criterionforum.org

Brad Stevens has let slip on Dave Kehr's blog that this is forthcoming from Second Run.

Brad Stevens wrote:I’ve been working on an essay for Second Run’s DVD of Pia Marais’ DIE UNERZOGENEN (‘The Unpolished’, 2006), which contains what is probably the greatest performance by a child actor that I’ve ever seen. Sadly, the film is little known…perhaps that will change when the DVD is released.

Great to see this coming out. It's a really interesting film that deals with counter-cultural characters but refuses to cut them the slack they uncritically receive in most films, and it does indeed feature a fantastic child performance at its centre.

If this is true it may well be my first Second Run purchase.

Confirmation and some further details courtesy of DVD Outsider.

We have a Special Screening confirmed for June 28th at London's Renoir Cinema - and director Pia Marais will be in attendance.

Bikey wrote:We have a Special Screening confirmed for June 28th at London's Renoir Cinema - and director Pia Marais will be in attendance.

Is that the Renoir in Bloomsbury, near Russel Square?

That's the one!

domino harvey wrote:NSFW trailer

Blimey! Is Nick Knowles from DIY SOS playing the dad?

Must be! He's multitalented

(Sorry for the derail, but that music video is one of the funniest things I've seen and you just reminded me of it)

peerpee wrote:Must be! He's multitalented

(Sorry for the derail, but that music video is one of the funniest things I've seen and you just reminded me of it)

Sickening. Just unbelievable.

Consider me sold on Marais' film, however. Another blind purchase from Second Run that is no doubt going to leave me in awe.

Artwork now up at Amazon

A reminder: THE UNPOLISHED screens on Monday 28th @ 6.15 pm at London's Renoir Cinema. Director Pia Marais will be coming to London to attend the screening and take part in a post-film Q&A.
http://www.curzoncinemas.com/#/events/k ... pia_marais

First review just in - a 'highly recommended' from Gary at Beaver:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/dvd_revi ... lished.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nice review from Clydefro Jones at The Digital Fix

Happy to see that The Unpolished was selected by Saturday's Guardian Guide as one of their five new DVD/BD releases of the week.

Just received my copy! (Spine number 49 if anyone wants to add that to the title of the thread )

Main DVD detail on The Unpolished is now up at our website.

The DVD was, in fact, released on Monday (12 July) and so our apologies for the delay in publishing the detail.

Pia Marais new film Im Alter Von Ellen (At Ellen’s Age) - starring Jeanne Balibar - will have its World Premiere in competition at this year's Locarno Film Festival.

A great review from DVD Outsider

A scan of the review in the latest issue of Sight & Sound

Glenn Kenny selects The Unpolished for his latest Tuesday Foreign Region DVD Report at MUBI

I thought this was a very interesting film, with of course particular praise being earned by the young actress at the heart of it all. But she is surrounded by a gaggle of ill-defined but lived-in characters who sell their roles with equal credibility. The direction is well-handled and I was quite taken with the editing style (save a few jump-cuts which do not work well)-- I liked the attention to the peripheral sequences and how many moments end before or long after what the natural narrative resolution would demand. Having also recently seen Jessica Hausner's Lovely Rita, it was also interesting to sort of compare these two disparate views into the early adolescence of German girls. I admired this film's restraint around its more provocative elements, and I thought film's highlights were not found with Stevie's interactions with her parents but rather with the shitty kids she so desperately wants to be her peers. Their interactions came across as complex and well-considered, and I liked that Stevie even manages to attract one of the clique, the girl with the eyeliner, as a potential friend near the end. Their scenes together are the best of the film, and I had a nice chuckle over their exchange on "ethos." Overall, I am pleased, if maybe also a little surprised to see this come from Second Run (it feels a bit like an Artificial Eye-type release, no?)

domino harvey wrote:Overall, I am pleased, if maybe also a little surprised to see this come from Second Run (it feels a bit like an Artificial Eye-type release, no?)

It probably would have been Artificial Eye if they'd had the nous to pick it up when it was a new release... but they didn't.

Bikey, is this DVD heading OOP? It seems to be dropping off the radar of most e-shops from what I can see.