Criterion Random Speculation Vol.2

[godardslave]

count me in as "officially excited".

[zedz]

Phantom India might be a box - it'd hafta be at least several discs. And who knows, maybe a couple other docs will be tacked on. But I highly doubt Enfants and India will be packaged together.

Yeah, that would be like doing a box set of Berlin Alexanderplatz and Petra Von Kant; or all of the 7Up films and The World Is Not Enough.

[cbernard]

...or all of the 7Up films and The World Is Not Enough.

ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ...

[flambeur]

Wrong thread maybe, but Cinematheque in Toronto is showing a bunch (10) of new 35 mm prints of Malle flics this summer (July & August).

[Ted Todorov]

This is obviously why "Au Revoir Les Enfants" was postponed. They must have either a box set planned, or at least a block of Malle titles.

I sure hope so. Arte has released Zazie and Au Revoir so far, and according to Les Annees Laser is planning to release 8 more DVDs in October and 5 more in 2006. Titles mentioned include Lacombe, Lucien; Elavator to the Gallows; Milou in May; Murmer of the Heart... I would certainly LOVE for Criterion to release all of the above and more.

[What A Disgrace]

This is obviously why "Au Revoir Les Enfants" was postponed. They must have either a box set planned, or at least a block of Malle titles.

A box set in September or so seems likely to me, but it doesn't seem that Phantom of India and Elevator to the Gallows would be included in such a box, albeit for different reasons (length of the former, too soon after the Rialto run for the latter).

[Cinephrenic]

Phantom India is a documentary that will take several discs. I don't think this can be boxed up with anything else or even should be with his films.

My Wish

Boxset:
Au Revoir les Enfants
Milou en Mai
Damage
Lacombe Lucien
Murmur of the Heart

or

Nouvelle Vague Boxset:
Le Feu Follet
Zazie dans le Metro
Les Amants
Elevator to the Gallows

[ellipsis7]

Phantom India
Capsule by Jonathan Rosenbaum
From the Chicago Reader


The only time I've watched Louis Malle's six-hour, seven-part 1968 documentary series in its entirety was 27 years ago, but seeing two sections again recently reminded me why this may be my favorite of all of his films. Malle's upper-class misanthropy and morbidity has generally alienated me from his work, but this essayistic travel diary avoids any pretense of objectivity in order to present itself as a highly personal search, narrated in excellent English by Malle himself. In the first episode, "The Impossible Camera," Malle addresses the problem of everyone he meets in India describing the country in Western terms, then goes on to reflect on how his filmmaking affects his subjects; from there he takes in everything from a water buffalo being devoured by vultures to interviews with a few European hippies about why they'e in India. "Dream and Reality," the fourth part, is centered on Kerala and considers the use of elephants as a workforce, Indians' reverence for life, the destruction of the environment, and the three political parties comprising Kerala's communist majority. With his wide-ranging but rambling approach Malle undoubtedly misses or skimps on certain topics, but his mercurial intelligence keeps this lively and fascinating.

[Lino]

Am I the only one who wants to see Black Moon on DVD, preferably with a CC spine on it?

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Here, here - I'd like a Criterion of Black Moon, too. Or an HVE edition at the very least. Better yet would be Le Feu Follet from Criterion. It's one of the best French films of the '60s, easily.

[Cinephrenic]

Breathless next year perhaps.

Lets talk about "more Visconti". I'm guessing Senso and Bellissimo.

[Cinephrenic]

I may be alone on this one, but however unlikely, do you think there will be more announcements this month? Looking at the empty spines arrangement and the fact that no major online retailers have any info yet (Criteriondvd, DvdPlanet, DvdEmpire, Image-Entertainment, Amazon.com)? Perhaps more announcements in the works?

[backstreetsbackalright]

If so, it seems like the top contenders are Au Revoir Les Enfants and maybe (given the report on Blockbuster's database) The Man Who Fell To Earth.

[daniel p]

An interesting thing I noticed when clicking here is that Harakiri is now showing up as both #302 and #303, and Boudu is now showing up as #305 and #306.

This automatically made me think/hope that perhaps #303 might be Samurai Rebellion and #306 might be The Crime of Monsieur Lange. Both of those titles are under speculation for releases, and both are films which follow the announced two chronologically (skipping Kaidan) for both directors...

hmm...

[Cinephrenic]

More Kino seems to be out-of-print, though this available in the market.

Dersu Uzala
Come and See

These may be soon depending on the license type:
The Sacrifice
The Mirror
Les Bonnes Femmes

Hopefully we will see a wave of Tarkovsky in the coming year along with Nostalghia and Ivan's Childhood. Pure speculation here.

[Toshiro De Niro]

I had a dream that Criterion released Lawrence of Arabia with retail price $129.95. Not that I want it for this price, it's jsut a weird dream...

[Napoleon]

Answer is:

We have no immediate plans for any other reed titles.

Best,
JM

in response to:

Good Afternoon,

Does Criterion have any plans to release more films from Carol Reed in the future?

Thanks

[mmiesner]

over the weekend i emailed Mulvaney and offered my firstborn child for any Peter Greenaway films. the response was 'we currently do not own the rights to any Greenaway films.' that's annoying, i would rather he'd toy with me like usual rather than this point blank no!

grrrrrrrrrr!

[Tribe]

Yes, a Peter Greenaway boxset of The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, Prospero's Books and The Baby of Macon would be fuckin' awesome.

Wonder what you could title that boxset?

Tribe

[mmiesner]

that would be titled 'The Most Fucking Awesome Box Set Ever'. i can already see the description:

Peter Greenaway has long been an underrated artist in the film world. After releasing some of the most amazing artistic achievements and making a name as the provocative and disturbing son of the British film world, he upped the ante with these three films and forever cemented himself as one of the most important filmmakers of our time. The Criterion Collection is proud to present these three films together for the first time in 'The Most Fucking Awesome Box Set Ever.'

i actually particularly asked him about the 'Tulse Luper Suitcases', releasing all three films in one set and possibly including some of the other supplements, like the CD-ROMs.

[GringoTex]

We hope to release more Rossellini in the future, but nothing's definite at the moment.

best,
JM


> Question Type: Question
> Comment: Great news on Flowers of Saint Francis. I plan to waste my
> hard-earned money on those two crappy Image Rossellini discs if you
> don't assure me that Criterion will be improving on them sometime in
> the future.

[kappoka]

If Criterion ever released a Greenaway Box (which hopefully will NEVER happen) I would ask Mulvaney and/or Criterion producers "please explain why you would categorize Peter 'as one of the most important filmmakers of our time'?

Without resorting to name-calling and making fun of my ignorance can someone please explain the Greenaway phenomena? maybe in another forum...(i can feel Matt's boot already)

Criterion has got to be hard at work with much more significant directors. As has been discussed before--we need more female directors, more Latin American films, more Russian films, more Rossellini....Vanguard? OK, how about speculating on a real cheap box set of Jonas Mekas, Adolfas Mekas, Petter Hutton, Jen Reeves, Peggy Ahwesh.

Please--Say NO to Greenaway!!!!

[mmiesner]

i don't mind at all that you dislike Greenaway, i can definitely understand people not enjoying his work or wanting to see it again. he's a very different sort of film maker and is meant to be provocative and challenging, thus consciously narrowing his audience. i totally respect your dislike of his work. that said:

i think that Greenaway is possibly the most complete film maker alive. he is *in my opinion* the most daring and innovative film maker working today, and one of few people who are truly attempting to realize the potential of film to it's full extent. his scripts are incredibly deep and nuanced, and he is unafraid to touch on subjects some find offensive and isn't worried about taking financial risks either.

what i will say about your post *and others that i've seen* is i don't understand why some people are so averse to having certain people or films included in the collection. i personally don't like any of the Renoir or Schlondorff i have seen, but i don't feel like that makes them stupid entries or loses the allure of the collection. i hate Armageddon and Chasing Amy as much as the next guy, but i don't feel like it's an insult to have them in the collection. can someone explain to me why they feel this way about some people, not just Greenaway?

[Cinephrenic]

From Criterionco:

Malle Takes America

The Film Society of Lincoln Center will be presenting Risks and Reinvention: The Cinema of Louis Malle, from June 24 to July 19. This extensive retrospective—presented with the support of the French Cultural Services and Nouvelles Éditions de Films S.L., and in collaboration with The Criterion Collection and Janus Films—will include all of the great director's feature films and nearly all of his documentaries, including the rare seven-hour Phantom India. After its run at Lincoln Center, the retrospective will go on tour across the U.S. and Canada. Malle's thriller Elevator to the Gallows will also receive a theatrical release this summer, courtesy of Rialto Pictures. For more information on the Rialto release and a brand-new trailer, click here. Keep an eye on this spot for information on Louis Malle screenings near you and on upcoming Malle DVD releases from Criterion.

[zedz]

If there's going to be a wave of releases, this probably accounts for the delay of Au revoir les enfants. There doesn't seem to be any other strong reason for the reallocation of the spine number, as the release seemed to be very well advanced (and Criterion have rescheduled other titles recently without reallocating their spine numbers).