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Does anybody own this box set? I was thinking of purchasing it without seeing any of his films. His work looks very interesting and something I would enjoy. Anybody have any comments on it?

Hous Hsiao-hsien is an acquired taste. Some find his films painfully slow, enigmatic and unsatisfying. I haven't seen these early films of his so I think only die-hard fans will buy this box set. However, if you want to see the best work from this director then I would definitely go for his later films - The Flowers of Shanghai, Millenium Mambo, Cafe Lumiere and his most recent, Three Times.

My personal favourite is Millenium Mambo . Great long, opening shot - sheer exhiliration!

Hmmm.. actually he sounds like more like my taste. I actually been waiting to see his films for a long time. As far as asian cinema is concerned would you compare him at all to Anh Hung Tran, Tsai Ming-Liang, Edward Yang, Kim Ki-Duk, or even outside asian cinema with someone like Bela Tarr? Actually I was more interested to see if anybody had the box set to see if quality in picture and the discs themselves are worth dropping 60 dollars on. Or should I wait for something in r1 to pop up so I can rent them first?

That box is wonderful. Dust in the Wind and A Time to Live and a Time to Die are two of his best films.

That's what I've heard. I also heard that CITY OF SADNESS is incredible. I wish a dvd of that film existed somewhere. Any plans for a dvd of that? Does AE still own the distribution on that?

I find him to be similar to Tsai Ming-liang, if anyone.

Definitely worth picking up if it's still available. The transfers are less than perfect, but they're not bad, and it's extremely unlikely that these films will ever get a better DVD release (prisitne prints probably don't exist). I actually need to go back and watch these movies again, but I remember them all as being very good, quiet, moving, slow and unique. I know his films most often get compared to Ozu, and there's a bit of that, but they're more open and rambling - less focused. The titles of the movies mirror the content pretty well. There was supposed to be a second box set which would have included his next four films, I believe, but we're still waiting...

marty wrote:I find him to be similar to Tsai Ming-liang, if anyone.

Angelopoulos, I'd say. With elements of Kiarostami and Ozu. Tsai less so, in my opinion.

Yeah I think I might just purchase the set. I enjoy Angelopoulos, Kiarostami, and Ozu is probably behind Bresson my favorite director. And I also know that Hsiou-Hsien was influenced deeply by Ozu's work I think he says so himself on the Criterion TOKYO STORY supplement disc.

His most recent two films - Cafe Lumiere and Three Times - are great but you may have to catch it at a film festival or on an Asian DVD.

CAFE LUMIERE is on dvd in r1, isn't it?

leech wrote:CAFE LUMIERE is on dvd in r1, isn't it?

Yes.

leech wrote:I also heard that CITY OF SADNESS is incredible. I wish a dvd of that film existed somewhere.

Leech, you can find a copy here. I have heard that the quality is only so-so (the DVD appears to have been sourced from VHS) but I have the Japanese DVD and can highly recommend it as it is absolutely gorgeous (but lacks English subs).

Also, you may want to check out Goodbye South, Goodbye, Good Men Good Women, and Puppetmaster all of which are available on R1. The films themselves are excellent but the transfers are a mixed bag -- the biggest problem (esp. Puppetmaster) is cropping. If you understand Chinese you can find his earliest work (preceding those films in the box you mentioned) online from various Chinese etailers.

By the way, I really recommend the box you were inquiring about -- the films aren't restored and can look ragged in places, but are very worthwhile. My understanding was that this was a limited set but it seems that copies are still easy to find.

Thanks for the link. Is it worth $30? Is there ANY plans for another DVD release anytime soon?

Leech, the boxset is absolute gorgeous, not techwise, but a must have for every serious film buff. Don't miss it! IMHO Hou's earlier films have a freshness and spontaneity, his later films lack. On the other hand they are a bit more unfocussed, meandering, but that's a matter of taste in the end.

Perhaps you want to check out Ebay, first. Currently there are two versions of the boxset on sale: the official second printing of the OOP box, and a Chinese bootleg, that looks almost exactly the same, and contains 1:1 clones of the original box.

For more info see these 2 links: Bootleg & original

Hope this helps a bit. And I hope this wasn't a serious faux-pas, Matt. If so, I apologize. Won't do it again!

Edit: young and foolish.

Damn, I dont have the money to buy them now. What should I do?? Thanks for the links though. Also, I have another question its completely off subject, and I dont want to waste bandwith by posting another topic, does any body know of a way I can see Bresson's THE DEVIL, PROBABLY? Anybody have any links to a bootleg site that would have it?

Balthazar wrote:Is there any actual downside to buying the bootleg aside from the fact that it's not an 'official' product though? 1:1 Clones would seem to be a decent bet for $40.

Well the "real" version was released by Hou's own company -- so buying this should presumably help support his future fiulm-making. ;~}

The discs are nonanamorphic and are sporting quite a lot of scratches and debris, but they're fairly sharp and there isn't any color manipulation. Infinitely preferrable to the messes that For Lorber has put out of his 90's output here in the states. Supplements are nonexistant aside from the book, which is in Taiwanese.

The packaging is fairly nice, but unfortunately mine was ripped and dented fairly badly by the time it arrived. I'm still pissed off about that.

I don't see these films getting any other treatments anytime soon, and the price is reasonable, so I'd jump on it.

I've seen almost all of his films and found all of them to be impenetrable and worthless. I keep trying to understand his appeal, thus far without success. Although somehow I think these very "qualities" make his work appealing to certain people. Whatever.

Barmy wrote:I've seen almost all of his films and found all of them to be impenetrable and worthless. I keep trying to understand his appeal, thus far without success. Although somehow I think these very "qualities" make his work appealing to certain people. Whatever.

You think people who like Hou's films are attracted by their being "impenetrable and worthless"? Yeah, that sounds probable. I think the only appropriate retort to your post is this equally useless classic: "you just don't get it."

leech wrote: does any body know of a way I can see Bresson's THE DEVIL, PROBABLY? Anybody have any links to a bootleg site that would have it?

Amazon France suggests that a MK box set that includes The Devil, Probably is due out on 1 July 2006. No word on whether there are English subtitles, but MK2's other Bresson releases have them. We can also hope for an Artifical Eye port around the same time. Link to the new box set (illustrated with the wrong cover).

Does MK only release Bresson's in box set form? Damn, I hope it does have english subtitles. Thanks a lot for the info and for the link.

leech wrote:Does MK only release Bresson's in box set form?

Last time, they released the titles both individually and as a box-set.

spencerw wrote:

leech wrote: does any body know of a way I can see Bresson's THE DEVIL, PROBABLY? Anybody have any links to a bootleg site that would have it?

Amazon France suggests that a MK box set that includes The Devil, Probably is due out on 1 July 2006. No word on whether there are English subtitles, but MK2's other Bresson releases have them. We can also hope for an Artifical Eye port around the same time.

Actually, this was originally supposed to come out last year (the date on amazon.fr says July 1, 2005), and it's not MK2, it's GCTHV, which makes it highly unlikely this boxed set will see the light of day any time soon.
My hope is that they pulled it from their release sked to add more extras and English subs, but somehow I suspect that's not the reason.