New July-titles from Criterion (1 Viewer)

[ChristianLiemke]

#240: Early Summer 1951, Yasujiro Ozu



Synopsis
A nuanced examination of a family falling apart, Early Summer tells the story of the Mamiya family and their efforts to marry off their headstrong daughter, Noriko, played by the extraordinary Setsuko Hara. A seemingly simple story, it is among the director’s most emotionally complex. The Criterion Collection is proud to present one of Ozu’s most enduring classics.

1951
125 minutes
Black and white
1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
Japanese
$39.95

Special Features
- New high-definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound
- Audio commentary by Japanese-film expert Donald Richie, author of Ozu and A Hundred Years of Japanese Film
- Ozu’s Films from Behind-the-Scenes, a conversation between Ozu producer Shizuo Yamanouchi, actor and technician Kojiro Suematsu, and assistant cameraman Takashi Kawamata
- New essay by film scholar David Bordwell, author Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema
- Original theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition
- More!





#241: Stage and Spectacles: Three Films by Jean Renoir



Near the end of his long and celebrated career, master filmmaker Jean Renoir indulged his lifelong obsession with life-as-theater and directed The Golden Coach (1953), French Cancan (1955), and Elena and Her Men (1956), three delirious film, infatuated with the past, love, and artifice. Awash in jubilant Technicolor, each film interweaves public display and private feelings through the talents of three immortal film icons—Anna Magnani, Jean Gabin, and Ingrid Bergman. The Criterion Collection is proud to present these three majestic films by Jean Renoir for the first time on DVD.

$79.95

#242: The Golden Coach 1952, Jean Renoir

Synopsis
The Golden Coach (Le Carrosse d’or) is a ravishing eighteenth-century comic fantasy about a viceroy who receives an exquisite golden coach, and gives it to the tempestuous star of a touring commedia dell’arte company. Master director Jean Renoir’s sumptuous tribute to the theatre, presented here in the English version he favored, is set to the music of Antonio Vivaldi and built around vivacious and volatile star Anna Magnani.

1952
103 minutes
Color
1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
French

Special Features
- New high-definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound
- Introduction to the film by Jean Renoir
- Video introduction by director Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Gangs of New York, The Age of Innocence)
- Original theatrical trailer
- A collection of behind-the-scenes and publicity stills
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition
- More!

#243: French Cancan 1955, Jean Renoir

Synopsis
Nineteenth-century Paris comes vibrantly alive in Jean Renoir’s exhilarating tale of the opening of the world-renowned Moulin Rouge. Jean Gabin plays the wily impresario Danglard, who makes the cancan all the rage while juggling the love of two beautiful women—an Egyptian belly-dancer and a naive working girl turned cancan star. This celebration of life, art and the City of Light—with a cameo by Edith Piaf—is a Technicolor tour de force by a master of modern cinema.

1955
105 minutes
Color
1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
French

Special Features
- New high definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound
- Video introduction by director Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show, Paper Moon)
- Interview with production designer Max Douy
- Original theatrical trailer
- A collection of behind-the-scenes and publicity stills
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition
- More!

#244: Elena and Her Men 1956, Jean Renoir

Synopsis
Set amidst the military maneuvers and Quatorze Juillet carnivals of turn-of-the-century France, Jean Renoir’s delirious romantic comedy stars Ingrid Bergman in her most sensual role as a beautiful, but impoverished Polish princess who drives men of all stations to fits of desperate love.

1956
95 minutes
Color
1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
French

Special Features
- New high definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound
- Introduction to the film by Jean Renoir
-Part two of Jean Renoir: a two-part 1993 BBC documentary by David Thompson, featuring reflections on Renoir from his family, friends, collaborators, and admirers
- Original theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition
- More!





#247: Port of Shadows 1938, Marcel Carné



Synopsis
Down a foggy, desolate road to the port city of Le Havre travels Jean (Jean Gabin), an army deserter looking for another chance to make good on life. Fate, however, has a different plan for him, when acts of both revenge and kindness turn him into front-page news. Also starring the blue-eyed phenomenon Michèle Morgan in her first major role, and the menacing Michel Simon, Port of Shadows (Le Quai des brumes) starkly portrays an underworld of lonely souls wrestling with their own destinies. Based on the novel by Pierre Mac Orlan, the inimitable team of director Marcel Carné and writer Jacques Prévert deliver a quintessential example of poetic realism, one of the classics of the golden age of French cinema.

1938
90 minutes
Black and white
1.33:1
Dolby Digital Mono 1.0
Not Anamorphic
French
$29.95

Special Features
- New high-definition digital transfer, with restored image and sound
- Interviews with director Marcel Carné, writer Jacques Prévert, and stars Jean Gabin and Michèle Morgan
- New essay by acclaimed cultural historian Luc Sante, author of Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York
- Original theatrical trailer
- Poster gallery
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition
- More!

 

[Drew Reiber]

No offense to French film fans, but I've been waiting a year now for more Bunuel, some Welles and the next Suzuki release. I'm a bit frustrated that Criterion has released 4 Renoir films in a row, and 6 French films (including Gordard and Carne) as well.

It's awesome that they're trying to fill out a certain area of their collection, but the lack of variety is killing me. If you take out their constant switching from Kurosawa to Ozu and back, you would think they didn't have much else to offer.

I'm curious to see Battle of Algiers, but we all know that's coming out in the fall. Being that I have most of the summer to myself for dedicating my time and resources to DVDs... any more French releases in August and my head will explode.

 

[Sebastian_A]

Great news!

I sure hope Criterion is going to bring us QUAI DES BRUMES "brother" LE JOUR SE LEVE as well - they just HAVE to!

S

 

[Matt_P]

More Ozu on the way = a good day!

Wow, that was corny...

 

[Marc Colella]

Well Early Summer wasn't a surprise since it's in the new catalog already.

I didn't see the 3 Renoirs coming. Not sure if I'd be interested in them or Port of Shadows (nice cover though).

Can't wait to see what they've got coming next.

 

[Adam_S]

Man, another incredible selection from criterion. I'm just saddened I can't afford to buy dvds the way I'd like to! :frowning: I'd love all those and I'll have to settle for none.

I hope we see a couple more Ozu this year, I'd really love to have I was Born, but... or any of the I was ____ But... which would make a killer box altogether.


Adam

 

[ArthurFlew]

I want them to release the Game :frowning:

 

[Thomas T]

Renoir's French Can Can is a must have! It blows John Huston's and Baz Luhrumann's Moulin Rouge tales out of the water! If the transfer is done right (and with Criterion there's every reason to believe it will be), the eye popping Technicolor should jump off the screen. Golden Coach is a favorite, too and I've wanted to see the Ingrid Bergman Elena for years. A no brainer as far as purchasing!

 

[Brook K]

I'll buy Early Summer since I plan on getting all of their Ozu releases. The others will be rentals, I don't have the budget I used to, plus there's the Warner Noir box to buy in July.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Damnit, Criterion, have a thought for my wallet!

 

[Lyle H.]

I'm going to do a complete blind buy, like what I did with Salvatore Guiliano, with Port of Shadows. It sounds good.

 

[Drew Reiber]

IMO, the Luhrmann and Renoir films are two completely different movies. Renoir's is supposed to be taken more seriously, is a different story entirely and for one, isn't a real musical. Comparisons are kind of pointless, to me. I have not seen Huston's, though.

 

[Thomas T]

We'll have to disagree here, Brett. It's Luhrmann's film that isn't a real musical, it's an MTV video, not the Renoir film which has spectacular dancing and the great Edith Piaf.