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any thoughts on the underrepresentation of Chinese films/directors? Even the cinema intelligencia on this board seem to focus primarily on Japan and a little on Korea.

If Criterion wanted to be both educational and entertaining, they'd release a set with Tadashi Imai's Nigorie (Troubled Waters) and Gosho's Takekurabe (Growing Up / Comparing Heights) and background information on the remarkable young woman who wrote the wonderful stories these films were based on (Ichiyo Higuchi -- died of TB in the 1890s, in her early 20s).

There are tons of wonderful Japanese, Korean and Chinese films that Criterion could introduce to US audiences -- but they are only one company -- and their are far more credible candidates for release on DVD (just from this corner of the world) than they could ever conceivably handle.

And then there are places like the Philippines -- quality releases of the films of Bernal and Brocka would be wonderful to have -- but may not even be possible (due to hopelessly damaged film elements). For instance, the Philippine DVD of Bernal's (stunning) Himala is hard subbed in both English (on the bottom) and Japanese (on the right side). I suspect that this release used the best available print of this very important (but neglected) film.

(For the record -- I currently watch more Chinese films than Korean ones -- albeit less than Japanese ones).

JM says no more Franju in the foreseeable future.

I'd kill to see a CC edition (or an Early Shanghai Cinema set or something) of The Goddess, or Street Angel, (favorite discovery from Cinema Epochs aberrations), Spring in a Small Town, or Twin Sisters.

I'm surprised not to see a box set like the Bergman. What happened to the Bunuel box (four French films or something) that briefly appeared and then disappeared a few months back? I guess they figure everyone will be asking for Blu-Ray players this Christmas instead...

Has anyone emailed about more German cinema? There's a lot out there that needs attention...maybe even more Fassbinder? Please...

A few NEW good news from Criterion.

Renoir's A Day in the Country will be "released at some point". Probably as a short with The Crime of Monsieur Lange.

To the best of my knowledge we do not have plans for Diane Kurys or Eisenstein at this time. Dodes'ka-den will be released in the first half of 2009. I hope this helps, and thanks for your email.

I'll bet A Day in the Country gets its own release, and is paired with Monsieur Lange on release, a la the Mishima releases.

It could because of its length (40 min).

Would A Day in the Country really get a single release, though? 40 minutes? I guess the release of The Most Dangerous Game in the CC is precedent. Maybe the Renoir film would do better in an Eclipse box set?

aox wrote:Would Day in the Country really get a single release, though? 40 minutes? I guess the release of The Most Dangerous Game in the CC is precedent.

Night and Fog and Patriotism were even shorter than that.

And its not like the film is considered a minor entry in Renoir's career, either.

What A Disgrace wrote:

aox wrote:Would Day in the Country really get a single release, though? 40 minutes? I guess the release of The Most Dangerous Game in the CC is precedent.

Night and Fog and Patriotism were even shorter than that.

And its not like the film is considered a minor entry in Renoir's career, either.

You're absolutely right, of course. I just didn't think of them since the first is a documentary and the latter was released to coincide with a bio-pic release of its author. But your point is taken.

Polanski's Repulsion would be good.

DrunkenGaijin wrote:Has anyone emailed about more German cinema? There's a lot out there that needs attention...maybe even more Fassbinder?

I asked about the above...

From JM:

We do not have plans for Deutschland im Herbst at this time.

What A Disgrace wrote:I'll bet A Day in the Country gets its own release, and is paired with Monsieur Lange on release, a la the Mishima releases.

The BFI made up their disc with about 40 mins of screen tests & outtakes which are really interesting... There's also the scenes not shot in the original script - can be found in Leprohon/RENOIR in English translation... Fascinating in that as good as they are, only goes to demonstrate how skilled Renoir was to elide these, and how inspired Producer Braunberger was to see they could be replaced by two simple captions... And of course knitting it all together composer KOSMA and editor MARGUERITE Houle/Renoir....

And, yes, it would be a crime not to give it a separate release - this film is a major entry in Renoir's filmography and extraordinary....

The BFI disc is excellent and I'm not going to double-dip on Partie De Campagne if CC releases it unless it's coupled with M Lange. Can't see them making a marked improvement on the BFI image-wise. Crime de Monsieur Lange is overdue, really.

I'd also like them to release Le Jour se leve in the collection proper at last. As for dream releases: a Leo McCarey double bill of MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW and RUGGLES OF RED GAP would be my pick (come on, CC, get those from Universal as they can't seem to be arsed to release them themselves).

Since we're wishing, how about an Eclipse set of Ida Lupino's Issue Films, which aren't easy to come by? How about a set of some of the bleaker noir that's unavailable, like the jawdropping Devil Thumbs a Ride, with Lawrence Tierney at his most frightening?I'll add my vote to Schreck's of a while back for a decent edition of Mann's T- Men, and especially the beautiful Raw Deal. Renoir's Nuit du Carrefour, which is nearly impossible to see anywhere, and La Chienne.

Improvements can definitely be made from BFI's A Day in the Country disc. The image of the French DVD is substantially better. I'd love to see Nuit de Carrefour too, but it seems less likely. I'd also like to see more Carné.

I got this response the other day:

Yes, we do plan to release the 1973 version of Lost Horizon at some point, hopefully by the end of 2009. Thanks for your email!

Just kidding.

Mr Finch wrote:As for dream releases: a Leo McCarey double bill of MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW and RUGGLES OF RED GAP would be my pick (come on, CC, get those from Universal as they can't seem to be arsed to release them themselves).

The McCarey release would be amazing!

Cinephrenic wrote:Criterion single films (new to DVD): 40 (+24 Eclipse = 64 Total)

Silent era: 0 (+3 Eclipse)
Documentaries: 1
Latin American cinema: 0
African/Middle Eastern cinema: 0

Pathetic.

4.69% of Criterion releases this year were silents.

1.56% were documentaries.

0% were Latin American, African or Middle Eastern...combined!

You tell me how these statistics support the following assertion:

The Criterion Collection...is dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world...Criterion began with a mission to pull the treasures of world cinema out of the film vaults and put them in the hands of collectors...our commitment [is] to [publish] the defining moments of cinema...

Oh dear.

And its funny how the only Wenders titles believed to be in development are the two that, previously, had the *best* treatment of any Wenders films available.

I hope Criterion can pull off the awesome next year. We certainly have some promising discs...Magnificent Obsession, Human Condition Trilogy, Rosselini films, Macunaíma, the Gremillion titles, Naruse Eclipse, Roberto Gavaldón Eclipse, Fuller remasters, Walkabout remaster, El Norte, etc, etc. But some of this stuff was promised for this year; and some of it was promised last year.

Thomas J. wrote:Pathetic.

4.69% of Criterion releases this year were silents.

1.56% were documentaries.

0% were Latin American, African or Middle Eastern...combined!

You tell me how these statistics support the following assertion:

The Criterion Collection...is dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world...Criterion began with a mission to pull the treasures of world cinema out of the film vaults and put them in the hands of collectors...our commitment [is] to [publish] the defining moments of cinema...

Yes, but 50% of their announced December releases are about white racist dogs. 50%! That's at least 20% more than I ever could have dreamed for.

Thomas J. wrote:Pathetic.

Look what you guys did. You woke him up. Nice going.

Suffice it to say that the phrases "that we have the rights to" and "that we suspect some people might be willing to purchase" are implied in the mission statement. Criterion has been doing this for nearly 25 years. Is there anyone else here besides Thomas J. who still doesn't get it? If so, I'll add an addendum to the FAQ indicating that Criterion is not a grant-funded entity designed to award the best films in the world with really cool DVDs. If he is the only one still operating under this assumption, I'll just start ignoring him (which is probably what I should have done in the first place).

Thomas J. wrote:4.69% of Criterion releases this year were silents

70% of your posts on this forum are whining about why Criterion won't give you what you want.