Spring Break
Collection of DVDs highlights old films
VALENTINA TAPIA
Issue date: 5/1/07 Section: Variety
Cinephiles, rejoice - again!
Following the fervor sparked by the April 2 opening of Ciné (234 West Hancock Ave.) - Athens' own art cinema house - comes a new DVD series sure to pique the interest of film enthusiasts seeking an additional source of quality foreign films.
The Criterion Collection, a continuing DVD series renowned for its releases of classic and contemporary films featuring high quality
restorations and DVD extras, introduces Eclipse.
The goal of Eclipse is to "make available to the public many important works that, until now, have been impossible to see outside of the theatrical revival-house circuit," according to a news release on the Criterion Web site.
The second set in its monthly series was released April 24, and features five films by French director Louis Malle.
Malle's 40-year career produced "widely acclaimed, and wide-ranging masterpieces" such as "Elevator to the Gallows," "My Dinner with Andre" and "Au revoir les enfants," as the Eclipse Web site notes.
The release will highlight instead Malle's lesser-known documentary films. These will include "Vive le tour" (1962), "Humain, trop humain" (1973), "Place de la république" (1974), "Phantom India" (1969), "Calcutta" (1971) , "God's Country" (1985) and "The Pursuit of Happiness" (1986).
"The films he shot in India are gorgeous, huge, maddening and exhilarating," Peter Becker, president of Criterion, wrote in his blog entitled On Five.
"And the French [documentaries] from the early '70s, which survey the lives of everyday working-class people waylaid on street-corners or
caught in mid-weld in an auto factory, are fascinating signs of the times," he wrote.
The first five-disc collection, released March 27, features Swedish director Ingmar Bergman's first films. Thanks to Eclipse, "Torment" (1944), "Crisis" (1946), "Port of Call" (1948), "Thirst" (1949) and "To Joy" (1949) now are available on DVD in the United States for the first time, according to the news release.
Richard Neupert, head of the film department at the University, said he regarded the concept of the collection as an important and exciting
way to market the featured films.
"Criterion, with their [DVD] extras, has a big audience but sales are pretty flat and limited," Neupert said. "This will make them more competitive with Fox and Warner [Brothers] in cheaper foreign releases."
Though Vision Video (749 W. Broad St.) does not carry the Eclipse series, it is possible that the video store will in the future.
"I'll definitely look into the Bergman set, we'll probably get that stuff," said Jeremy Long, a Vision Video employee and co-producer of The Flickskinny, a film-centric comic in Flagpole Magazine.
"Five discs for 80 bucks isn't bad," he said.
The next Eclipse collection to be released next month features the later works of director Yasujiro Ozu.
Following the fervor sparked by the April 2 opening of Ciné (234 West Hancock Ave.) - Athens' own art cinema house - comes a new DVD series sure to pique the interest of film enthusiasts seeking an additional source of quality foreign films.
The Criterion Collection, a continuing DVD series renowned for its releases of classic and contemporary films featuring high quality
restorations and DVD extras, introduces Eclipse.
The goal of Eclipse is to "make available to the public many important works that, until now, have been impossible to see outside of the theatrical revival-house circuit," according to a news release on the Criterion Web site.
The second set in its monthly series was released April 24, and features five films by French director Louis Malle.
Malle's 40-year career produced "widely acclaimed, and wide-ranging masterpieces" such as "Elevator to the Gallows," "My Dinner with Andre" and "Au revoir les enfants," as the Eclipse Web site notes.
The release will highlight instead Malle's lesser-known documentary films. These will include "Vive le tour" (1962), "Humain, trop humain" (1973), "Place de la république" (1974), "Phantom India" (1969), "Calcutta" (1971) , "God's Country" (1985) and "The Pursuit of Happiness" (1986).
"The films he shot in India are gorgeous, huge, maddening and exhilarating," Peter Becker, president of Criterion, wrote in his blog entitled On Five.
"And the French [documentaries] from the early '70s, which survey the lives of everyday working-class people waylaid on street-corners or
caught in mid-weld in an auto factory, are fascinating signs of the times," he wrote.
The first five-disc collection, released March 27, features Swedish director Ingmar Bergman's first films. Thanks to Eclipse, "Torment" (1944), "Crisis" (1946), "Port of Call" (1948), "Thirst" (1949) and "To Joy" (1949) now are available on DVD in the United States for the first time, according to the news release.
Richard Neupert, head of the film department at the University, said he regarded the concept of the collection as an important and exciting
way to market the featured films.
"Criterion, with their [DVD] extras, has a big audience but sales are pretty flat and limited," Neupert said. "This will make them more competitive with Fox and Warner [Brothers] in cheaper foreign releases."
Though Vision Video (749 W. Broad St.) does not carry the Eclipse series, it is possible that the video store will in the future.
"I'll definitely look into the Bergman set, we'll probably get that stuff," said Jeremy Long, a Vision Video employee and co-producer of The Flickskinny, a film-centric comic in Flagpole Magazine.
"Five discs for 80 bucks isn't bad," he said.
The next Eclipse collection to be released next month features the later works of director Yasujiro Ozu.
Be the first to comment on this story