Forthcoming Criterion & Eclipse List Discussion

[CSM126]

Please to explaining which of those titles applies to a movie that's been available on DVD in multiple iterations previously.

The same argument would apply to anything in the Eclipse Kurosawa set in my view.

You do realize this only applies to R1 (ya know, Criterion's actual market)? Unless I'm mistaken, there were no previous R1 discs of, say, One Wonderful Sunday or No Regrets for Our Youth.

[Tommaso]

There's no way Cook will be an Eclipse title, and I would be very, very disappointed if it were, because that would mean no Greenaway involvement, no shorts, none of the special features that would make Criterion releasing this title worthwhile.

Agreed, of course. The film cries out for contextualization, though I feel that the point that is sometimes made about Greenaway attacking the Thatcher government here feels a little forced. There are some clues, however, that this was partly inspired by the anniversary of the French Revolution, and that's why I'm wishing for "Death in the Seine" as a bonus, which is directly about that anniversary.
Why "Cook" is indeed much more popular than almost all of his other films except "Draughtsman" is somewhat beyond me, though. Is it the shock value? This of course might make "Cook" marketable alongside the Makavejevs or "Salò", but in terms of pure inventiveness and visual knock-out factor, give me "Prospero" any time over "Cook". "Cook" lacks much of the playfulness of "Drowning by Numbers", for instance, and feels a little heavy-handed to me. Even "Pillow Book" seems somewhat more 'commercial' to me, though it's the lesser film.
Anyway, I hope this comes soon and stacked with extras to make double-dipping worthwhile. The transfer itself can hardly be significantly improved, and even if the OOP R1 might go for a lot of money, the R2 (same transfer, apparently) goes for about 3,99 British Pounds....

[luridedith]

"Cook" lacks much of the playfulness of "Drowning by Numbers", for instance, and feels a little heavy-handed to me.

That's why its my favourite Greenaway and why I think its his most "popular", its anger and passion (almost Greek revenge tragedy feel) make it more immediate and resonant to me than his more playful/puzzle/list films (although I love those too, in fact apart from The Pillow Book I haven't seen a Greenaway film I haven't loved). I haven't seen Prospero yet though so I can't compare which one is better or not.

[Tommaso]

Well, "Prospero" is a different beast from anything else he made in some respects, basically due to its being a Shakespeare adaptation. It's almost as complex as the "Tulse Luper" films, and of course has his usual puzzle/list plays, and like the latter trilogy has a pretty encyclopedic approach. Imagine a library of fifty works of secondary literature on "The Tempest" come alive. This might sound rather 'dry', but the film isn't at all. It's constantly engaging and of ravishing beauty (it sometimes reminds me of Powell/Pressburger's "Tales of Hoffmann" in many respects). And it's perhaps the only Greenaway film driven by its main actor; an extraordinary performance even by Gielgud's standards. For me, his best film (and I too love everything by Greenaway apart from the abonimable "8 1/2 women").

[Cronenfly]

I think that the main reasons for Cook's unusual success and popularity relative to the rest of Greenaway's canon are the political and ratings (even though The Pillow Book also got an NC-17, with Cook it was a much bigger deal, I believe) controversies.

And while the R2 may be cheap, have a fine transfer, and be very much so available, a special edition of this is, I think, pretty desired, and since I can't see Criterion being stingy in the extras department, I think it'll be a more than justified release.

However, I can understand your desire, Tommaso, for Criterion to handle other, unavailable in decent DVD editions anywhere Greenaways (it's a desire I share); however, I find the idea of a Criterion SE of Cook is pleasing me enough right now to make me forgive Criterion's not starting with a more urgent title (of which I agree with you Prospero is one; I'm hoping they release Cook and it in tandem, packed SEs both. I'm thinking that Prospero is very likely now that Cook is coming; my money's on Criterion acquiring them both from whoever's holding the early Miramaxes now).

[Tom Hagen]

Ozu again . . . sigh. At least the number in their unreleased catalogue is finally starting to dwindle, freeing up the months ahead for possible non-Ozu releases.

[tavernier]

Yeah, maybe we can finally get Boll or Bogdanovich in the Collection.

[reno dakota]

Has anyone noticed that the Kaurismaki Eclipse set has been posted?

[HelenLawson]

Why isn't Ozu its own imprint?

[sidehacker]

Ozu again . . . sigh. At least the number in their unreleased catalogue is finally starting to dwindle, freeing up the months ahead for possible non-Ozu releases.

In all seriousness, even an Ozuian such as myself is bored with this release. It serves no purpose. They might as well put David Bordwell's face on the cover because I see no other reason it would be of interest. Let's face it: Criterion's going to fuck up the colors like they always do with color Ozu films. But An Autumn Afternoon is leagues better than any movie in your top ten. Booyay! added to appear less confrontational.

[Tom Hagen]

But An Autumn Afternoon is leagues better than any movie in your top ten. Booyay! added to appear less confrontational.

It may well be, and I will be sure to Netflix a copy when it is released. Even if Criterion is understandably tapped out of supplements at this point, it is still worth getting an important film from a seminal director available in a high quality R1 disc.

My objections are not to the merits of Ozu as a filmmaker at all. But if Criterion is going to keep releasing films from a filmmaker whose work has already appeared frequently in the collection -- to the point that supplements have dried up -- goddammit, I want it to be one of my filmmakers. We're going on three years now without a Truffaut release!

[backstreetsbackalright]

My objections are not to the merits of Ozu as a filmmaker at all. But if Criterion is going to keep releasing films from a filmmaker whose work has already appeared frequently in the collection -- to the point that supplements have dried up -- goddammit, I want it to be one of my filmmakers. We're going on three years now without a Truffaut release!

Supplements have hardly dried up. Truffaut would be nice, sure. Different priorities for different people, I guess. For me, this is one of the half dozen films I've been most eager to see in the collection for, well, for almost as long as the Collection's been around. The addition of a commentary is just the cherry on the top of this very good news.

[Tom Hagen]

Supplements have hardly dried up.

But Criterion can find good critics and scholars to do essays and commentaries for just about any film. As it stands now, the only other supplements that Criterion has announced for this release are "Excerpts from "Yasujiro Ozu and the Taste of Sake," a 1978 French television program looking back on Ozu's career, featuring film critic Michel Ciment." I suppose that this program could be the Rosetta stone to Ozu's oeuvre, but I am going to go out on a limb here and speculate that Criterion is starting to run out of worthwhile archival material for this particular filmmaker. The speculation that future Ozu releases will come through Eclipse (as was the case with the eight other Ozu films released by Criterion within the last year), only fuels my suspicion that we are near the bottom of the supplement barrel.

That doesn't mean that this release is unmeritorious, or that the film shouldn't be on the main Criterion line rather than an Eclipse. My point is that it seems arbitrary to be relentlessly giving us Ozu when there are other filmmakers that have appeared numerous times in the Collection and are in a similar boat supplement-wise.

[ellipsis7]

Maybe it's stating the obvious, but maybe Ozu sells well, and if so, releasing Ozu allows the CC to also release less popular titles... AUTUMN AFTERNOON may well be the last film under the CC banner, although maybe THE ONLY SON or THERE WAS A FATHER are still to come - my bet is then one more Eclipse Silent Ozu box plus at least one Eclipse Early Sound Ozu box....

I may be imagining it, but in the Eclipse SILENT OZU/Three Family Comedies, I WAS BORN BUT... looks a superior transfer to the other 2 films, as if it had undergone some sort of digital restoration, I suggest possibly for a potential Criterion release (which was mooted at one time)... So there may be a certain amount of fluidity hereon in, as to which label certain titles are released under....

[Michael Kerpan]

When it comes to classic Japanese directors (other than Kurosawa), there is simply very little pre-existing material to use for supplements. There may be lots of valuable research and analysis done on Ozu, Naruse, Shimizu,Kinoshita, Imai, Uchida, Shimazu, Yamanaka et al -- but (if so) it is written by Japanese -- and rarely if ever does this work get reflected in Western books and articles. (Some good work does appears in English these days, based on research taking Japanese sources into account -- by people like Aaron Gerow -- but this usually deals more with broader contextual issues -- rather than stylistic analysis).

[Awesome Welles]

Well I'm hoping to see Charlotte Zerin's doc Music for the Movies: Toru Takemitsu on The Human Condition Trilogy boxset which will hopefully surface this year.

[Perkins Cobb]

There Was a Father ran on TCM this weekend without a Janus logo. Pretty dicey print but I'm assuming that's as good as it gets. Would you guys conclude from that that it's unlikely as a Criterion/Eclipse release?

I'm assuming the TCM broadcast was superior to the Panorama DVDs but, on the other hand, as soon as I watch it Criterion will send you Ozu-haters into another frenzy by announcing an Eclipse box of his early sound films.

[Michael Kerpan]

There seems to be a French source of There Is A Father that is different from the current Shochiku one. Not sure how different this looks (and, almost as important, sounds). Janus and Creative do have distribution rights (for screening and DVD) in the US. If the French source is significantly better, Criterion might need to cut an additional deal to get access to the source materials.

[zedz]

It may well be, and I will be sure to Netflix a copy when it is released. Even if Criterion is understandably tapped out of supplements at this point.

Noted in the home thread: there are hours of one particular supplement still up for grabs in the form of the four part series Yoshida Kijû ga kataru Ozu Yasujirô no eiga sekai - which I'd love to see. Since it seems to be one of the few existing documentaries that devotes considerable time to his early career, I suppose it's being held back for The Only Son or some other early film.

There's an hour-long condensation as well (the original is three), but obviously the complete version is preferable.

My only frustration with Criterion's Ozu releases is their tendency to follow what's already available in acceptable subtitled editions elsewhere (i.e. getting the 1950s out of the way first), which is why the Silent set was such big news. It's like not having Dickens' complete works in print: the missing titles should be considered an embarrassment. Unlike other Favourite Unavailable Film(s) Criterion have rights and materials, so we should be glad they're not just sitting on them.

There Was a Father ran on TCM this weekend without a Janus logo. Pretty dicey print but I'm assuming that's as good as it gets. Would you guys conclude from that that it's unlikely as a Criterion/Eclipse release?

I'm assuming the TCM broadcast was superior to the Panorama DVDs but, on the other hand, as soon as I watch it Criterion will send you Ozu-haters into another frenzy by announcing an Eclipse box of his early sound films.

If it sounded like it was processed by David Bowie (c. Raw Power) and the played back down a drainpipe, that's the Panorama. Shochiku's soundtrack 'restoration' for this film is the big problem.

[Tom Hagen]

Unlike other Favourite Unavailable Film(s) Criterion have rights and materials, so we should be glad they're not just sitting on them.

But that's my frustration exactly: where is The Magician? Or The Soft Skin? (I'd bitch about Vivre Sa Vie, but I know it will be coming soon.) As far as I know, they do have the rights to this stuff. Hell, they released it on laser. I am not upset that Criterion is giving us more Ozu instead of doing The Decalogue or something else that they haven't acquired rights for.

[domino harvey]

My problem is the lack of surprise. Remember last year when House of Games's announcement blew everyone away in shock? We knew all of September's titles were coming, and now anyone can guess October's releases as well (Bottle Rocket, Chungking Express, Walkabout reissue, Rosselini Eclipse set). If Criterion's reading this: Please shock us next month! Move something surprising, something unexpected, something ballsy up in the release queue.

[Cinephrenic]

Where is Rossellini and more Bunuel? Who has the rights to Red Desert, Shoeshine? Why doesn't anyone release these classics? We are now in the Blu-ray era beyond DVD and still no sign of getting these back in print.

[backstreetsbackalright]

But that's my frustration exactly: where is The Magician? Or The Soft Skin?

You do realize that there's more Bergman in the Criterion and Eclipse Collections than Ozu, don't you?

My problem is the lack of surprise.

This I must agree with.

[domino harvey]

The argument against the influx of Ozu titles solely concerns the recent proximity of these releases, not their total coverage within the collection nor their value as worthy films.

[HelenLawson]

...Move something surprising, something unexpected, something ballsy up in the release queue.

Agreed. Where the hell is Last Year at Marienbad, Monika, or The Makioka Sisters?

Go really crazy and give us some Joseph Losey!