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Hey, I'm new here. Gonna start with a really long post:



My Asian Recommendations

Since everyone's constantly barking about underrepresented female filmmakers - see this year's Cannes festival ruckus - I will throw the name of Vietnamese filmmaker VIET LINH, especially as Vietnamese cinema (not to be confused with foreign films made in or about Vietnam, like American war films or those of French-Vietnamese Tran Anh Hung) is nonexistent on DVD anywhere. Here is an interview with Linh:

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/apr20 ... -a21.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Of course, whether Second Run or anyone else could ever dig up Vietnamese films, even fairly recent ones, is a question.

Also early "5th Generation" Chinese films, particularly the pre-International Breakthrough CHEN KAIGE films, like The King of Children, which I have heard is masterful. WU TIANMING scored a small international success with his great King of Masks, and even a (cropped) Sony DVD release of that film in the States, but his early films are also worth seeing, like Zhang Yimou-starring The Old Well. I still don't think TIAN ZHUANGZHUANG's Horse Thief has seen anything approaching a decent DVD release, and there are a few other interesting possibilities from this filmmaker. JIANG WEN's In the Heat of the Sun has only been released on DVD in Japan, far as I know.

From Korea, I know that PARK KWANG-SU was considered one of the major talents of the Korean New Wave. A few have been released and quickly gone out of print in Korea. Two are surprisingly available complete on Youtube with English subs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cmtZ4XY ... ton&wide=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nGI-NJ3 ... ton&wide=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), but To the Starry Island, for example, just can't be found.

If I had to pick one movie from anywhere on Earth that I'd like to see again it's Korean filmmaker Bae Yong-kyun's strange, mesmerizing The People in White which imagines the burying of tradition by the rapid modernization of the country as a man just released from prison who returns home only to find there's a massive abandoned factory where his village used to be, and wanders like a ghost through it. In an interview Bae said that after his masterful Buddhist film Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? (which, like People in White he wrote, shot, directed, and edited himself) he'd said all he had to say, so I was surprised to find that he made another film, and I think this one's just as impressive, if not more so.

ANN HUI is a fine filmmaker from Hong Kong who has been making films since 1979. I still don't think her Boat People has ever seen a DVD release, though there may be an obscure one in HK.

From Taiwan, there are a number of impressive films made by people who aren't Hou Hsiao-hsien, Tsai Ming-liang, and Edward Yang. Let me add to the voices for Wu Nien-jen's A Borrowed Life, already suggested a few times here, which sounds amazing, as well as the same director's Buddha Bless America. Other interesting possibilities: Wan Jen's Super Citizen Ko and Hsu Hsiao-ming's Heartbreak Island

Second Run doesn't seem to do much pre-1960s works, but there's a whole world of buried old Japanese treasures out there: Kinoshita, Toyoda, Masumura, Ichikawa, Gosho...

From Europe, Second Run's already released the one movie I've wanted to see again for years, Larks on a String - yeah! - as well as a number of other fine choices. And of course there are a number of other terrific European suggestions here, I just thought I'd plug for the Far East a bit. And I'll add a name to the fray I haven't seen mentioned yet: early French Otar Iosseliani, much of which is available in France, in French, but would be nice to see with English subs.

Oh, and tons of other stuff, tons.

Oh, and one more for the possibilities list: Himatsuri, directed by Yanagimachi Mitsuo, is one of the rare great Japanese films of the last 30 years - or at least that was my impression the last time I saw it, some ten years ago. Kino gave it a VHS release long ago, but good luck finding a copy of that. It's a well-forgotten flick and deserves to be "rediscovered". Of course, I write all these on the "Recommendations for Second Run" thread primarily because I don't think they're mainstream enough for Criterion. But Criterion's surprised me in the past. Don't reckon they ever expected to make a ton on I Fidanzati, for example...

liehtzu wrote:If I had to pick one movie from anywhere on Earth that I'd like to see again it's Korean filmmaker Bae Yong-kyun's strange, mesmerizing The People in White which imagines the burying of tradition by the rapid modernization of the country as a man just released from prison who returns home only to find there's a massive abandoned factory where his village used to be, and wanders like a ghost through it. In an interview Bae said that after his masterful Buddhist film Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? (which, like People in White he wrote, shot, directed, and edited himself) he'd said all he had to say, so I was surprised to find that he made another film, and I think this one's just as impressive, if not more so.

I'm with you on this one liehtzu. I like Bodhi-Dharma so much that I've been dying to see his other film forever. The fact that you speak so highly of it makes me even more curious. I keep wishing Milestone would restore his first feature and release a Blu-ray. They are such a small company though, so who knows if that will ever happen. But Second Run are exactly the sort of folks who could rediscover an excellent and perhaps unduly overlooked film like The People In White.

Correct me if I'm wrong - I haven't seen it, but I've got the impression that Himatsuri might have some problems with the 1937 Animals Act, which would rule out an UK release. It's another Donald Richie favourite, surprised it wasn't mentioned in the Third Window poll recently.

Yanagimachi's God Speed You! Black Emperor and A 19-Year-Old's Map are long overdue on Western DVD as well, and probably not just for lack of demand - an entire pressing of the former could probably be sold to rabid fans of the band who lifted their name from it...

Hey, while on Asian recommendations - Ying Liang could certainly do with some wider exposure. The Other Half is a low/no-budget masterpiece, and I've been dying to see his other films ever since catching that one. His debut Taking Father Home, shot on borrowed equipment with no financial backing, was awarded at several festivals and subsequently released on DVD in the US, but his other films seem to have flown under the radar in the West, until now: his latest film When Night Falls is getting a lot of attention, no doubt as (ironically enough) a result of the Chinese goverment's attempting to suppress it and exiling the director. I don't know, I imagine his work could fit the Second Run catalogue nicely.

Repeat, I think you might be onto something. There is definitely some animal slaughtering in the movie; but if that was something that wouldn't get a film past the censors I imagine a number of worthwhile movies never make it to the UK - The Tree of Wooden Clogs and Los Muertos are two that jump immediately to mind.

As for The People and White, I had a brief correspondence with MILESTONE in the U.S. who've released Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? and they told me they had no plans for Bae's other film - the folks in charge of picking movies for the collection have indeed seen it, they simply don't like it very much. Which doesn't surprise me terribly. I saw it in a small screening during which 3/4 of the audience had walked out before the end. It is slooooow, and doesn't have the "Buddhist" hook that might keep people from giving up on Bodhi-Dharma. But I thought it just as mesmerizing.

I've also talked to the Korean Film Archive, who have put out a number of classic Korean movies on DVD - many of which are well worth seeing and, as I mentioned earlier, have been posted by the KFA on Youtube - and they told me that there were no plans for a People in White DVD.

So Second Run or some equally adventurous label would have to take a chance on it.

liehtzu wrote:Repeat, I think you might be onto something. There is definitely some animal slaughtering in the movie; but if that was something that wouldn't get a film past the censors I imagine a number of worthwhile movies never make it to the UK - The Tree of Wooden Clogs and Los Muertos are two that jump immediately to mind.

Slaughter, in the sense of instant killing, is fine. Cruelty, in the sense of obvious infliction of genuine pain, isn't - unless it was in a documentary context (i.e. it would have happened regardless of the camera's presence) or if it's been faked (and the distributor can prove this).

Basically, the BBFC has been bending over backwards to interpret the 1937 Animals Act as generously as possible - their recent decision to pass Cannibal Holocaust virtually uncut being a good example (the only cut was to the scene with the coatimundi, which is unarguable real animal torture staged specifically for the film). But their hands are tied until the legislation is repealed, which is wildly unlikely to happen.

The Tree of Wooden Clogs has been passed uncut in the UK. Los Muertos (assuming you're talking about the Lisandro Alonso film) was never picked up for distribution.

repeat wrote: When Night Falls is getting a lot of attention

...and, not one but two Golden Leopards at Locarno (Best Director, Best Actress). Just sayin'.

I am thinking about Spanilá jízda (The Nuremberg Campaing) (1963), Oldřich Daněk in 2,35:1.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOArpw7gC9I" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just wanted to thank everyone for their recent suggestions - welcome liehtzu, thank you L.A., repeat, Michael and admira. Many of your suggests we know and you remind us to follow up on them, many others we are learning about from you and are trying to watch...

But here's one we'd like to ask you about - has anyone seen Mao Mao's debut feature and recent EIFF winner HERE, THEN?

Would love to see Second Run re-releasing Aleksander Ford's Krzyżacy since it has been restored.

L.A. wrote:Would love to see Second Run re-releasing Aleksander Ford's Krzyżacy since it has been restored.

Ain't gonna happen without a repeal of the 1937 Cinematograph Films (Animals) Act.

Which also ain't gonna happen.

This was probably the most unfortunate release in Second Run's history - not only was the master of truly diabolical quality, but they had to cut 27 seconds of clearly unsimulated animal cruelty. It was the first time they'd ever been asked to make cuts, and it was a logistical nightmare that ended up delaying the release.

For similar reasons, a reissue of Marketa Lazarová isn't on the cards even though a better master is available - why bother putting out a cut version when you can import an uncut, English-friendly Blu-ray from the Czech Republic?

Is the restored Krzyżacy available anywhere with English subs though? Could Second Run conceivably cut out the offending footage from the restoration and release that?

swo17 wrote:Is the restored Krzyżacy available anywhere with English subs though? Could Second Run conceivably cut out the offending footage from the restoration and release that?

They could, but who'd buy it? People go ballistic round here over the removal of a single shot lasting a couple of seconds, never mind nearly half a minute!

Surprisingly, the restored version doesn't seem to have had a commercial release even in Poland - I think it came out as a double-DVD set as a limited edition through the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper, so wasn't available through the usual online channels and almost certainly wouldn't have had subtitles (I've bought other Gazeta Wyborcza discs, all of which were definitely Polish-only). But since they went to the trouble of a full-scale HD restoration, and given the film's vast popularity at home, I suspect a Blu-ray will emerge at some point.

Well I'd certainly buy it from Second Run if it were the only way to get the restored version of the film with English subs, but it sounds like we'll need to wait and see how the expected future Polish release turns out.

I imagine the only way they'd rerelease something again is if they could tie it into another very high profile release and that's only assuming that their first effort was a success.

I recently saw the Estonian 'Püha Tõnu kiusamine' ('The Temptation of St. Tony'), directed by Veiko Õunpuu and thought it was a great film that would make a good addition to the Second Run catalogue.

knives wrote:I imagine the only way they'd rerelease something again is if they could tie it into another very high profile release and that's only assuming that their first effort was a success.

Not necessarily - if the original release was VHS quality or otherwise badly compromised and a significantly superior master becomes available, that in itself is a strong incentive for a reissue. Obviously, it didn't hurt that Mother Joan of the Angels was reissued in the wake of the BFI's The Devils, but they might well have done it anyway.

The frustration at the moment is that of the titles that could do with an upgrade, the only two that have been restored are films that ran into BBFC problems over animal cruelty. (Actually, the Second Run disc of Marketa Lazarová is fine bar the brief cut of the snake being impaled - the new Czech DVD doesn't look dramatically different, although the Blu-ray is of course another matter entirely).

The title that most seriously needs a revamp is Passenger. I'm sure the Poles will get round to it eventually, especially considering Andrzej Munk's domestic reputation, but I haven't seen it on any restoration lists.

Bikey -- would you like to release some Krzysztof Zanussi titles? He´s a major European filmmaker that I seldom see mentioned on Criterionforum or other major boards. I´m thinking of titles like Konstans and others from his major period.

Stefan Andersson wrote:Bikey -- would you like to release some Krzysztof Zanussi titles? He´s a major European filmmaker that I seldom see mentioned on Criterionforum or other major boards. I´m thinking of titles like Konstans and others from his major period.

Stefan - very interesting that you should mention Zanussi at this moment. We believe that he is an important figure in cinema and we love his series of films during the 1970s (and straddling those years). Hard to say much more to you at this point but I would really hope that...

I saw in the new newsletter that 2013 will be dedicated to the slovak cinema, which im greatly looking forward to.

Both films mentioned in the newsletter: Uher's Slnko v sieti and Grecner's Drak sa vracia are masterpieces as far as i'm concerned so Bring 'em on.

I do hope secondrun will release a few films by Jakubisko in particular: Dovidenia v pekle priatelia and Zbehovia a pútnici ( Neither have ever had a dvd release )

It would also be great to see more czechs:

-Jirese's: Krik, Zert
-Chytilová's: Hra o jablko, Ovoce stromu rajských jíme
-Nemece's: Mucedníci lásky
-Schorm's: Pet holek na krku, Návrat ztraceného syna, Kazdy den odvahu, Den sedmý - osmá noc, Faráruv konec
-Forman's: Cerný Petr...

Wow i better stop myself before it gets out of hand !!!

There are just a few more things i have to mention or i won't be able to sleep tonight

Criterion has a director's cut of Andrey Rublyov and it is my dream to once own a original region 2 dvd ( it can be vhs picture quality and i'd buy it ) (:-)

It would also be fantastic to have the tv-films of Kieslowski with english subtitles.

I would also like to bring to your attention a few slovenian directors: Bostjan Hladnik (my namesake), France Stiglic, Matjaz Klopcic, Joze Babic, Franci Slak...

Well there's a lot more but my fingers are already bleeding (:-)

Hladnik wrote:Criterion has a director's cut of Andrey Rublyov and it is my dream to once own a original region 2 dvd ( it can be vhs picture quality and i'd buy it ) (:-)

No chance of that from Second Run: Artificial Eye have the UK rights, and I imagine they're hanging onto them.

Hladnik wrote:It would also be fantastic to have the tv-films of Kieslowski with english subtitles.

Talking of TV films, I'd love to see a Second Run release of Haneke's Lemmings. I've read nothing but great things but, sadly, only Part 1 is on youtube.

Calvin wrote:

Hladnik wrote:It would also be fantastic to have the tv-films of Kieslowski with english subtitles.

Talking of TV films, I'd love to see a Second Run release of Haneke's Lemmings. I've read nothing but great things but, sadly, only Part 1 is on youtube.

How about a Second Run box of a half dozen or more of his films for television? They are all so much more interesting than most films by other filmmakers. Some of it is less polished apprentice work, but some of it parallels his film career and is every bit as great as his theatrical films, especially a title likeThe Rebellion. I've been periodically bugging Criterion about an Eclipse set, but they don't seem to be very interested.