L'age d'or - 11/23 from Kino on DVD (1 Viewer)

[Patrick McCart]

On November 23rd, Kino will be releasing L'age d'or to DVD.

This was originally posted at alt.movies.silent by a Kino rep.

(Note: No other information has been revealed yet)

 

[Rich Malloy]

YESSS!!!!

Er.... FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

But do I really believe it this time?

And I guess it won't include "Un chien Andalou" or "Las Hurdes" or any other wishful thinkers?

 

[Brian PB]

Kino has said by email that this release won't include Un chien andalou, but I think the 1933 documentary Las Hurdes/Land Without Bread is still a possibility.

For the all-region capable, the British Film Institute (bfi) will be releasing a double-bill of L'Age d'or and Un chien andalou in a special edition DVD (commentaries, plus a Buñuel documentary) on October 25th.

In related Region 2 Luis Buñuel news, the bfi will be releasing his Oscar-nominated 1970 film, Tristana on December 6th, and Warner (UK) recently released a box set containing The Diary of a Chambermaid, Belle de jour, and The Milky Way (the last has not yet been released in Region 1, though it is expected from Criterion sometime in the future). A review of the box set has been posted at DVD Times (note that the R2 Belle de jour features anamorphic enhancement, which is missing from the current R1 release from Miramax).

 

[Rich Malloy]

Excellent! We should know how the BFI version stacks up before Kino's is released, though the inclusion of commentaries on one package and (possibly) "las Hurdes" on the other might necessitate two purchases.

I know Criterion has hinted around about "The Milky Way", but is "Tristana" a CC possibility?

 

[Brian PB]

Criterion released Tristana (1970) on laserdisc (and Home Vision did the VHS), so I think it's a lock that they'll put it out on DVD as well.

Since The Milky Way (1969) and The Phantom of Liberty (1974) receieved recent limited theatrical re-releases by Rialto, I would probably expect them first, but a box set featuring all three of these late-period Buñuels would certainly be welcome!

 

[Brook K]

You already have Las Hurdes on the Los Olvidados disc, right Rich? I guess we're hoping for subtitles this time around?

I think I'll just go ahead and jump on the BFI release

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

Great news!

Plus, I didn't know that there was a BFI coming in October - how did I miss that?

Dreyer's, Mikhael is also released that day from Eureka.

 

[Rich Malloy]

Definitely, Brook! The narration is crucial to the very black humor of the piece; without it, one loses most of the point and nearly all the satire, as well as the lion's share of the film's impact.

I guess I could just bone up on my Spanish! :b

 

[Lew Crippen]

My take as well, Brook

 

[Drew Reiber]

Ok, so Kino is not releasing Un Chien Andelou with this DVD, but what about a later date?

 

[Brian PB]

Even though Kino has released Un chien andalou and Las Hurdes/Land Without Bread on VHS, they have indicated in separate emails (from 2003) that they wouldn't be releasing either on DVD. Refer to:

Un chien andalou
Las Hurdes/Land Without Bread

Events could have changed in the interim. I have found Kino to be very prompt and forthcoming in response to my emails, so I've sent an email asking them to clarify.

 

[Rich Malloy]

I think I'm gonna jump on that BFI release, too. Both classic films plus commentaries and a documentary -- all I'll be awaiting are a few reviews!

Seems the Kino release might be obsolete before it even hits the street.

 

[Dick]

Not necessarily (can you spell R-O-B-I-N-S-O-N C-R-U-S-O-E- O-N-M-A-R-S?) Many Criterion laserdiscs have yet to see a DVD counterpart, and undoubtedly some of them won't due to changing rights issues. We can hope for FIRES ON THE PLAIN and VIRGIN SPRING and FORBIDDEN GAMES and 49th PARALLEL and IN WHICH WE SERVE and UGETSU and tons of others to make the transition, but who knows what might be keeping them from DVD release?

 

[Drew Reiber]

Except that I believe Janus still offers Tristana (or was it Viridana) through Home Vision on VHS. The problem is that Criterion is probably waiting until they feel there is an opportunity to give the release more press (like American Cinematheque restorations), which is an issue plaguing most of their Janus catalogue titles. They usually release the more difficult to manage/procure titles first (like Fox or Fine Line deals), then fall back on their previous holdings to fill the gaps. They still have four more Seijun Suzuki titles to release, and they've been talking about doing another one for over a year now. I've just sort of given up on expecting to see more Janus/Criterion ports sooner, rather than later.

 

[Brian PB]

From the horse's mouth:

 

[Brian PB]

The rights to Robinson Crusoe on Mars are held by Paramount, which (AFAIK) has not licensed any of its films to independent companies in the DVD era (unlike the laserdisc era). Tristana, like most of Buñuel's films except Belle de jour, has no ties to the major studios, so Janus should still possess the rights, and Criterion will almost certainly release it on DVD (eventually). As with Bergman, Kurosawa, Ozu, and Renoir, I expect that Criterion will end up releasing most of Bunñuel's oeuvre on DVD (or its successor). Eventually.

 

[PaulP]

This thread kinda died out, sadly. I'll revive it with the cover and specs of this awesome disc, which comes out now in less than a month!



France / 1930 / B&W / 63 min. / Full-frame (1.33:1)
In French with English subtitles
Directed by LUIS BUÑUEL
Written by LUIS BUÑUEL and SALVADOR DALI
Produced by LE VICOMTE DE NOAILLES
Cinematography by ALBERT DUVERGER
Original Music by LUIS BUÑUEL and GEORGES VAN PARYS
Non-Original Music by DEBUSSY, MOZART, WAGNER, BEETHOVEN, MENDELSSOHN SCHUBERT With GASTON MODOT, LYA LYS, CARIDAD DE LABERDESQUE, MAX ERNST, JOSEPH LLORENS ARTIGAS, LIONEL SALEM, GERMAINE NOIZET
© 2004 Edmond de la Haye Jousselinand

Extras on DVD

Audio Commentary by Robert Short, author of "The Age of Gold: Surrealist Cinema."
Stills Gallery
Luis Buñuel: A Complete Filmography

 

[Brian PB]

For the all-region capable, the British Film Institute (bfi) has just released on DVD Un Chien andalou and L’Age d’or.

Though the bfi edition will prove to be more expensive, it merits strong consideration for several reasons:

1. The bfi DVD contains both of the Buñuel/Dali films.

2. The bfi also has a commentary (likely the same one) by Robert Short (but, in the case of the bfi, for both films).

3. The bfi adds an excellent documentary about Buñuel, A Propósito de Buñuel (2000, 98 mins). [BUT: if you own Criterion's edition of The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, you already own this documentary.]

4. Finally, the running time of L'Age d'or is listed at 63 minutes on both the bfi (R2 PAL) and the Kino (R1 NTSC), suggesting that Kino's transfer is a PAL-to-NTSC conversion, which could be problematic. [The other possibility is that the bfi has released its disc using the NTSC standard---most European DVD players can play both PAL and NTSC. Note that the run-time for the documentary (98 minutes) is the same on both the bfi and the Criterion, which suggests that they were either encoded using the same standard (NTSC) OR that Criterion did a PAL-to-NTSC conversion for their disc OR that the running time is misstated on the bfi disc.]


DVD Beaver will no doubt be comparing these two editions once both are available. So it might be best to hold off on purchasing for those who may be on the fence.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I'm pretty much leaning toward the BFI set, especially if another shoddy PAL-NTSC conversion is being utilized. And Un Chien Andalou seems to be in some sort of rights hell in the US so who knows if we'll ever see a proper edition of that.

 

[Mark_vdH]

Isn't it also possible that the BFI transfers are NTSC-PAL conversions?