Eclipse Discussion and Random Speculation

[dwk]

The picture used onhe Home Theater Forum's post of the press release has the e.

[PfR73]

Also in the pipeline are sets devoted to the early films of Ruben Östlund

This is pretty irritatingly disappointing since these films have existing bonus features, which are on the Curzon box; but that box (if one could even still find it) forces you to overpay for the tat and the poor discs of Force Majeure & Triangle of Sadness.

[Captain Paranoia]

I'm curious how many of the earlier releases will be upgraded to HD. The Ozu and Kurosawa sets seem like no-brainers, though obviously not titles already upgraded to the main line.

[Yakushima]

They have a backlog of films from Muratova, Chytilová, Zetterling, Eustache, Rozier, Itami. Maybe even the Bimal Roy restorations. I'd love to see all of these in the new Eclipse line.

Muratova and Itami Eclipse boxes would be amazing. I would also love to see a box of Satoshi Miki best comedies upgraded to Blu-ray (including Adrift in Tokyo, In za pûru, Turtles Are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers, and Instant Swamp). One can dream!

[Finch]

One of my dream releases would be a boxset of The Magic Hour (2008) and other Koki Mitani comedies. I should drop Imogen Smith a hint!

[yoloswegmaster]

I could see the Bigas Lunas films being released in a Eclipse set as well.

[beamish14]

I could see the Bigas Lunas films being released in a Eclipse set as well.

They deserve so much more. There’s a guy in Spain with a podcast dedicated to his works who, I think, wrote his Ph.D thesis on him

[TechnicolorAcid]

Very excited for the Eclipse revival, maybe the best announcement this whole year (in a year full of big ones). My biggest wishes will be for the Roziers, the missing Eustaches, the other Youssef Chahine films and the Rene Clair films under Janus to finally be released.

[andyli]

Very excited for the Eclipse revival, maybe the best announcement this whole year (in a year full of big ones). My biggest wishes will be for the Roziers, the missing Eustaches, the other Youssef Chahine films and the Rene Clair films under Janus to finally be released.

The René Clair films have had spine numbers long since. It would have set a precedent a main line DVD title gets ‘downgraded’ to eclipse Blu-ray.

[Tuppence]

I very much hope the upgraded Lubitsch Musicals set will now include The Merry Widow, since the relationship with Warner is so solid.

[TechnicolorAcid]

Very excited for the Eclipse revival, maybe the best announcement this whole year (in a year full of big ones). My biggest wishes will be for the Roziers, the missing Eustaches, the other Youssef Chahine films and the Rene Clair films under Janus to finally be released.

The René Clair films have had spine numbers long since. It would have set a precedent a main line DVD title gets ‘downgraded’ to eclipse Blu-ray.

There appears to be a couple of lesser known Rene Clair films that Janus distributes now so I wouldn’t be surprised if those films got featured in a new Eclipse set although I do think there might be a chance of it getting a Criterion box set.

[Finch]

Anyone know if the films in the Fuller Eclipse set ever had an HD release? I'd love to have The Steel Helmet on a decent looking Blu-ray. Criterion still seem to have a good relationship with Disney (not just Wes Anderson but also the rumors of French Connection coming soon) so we could see some Fox catalogue titles from Criterion at least.

[therewillbeblus]

I imagine the Nikkatsu Noir set will be an easy selling upgrade

[Finch]

I'd buy it if Radiance don't get to do A Colt Is My Passport and Take Aim At The Police Van first since they've already covered I Am Waiting and Cruel Gun Story.

[tolbs1010]

Smart move bringing back Eclipse. There were definitely some sets that I considered buying blind, but the DVD format made it less compelling. Of the few that I did purchase, the one I would most like to see upgraded is William Klein.

An early Mike Leigh set would be a most welcome addition. Not aware of any region 1 or even UK blus for those.

[andyli]

It remains to be seen whether they make eclipse sets a monthly regular thing. With all the suggestions it seems pretty easy to have 12 great releases for a year.

[Lowry_Sam]

Director-based noir sets would be nice, although Kino's haphazard noir boxes probably puts a damper on that. Hopefully they use the series to bring some of the French boxes of French directors to an English audience. I'm hoping for Delannoy, Gremillon & maybe we finally get more Dino Risi, Il Sorpasso was released over 10 years ago!

[rrenault]

If you’re like me, you loved Criterion’s Eclipse line because it brought you rare gems you’d been searching for and introduced you to films you didn’t know—including some by your favorite filmmakers. Criterion is relaunching Eclipse this November, as a Blu-ray line, and I’m thrilled to announce that I will be the series editor. We’re going to be upgrading some of the most popular titles as well as producing brand-new sets, and we’ll be kicking off the series relaunch with a new release of Abbas Kiarostami’s early films. This deep dive into the prolific and wide-ranging first two decades of the director’s career will include playful shorts made for children, probing feature-length documentaries on education, and exquisite narrative masterpieces about adolescent longing and disappointment.

In the coming months, you can look forward to Eclipse sets of the six extraordinary features directed by Kinuyo Tanaka, Japan’s first successful woman director; and five searingly radical documentaries from the husband-and-wife team of Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi. And we’ll get you singing and dancing with Blu-ray upgrades of Carlos Saura’s electrifying Flamenco Trilogy and Ernst Lubitsch’s joyously risqué pre-Code musicals. Also in the pipeline are sets devoted to the early films of Ruben Östlund and the revolutionary cinema of Sara Gómez.

With the relaunch of the Eclipse line, Criterion reaffirms its commitment to making the full richness of film history accessible with the reliable permanence of physical media. Each release will use the best available materials and feature an essay in which an expert shares historical context and insight about the films.

The standard cinema canon has been shaped—and sometimes misshapen—by what films are available. In a vicious cycle, films that can’t be seen are forgotten, and hence less likely to be restored. Preservation and access, on the other hand, form a virtuous cycle, spurring rediscovery and further efforts to ensure the survival of a fragile medium. Alongside the ever-expanding Criterion Channel, Eclipse is once again fostering this rediscovery, serving as an enduring home for deep cuts and hidden treasures. Follow us on Instagram, X, Facebook, and Letterboxd and subscribe to our newsletter to ensure you receive our future Eclipse announcements.

This is great news! I’m wondering if Antonioni’s Il Grido and Bresson’s Four Nights of a Dreamer will get mainline releases of if they’ll find ways to fit them into an Eclipse Blu-ray set.

[eerik]

I could see the Bigas Lunas films being released in a Eclipse set as well.

That's what I fear now, but surely Jamón jamón, prominently starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, is big enough for the main line. It forms a trilogy with two other films, so release it as a trilogy boxset, with other "lesser" films as special features if you will.

[Maltic]

Anyone know if the films in the Fuller Eclipse set ever had an HD release? I'd love to have The Steel Helmet on a decent looking Blu-ray. Criterion still seem to have a good relationship with Disney (not just Wes Anderson but also the rumors of French Connection coming soon) so we could see some Fox catalogue titles from Criterion at least.

The 3 titles from that set (the others I Shot Jesse James and The Baron of Arizona) appear on my Most Wanted Upgrades list, so I think not, although my lists have been wrong/outdated before...

[domino harvey]

The Fuller set just came back into print. If they were preparing to upgrade it they presumably wouldn’t have bothered

[Maltic]

What is this, Shout Factory?

Edit: Well, I guess Shout would have reprinted/re-released, and then upgraded.

[Matt]

Bresson’s Four Nights of a Dreamer

I'm not sure what they could put with it in an Eclipse set. The Film Desk has the rights to his two subsequent films, Lancelot du lac and Le diable, probablement, and the film prior, Une femme douce, might as well be a lost film at this point. A grab bag of Bresson titles Criterion has not yet upgraded from DVD or never released on disc (Jeanne d'Arc, Les anges du péché) would be awkward but still welcome.

[Murdoch]

I'd like to take credit for this revival as, after years of dragging my feet, I bought the Kurahara and Gorin sets, believing Eclipse was dead as a doornail.

The most excited I've been about a Criterion announcement in a while, and now I'll have the motivation to finish my Kobayashi set.

[Matt]

I've been hoping for/expecting a Complete Ozu box set, but now I can see Criterion just redoing the three Eclipse Ozu sets and continuing to occasionally upgrade mainline titles, maybe adding additional features as supplements.