criterionforum.org

I'm hoping this means that we'll get the three '50s films teamed with the three criterions in which case I'll obviously be taking the MOC line.

Wohoo! Great news, both Immamura and Epstein in the same month! Bring on June!!

Not seen Pigs & Battleships but liked Profound Desires so I'm going to blind buy P&B. It's a very nice cover as well but I hope the sticker advertising Stolen Desire will not be literally on the cover itself.

The Epstein cover is good as well although I would perhaps change the font to something different. Looking forward to June.

For me, "More Imamura" would be great if it was a collection of his TV documentaries. (Cross fingers for an Eclipse set) Or some that don't overlap the Criterion releases, or a rerelease of The Eel.. oh just checked that Artificial Eye is doing that one.

I hope this sells well, so you can release all Imamura films on Dual Format, like BFI does with Ozu!

Great news! Pigs and Battleships is my favorite Imamura so far - very much in piece with the frantic energy of Suzuki, early Oshima, Masumura. And the inclusion of the earlier film is great.

Absolutely fantastic! I'd be double-dipping just for Pigs & Battleships on Blu but Stolen Desire was much more than I could have expected!

In terms of my wildest but likely impossible Imamura fantasies I'll add my vote to manicsounds's wish for the documentaries (or even...perhaps...A Man Vanishes or Eijanaika), but an upgrade of any Imamura to Blu would be very much appreciated!

However I'm assuming that The Insect Woman and Intentions of Murder (and perhaps The Pornographers, which really deserves to be better known in the UK and whose carefully composed frames within frames showing both the inside action and outside world carrying on around the edges would really benefit from a high definition upgrade) are more likely given the Nikkatsu connection.

But I'm also hoping that the plan may be for these 'golden age' Imamura films to be paired up BFI Ozu-style with the earlier works - so we might get a chance to see Endless Desire, Nishi Ginza Station or even The Second Brother (Nianchan), which is described by Toichi Nakata in his essay in that collection of essays curated by James Quandt as being "a critical and commercial success, but Imamura himself baulked at its sentimentality and resolved to stop accepting assigned projects", leading to Pigs and Battleships as his breakthrough film.

If this is the case then these discs will certainly be just as important as the early Antonioni films in showcasing the progression of the director towards the style that he would become celebrated for.

colinr0380 wrote:However I'm assuming that The Insect Woman and Intentions of Murder (and perhaps The Pornographers, which really deserves to be better known in the UK and whose carefully composed frames within frames showing both the inside action and outside world carrying on around the edges would really benefit from a high definition upgrade) are more likely given the Nikkatsu connection.

I'm really hoping this will include The Pornographers, as Criterion's transfer is really showing its age at this point, and I think this film does deserve something of a revival. A Man Vanishes would of course be high on the list as well - I know Nikkatsu originally distributed this, but do they still hold the rights? Information I've seen leaves me confused. I wonder if it might not be as likely a candidate for blu/dual format as the others, as it isn't (and likely wasn't intended to be) a visually elaborate film in the way that his dramas are, though I'd nonetheless be overjoyed at the prospect of seeing it in HD.

A Man Vanishes was one of the first ATG films, which suggests its rights situation might be more complicated than Imamura's other 60s features, but I don't doubt MoC have explored the possibility.

zedz wrote:A Man Vanishes was one of the first ATG films, which suggests its rights situation might be more complicated than Imamura's other 60s features, but I don't doubt MoC have explored the possibility.

To make the rights situation more complicated, aside from being produced by MoC, I'm sure Imamura's own production copy and Nikkatsu were involved in the production and distribution.

I'm perhaps wrong in thinking of A Man Vanishes as a slight possibility due to the MoC release of Funeral Parade of Roses, another ATG film, on DVD though that was a number of years ago now (2005), so things could have changed just through the passage of time. And there could always have been differences with regards to the rights situation, as Elegant Dandy Fop suggests.

As I've just noticed that this is the packaging thread, I'll take the opportunity to say that I love the Epstein cover as well, though I cannot say any more as I've not seen any of the director's films so far (this will hopefully be the first!)

DVD-only by the look of things

Hmm, I prefer the Criterion cover.

FWIW, this isn't some arbitrary MoC-led cover. This cover was suggested and approved by the director, and we love it.

Both covers are very good and you have no need to defend yourself, I just prefer the shadow play of the Criterion covers. I'm sure there will be people who prefer the openness of your cover. Now that I've got you on the line though are there any extras penned in yet for the Murnau? Even just a Kalat commentary would make me willing to double dip.

Love it as well. It really captures the pictorial nature of Costa's work. A bit saddened that you went DVD only, though a perfectly understandable choice.

Hey Nick - I'm assuming Haunted Castle is to be DVD only? I'm buying regardless - just curious.

Schloss Vogelöd!! \:D/ wohoo!

Those are two of my favorite MoC covers.

Nick, any features confirmed for Colossal Youth? Get at least one essay or special feature that the Criterion set doesn't have, and you can guarantee I will purchase this masterpiece without a problem.

LOVE the Schloss Vogelöd cover.

peerpee wrote:There's more Imamura to come too!

Please please please let this include History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess and Karayuki-san, the Making of a Prostitute. These films need to be more widely seen.

The Colossal Youth cover is perfect. The image is breathtaking (I'd love to have a large framed poster of it for the shadow play alone) and I like the arrangement of the text very much. Looking forward to this, Schloss Vogelöd and the Imamura(s). Another great year MOC \:D/

Have to agree with the above commentors - both of those covers are fantastic! I particularly like the Cabinet of Dr Caligari-esque Colossal Youth cover!