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Orchestra Rehearsal for me - which, incidentally, I really liked...

... more than I did either I Vitelloni or 8 1/2.

Perhaps Il bidone would be a good entry point? It's a riveting film, and doesn't come with all the canonical baggage of the more obvious options.

La Strada has some good moments, but Masina's aping of the Chaplin persona is off-putting, especially given that she is suppose to be a talented clown despite being flatly unfunny. The unearned howls of laughter emanating from every audience she performs for is manipulative and a detriment to the film.

For me, La Dolce Vita is the all-out Fellini masterpiece, but it's more episodic than his earlier films and the three-hour length might be intimidating to newcomers to the director's canon. I would agree with others here that I Vitelloni or Nights of Cabiria might be the best place to start.

La Strada would be a better place to start than, say, 8 1/2, which was my first Fellini - I found it a bit overwhelming as a neophyte to his style.

Werewolf by Night wrote:My first Fellini was Satyricon . Don't start there.

That was not only my introduction to Fellini but my introduction to weird foreign movies.
I instantly became a fan of both.
Personally I prefer the visual extravagance of Fellini's Satyricon - Amarcord - Roma - Casanova period to the earlier, more realistic stuff.

Quick question - has Studio Canal been sitting on La Strada all this time (since they took back the rights from Criterion)? Except for 8 1/2, I would guess that it used to get more rentals/viewers than any of his other titles - they really dropped the ball by waiting this long. EDIT: never mind, I noticed a bare bones DVD is available in the States.

Anyway, regardless of your taste, La Strada should be seen if you want to know Fellini's work, as well as The White Sheik, The Nights of Cabiria (only available as a burn-on-demand title - pretty ridiculous considering the quality of Criterion's release, now OOP thanks to Studio Canal), I Vitelloni, La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, Roma and Amarcord.

It wouldn't surprise me if Criterion announces La Strada in next few months.

hearthesilence wrote:Quick question - has Studio Canal been sitting on La Strada all this time (since they took back the rights from Criterion)? Except for 8 1/2, I would guess that it used to get more rentals/viewers than any of his other titles - they really dropped the ball by waiting this long. EDIT: never mind, I noticed a bare bones DVD is available in the States.

Criterion's 2-disc special edition of La Strada is still in print. The film is still with Janus Films in the US.

hearthesilence wrote:Quick question - has Studio Canal been sitting on La Strada all this time (since they took back the rights from Criterion)? Except for 8 1/2, I would guess that it used to get more rentals/viewers than any of his other titles - they really dropped the ball by waiting this long. EDIT: never mind, I noticed a bare bones DVD is available in the States.

Anyway, regardless of your taste, La Strada should be seen if you want to know Fellini's work, as well as The White Sheik, The Nights of Cabiria (only available as a burn-on-demand title - pretty ridiculous considering the quality of Criterion's release, now OOP thanks to Studio Canal), I Vitelloni, La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, Roma and Amarcord.

"Nights of Cabiria" is still available on a DVD every bit as good as the Criterion from Studio Canal themselves. Although it is region 2.

dwk wrote:Criterion's 2-disc special edition of La Strada is still in print. The film is still with Janus Films in the US.

Ah, was way off - never mind then!

tojoed wrote:"Nights of Cabiria" is still available on a DVD every bit as good as the Criterion from Studio Canal themselves. Although it is region 2.

I noticed it was in-print elsewhere around the world, but it's still OOP here in the States. Good that a DVD with a good transfer can be had and region-free players are common, but really it should be put back into print in the U.S.

Blu-rays of Lola (Fassbinder), Loot, Diary of a Chambermaid (Buñuel), Tristana and Entertaining Mr. Sloane have been announced as forthcoming.

Some Jacques Becker coming on July 31st: Édouard et Caroline (1951), Casque d'or (1952), Touchez pas au grisbi (1954) and Le Trou (1960).

Le Trou is playing in a 4k restoration at Film Forum next month, so hopefully this release looks great.

Nice! I was wondering if these would ever get the HD treatment.

Saw the trailer for Le Trou last night and it looked strong. Grain seemed natural, not clumpy looking like in the Japanese blu-ray screen caps. Hopefully the blu-ray delivers.

Just watched the Studio Canal blu-ray release of La Strada. I haven't seen any
reviews so far so I thought I'd post a few thoughts.

I saw this projected and while the film was certainly watchable, the image appeared a
bit soft in places (with night scenes looking a bit muddy). There are also scenes shot
in bright sunshine where faces almost appear blasted out. On the other hand there
didn't to seem to be much evidence of DNR. I don't know what the state of the film's
source material is, but in comparing it to Criterion's DVD release it was somewhat
underwhelming, especially as the cover art proclaims it as a brand new restoration.

But overall, it's watchable with some interesting extras not on the Criterion disc
including an interview with Giulietta Masina at the Cannes Film Festival.

Caps A Holic shows the release to definitely be an upgrade, but certainly not a reference quality/knock-it-out-of-the-park upgrade. Wonder how much of this has to do with really bad encodes (like on The Man Who Fell To Earth).

I'm unsure if it's a poor encode or plain DNRed (I'd say the second option).

Studiocanal UK are releasing Blood Simple on Blu-Ray & DVD on October 30th, from the Criterion 4K master and allegedly (according to a user from the other forum) with the following extras:

- New interview with Joel & Ethan Coen
- New interview with M Emmett Walsh
- New interview with John Getz
- Criterion interview with Frances McDormand
- Investor trailer
- Intro by Mortimer Young

Some great releases are up for pre-order on amazon.co.uk:
Bunuel Boxset
Melville Boxset

And Hammer films on blu-ray:
Straight On Till Morning
Horror Of Frankenstein
To The Devil A Daughter
Demons Of The Mind
Fear In The Night
Blood From The Mummy's Tomb

But there's no trace of the Fassbinder Boxset. Was it cancelled, or just postponed?

How worthwhile are their Tatiana and Godard boxsets? I'm guessing the price will drop for these new boxes? And does Criterion have Le Samourai in the UK?

dda1996a wrote:How worthwhile are their Tatiana and Godard boxsets?

What is this Tatiana box set? Link?

You seemed to not be very happy with the box, that's why I was asking
What about the Tati? Couldn't find any comparisons online for it, only for the BFI/Criterion.
Does StudioCanal have other good director box sets?