Criterion Collection- Huge Sale!

[The_Return]

I think I'm going to just grab Eyes Without a Face and Viridiana for now...and then hopefully put in another order before the sale ends.

Very tempted to grab Dreyer's Passion of Joan of Arc - mostly because I'm such a huge fan of Antonin Artaud, and would love to see his performance here. (On a related note, I would love to see these guys put out a worthwhile edition of Abel Gance's Napoléon...even the heavily edited Coppola version is damn hard to come by these days, and you can forget about finding the original.)

[alkytrio666]

Originally Posted by The_Return

I think I'm going to just grab Eyes Without a Face and Viridiana for now...and then hopefully put in another order before the sale ends.

Very tempted to grab Dreyer's Passion of Joan of Arc - mostly because I'm such a huge fan of Antonin Artaud, and would love to see his performance here. (On a related note, I would love to see these guys put out a worthwhile edition of Abel Gance's Napoléon...even the heavily edited Coppola version is damn hard to come by these days, and you can forget about finding the original.)

First off, glad to see you going forth with Bunuel!

Second, AGREED! I still have not seen Gance's Napoleon; that and Greed have been torturing me with their serious absence.

[fortunato]

Originally Posted by alkytrio666

Have you read Kino-Eye? I mostly liked it, he had a very interesting way at looking at the cinema, but godDAMN was that man high on himself!

I haven't checked that out, actually. I've heard pretty much all around what you said: interesting but arrogant and annoying.

Originally Posted by The_Return

I think I'm going to just grab Eyes Without a Face and Viridiana for now...and then hopefully put in another order before the sale ends.

Very tempted to grab Dreyer's Passion of Joan of Arc - mostly because I'm such a huge fan of Antonin Artaud, and would love to see his performance here.

It's one of my all-time favorites. Completely spellbinding. I give it a 100% recommendation.
And while it's cool to see Artaud at work, all the performances (while good) are rendered invisible next to Falconetti as Joan. To quote Dreyer himself on the subject:

"In Falconetti, who plays Joan, I found what I might, with very bold expression, allow myself to call 'the martyr’s reincarnation'."

Also, it has some of the most stunning cinematography I've ever seen; the composition is completely revelatory (which sounds melodramatic, I know, but seriously...wait until you watch it).

[alkytrio666]

Originally Posted by fortunato

And while it's cool to see Artaud at work, all the performances (while good) are rendered invisible next to Falconetti as Joan.

No doubt- watching that performance takes a year off your life.

[Papillon Noir]

Originally Posted by fortunato

I haven't checked that out, actually. I've heard pretty much all around what you said: interesting but arrogant and annoying.



It's one of my all-time favorites. Completely spellbinding. I give it a 100% recommendation.
And while it's cool to see Artaud at work, all the performances (while good) are rendered invisible next to Falconetti as Joan. To quote Dreyer himself on the subject:

"In Falconetti, who plays Joan, I found what I might, with very bold expression, allow myself to call 'the martyr’s reincarnation'."

Also, it has some of the most stunning cinematography I've ever seen; the composition is completely revelatory (which sounds melodramatic, I know, but seriously...wait until you watch it).

Agreed!! I have Joan of Arc on VHS and it is spellbinding! You forget you are watching a silent film. Falconetti's performance is some of the best acting in history. Unfortunately, it was the last film she acted in and it was lost for 50 years until it was found in a janitor's closet.

[fortunato]

Originally Posted by alkytrio666

No doubt- watching that performance takes a year off your life.

Haha, that's a great way to put it.

Originally Posted by Papillon Noir

Agreed!! I have Joan of Arc on VHS and it is spellbinding! You forget you are watching a silent film. Falconetti's performance is some of the best acting in history. Unfortunately, it was the last film she acted in and it was lost for 50 years until it was found in a janitor's closet.

Yeah, that's such a strange story.
If you only have the film on VHS, then you definitely should pick up the Criterion release.

[Elvis_Christ]

Anyone pick up Salo? I wanna see the special features.

[fortunato]

Originally Posted by Elvis_Christ

Anyone pick up Salo? I wanna see the special features.

Yeah, I bought that one back when they re-issued it.
The special features are great. Some in-depth interviews with appreciators of the film and people that worked on it, and a lot of digging-into the film, which is especially great with a work like Salo.

By the way, if anyone's interested, here is an incredible article written on Salo by Ben Simington:

http://www.theauteurs.com/notebook/posts/347

[alkytrio666]

I could go a few more years without seeing Salo again, but I'd love to see some of those documentaries/interviews soon.

Picked up The Seventh Seal (reissue) today on my way home from work- beautiful little package with some special features I cannot wait to discover...though it's a shame they couldn't get all of Bergman Island on there.

[alkytrio666]

Originally Posted by fortunato

Yeah, I bought that one back when they re-issued it.
The special features are great. Some in-depth interviews with appreciators of the film and people that worked on it, and a lot of digging-into the film, which is especially great with a work like Salo.

By the way, if anyone's interested, here is an incredible article written on Salo by Ben Simington:

http://www.theauteurs.com/notebook/posts/347

Thanks for posting that article, it was an interesting read. It's so true that the symmetry Pasolini uses is so alarmingly constant that it is almost the scariest part of the entire film. If nothing else, it was his strongest tool on the path to total coldness.