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An email from New Yorker confirmed that L'Argent is "coming out in the next few months."

Via email the New Yorker Films office said this: " Land of Silence and Darkness " and " Signs of Life " will be release at
the end of April or beginning of May.
Good to see these coming!

Fantastic!!!

Here's an aside unrelated to Herzog - at the beginning of the month I inquired about any New Yorker Chris Marker releases. Here's the response I got:

I think the Marker is being produced by Criterion.

I tried pressing for further information, and never heard back. Surely there's nothing conclusive we can take from this, but its a tantalizing rumor....

backstreetsbackalright wrote:I inquired about any New Yorker Chris Marker releases. Here's the response I got:

I think the Marker is being produced by Criterion.

Makes sense. A while ago, it was assumed that New Yorker was bogarting Sans Soleil because they had released it on VHS. I emailed them about it and other Chris Marker films, and they said they no longer had the rights. Shortly thereafter, I emailed Mulvaney re: Chris Marker, and he gave me the "We hope to include some Chris Marker films in the collection, but nothing is certain at this time." reply.

Those considering buying the MK2 or AE versions of L'Argent should note that tlavideo.com is now listing an exclusive feature-length commentary by Kent Jones for New Yorker's version.

Excellent news. Alternatively they could buy Kent Jones' L'ARGENT monograph from the BFI...

http://www.bfi.org.uk/bookvid/books/cat ... bookid=366

I wonder if New Yorker will avoid their previous problem with Pal speedup of a converted master?...

Doug Cummings wrote:Those considering buying the MK2 or AE versions of L'Argent should note that tlavideo.com is now listing an exclusive feature-length commentary by Kent Jones for New Yorker's version.

I love the Bfi book from him, and this has to be my favorite Bresson, so I doubt I'll be hearing anything more exciting for a while... thanks for the news.

I wonder how the stars managed to align in order for there to be three major DVD companies releasing versions of this relatively obscure and challenging film at the same time. I guess MK2 did the work for the transfer (?) and the other two followed... but I really have no idea.

It does look like they're throwing in a few extra bucks for these extras, so maybe we'll have a decent transfer to look forward to as well. This would also bode well for the Celine and Julie Go Boating and Weekend releases upcoming. I'd love to see them go all out for Celine and Julie. I've been putting off buying the french release for some time due to the lack of subtitles and price.

MK2 and AE co-produced their R2 discs so they will be identical--the discs even begin with the logos for both companies, so it doesn't matter which one you purchase. And New Yorker presumably is using the MK2/AE transfer since their extras are the same. So I'd wager that the potential for PAL-to-NTSC blurring is there...but I so appreciate that they chased down an actual Bresson scholar for an added commentary that I'll probably buy both regions.

One other thing, I believe the NYer will also have liner notes whereas the MK2 doesn't.

julientorma wrote:In January 2005 the Herzog office implied in an email that New Yorker Films would be beginning to release some early films starting in February 2005.
Via email the New Yorker Films office said this: " Land of Silence and Darkness " and " Signs of Life " will be release at
the end of April or beginning of May.
Good to see these coming!

Good is a fantastical understatement - LAND OF SILENCE AND DARKNESS is up there on my top few films that I desperately want on DVD. It's just that I live in fear because New Yorker is involved.

Any more recent confirmation of this? It's not listed on their website yet.

L'Argent cover art.

Doug Cummings wrote:L'Argent cover art.

You MUST be joking!

I love that Maltin was the best quote source anyone could come up with for the L'Argent cover.

It's the amazing original poster art with a silly quote and their own title font pasted on. One step forward; two steps back, I suppose.

backstreetsbackalright wrote:I love that Maltin was the best quote source anyone could come up with for the L'Argent cover.

I enjoy the fact that they decided to use a review that gave it 4 ½ stars out of 5. Using a half-star always looks odd to me. Why not just track down a review from another (more respected) critic that gave it a perfect rating? I’m sure the film wasn't completely discarded upon initial release, and it certainly has been reevaluated since then.

It looks like 3 1/2 to me. Sadly, of all the sources they could have chosen, Maltin is one of the most widely-respected among the general public. Personally, I think he's a robot that generates pithy and often inaccurate proclamations according to a secret program designed decades ago.

matt wrote:That's the original Raymond Savignac French poster art.

And a testament to the diachronic nature of tasteless-ness.

Gregory wrote:It looks like 3 1/2 to me.

I wasn't sure, but I figured it was 4 since they included a 4th star. I guess they meant "half of a 4th star". Of course, that only makes their decision to include the quote look even worse.

Gregory wrote:Sadly, of all the sources they could have chosen, Maltin is one of the most widely-respected among the general public.

Sadly true, but is Bresson the type of director who inspires fascination or attention from the general public. I don't think so, which makes the inclusion of his quote even more baffling. Maltin isn't the critic that springs to mind when I think of the target audience/consumer for a Bresson film. Even if his name is being used to entice the general-public viewer into purchasing the title blind, I doubt it will be received well and I doubt the viewer will come away with a favorable impression of the company that sold them the title.

You know, of all of Bresson's films I've seen (all but The Trial of Joan of Arc, and his VERY first one)...I think L'Argent might just be most accessible to the general average viewer who would actually take a chance on a blind buy on a foriegn film. While it contains all the classic Bressonian techniques, shots, etc. it DOES have a pretty interesting and compelling story that could keep the mild-interested fan, interested throughout. That same person would be lost in others like Au Hasard, Mouchette, Diary of a Country Priest.

DVD Beaver review of New Yorker's L'Argent.

It appears flawed (but, then, we knew it would be), but not fatally. I can't pass up the Kent Jones commentary.

Emailed New Yorker today asking after the aforementioned Herzogs, Signs of Life and Land of Silence and Darkness. "Early summer is the plan" they said.
They're really responsive with email...I got an answer back about three minutes after I sent my query. No doubt they get a lesser volume of email than Criterion, but it's nice all the same.

I'll be posting a formal write-up at robert-bresson.com in the next few days, but I just wanted to mention that Kent Jones' commentary is well worth the purchase. It's as spontaneous, informative, and formally observant as Peter Cowie's commentary isn't.

Signs of Life and Land of Silence and Darkness officially announced for June 14th.

And Weekend is being released June 28...

Something in the way of specs from DVDJournal.

Finally, New Yorker will release Werner Herzog's Signs of Life on June 14 with a commentary from Herzog, while his Land of Silence and Darkness is expected on the same date. Following on June 28 will be Jean-Luc Godard's Weekend, which will offer commentary from film critic David Sterrit, thoughts from director Mike Figgis, an interview with cinematographer Raoul Coutard, and a trailer. Watch for Godard's For Ever Mozart on the same date as well.

Why is it that the Bresson "L'Argent" isn't available from any of the major e-tailers that I can see? I even emailed digitaleyes and they said they their supplier had no information on this title...kind of strange with the fact that there's review copies out already.

What A Disgrace wrote:

DVD Journal wrote:Following on June 28 will be Jean-Luc Godard's Weekend, which will offer commentary from film critic David Sterrit, thoughts from director Mike Figgis, an interview with cinematographer Raoul Coutard, and a trailer.

So, it appears that the New Yorker Films edition is exactly the same as the Artificial Eye edition only with a commentary track added, much like their edition of L'Argent. We can look forward to more PAL -> NTSC converting.