1291 Return to Reason: Four Films by Man Ray

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#1 Post by **domino harvey** » Mon Sep 15, 2025 6:05 pm

The swirling surrealist dreams of Man Ray are high-water marks of 1920s avant-garde cinema, a nexus of cryptic themes, dark eroticism, and playful abstraction. Seemingly plucked from an unconscious realm, these four shorts—Le retour à la raison, Emak bakia, L’étoile de mer, and Les mystères du château du dé—find the visionary artist experimenting with the limitless possibilities of montage, superimposition, distortion, and even the application of objects directly onto celluloid. Set here to an ethereal score by the Jim Jarmusch–Carter Logan collaboration SQÜRL, these cine-poems are optical carnival rides that surprise, delight, and unsettle with each tantalizing frame.

New 4K digital restorations of all four films, featuring a score by SQÜRL presented in 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio
Interview with Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan, who form the avant-rock band SQÜRL
Concert from 2023 featuring SQÜRL performing its semi-improvised score to Man Ray’s films
Trailer
PLUS: An essay by author Mark Polizzotti

France
2023
70 minutes
Black and White/Color
1.33:1
French
Spine #1291

#2 Post by **domino harvey** » Mon Sep 15, 2025 6:09 pm

Did Criterion really cobble this together just to release footage of a vanity band’s concert?

knives · #3 Post by **knives** » Mon Sep 15, 2025 6:15 pm

I was going to say is there really nothing on Man Ray they could conceive of to add? How comically lame.

Red Screamer · #4 Post by **Red Screamer** » Mon Sep 15, 2025 6:34 pm

Yeah, I'm glad we're getting experimental shorts again, but Man Ray is a fascinating figure, and if we're not even gonna get any good extras on him, this would be better off as a Kino release you could pick up for $10. As for the films -- I like Emak bakia much more than the other shorts (though I also like L’étoile de mer, if I remember correctly) and unfortunately the worst film (Les mystères du château du dé) is also the longest. I saw these restorations theatrically with the score and don't remember the music being anything special.

Altair · #5 Post by **Altair** » Mon Sep 15, 2025 6:37 pm

It’s a great idea for a release - I really think Criterion ought to be leaning into releases that dovetail with artists and museums - but the execution is so underwhelming. Not a single extra on Man Ray? How is that possible?

DimitriL · #6 Post by **DimitriL** » Mon Sep 15, 2025 6:49 pm

(Never mind, misunderstood the post.)

tenia · #7 Post by **tenia** » Mon Sep 15, 2025 7:46 pm

Interestingly enough, we're getting a French release through Potemkine, and it looks like the sole extra related to the band will be a 4 min extract of a concert.
The other extra will be a 45 min interview with an historian around Man Ray and cinema.

#8 Post by **zedz** » Mon Sep 15, 2025 7:56 pm

Great to see more experimental work from Criterion, though these films don't really float my boat. But could they have made it any more obvious that they're only doing this because Jim Jarmusch was twisting their arm?

Jarmusch: "Sorry, Criterion, but you can't have The Dead Don't Die unless you release my band's video first."
Criterion: "Okay! Okay! We'll do the Man Ray thing! But please don't make us do The Dead Don't Die!"

hearthesilence · #9 Post by **hearthesilence** » Mon Sep 15, 2025 8:19 pm

It's pretty ludicrous to suggest Criterion is somehow doing this as a favor for Jim Jarmusch. First off, SQÜRL has been performing live to these films for over TEN years. I'm pretty sure I saw them in either 2014 or 2015 at one such show, and it was a long time before anyone restored these films - it wasn't like there was some greater plan to do anything more than perform live music to them at the occasional show. I do wish there were more extras (that 45 minute interview tenia mentioned would have been nice), but tbh I'm not sure these films are highly regarded despite Man Ray's lofty reputation. Amy Taubin even said she was never a fan of these films, but she did enjoy seeing these with the new score when they played at IFC last year.

#10 Post by **domino harvey** » Mon Sep 15, 2025 8:26 pm

hearthesilence wrote: Mon Sep 15, 2025 8:19 pm It's pretty ludicrous to suggest Criterion is somehow doing this as a favor for Jim Jarmusch. First off, SQÜRL has been performing live to these films for over TEN years.

Truly, so what? If it was not done as a favor to Jarmusch, that’s even worse. Whoever produced this disc could not or would not look beyond focusing the on-disc extras solely around a modern score and not the films themselves. This is the first boondoggle Criterion release we’ve had in a while, but it sure is one

hearthesilence · #11 Post by **hearthesilence** » Mon Sep 15, 2025 8:32 pm

domino harvey wrote: Mon Sep 15, 2025 8:26 pm Truly, so what? If it was not done as a favor to Jarmusch, that’s even worse. Whoever produced this disc could not or would not look beyond focusing the on-disc extras solely around a modern score and not the films themselves. This is the first boondoggle Criterion release we’ve had in a while, but it sure is one

I mean, did you read the part where I said "I do wish there were more extras (that 45 minute interview tenia mentioned would have been nice)"? But yeah, I've seen you complain about other releases for similar reasons too.

#12 Post by **Matt** » Mon Sep 15, 2025 8:57 pm

Only 70 minutes worth of films and it’s still $40. Cinema studies departments all over the country will be excited about this. The number of times I had to watch these for a class…

denti alligator · #13 Post by **denti alligator** » Mon Sep 15, 2025 9:09 pm

I love these films, so I'm happy to have them in the new restoration. The music is fine. More extras would have been nice.

Saturnome · #14 Post by **Saturnome** » Mon Sep 15, 2025 9:19 pm

Could have been an occasion to include Henri Chomette's similar films which were shown with Emak Bakia back then. That would add a few minutes to this release.

How do I get Jim Jarmusch to rock over Dimitri Kirsanoff's films?

Peacock · #15 Post by **Peacock** » Mon Sep 15, 2025 9:34 pm

Weird, I was just reading up on these films earlier today and checking which of his work I already have in my collection or not. But like some others in this thread, I can’t say any of them blew me away years ago when I saw them.

But still, great to see Criterion putting out some experimental films for the first time in a while!
More please.

Mr.DarjeelingLimited · Mon Sep 15, 2025 10:38 pm

Good lord why can’t they put actual Man Ray stuff on the disc.

DeprongMori · #17 Post by **DeprongMori** » Mon Sep 15, 2025 10:49 pm

I’m thrilled that they are doing some Man Ray, but it is pretty pathetic that there is zero supplemental material about the films themselves or Man Ray himself.

This is not a Man Ray release. This is a SQÜRL release. It makes me a bit sad.

And if they were wanting to do a Jim Jarmusch release, I’d rather they did an actual Jim Jarmusch release (though not The Dead Don’t Die).

tenia · #18 Post by **tenia** » Tue Sep 16, 2025 5:22 pm

I received the Potemkine BD. The restorations seem fine in themselves (for silent movies), but I'm surprised to see the shorts are running at 16fps (ABB BCC and so on). It's 69 min 06, so it matches the 70 min runtime advertised by Criterion.

Stefan Andersson · Mon Oct 20, 2025 6:40 pm

Review of Potemkine edition:
https://testsbluray.com/2025/10/19/test ... la-raison/

Stefan Andersson · Sun Nov 30, 2025 4:29 pm

domino harvey wrote: Mon Sep 15, 2025 6:05 pm The swirling surrealist dreams of Man Ray are high-water marks of 1920s avant-garde cinema, a nexus of cryptic themes, dark eroticism, and playful abstraction. Seemingly plucked from an unconscious realm, these four shorts—Le retour à la raison, Emak bakia, L’étoile de mer, and Les mystères du château du dé—find the visionary artist experimenting with the limitless possibilities of montage, superimposition, distortion, and even the application of objects directly onto celluloid. Set here to an ethereal score by the Jim Jarmusch–Carter Logan collaboration SQÜRL, these cine-poems are optical carnival rides that surprise, delight, and unsettle with each tantalizing frame.

New 4K digital restorations of all four films, featuring a score by SQÜRL presented in 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio
Interview with Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan, who form the avant-rock band SQÜRL
Concert from 2023 featuring SQÜRL performing its semi-improvised score to Man Ray’s films
Trailer
PLUS: An essay by author Mark Polizzotti

France
2023
70 minutes
Black and White/Color
1.33:1
French
Spine #1291

Restoration specifications:

RETURN TO REASON

Man Ray

1923-1929, 1h10, USA

Retour à la raison, Man Ray, 1923:

4K restoration made by the Womanray Foundation with the support of the Cinémathèque Française at L'Image Retrouvée/L'Immagine Ritrovata in 2023.

The main element used was a nitrate mute positive owned by the Cinémathèque Française

L'étoile de mer, Man Ray, 1928:

4K restoration made by the Womanray Foundation with the support of the Cinémathèque Française at L'Image Retrouvée/L'Immagine Ritrovata in 2023.

The main element used was a nitrate mute positive belonging to the Cinémathèque Française.

Emak Bakia, Man Ray, 1926:

4K restoration carried out at L'Image Retrouvée/L'Immagine Ritrovata in 2023.

The main element used was a nitrate mute positive belonging to the Library of Congress.

Les Mystères du Chateau de Dé, Man Ray, 1929:

2K scan done at Image Retrouvée/L'Immagine Ritrovata in 2023.

The main element used was a 3rd generation mute positive belonging to the Centre Pompidou.

The 4 films form a single work Return to Reason, whose music was produced and recorded by "Sqürl":

Guitar, synthesizer, loops: Jim Jarmusch

Synthesizer, percussion, loops: Carter Logan

Source:
https://www.immagineritrovata.asia/web/en/news.php

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