Mondo Vision - The Andrzej Zulawski Collection

[pro-bassoonist]

Polish director Andrzej Zulawski's films also come highly recommended. Mondo Vision has put out wonderful, very well made limited editions with strong transfers for films that have always been difficult to find:



Company:
http://www.mondo-vision.com/index.php

Product Description
Product Description: ANDRZEJ ZULAWSKI’S adaptation of Manuela Gretkowska's provocative and hugely successful novel reaches new extremes in the depiction of brutality, sex, and passion as it tells the story of a young(ish) anthropologist driven by the mystery surrounding the death of a recently discovered shaman; and his growing obsession with an enigmatic yet violently perverse beauty known as "The Italian". SZAMANKA (She-Shaman) is a film ‘without brakes’. Above all else, it is a ‘demonic’ film where characters are battlegrounds in the war between devils and angels, where angels are agents of God and devils are those of the Devil. This pulpy, sexually charged tale with its deranged erotic futurism underlines Zulawski's commitment to stretch the limits of aesthetic expression by exploring themes beyond the pale in conventional cinema. Violence, exuberance and sexuality are its key ingredients. Through hysteria, possession and hallucination we see what the Polish writer Stanislaw Przybyszewski called ‘naked soul’.

AWARDS:

Venice Film Festival, Official Selection (1996)

DVD CONTENTS:

MONDO VISION presents the first ever proper release of Andrzej Zulawski's 11th film SZAMANKA (She-Shaman, 1996) in a gorgeous new transfer UNCUT & Fully Uncensored with all new English Subtitles Supervised By Director Andrzej Zulawski.

Digitally Restored High Definition Transfer Mastered For Progressive Scan (Approved by Director Andrzej Zulawski)
Feature Length Audio Commentary With Film Writer Daniel Bird Moderated by David A. Mackenzie
Exclusive New Video Interview With Andrzej Zulawski: “A Film Without Masks” [22:00]
Exclusive New Video Interview With Screenwriter Manuela Gretkowska [10:00]
Restoration Feature [1:20]
Image Gallery

Disc 2: Complete Soundtrack CD [Digitally Remastered] [60min]

Exclusive 48pg Commemorative Booklet including a newly written essay by Daniel Bird + Rare and Insightful Essays & Interviews [retranslated/published for the first time ever in English]

Exclusive Essay by Video Watchdog's Tim Lucas
“Andrzej, from Amour to Zulawski”: Rare Interview With Andrzej Zulawski [BEST Magazine, April 1997]
“Cinema Superactivity": Extracts From An Interview With Andrzej Zulawski -- By Daniel Bird & Stephen Thrower (Spring 1998)

Six [5x7] Color Reproductions (Original French Lobby Cards)

Certificate of Authenticity With Unique Serial # [Only 2000 Individually Numbered Sets Produced]

TECHNICAL NOTES:
SZAMANKA is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 and original Mono Polish soundtrack as intended by Andrzej Zulawski. This Dual Layer disc has been transferred and encoded using a high-frequency process which preserves as much of the detail and texture from the original film as is possible on the NTSC DVD format.

Audio:

Original Polish Mono
French Dub (Optional)

Subtitles: English (Optional) Available in White & Yellow
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Anamorphic Widescreen

UPC:837654697566
Catalog#: MVLE004
Case Type: Specially designed Silver Velvet Case.

ANDRZEJ ZULAWSKI'S L'Amour Braque (Limpet Love) is the story of a hideously bloody vendetta, of bonds of friendship between two men from opposite backgrounds and of love within an eternal triangle. Intended as homage to Dostoyevsky and loosely based on his novel 'The Idiot', L'Amour Braque is a mad love-triangle: Léon (The Prince Of Idiots), Marie (The Virgin *****), and Mickey (The Immoral Gangster). Zulawski's postmodern existentialist adaptation is presented with an intense sense of visual style suggestive of the hyper-realistic and chaotic world of Bande-Dessinée. Abundant with images that persist and last in memory, from start to finish the screen is filled with outbursts of energy and eruptions of emotional violence where "notions of 'performance as madness' are choreographed into a perverse, bloody ballet." L'Amour Braque displays craftwork of originality and imagination in which "moments of brilliance happen under the watchful eye of a knowing master."

AWARDS:

NOMINATIONS:
Fantasporto International Film Festival, Portugal
International Fantasy Film Award, Best Film: Andrzej Zulawski

DVD CONTENTS:

MONDO VISION presents the first ever North American release of Andrzej Zulawski's 6th film L'Amour Braque (Limpet Love, 1985) in a gorgeous new transfer UNCUT & Fully Uncensored with all new English Subtitles Supervised By Director Andrzej Zulawski.

Disc 1: The Film

Digitally Restored High Definition Transfer Mastered For Progressive Scan
Feature Length Audio Commentary With Director Andrzej Zulawski And Writer Daniel Bird
Exclusive New Video Interview With Sophie Marceau: 'Becoming Marie' [24:00]
Video Interview With Director Of Photography J.F. Robin [24:00]
Rare Archival Interviews & Behind The Scenes Footage From 1985 [16:00]
- Andrzej Zulawski Interview
- Francis Huster Interview
- Sophie Marceau Interview
- Behind The Scenes Footage
Theatrical Trailer
Image Gallery

Disc 2: Soundtrack CD [Digitally Remastered]

Exclusive 64pg Booklet including a newly written essay by Daniel Bird + Rare and Insightful Essays & Interviews [retranslated and published for the first time ever in English]

"One Man And His Mad Dog" By Michel Chion [Cahier Du Cinéma, March 1985]
"Andrzej Zulawski PORTRAIT": Rare Extensive Interview With ANDRZEJ ZULAWSKI [STARFIX, March 1985]
Extracts From The Original 1985 Press Kit

[5x7] Color Reproduction Of The Original French Poster
Certificate of Authenticity W/ Unique Serial # [Only 2000 Individually Numbered Sets Produced]
Packaging: Specially designed Red Velvet Case!

Note Regarding English Subtitles: (Optional) Available in White & Yellow
The dialogue of L'Amour Braque presents a number of challenges for the translator. Roda-Gil s dialogue abounds with rhymes and puns, not to mention a plethora of (mainly French) cultural and political references, often specific to the 1980s. Director Andrzej Zulawski prepared the subtitles for this DVD release in collaboration with Daniel Bird. It was decided quickly that a technically precise translation of the original French into English would lose the playful, anarchistic character of Roda-Gil's dialogue. Here, Zulawski has opted for the title Limpet Love. The character of 'Marie' has been changed to 'Mary', so as to retain the Christian aspect of the character's name. For rhymes in French, equivalents in English have been sought. Therefore, a looser approach has been adopted, which strives to offer something of the flavor of the original.

A young actress, Ethel, coming from nowhere, is trying to create a personality through her body and her indestructible resolve if necessary, through Elena, her lover's wife who has disappeared. Two men: Lucas Kesling, ambitious cinema director with diabolical powers, and Milan, fallen angel on an earth cracking beneath his feet, both fighting to possess Ethel. The restless filming of a viscontian movie adapted from Dostoyevsky's "The Possessed" in an opulent and smothering set. A political conspiracy conspiring to do away with the prelate from Eastern Europe, which Milan is inadvertently caught up in. An oppressing and eerie Paris transformed into an expressionist universe which these hunted characters are trying to escape from.

These are essential elements of La Femme Publique (The Public Woman), Andrzej Zulawksi's 6th film, where the obsessive themes of his dazzling career Trzecia Czesc Nocy (The Third Part of the Night,1971), L'Important C'est D'aimer (The Important Thing is to Love,1975), and Possession (1981) become entangled.

ANDRZEJ ZULAWSKI's La Femme Publique is a cinematic milestone rich with extreme imagery and raw emotions. Twenty five years after its controversial inception at the Cannes Film Festival, this story of a young, struggling actress retains the power to shock even the most seasoned of movie goers with its violently stylish, apocalyptic tone. A woman s destiny, divided between angel and demon...An hour and 54 minutes of painful happiness, La Femme Publique scratches the soul, slaps the eyes, and seduces like the maelstrom that each one of us hides beyond the conscious. To summarize La Femme Publique is impossible, dangerous and impoverishing. Zulawski is not a man of words; he plays and juggles with the image, the color, the rhythm, the sound, the music, and this unspeakable shamelessness that he steals from his actors so effectively. Between humor and paroxysm, La Femme Publique is a fascinating metaphysical experience with a degree of intensity that needs to be seen to be believed. Simply put, it represents cinema at its most insane & brilliant.

- Special Screening & Mention @ 1984 Cannes Film Festival

AWARDS:
-Montréal World Film Festival:
Most Popular Film Of The Festival
Special Prize of the Jury

NOMINATIONS:
César Awards, France
Best Actress: Valérie Kaprisky
Best Supporting Actor: Lambert Wilson
Best Writing Adaptation: Andrzej Zulawski
Best Writing Adaptation: Dominique Garnier

DVD CONTENTS:

MONDO VISION presents the first ever North American release of Andrzej Zulawski's highly anticipated and sought after film La Femme Publique (The Public Woman, 1984) in a gorgeous transfer with all new English Subtitles, UNCUT & Fully Uncensored.

Disc 1: The Film

Digitally Restored Transfer Mastered In High Definition Progressive Scan (Approved by Director Andrzej Zulawski)
Feature Length Audio Commentary With Director Andrzej Zulawski And Writer Daniel Bird
Exclusive New Video Interview With Director Andrzej Zulawski
Theatrical Trailer
DVD-ROM Content
Image Gallery

Disc 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD (Exclusive To Limited Edition. 32 tracks CD Digitally remastered in Paris under the supervision of Composer Alain Wisniak) [Available for the first time ever on CD]

+ Exclusive 48pg Commemorative booklet including a newly written essay by Daniel Bird + Rare & Insightful Interviews With Andrzej Zulawski and the Cast [retranslated and published for the first time ever in English]
INTERVIEW with Andrzej ZULAWSKI (Feb, 1984)
INTERVIEW with Francis HUSTER (Feb, 1984)
INTERVIEW with Valérie KAPRISKY (Feb, 1984)
INTERVIEW with Lambert WILSON (Feb, 1984)
"Music Of Apocalypse:" An Interview With ANDRZEJ ZULAWSKI [Originally Appeared In The French Film Magazine Cinéma, May 1984 (N°305)]
"A Filmmaker Has To Be Disruptive...":An Interview With ANDRZEJ ZULAWSKI [Originally appeared In The French French film Magazine La Revue Du Cinéma, May 1984 (N°394)]

+ 10 B&W Reproductions Of The Original Japanese Publicity Photos
+ Certificate of Authenticity With Unique Serial # [Only 2000 Individually Numbered Sets Produced]

TECHNICAL NOTES:

Le Femme Publique is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 and original Mono French soundtrack as intended by Andrzej Zulawski. This Dual Layer disc has been transferred and encoded using a high-frequency process which preserves as much of the detail and texture from the original film as is possible on the NTSC DVD format.