MoC Forthcoming, Wishlist, and Random Speculation

[Finch]

I'm hoping it's not Germany: Murnau and Lang are well represented with the existing titles and the forthcoming Nibelungen, and other directors deserve decent exposure through MoC too.

[swo17]

There are others here more qualified to comment, but I believe that in its history, Germany has had more than two directors.

[Tommaso]

Murnau and Lang are well represented with the existing titles and the forthcoming Nibelungen, and other directors deserve decent exposure through MoC too.

Exactly. If "Nibelungen" and "Der blaue Engel" should be enough to say there's a focus on Germany, oh well, please... Of course I wouldn't mind having Murnau's "Gang in die Nacht" or Lang's "Harakiri" from MoC - and a new version of "Der müde Tod" would be a major coup!-, but somehow there WAS a German cinema after the end of the silent era (and a lot of GREAT German silents not made by Murnau, Lang or Pabst), and I can't imagine that for instance the films of Helmut Käutner would not be in tune with an international sensibility: those who like Vigo's "L'Atalante" should definitely check out his 1945 film "Unter den Brücken".

[jbaart]

Unter den Brücken is available on a good German DVD with English subtitles though. I don't see the big need for a MoC upgrade.

[What A Disgrace]

I do. I want it on Blu-ray.

[matrixschmatrix]

Lang and Murnau have been fairly well served (though there's still a wealth of American Lang that could use some help) but poor Pabst has been pretty well left out in the cold, particularly for his sound era works- there's the great Criterion release of Threepenny, but I don't know if there are any English-friendly releases of anything else of that period.

[Hail_Cesar]

If its not Germany, what could it be? HK? Korea? France?

Probably France...

[knives]

Please be Cuba. [-o< (Germany is probably where things will go though).

[domino harvey]

It's obv gonna be Canada

[Hail_Cesar]

It's obv gonna be Canada

QUÉBEC!

Les Bons Débarras
Le chat dans le sac
Abel Trilogy
Le temps d'une chasse
Michel Brault Box-set
Pierre Perrault Box-set
À tout prendre
Poussière sur la ville
Les bucherons de la manouane

Or some of the first Crocros... like The brood or Scanners

[Michael Kerpan]

The Canadian DVD of Le bons debarras is pretty hinky (but is at least subbed) -- a really good-looking release of this would be nice -- and I think could find an audience. Have yet to see anything else by Francis Mankiewicz.

The Canadian Groulx box set is a good one -- but has no subs (unlike the Brault and Perrault sets) . Having subs would a very good thing.

I wonder how well Criterion's Mon Oncle Antoine sold -- if this acclaimed film had paltry sales, I suspect MOC might not succeed (in making money) with less well-known Quebecois master works. ;~{

[Hail_Cesar]

I'm sure a big hype would be created around a MoC (or criterion) of Les Bons Débarras or the Abel trilogy. Mon oncle Antoine is a good film but I think those are far better and would be much more appreciated by a foreign audience...

[Finch]

There are others here more qualified to comment, but I believe that in its history, Germany has had more than two directors.

Mind, I said Murnau and Lang are well represented, not that Germany was. It's just that when a German film gets into the collection, it's almost always been either a Murnau or Lang. I suppose I should have qualified my "not Germany" comment with saying that more German films would be nice as long as it's not yet another Murnau or Lang.

[Calvin]

I think a Lefebvre release would be excellent. He was the first Canadian director invited to Cannes and yet no DVD releases in his native country and I couldn't find any record of an English-friendly release ever. I wouldn't bet on MoC releasing any of his titles in 2012 though.

[TMDaines]

...and I can't imagine that for instance the films of Helmut Käutner would not be in tune with an international sensibility: those who like Vigo's "L'Atalante" should definitely check out his 1945 film "Unter den Brücken".

Really great film. It's in my top 10 or 15 German films for sure. It's the kind of the film that would be talked about far more and would be much more highly regarded on places like here if it had a release in an English speaking land. The German DVD is great though and should be a must buy on any orders from Germany.

There are others here more qualified to comment, but I believe that in its history, Germany has had more than two directors.

Mind, I said Murnau and Lang are well represented, not that Germany was. It's just that when a German film gets into the collection, it's almost always been either a Murnau or Lang. I suppose I should have qualified my "not Germany" comment with saying that more German films would be nice as long as it's not yet another Murnau or Lang.

If they release another (silent) Lang or Murnau though, it will be another first time release with German intertitles/English subtitles by default (I think). I personally would love to see them plug the few gaps they have left from these directors. Rescuing some more Pabst would be very welcome too - hopefully not Der Schatz though. There's a ton of stuff from beyond the big names too. I loved May's Asphalt: some more hidden gem's would be very interesting. Just hopefully not double-ups of Edition Filmmuseum's fine (albeit expensive) work!

[Michael Kerpan]

The only Lefebvre film I've seen is Les dernières fiançailles (1973). I thought it was interesting -- but it seemed like a much more conservative work than the films of Jutra and Groulx and Brault and Perrault.

[Tommaso]

I loved May's Asphalt: some more hidden gem's would be very interesting. Just hopefully not double-ups of Edition Filmmuseum's fine (albeit expensive) work!

Couldn't agree more. May's "Asphalt" is exactly the kind of overlooked German silent film I have in mind; and it should have found - well, I really hope so - a lot of customers in Germany, too, given that it was the only release of this film with German intertitles for a long time (I think it's now also available from divisa, but who would import this from Spain if it can be had from MoC?). "Der Schatz" or "Die freudlose Gasse" on the other hand would probably find very few customers in Germany, as both exist in editions that can hardly be bettered (and Filmmuseum's "Die freudlose Gasse" even has English subs, so that would even internationally diminish the customer base).

In other words, and even if I sound like a broken record again: get a hand on Grune, Pick, Gerlach or Schwarz, or if I'm allowed to dream, perhaps even some Harlan ("Opfergang"!!). I really think that MoC has established for itself such a good name that, similar to Criterion, people would be interested in any release from the label even if they've never heard of the name of the director before. And once they've actually seen the films, they will be convinced of their worthiness to be included in the MoC-collection anyway.

[Hail_Cesar]

The only Lefebvtr film I've seen is Les dernières fiançailles (1973). I thought it was interesting -- but it seemed like a much more conservative work than the films of Jutra and Groulx and Brault and Perrault.

What do you mean by "conservative"? I haven't see that one but I really don't think I could use the word conservative to talk about any of the 8 films I've seen from him...

(And since Harper, "conservative" sounds very bad in my ears )

If you speak french, you can watch Mon amie Pierrette on the NFB site...

[Frankinho007]

Due to your cooperation with Universal, maybe you can release some Robert Siodmak titles, like The Suspect, The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry or Phantom Lady. Lewis Allen's The Uninvited would be a nice addition, as well.

[Felix]

Biggest gap by far in DVD releases anywhere are Chen Kaige's first three films.

Yellow Earth, groundbreaking film of astonishing beauty, woke the world up to new Chinese cinema. scratchy bootleg.

The Big parade, not a great film but an amazing looking one, ripped from TV bootleg.

King Of The Children, another astonishing film, crap versi9n with English subs or slightly better version with Spanish subs.

Would make a wonderful Eclipse set. Unfortunately MoC are unlikely to go down the box set route after their experiences with Naruse but please, someone, FFS...

[eerik]

New catalog and announcements are coming in next few weeks, right?

[peerpee]

Definitely going to be activity in the week commencing 3rd October.

[swo17]

I was about to ask about the possibility of MoC releasing Yamanaka's Tange Sazen, but then found this post from four years ago:

I'd love to put out the remaining Yamanaka, one of my faves, but I heard that a certain other ace company was doing it, and didn't want to duplicate the effort.

Until then, the fan-sub of TANGE SAZEN is well worth picking up. It's pretty darn good (and the film is amazing). Hope this helps.

Obviously, no one else has touched this in the meantime. Any chance of MoC saving the day? [-o<

[peerpee]

Have you bugged our Skype?

[swo17]

I'm barely internet savvy enough to know what a Skype is, but I'll take your response to mean I'm on the right track! \:D/