Last Year at Marienbad-Any Releases? (1 Viewer)

[Ike]

I was wondering if there are any releases of Last Year at Marienbad around the world? It seems odd that the only DVD release would be American Fox Lorber, since this is a French film. If there aren't, are there any plans to release it? It seems like with the disc fetching some hefty prices that this would get released somewhere.

 

[andrew markworthy]

I'm only aware of the Fox Lorber version. Love it or hate it, it seems extraordinary given the film's importance (right up there with Seventh Seal, 8 1/2 etc) that there isn't a special edition of this. If any film screamed out for a film scholar's commentary to explain what the **** is going on, this is it.

 

[Rich Malloy]

I've got the Fox Lorber version - though non anamorphic, it's among the best Fox Lorber transfers from those days (I believe it was a direct port from a Criterion laserdisc). I'm one of those odd ducks who really enjoys this film, and so I've never even considered trading or selling the disc. On the other hand, there's always a price for everything... what are they going for these days?

 

[Ike]

The cheapest one on Amazon is $189.99, though that has been there a while. The last one that sold on Ebay went for $86. There's one on there now that's up to $46.

 

[DonaldB]

Criterion obtained the rights to this in the deal with Fox-Lorber that brought back to Criterion The 400 Blows and also gave them several Rohmer films. I'd wait for that.

 

[DonaldB]

There's going to be a R2-UK edition of this released by Optimum on May 16th, for those who don't want to wait for Criterion. No word on any special features yet, but Optimum typically goes bare-bones.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Are you sure about this, Donald? I have never seen any mention of this at the Criterion Forum.

I'm going for the Optimum release, but I'd buy the Criterion in a heartbeat, also. I haven't seen this film in about seven years and have been itching to revisit it recently.

 

[Ike]

Thanks for the info, Donald. I'll probably get the Optimum, and wait and see for the Criterion.

 

[DonaldB]

Gordon, criterionforum.org has suffered numerous crashes and gone through several servers since that info was discussed. The info, along with many other threads, is not on the current incarnation of the forum. Also, Rialto pictures is preparing to release a restored print of it in the near future, and better than 90% of Rialto's revivals get passed along to Criterion for DVD release once the theatrical runs are over.

Look at this.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

I wasn't aware that Rialto held the theatrical rights to the film. Excellent! Indeed, most Rialto re-runs end up as Criterion DVDs. The most recent being Eyes Without a Face, I believe.

Thanks, Donald - I really like your posts, BTW!

 

[DonaldB]

Details for the upcoming UK edition reported by dvdtimes.co.uk:
More extras than I was expecting. Nice!

 

[Jon B NY]

Where can I see a UK vender that's offering this new DVD? Links anyone? (and how much will it cost?)

 

[DonaldB]

Here, or here, or here.

 

[Richard>S]

Ordinarily would jump at this in an instant but i'm prepared to wait in the expectation of Criterion releasing this in the near future.

I was almost going to buy the Nouveaux R2 version of 'Au Hasard Balthazar' until i caught wind of Criterion releasing an edition of their own.

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Oh, wonderful! Wonderful! Vincendeau is one of favourite scholars. Her book on Jean-Pierre Melville is a tremendous resource on one of my favourite filmmakers.

I was under the impression that this was going to be bare-bones, so this is great, great news.

Thanks, Donald.

 

[DieterW]

France: Studio Canal, 20/06/2005

 

[Ike]

I just recently watched Hiroshima Mon Amour, so I'm excited for Last Year at Marienbad. I still plan on blind buying based solely on how much I enjoyed Hiroshima Mon Amour, but to those that have seen it, how would say it compares to that film? Some seem to have quite a negative reaction to Marienbad.

 

[Armin Jager]

I'm the first one to warn people against European art movies, but both films are more different than most comments about the movies say which discuss the similar theme of memory. The big difference is that HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR has a story with a woman remembering what happened to her in the past and her short love affair in the present. Despite the occasionally stilted language and tooo many monologues, I found both aspects very well done, the one night affair maybe even more so with Emmanuelle Riva a very memorable presence.
LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD on the contrary is one of the most horrendous bores I've ever seen. The gilm has almost no narrative thread and willfully obscures it. Most of the time a man tries to convince a woman that they've met last year in Marienbad and that's literally it. Oh yes, let's not forget the man plays again and again a game which he loses and once he talks with the woman about the meaning of a statue which they both interpret differently (a clue that the film itself has no meaning). This is filmed with a travelling camera in a gorgeus baroque environment and scored with extremely moody organ music (that's all you get in the first 10 minutes until the "story" begins). I'd say these few ideas would maybe carry a ten minute short film, but over 90 minutes ... no way. This and the following MURIEL were the worst films I've seen by Resnais (L'AMOUR Á MORT is also quite tough).
LA GUERRE EST FINIE and STAVISKY which are more conventional I enjoyed much more, MÉLO, SMOKING/NO SMOKING and ON CONNAIT LA CHANSON are also worth seeking out.

But if you love films in which nothing happens and everything doesn't make sense ...

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

DVD Beaver comparison of the Fox Lorber OOP region 1 vs. the new anamorphic UK R1: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCom...-marienbad.htm

Looks great!

 

[andrew markworthy]

Horses for courses, I guess. Some folks find King Lear or Hamlet a bore as well.