Manoel de Oliveira on DVD

[Fiery Angel]

Museum of the Moving Image in Queens celebrates its grand re-opening in January with many screenings, including "a rare screening of Manoel de Oliveira’s five-hour masterpiece Doomed Love in a restored print."

[ola t]

Ordered and received the Aniki Bóbó DVD. Quality looks excellent at first (very quick) glance. Perhaps it's worth mentioning that only the feature itself has English subtitles -- none of the extras do, although Douro, Faina Fluvial doesn't need them since it is silent and title-less (except for one introductory title which I think only appears in one of the three versions).

[John Cope]

An excellent close reading and systematic analysis of Oliveira's classic early short film, A Caca (The Hunt). The short film itself is available via this page or Vimeo direct with either embedded subs or sub files easily available elsewhere if you know where to look, which, it goes without saying, is well worth doing.

[zedz]

I should mention here that the BluRay of The Strange Case of Angelica is easily one of the releases of the year. Superb transfer and a Criterion-level extras package (and by that I mean proper Criterion, not just 'Criterion of 2011'), with all of the extras illuminating different aspects of the feature. Particularly valuable is the passage in the fine Cineastes de notre temps episode from the 90s in which de Oliveira outlines the story for Angelica (which he'd been planning to make for decades) and reveals its basis in his own experience: a fantastic window into artistic inspiration.

Also, coming back to Angelica after making my way through that massive '100 Years' box set, I'm convinced that it's one of the director's greatest films.

[Michael Kerpan]

The Angelica set also has an utterly ravishing transfer of de Oliveira's very first film -- which I liked even more than Angelica (which I liked a whole lot, mind you).

[knives]

Also, coming back to Angelica after making my way through that massive '100 Years' box set, I'm convinced that it's one of the director's greatest films.

Admittedly I've seen a paltry seven but I surely agree with you on this. I also love in regards to the Blu how Cinema Guild seemed to be working the extras around a thesis, so of like how did he get here. The inclusion of the first film of course indicates this, but even the commentary seems to explore what in Oliveira's life made him go from this silent proto-realist to whatever you want to call his recent work. It's a wonderful way to build a DVD and I hope that more are built like this.

[Stefan Andersson]

Oliveira´s Le soulier de satin has been announced for DVD release Marc 6 in France. 410 minutes, 4:3 format, no English subs. The screenplay, as published in the Avant-Scène du Cinema magazine, is included in PDF form. More info in French here.

[whaleallright]

Wow, I remember Paolo Branco's company, once upon a time, promising THE SATIN SLIPPER would be released in 2005 (!). All things in good time

[Stefan Andersson]

Oliveira´s Amor Perdicao will be released on DVD in Portugal later in the year, along with earlier versions (1943, 1921), following a few 35mm showings scheduled for March, April and November. This is one of the tie-ins (the others are non-cinema-related) with the 150th anniversary of the novel "Amor Perdicao", and a book, "Memories of Prison", both by Camilo Castelo Branco.

On April 1, Oliveira will attend a theatrical showing of Amor Perdicao in Guimaraes, European Capital of Culture 2012. Showings in Guimaraes will include both the TV version and the reedited cinema version, using different takes. Sounds like this film is now receiving serious rerelease treatment.

All according to recent online info in Portuguese.

BTW, I just saw a photo of Oliveira receiving his latest honorary doctorate. He looked as fit as ever.

[knives]

Please update if you find out there are English subs on the disc. Thanks greatly.

[Stefan Andersson]

Oliveira will shoot his contribution to the Guimaraes anthology film Histories of Cinema on April 23-28. Casting call is out for extras, 16-75 years old, of various nationalities.

No shooting dates fixed yet for Oliveira´s upcoming feature project A Igreja do Diabo (The Church of the Devil) according to a Brazilian online article (March 28).

According to Portugese TV news from Guimaraes, Oliveira is working a project in Brazil (Igreja I assume) and another, unnamed, in Spain (perhaps the documentary on the architect Álvaro Siza mentioned in El Pais last year).

[Stefan Andersson]

Oliveira is now shooting his part of the anthology film in Guimaraes. It´s supposed to run 20 minutes in the finished film. The story concerns a conquistador visiting the city and meeting a tourist guide (Ricardo Trepa).

Brief info in Portuguese plus a few on location photos here:
http://www.guimaraesdigital.com/index.p" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... s&id=48514
http://radiofundacao.net/informacao/cul ... -guimaraes" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Quite a few lively photos here, with Oliveira looking spry as usual:
http://www.guimaraes2012.pt/index.php?cat=48&item=42822" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Brief on location video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGRTm79vx6w" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The April dates I mentioned above must have been for the casting call only.

Preparing this shoot must have been at least one cause as to Oliveira not making a personal appearance at Cannes this year.

[Stefan Andersson]

Oliveira´s new French-language film Gebo et l´ombre now scheduled for the Venice Film Festival according to online Italian and Portuguese press releases, for example this one:
http://cinesplendor.com.br/novo-longa-m ... ro-poster/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Frances]

Pics taken today at portuguese Fnac - http://www.fnac.pt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Did you buy the last copy? The fuckers have it as 'Indisponivel' on the website

[domino harvey]

They probably ran out of dildo boxes to ship it in

[Frances]

I didn't buy it, not that interested. It was the only copy.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Maybe you should have snapped it up, if for nothing else than to turn a trick. It's going for double that amount elsewhere.

[zedz]

Did you buy the last copy? The fuckers have it as 'Indisponivel' on the website

It has been "indisponivel" on its website for a very long time - until it isn't. I had to wait patiently for more than a year, checking back every so often until I found it available, then I pounced (sometime last year). So don't give up hope.

[Frances]

Maybe you should have snapped it up, if for nothing else than to turn a trick. It's going for double that amount elsewhere.

I don't have €150 to spare like that ;)

But if anyone wants it, i can help.

[Stefan Andersson]

Trailer for Gebo et l´ombre: http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/trailer- ... the-shadow" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
French dialogue, Portuguese subtitles. Portuguese actors seem dubbed into French. Trailer music excerpted from Violin Concerto in D Minor, op. 47, by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Music in the film is composed by Shostakovitch and Busoni (probably the Italian Ferruccio Busoni) according to this early French review:
http://www.avoir-alire.com/gebo-et-l-ombre-la-critique" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Stills gallery (almost similar to trailer): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8ID2ZDKWoo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The film will be previewed Sept. 6, at the Cinematheque Francaise, attended by Oliveira and several cast members, as kickoff for an Oliveira retrospective. Program in French: http://www.cinematheque.fr/data/museo/c ... 000297.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regular opening in Paris Sept. 27 (distr. Epicentre Films) and Sept. 27 in Portugal (distr. ZON Audiovisual, Lusomundo).

In July, MO spent around a week in hospital in Oporto for a respiratory infection and heart failure. He was discharged on doctors´ orders to return to hospital for fysiotherapy sessions. He expects to get back to work shooting A Igreja do Diabo (The Devil´s Church) in Brazil.

[John Cope]

Someone put up all of Satin Slipper (with English subs) in three parts on YouTube right prior to its re-unveiling at the NYFF. Not an ideal way to see it, of course, but if you can't attend the fest and have no other recourse (and there aren't many others yet) it will suffice. Just prepare yourself for the duration and the demands.

[knives]

Thanks, I wish more of his older films were available.

[Stefan Andersson]

Press kit (in French) for Gebo available: http://www.epicentrefilms.com/fichier/1 ... presse.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Contains several interviews with Oliveira and the actors.

[Stefan Andersson]

Wednesday, Sept. 19: Oliveira appears in person in Lissabon, before the General Assembly of the Republic, giving a short speech before a screening of Gebo and the Shadow and an outdoor screening of Aniki-Bobo:
http://cinema.sapo.pt/magazine/noticia/ ... assembleia" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - gallery of nine photos
http://m.publico.pt/Detail/1563769" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.dn.pt/inicio/artes/interior. ... cao=Cinema" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Oliveira looks frail, but, anyway, encouraging news following his brief hospitalization in July and his non-appearances at the Venice Film Festival and the Paris preview of Gebo, due either to health issues or to pre-production on his new film The Devil´s Church, most likely a bit of both.