[ianungstad]

Awhile ago someone asked on Facebook what the chances were of either Milos Forman's Black Peter or Taking Off? and Criterion indicated one of the two was in the works. I asked today what the chances were of either Hair or Taking off and Criterion said 50/50. So I think we can pretty much assume that Taking Off is one of the titles Criterion recently picked up from Universal. I think it's good news. I think I read on the Forum here that the film had music rights problems or something that was preventing a release. Guess that wasn't true?!

[swo17]

The probability that you are right is roughly 62%.

[Flike]

Has Criterion commented on a potential Terence Davies release(s)?

[CSM126]

Has Criterion commented on a potential Terence Davies release(s)?

Someone asked if there would be a Davies boxset and Criterion's response was along the lines of "we love Davies but our first release isn't likely to be a big box".

[What A Disgrace]

That kinda leaves me to believe that their first release will be one of his adaptations; perhaps they've licensed House of Mirth from Sony (Blu-ray please?). I have a feeling that the only reason they wouldn't shoot down a box at all was that they were hoping to do his trilogy, Distant Voices and Long Day Closes. Any other box would feel awkward.

[ShellOilJunior]

Akira Kurosawa was born on the 23rd of March 1910 in Tokyo, Japan.

March 23, 2010 happens to fall on a Tuesday.

Could this happen to be the day Seven Samurai is released on Blu-ray?

[fdm]

Guess we'll know what Criterion has in mind for March Kurosawa in about a week.

[Tommaso]

Fingers crossed for a stand-alone "Madadayo" disc. [-o<

[Amazing Goose]

I'll hope against hope that Ran comes back in blu.....

[ellipsis7]

I'll hope against hope that Ran comes back in blu.....

RAN Blu not CC...