Bigas Luna Collection (Tartan R2)

[patrick]

I feel ashamed for having not seen any of these, but can anyone tell me if this is worth importing?

Bigas Luna Collection (4 Discs)
Catalogue Number: TVD3717
Price: £34.99
Certificate: 18
Format: DVD
Duration: 359 minutes
Country of Origin: Spain
Language: Spanish

Special Features

* The Ages of Lulu, Jamon Jamon, Golden Balls have all been remastered
* All 4 films contain an original theatrical trailer
* Interview with Bigas Luna included on Golden Balls and The Tit and the Moon
* DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround included on Golden Balls. All other features are Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo

Technical Specifications

Video Aspect Ratio:

* The Ages of Lulu: Anamorphic 1.66:1
* Jamon Jamon: Anamorphic 1.66:1
* Golden Balls: Anamorphic 2.35:1
* The Tit and the Moon: Anamorphic 2.35:1

Subtitles: English

Disc Format: All discs are PAL DVD 9

Synopsis

One of the forerunners of the Spanish New Wave alongside contemporaries Pedro Almodovar and Julio Medem, Bigas Luna's saucy, sexy comedies earned him a reputation as a 'provocateur of the peverse'. Incredibly erotic whilst never losing their razor-sharp satirical wit, his colourful films launched the international careers of Penelope Cruz (Volver, Vanilla Sky) and Javier Bardem (The Sea Inside, Before Night Falls) and garnered a worldwide cult following.

This four disc box set contains the films The Ages of Lulu, Jamon Jamon, Golden Balls and The Tit and the Moon.

Cast & Crew
Director
Bigas Luna
Writer
Bigas Luna
Cast
Javier Bardem, Maria De Medeiros, Mathilda May, Penelope Cruz

[pro-bassoonist]

I feel ashamed for having not seen any of these, but can anyone tell me if this is worth importing?

I am going to have a review for DVDTALK shortly but wanted to give you heads-up on this set. All four films have indeed been restored (with only Jamon Jamon still looking a bit too dirty for my taste even though this new transfer is now anamorphic).

And yes, all films are exceptionally well done with the Tit...being my fave! Bigas Luna is indeed one of the leading figures of the Spanish New Wave together with Medem, Almodovar, Aranda, and Trueba. Humor is often the driving force behind his work mixed with a great deal of eroticism. Yet, his films rarely step over in excentricity or political sature where Almodovar seems to be at his best.

Saura and Luna's work are almost complete in my library.
Feel free to ask further questions should you have any, I would be happy to answer them.

My review will be sponsored by Xploited.

Yours,
S

[patrick]

Thank you kindly for the info - I'm looking forward to reading the whole review! I've enjoyed pretty much every Spanish New Wave film I've seen and I suspect this set will be no different. I'm assuming that Xploited Cinema will be stocking this if they're sponsoring your review?

[pro-bassoonist]

Yes, Patrick, Xploited has it. I will try to have the review done by tomorrow morning. All four discs arrive in slim cases in one strudy box. All four are anamorphic and using the prints the Spanish distribs have approved for the WB-CineEspanol collection.

The Ages of Lulu also offers the uncut version (previously available only on the Spanish R2 disc cut of the film but this time in anamorphic 1.66:1) of the film. The old Tartan disc was also cut!!

Ciao,
Pro-B

[Rich Malloy]

Your DVD Talk review is great, Pro-B! Like Patrick, I've never seen a Bigas Luna film, but these sure do appear to be to my liking. I think I'll Netflix the two available R1 titles (Balls, Teta), and more likely than not purchase the Tartan set thereafter.

The recent R1 Almodovar box has given me the opportunity to revisit all those films (and a few that I'd never seen). I'd always liked Almodover, but now I have an entirely new appreciation. The Spanish "new wave" is currently a great fascination of mine, even though my exposure is limited to Almodovar and Medem (love the former, like the latter). It would seem that the Bigas Luna set came along at just the right time for me!

[Matt]

I don't mean to sound snide by asking this, but is Bigas Luna considered "uncool" or is his reputation just dwarfed by that of Almodovar? His name rarely comes up in film circles anymore and even the Spanish faculty at my school, most of whom are very film savvy, have not expressed any interest in his films.

[Rich Malloy]

I confess I've wondered much the same, hence my Netflixing of two titles before I decide whether to purchase the box.

[J Wilson]

I think part of his dropping off the map, so to speak, is due to his not directing a film from 2001 until last year, and his last film to get any U.S. theatrical play (that I'm aware of) was 1997's CHAMBERMAID ON THE TITANIC. Add to that only a couple are available on R1 DVDs. His films are also fairly "earthy" and I can see some of them rubbing people the wrong way here; I mean, I can't imagine the typical American media reviewer trying to write about THE TIT AND THE MOON. My favorite film of his is CHAMBERMAID..., which is/was available in a serviceable R3 disc. I'm looking forward to this new set.

[pro-bassoonist]

I hope you enjoy the films you could rent through Netflix (may I also recommend that you take a look at the R1 release of Son de Mar, Leonor Watling is fabulous).

Also, to partially answer Matt's question, yes, that would appear to be the case to a certain extent. Almodovar put a lot of Spanish newcomers in the shadow as his films became so large overseas (Cannes has a lot to do with it).

And James Wilson's post practically sums up why Luna was never well-received in the US. He is very direct, though his films are full of intended-kitsch, and especially after Lulu his name became attached to a genre he does not belong to.

I do not want to sound cliche but Luna is a very, very Spanish director!

Hope you enjoy his work!

Svet