Theo Angelopoulos

[McCrutchy]

I've ordered something from him before-- if you're an American, he sends you a DVD-r copy of it and only sends the real disc if you complain. So, he's fine but specify in the comments that you want the real thing

I had not realized that Stelios ever sold bootlegs, but the number of negative/neutral transactions seem to prove that he must be doing so with many "Greek DVDs". I had ordered the New Star Ulysses Gaze DVD successfully from him some months ago (and have not gotten around to watching it, yet ) but I checked my disc in AnyDVD and it is R2 PAL with an appropriate volume label and appropriate numerals etched into the inner ring on the data side (I won't mention either detail by name because they can be forged by some, a la OOP Criterion fakes) and the jacket is dual-sided, correctly sized for the case and has been printed on glossy-finished paper. Again, from reading the feedback, it seems that Stelios' bootlegs are obvious to many, so I don't think he would take the time and effort to produce fakes with such exactness.

Looking at his neutral/negative feedback for the last twelve months, it doesn't look like he ever tried to sell a bootleg of one of these New Star DVDs, so it might be safe to order those from him no matter what.

[accatone]

From Swiss with French & German subs only

[Perkins Cobb]

I ordered three or four of the Angelopoulos New Stars from Stelios a few years ago ... Domino's post panicked me and I rechecked them, and they're all real DVDs. Puts me in a bind if I want to pick up Suspended Step of the Stork or Ulysses' Gaze now though.

Meanwhile, have we given up all hope of any more Greek releases of Angelopoulos?

[Titus]

Given Domino's advice, I contacted stelios prior to ordering and he said the owner of New Star (a Mr Velissarios) was a friend of his, and he sells the copies on ebay as part of an arrangement with New Star. He said I could call the number on the sleeves of the New Star DVDs and verify it with them directly -- I didn't bother, as I figured the suggestion alone was enough to confirm that the DVDs were legitimate.

I ordered The Suspended Step of the Stork and Landscape in the Mist from him and they both arrived in a little over a week. They were pressed DVDs and matched the three New Stars I bought from exploitedcinema.com a couple of years ago in every way. And they're definitely Region 2, despite him listing them as Region 0.

[Perkins Cobb]

...despite him listing them as Region 0.

Well, the DVD-rs he sends to everybody else would, of course, be Region 0!

[porcupine2]

Hello,
I've got a trivial question about The Beekeeper - but it really bugs me. What is the song which plays on the jukebox, it's in English and it sounds like a kind of country power ballad. Google searches for the lyrics bring back nothing. The lyrics tie in to the film's theme very directly - so possibly the song was created for the film?

The appearance of pop music in Angelopoulos films is interesting - it tends to be disconnection / allied to spontaneity - in the bar in Landscape in the Mist, in the streets in Ulysses' Gaze, here in The Beekeeper, whereas Karaindrou's music often seems like popular music beautifully re-orchestrated.

[John Cope]

I've got a trivial question about The Beekeeper - but it really bugs me. What is the song which plays on the jukebox, it's in English and it sounds like a kind of country power ballad.

I'll Hit the Roads by Julie Massino. It's on the official soundtrack album. Whether it was created specifically for the film I have no idea.

[linfor]

If you read and understand Spanish there are 3 boxed set made by Intermedio, a boutique company in Spain... No english subtitles but very decent releases...

[RossyG]

The Theo Angelopoulos Collection Volume 1, containing Reconstruction (1970), Days of '36 (1972), The Travelling Players (1975) and The Hunters (1977), is being released by Artificial Eye on the 24th of October.

[Giap]

Vol. 1 implying a Vol. 2, plus The Dust of Time on the same date - great news!

[ellipsis7]

Vol. 2 on November 7th...

Contains Alexander the Great (1980), Voyage to Cythera (1984), The Beekeeper (1986) and Landscape in the Mist (1988).

[jegharfangetmigenmyg]

Volume 1 is released on Monday. Anyone's gotten hold of promo editions of this release?

According to the artwork on amazon.co.uk, Volume 2 contains Suspended Step of the Stork as well.

[alfons416]

Got my Angelopoulos Collection Volume 1 today.

It looks good but there is one thing that looks strange to me.

The Hunters is only 143 minutes long, alla other versions of it seems to be close to three hours (168-171 minutes), do anybody know if this is a different cut or why this is ~30 mins shorter?

[Perkins Cobb]

That's not good. Angelopoulos's website claims 165 minutes, and PAL speedup would only take off 6.6.

[lubitsch]

The Greek NTSC DVD is 171 minutes and I have an old TV recording that's 163 minutes which fits exactly the PAL speedup.

[ellipsis7]

Whoops, an own goal by AE rather spoiling the whole set...

[isakborg]

Clutching at straws perhaps, but has anyone actually timed the AE disc?

[antnield]

Clutching at straws perhaps, but has anyone actually timed the AE disc?

The Digital Fix review contains the individual runtimes.

[otis]

I've just checked my copy, and the AE is 143 minutes 21 seconds. The Spanish Intermedio DVD is listed on their website as 144 minutes, so presumably the AE is a port of that. Could it be that cuts were made for an international edition? The strange thing is that if the Greek DVD is 171 minutes, that actually makes it longer than the 165 minutes given on Angelopoulos's website (and in the filmography in the book Theo Angelopoulos: Interviews). Lubitsch, are you going by the timing listed on the cover, or have you checked it yourself?

[Perkins Cobb]

Does the Greek DVD have English subs, and does it look any good? It wasn't one of the New Star releases, and I didn't even realize there was one.

[lubitsch]

Sorry, I had remembered it as a Greek DVD, but it's from the Chinese Angelopoulos box (therefore the NTSC) and 171:50 long according to rip specs, I don't have the DVD myself. However the German TV transmission clocks undoubtedly at 163 minutes which accounts quite exactly for PAL speedup and this one I have and checked it. So 20 minutes must be missing on the AE, there's no way around it.

[otis]

According to this site, there is a Greek (New Star) DVD, but it's listed as 105 minutes! Of course, that may just be a mistake on the website.

[Perkins Cobb]

So 20 minutes must be missing on the AE, there's no way around it.

Morons. Wonder if maybe they'll recall and fix it....?

[ellipsis7]

It almost sounds like they left out a reel in error...

[otis]

Just spoken to a guy at Artificial Eye, who explained that their version of The Hunters comes from the same source as the Greek DVD (the transfer of which was supervised by Angelopoulos). He's going to make further enquiries about the difference in length and get back to me - I'll post any insights as and when I get them.

Artificial Eye have emailed me about The Hunters:

Further to our telephone conversation about the running time of The Hunters, I have contacted Theo Angelopoulos Productions.

As you may be aware, the difference in running times is partly accounted for by the PAL video system running at a faster frame rate than film (25 frames per second, rather than 24). In addition, the original negative was damaged slightly which means the remastered editions of the film run a little shorter. However, the version now available on DVD is approved by Theo Angelopoulos.