Emir Kusturica

[kieslowski_67]

The title is probably misleading. I know most people will probably say "underground". I am actually wondering whether anyone on this board loves his "Dom za vesanje" (time of the gypsies, 1988)? And is there a DVD release with great transfer available? I know that there is a 2D release from Russia that does not carry English subtitles. And the transfer quality is subpar.

Thanks!

[tavernier]

The title is probably misleading. I know most people will probably say "underground". I am actually wondering whether anyone on this board loves his "Dom za vesanje" (time of the gypsies, 1988)? And is there a DVD release with great transfer available? I know that there is a 2D release from Russia that does not carry English subtitles. And the transfer quality is subpar.

Thanks!

Time of the Gypsies is wonderful,although his masterpiece still remains When Father Was Away on Business. (I'd love to see the full-length Underground, however, which I believe was 5 hours long!)

There currently is no DVD of Gypsies with English subs, as far as I'm aware.

[Antoine Doinel]

I also really liked Time Of The Gypsies when I saw it on VHS many moons ago.

But I'm really waiting for a decent R1 release of Arizona Dream. I want it just for Vincent Gallo's North By Northwest sequence alone. That, and his bathtub speech are priceless.

[kieslowski_67]

Time of the Gypsies is wonderful,although his masterpiece still remains When Father Was Away on Business. (I'd love to see the full-length Underground, however, which I believe was 5 hours long!)

I am looking for a decent transfer of "when father was away on business" but to no vain. I own both the Koch Lorber release and a Korean DVD but the transfer quality is well subpar in both cases.

[kieslowski_67]

But I'm really waiting for a decent R1 release of Arizona Dream. I want it just for Vincent Gallo's North By Northwest sequence alone. That, and his bathtub speech are priceless.

The Studio Canal 2D set of "Arizona dream" is wonderful and only cost about 10 Euros on Amazon.com.fr

http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B ... 57-5175456

[tavernier]

Time of the Gypsies is wonderful,although his masterpiece still remains When Father Was Away on Business. (I'd love to see the full-length Underground, however, which I believe was 5 hours long!)

I am looking for a decent transfer of "when father was away on business" but to no vain. I own both the Koch Lorber release and a Korean DVD but the transfer quality is well subpar in both cases.

Yes you're right - and the KL Father is not even 16x9; what about their Do You Remember Dolly Bell?

Also, do you have any versions of Black Cat White Cat, and what do you recommend? (I know AE just released one last month.)

[kieslowski_67]

Also, do you have any versions of Black Cat White Cat, and what do you recommend? (I know AE just released one last month.)

AE version > TFI version.

[tavernier]

Also, do you have any versions of Black Cat White Cat, and what do you recommend? (I know AE just released one last month.)

AE version > TFI version.

Is the AE very good, or just better than a lousy TFI version?

[Antoine Doinel]

But I'm really waiting for a decent R1 release of Arizona Dream. I want it just for Vincent Gallo's North By Northwest sequence alone. That, and his bathtub speech are priceless.

The Studio Canal 2D set of "Arizona dream" is wonderful and only cost about 10 Euros on Amazon.com.fr

http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B ... 57-5175456

Alas, I'm am currently without a non-region DVD player. A problem I hope to remedy sooner rather than later.

[kieslowski_67]

Also, do you have any versions of Black Cat White Cat, and what do you recommend? (I know AE just released one last month.)

AE version > TFI version.

Is the AE very good, or just better than a lousy TFI version?

Very good. It's also way better than the Japanese version.

[Kay Hoog]

Loved time of the Gypsies

but my favorite has to be black cat, white cat for its sheer anarchic energy and crazy humour in fact one of my all time feel-good favorites.

Just bought the AE life is a miracle 2-disc special edition. Some good moments, but not first class Kusturica



BTW Arizona Dream (DVD) £6.99 @Benson's world

[skuhn8]

definitely Black Cat, White Cat. Saw this in the cinema in Budapest when it came out and even though my Hungarian was very scratchy at the time...well still is...the film just floored me. Pure energy. I have the Hungarian DVD, and even though it lacks English subs I pop it on when I've had a few. Second for me would be Arizona Dream. Very poetic film. Actually makes me not hate Vincent Gallo (ok, his website helped me not hate him as well) To be honest, not a big fan of Underground, though I should revisit it. One viewing is not enough with something like that but kids make viewing without interruption a thorough bitch!

[tavernier]

One viewing is not enough with something like that but kids make viewing without interruption a thorough bitch!

So get rid of them for a few hours!

[tavernier]

AE version > TFI version.

Is the AE very good, or just better than a lousy TFI version?

Very good. It's also way better than the Japanese version.

Glad to hear it - I'll have to add that to my "buy" list from bensons.

[kieslowski_67]

Glad that there is some Kusturica fan on this board. He is my favorite European director in the last 30 years behind Kieslowski, and arguably Angelopoulos and Von Trier. "Time of the gypsies" is pure poetry while "white cat, black cat", like some mentioned, is pure energy. I am not that crazy on "life is a miracle". It is good, but very average Kusturica.

[tavernier]

Glad that there is some Kusturica fan on this board. He is my favorite European director in the last 30 years behind Kieslowski, and arguably Angelopoulos and Von Trier. "Time of the gypsies" is pure poetry while "white cat, black cat", like some mentioned, is pure energy. I am not that crazy on "life is a miracle". It is good, but very average Kusturica.

I actually haven't seen Miracle yet - I have the AE disc, but I just haven't gotten around to watching it. As a Serb friend of mine told me after we saw Black Cat, "He's a nut, but I love his shit!"

[Dylan]

I've only seen "Underground," which I really enjoyed (particularly for its distinctive energy and excellent soundtrack...I wish the New Yorker transfer was better though), but I really want to get more into him. I'm thinking of taking the plunge and buying the R2s of "Black Cat, White Cat," "Life is a Miracle" (which looks wonderful from the trailer, despite what some are saying here), and "Arizona Dream." He's unfairly mis-represented in R1 land (like so many other directors), but his films look great.

Netflix has "Dolly Bell" and "When Father Was Away on Business." "Time of the Gypsies" has a boot on eBay with English subtitles, probably from the VHS.

[zone_resident]

DVD Times has the reviews of recent Artifical Eye releases:
When Father Was Away on Business
Do You Remember Dolly Bell?

These suggest that an upgrade from the not-so-good New Yorker R1 releases isn't necessary..
Hope these films will have better DVD representations, sometime in the future, in some region.

[Cinetwist]

My favourite is Arizona Dream, by far. From what I've seen, I'm pretty sure it's maligned by people because it's in English. It's by far his most distinct film that I've seen, his most anarchic but also his most tight and well structured film. (Note I've only seen this, Do You Remember Dolly Bell, When Father Was Away on Business and Underground, which I believe to be his worst of those, possibly because it was too ambitious).

It's the only one that I'd call a masterpiece and that truly blew me away. It's certainly my idea of a perfect film and I've never seen anything like it and doubt I ever will.

[Dylan]

Although I still need to see "Life is a Miracle," "Time of the Gypsies," and "Dolly Bell," my favorite is also "Arizona Dream."

Spoilers below.

When Johnny Depp, Faye Dunaway, Lili Taylor, and Vincent Gallo are all sitting around in the living room, telling stories and singing Besame Mucho with the accordions and guitars going, it felt extremely warm and enchanting, as did Depp and Taylor's final scene alone (which is very beautifully written). And Gallo is brilliant here. When he does his impersonation of the “North by Northwestâ€

[Dylan]

A question for those of you who own the UK "Arizona Dream" DVD (spoiler for those who haven't seen the film). Is the final scene subtitled? I have the French two disc, which I obtained through a trade, and while it's a wonderful set that final scene isn't subtitled in English, nor do subtitles show up when you put the French subtitles on. However, apparently, on some regions, you can get English subtitles for the final exchange (which involves, among other things, one of them, Depp or Lewis, talking in their made-up language about 'the nightmare that separates children from adults,' which sounds very cool). The dialogue is online, but I'm not sure if any of the available DVDs subtitle the ending, as whatever's online could've been taken from the VHS. This film remains, by far still, my favorite Kusturica and if there is an edition available with subs for the final scene I'd like to see it.

As an aside, I just saw "Life is a Miracle" today, which I thought was a lovely film with a strong plotline that does a great job balancing the tragi-comic, and an amazing soundtrack.

And, anybody know a good DVD source for "Super 8 Stories," Emir's documentary about his band "The No Smoking Orchestra?" The only copy I can find is on eBay, and it's $30, which I won't spend. Is there another release floating around out there with English subtitles?

[kieslowski_67]

The ones floating on Ebay are pretty much the only version available for "super 8 stories". It has decent transfer and English subtitles.

[Dylan]

Thank you kieslowski, I'll have to check it out someday as I'm a big fan of his band and I think I'd really enjoy it.

So, does nobody have the UK "Arizona Dream" DVD? Is the final scene supposed to have subtitles or were they added just for the American release (hence only on the VHS, which is some 24 minutes shorter than the European release). I'm guessing they were added for the American release since the French DVD doesn't have French subs for that scene either.

Another question...has anybody read any of the books on Emir Kusturica?

http://www.amazon.com/Emir-Kusturica/dp ... 66?ie=UTF8

http://www.amazon.com/-Cinema-Emir-Kust ... 66?ie=UTF8

[Numero Trois]

R1 - When Father Was Away on Business, Do You Remember Dolly Bell, Underground, Arizona Dream (Warner Archive)

I think it's best to start with his earlier available films(Do You Remember Dolly Bell?; When Father Was Away on Business, Time of the Gypsies) than with Arizona Dream. Although a lot of people do seem to swear by the latter. I saw it exactly once ten years ago and wasn't taken by it. Underground is highly worthwhile and impossible to forget.

Time of the Gypsies I don't think is available

It can viewed here with English subs. There's also a German DVD available, but the listing doesn't say if English subs are available. Oddly enough, it is available via Amazon Watch Instantly for ten bucks. Lastly, there's an Asian(bootleg?) edition available on Ebay.

[toddly6666]

It has taken many frustrating years, but as of 2010, all of Emir Kusturica's films are now available on home video with English subtitles!

The best English-subtitled DVD/Blu-ray versions of Kusturica's films are as follows:

1. Underground: USA NTSC or UK PAL dvds
2. Do you Remember Dolly Bell: USA NTSC or UK PAL dvds
3. When Father Was Away On Business: USA NTSC or UK PAL dvds
4. Time of the Gypsies: Korea NTSC All-Region dvd
5. Arizona Dream: France PAL dvd or France Blu-ray
6. Black Cat, White Cat: Australia PAL dvd
7. Super 8 Stories: China NTSC All-Region dvd, France PAL dvd (out-of-print)
8. Life Is A Miracle: UK PAL dvd
9. Maradona: Australia PAL dvd
10. Promise Me This: Taiwan NTSC Region 3 dvd