MK2

[ellipsis7]

Along with Burch's TO THE DISTANT OBSERVER, Desser's OZU'S TOKYO STORY, Bordwell's OZU AND THE POETICS OF CINEMA and Richie's OZU it is one of the books I have about Ozu and regularly consult, although admittedly Schrader probably overemphasises the view through his Western eyes of Ozu's work in the context of Eastern 'Zen' culture....

[Doug Cummings]

Schrader didn't have anything to do the MoC focus, it was slowly cobbled together over several years--Nick started his Ozu site in '98, Trond and Jan started their Tarkovsky site in '01; then Trond and I started Bresson and Nick started Dreyer just just prior to forming MoC in '02. It was definitely an evolving effort comprised of individual projects and we'd incorporate a lot more filmmakers if we had the time/manpower to do so.

BTW, thanks for the info on Five, which is a wonderful experiment, but I wonder how well its affect will translate to the small screen.

[Michael Kerpan]

we'd incorporate a lot more filmmakers if we had the time/manpower to do so.

Well, if you ever decide you need a Naruse section....

;~}

MEK

[Doug Cummings]

Don't tempt us...

[ellipsis7]

From 'The Guardian'

Why I love ...

... mk2

Oliver Farry
Tuesday March 29, 2005
The Guardian

Cinema chains are not renowned for their contribution to cinematic diversity. mk2 is one of the few that is, making it the best in the world by a stretch. The only snag is that you have to go to Paris to enjoy it, though that's hardly a chore either. Founded in 1974 by Marin Karmitz a Romanian-born one-time Maoist, the group has consistently gone against the grain in both its programming and its choice of location for its 10 cinemas in the French capital.

Karmitz has an uncanny knack for sensing urban regeneration in rundown areas. He usually picks neighbourhoods without existing cinemas, such as Bastille for his first one and, more recently, the Canal Ourcq in the 19th arrondissement.
mk2's main attraction is the range of films it shows, from rep cinema in the mornings to international new releases later in the day. While its mandate is to function as an alternative to Hollywood, it does screen the better studio films, including children's movies, and always in the original language.

There is more to mk2 than just cinemas though. Karmitz directed a number of well-regarded films himself in the 60s and has since produced the work of some of the world's finest directors. He has helped Godard, Kieslowski, Kiarostami, Angelopolous and Chabrol, among others, to get their films made. Most recently, Gus Van Sant's Elephant came out of the mk2 stable. And in a rare instance of sensitive custodianship, the Chaplin family entrusted mk2 with the rights to Chaplin's films, resulting in their superb DVD release two years ago.

Along with the dozens of other excellent independent cinemas in Paris, mk2 makes the city a moviegoer's paradise. It has also given the world the first architecturally great cinema of the multiplex age, beside the new Bibliotheque Nationale. If only there could be one in every city.

[Arn777]

Here is another article in French from today's Liberation http://www.liberation.fr/page.php?Article=286504, discussing the MK2 and Arte Bresson dvds and Mylène Bresson's involvement. They had a film critic doing a 20 minute analysis for each of the films, but refused these. She would have been ok with interviews, but not a commentary over extracts of the films.

[ellipsis7]

It's pretty definite a CC edition of PICKPOCKET is coming...

[King of Kong]

Has anyone seen the Mk2 Gabbeh (by Makhmalbaf)? Is it worth owning...

Also, what kind of extras do Mk2 discs come with - are they substantial - and do they usually also come with English subs?

[ellipsis7]

Haven't seen Gabbeh... MK2 is generally good, with decent extras... There are Eng subs on feature + xtras of their 2 Kiarostami releases, & the Bresson box set... However Truffaut's TIREZ SUR LE PIANISTE only subs the feature... And other releases have no Eng subs at all... Most reliable is www.mk2.com - go to the boutique and check the page for what you want (try both the English language and French version to be sure)....

[King of Kong]

Haven't seen Gabbeh... MK2 is generally good, with decent extras... There are Eng subs on feature + xtras of their 2 Kiarostami releases, & the Bresson box set... However Truffaut's TIREZ SUR LE PIANISTE only subs the feature... And other releases have no Eng subs at all... Most reliable is www.mk2.com - go to the boutique and check the page for what you want (try both the English language and French version to be sure)....

Hmmm, the catalogue is a little sketchy on the details. It's mostly just a description of the feature with very little on the technical aspects.

[ellipsis7]

That's why I said look at both English and French language versions... There's hardly anything on the Eng lang page... But switch to the French, voila!...

Détails
Référence : 9458300
Editeur : MK2 Editions
Scénariste :
Producteur :
Zone : 2
Format : DVD9
Date : Apr 23 2 Généralités
Langue : Persan
Sous-titre : Français- anglais
Audio : VO persan mono
Format image : 1,85
Titre original : Gabbeh
Pays d'origine : Iran
Public : Tous publics
Couleur : Oui

[King of Kong]

Merde...

EDIT: I'm having a little trouble accessing the French - do you have to sign up in order to view it?

[Arn777]

Click on Version Francaise with the French flag, top right end corner?

[King of Kong]

Click on Version Francaise with the French flag, top right end corner?

That's just the main site - I've tried to dodge signing up to view the catalogue by doing a google search - but only the English-langauge version comes up.

[Arn777]

Mk2 will release Gus van Sant Last Days on November 16.

[4LOM]

A list of future 2005 releases can be found at the French website Ecran Large.

[ola t]

So ABC Africa will not be released this year after all, then? :-k

[Arn777]

And not even in early 2006:

Here are some of titles planned for the first quarter:
18/01 La Fille A La Valise, de Valerio Zurlini (Claudia Cardinale, Jacques Perrin...)
22/02 La Double Vie De Veronique, Krzysztof Kieslowski

21/03 Candy (Christian Marquand, with Ewa Aulin, Charles Aznavour, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, James Coburn.... )
The Other - Robert Mulligan
Avec Uta Agen, Diana Muldaur...
Blast Of Silence, de Allen Baron
Le Ciel Est A Vous, Jean Gremillon
Le Diable Boiteux, Sacha Guitry
Les Espions, Henri Georges Clouzot
Paris Nous Appartient, Jacques Rivette

amongst othe, these are for me the most interesting/intriguing ones.

[zedz]

Le Ciel est a Vous is a bolt from the blue! Any other Gremillons in the pipeline???

(Have you seen this? It is a fantastic, beautiful movie, often misunderstood in terms of its period and time.)

Seconded. With a miraculously mature delineation of the dynamics of a married relationship. I have my fingers crossed for English subs on this and Paris nous appartient.

[ellipsis7]

Just to say Kiarostami's ABC AFRICA & FIVE are still on their way to MK2 DVD, although not immediately...

[Arn777]

DVD Rama has a review of Double life of Veronique (feature with English subs), looks good.

[Jeff LeVine]

reportedly forthcoming titles...

14 juin
#Coffret Harold Lloyd : Volume II
DVD1
Feux croisés
Modern Palace
Lui est un fameux ténor
Harold Régisseur
Harold chez les Pirates
De la coupe aux lèvres
Oh ! la belle voiture !
DVD2
Ma fille est somnambule
Harold bonne d'enfant
La chasse au renard

Septembre 2006
Le spécialiste de Sergio CORBUCCI
Herbes flottantes de Yasujiro OZU
The Ballad of Narayama de Shohei IMAMURA
Rashomon de Akira KUROSAWA
Madadayo de Akira KUROSAWA
Coffret Cartier Bresson (10 films)

Octobre 2006
COFFRET FRITZ LANG
La fille prodigue
Espions
La femme sur la lune

COFFRET ERICH VON STROHEIM
Blind Husband
Foolsh Wives
Queen Kelly

Novembre 2006
COFFRET D.W GRIFFITH
Naissance d'une nation
Intolérance

[Gordon]

Le spécialiste de Sergio CORBUCCI

Ah, the only Western set in the Alps! Great stuff!

[Lemmy Caution]

What's the scoop on MK2?
I just picked up a few MK2 Tarkovsky's (Ivan's Childhood, The Mirror), and the quality seems very good. The cover titles are in French, but the first menu offers an option of getting the other menus in English, French or Russian. English subtitles were good, picture quality was fine. This is my first encounter with MK2, and I was impressed.

[ellipsis7]

Owned by Marin Karmitz (hence MK), originally Rumanian, leftist veteran of May 1968, financer of Kieslowski and Kiarostami, now very wealthy, and a devotee to serious cinema...

Wikipedia entry says it all...

Marin Karmitz (born on October 7, 1938 in Bucharest, Romania) is a French movie director, producer, and executive producer. He also owns and runs the MK2 movie theater chain, which has the ambition of showing movies even when they are "guaranteed" to lose money.

And...

At the beginning of 2004, Marin Karmitz refused to distribute The Passion of The Christ in France; the distribution ended being taken over by Tarak Ben Ammar.