The Criterion Collection

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by shortmartin

Thanks for this insightful and personal analysis. It opens up new ways of seeing the movie for me, and is very helpful. I find the comparison with the Kurosawa works is especially sage and relevant, and indeed I feel encouraged to go back and check out Lower Depths and/or Dodes'ka-den. I'm also thinking of Stray Dog (which I recently saw) in getting at some of those same themes.

On a similar note, I've never seen Border Radio, but I have it, and imagine that it might make a nice complement to Repo Man, if only for the geographical focus and some of the music/audio impulses.

A fair warning that The Lower Depths is my least favorite of the Kurosawa movies that I've seen. It's not a snorefest by any stretch, but it's not quite as engaging as the others. I kept thinking about it when watching Repo Man, however, because of the parallels of characters getting by on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder.

Stray Dog is a top-notch Kurosawa film, and I dearly want it to show up on Blu-ray. The recent James Bond movie, Skyfall, reminded me a lot of Stray Dog, with its character contrasts of one person (Bond) with a principles unswayed by external circumstances, and another (Silva) who allows circumstances to dictate his morals.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

A couple of Hastings books, Retribution and Armageddon, are fascinating reading about the final year of WWII for Japan and Germany. An excellent reenactment of the final days of Hitler's reich is Downfall which is so eerily authentic looking it feels like you're trapped in the bunker also! No region A release yet but the UK Blu is region-free and well worth getting. A DVD companion to it would be Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary a documentary of Traudl Junge who's recollections of the events were one of the sources for Downfall.

Thank you for the recommendations.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

A couple of Hastings books, Retribution and Armageddon, are fascinating reading about the final year of WWII for Japan and Germany. An excellent reenactment of the final days of Hitler's reich is Downfall which is so eerily authentic looking it feels like you're trapped in the bunker also! No region A release yet but the UK Blu is region-free and well worth getting. A DVD companion to it would be Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary a documentary of Traudl Junge who's recollections of the events were one of the sources for Downfall.

Glad to find a fellow reader of Max Hastings. I also have read his books Armageddon and Retribution, and they occupy a prominent place on my shelf, along with several other of his books.

Downfall is among the best films I have ever seen, and is certainly one of the most accurate and chilling historical epics ever put on film. Bruno Ganz gives what is in my opinion one of the single greatest performances ever by an actor. I originally bought Wings of Desire as a blind buy just because he starred in it (and discovered as a bonus it also had Peter Falk). Ganz is top shelf, he has become a favorite after seeing him in only a few films.

For anyone interested, the blu-ray of Downfall has been ridiculously cheap on amazon.uk for several years, but for those who are reluctant to import, it can also be found for less than $10 + shipping from ImportCDs. It looks fantastic.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

Thank you for the recommendations.

Both Armageddon and Retribution are really terrific reads. Armageddon deals with the final destructive year of the war against Nazi Germany on both the Western and Eastern fronts. In particular, Hastings does a very good job of making the reader realize just how titanic the struggle was on the Eastern Front, how the Red Army was in effect destroyed and rebuilt three times during the war, yet it kept hammering away at the Germans, learning to fight them more effectively and finally to beat them despite suffering colossal losses of 11 million battle dead. Hastings wields facts like a rapier in the context of his narrative; reading staggering statistics like this placed in such human terms by his masterful writing makes the book emotionally compelling and unimagineably heartbreaking. That the Red Army was able to move so rapidly and enact massive encirclements of German forces in the final year of the war was due in no small part to lend-lease of trucks, supplies, and food from the western allies, something Hastings goes into detail about, and the Russians were reluctant to acknowledge after the war.

The book also pulls no punches regarding the plight of German civilians in the path of the advancing armies, especially the fate of German women at the hands of a vengeful Red Army, and I dare anyone to read the story of the Baltic port evacuation ships Wilhelm Gustloff and Steuben without a tear in their eye. Yeah, the book is that good.

I think my extensive readings on European history, particularly the Soviet-German war of 1941-45, together with having grown up in Germany and having today a good many Russian and German friends, are huge reasons I am so drawn to cinema from these two nations. For me, films like Larisa Shepitko's Wings and The Ascent, or Tarkovsky's Ivan's Childhood, have an emotional anchoring that is deeper than if I had watched them without any knowledge of what happened during that time, or if I had not known some of those who lived through it or been friends with their children and grandchildren.

[pro-bassoonist]

Richard III Blu-ray REVIEW

[KrugerIndustrial]

Originally Posted by oildude

Downfall is among the best films I have ever seen, and is certainly one of the most accurate and chilling historical epics ever put on film. Bruno Ganz gives what is in my opinion one of the single greatest performances ever by an actor. I originally bought Wings of Desire as a blind buy just because he starred in it (and discovered as a bonus it also had Peter Falk). Ganz is top shelf, he has become a favorite after seeing him in only a few films.

For anyone interested, the blu-ray of Downfall has been ridiculously cheap on amazon.uk for several years, but for those who are reluctant to import, it can also be found for less than $10 + shipping from ImportCDs. It looks fantastic.

I completely agree. Fantastic film. Ganz was amazing as Hitler. I own the German release.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

Thank you for the recommendations, Pro-B.

You were right about the cover art of Last Year at Marienbad being aesthetically beautiful in it's simplicity. It complements the movie's title and credits at the beginning of the film.

You are very welcome, Fellini

Hopefully, some of them appeal to you.

Have a great week.

Pro-B

[ElliesDad]

Originally Posted by oildude

Glad to find a fellow reader of Max Hastings. I also have read his books Armageddon and Retribution, and they occupy a prominent place on my shelf, along with several other of his books.

Downfall is among the best films I have ever seen, and is certainly one of the most accurate and chilling historical epics ever put on film. Bruno Ganz gives what is in my opinion one of the single greatest performances ever by an actor. I originally bought Wings of Desire as a blind buy just because he starred in it (and discovered as a bonus it also had Peter Falk). Ganz is top shelf, he has become a favorite after seeing him in only a few films.

For anyone interested, the blu-ray of Downfall has been ridiculously cheap on amazon.uk for several years, but for those who are reluctant to import, it can also be found for less than $10 + shipping from ImportCDs. It looks fantastic.

How good was Bruno Ganz in Downfall? He so remarkably disappeared into the role that reading your post was the first time that I consciously made the connection between Downfall and Wings of Desire! The former is a remarkable production and must-viewing for anyone intersted in the subject.

Assume that you've read Harrison Salisbury's "The 900 Days". It's remarkable that while the epic struggle of Stalingrad was in progress the equally epic siege of Leningrad was happening more or less concurrently, keeping thirty or so divisions of Army Group north engaged and at one point drawing additional troops away from Stalingrad. The Leningrad experience is drawn by Salisbury in finely-portrayed vignettes intimately describing the horrors of every-day life during the siege (in which eight hundred thousand citizens perished from starvation alone) and the incredible heroism of the people of Leningrad, at all levels of society, caught up in the maelstrom. It was this account, read years and years ago, that first brought home to me the tenacity and stalwartness of the long-suffering Russian people. Indeed it's a testament to the human survival-extinct, and perseverence in the face of incalcuable hardship, of human beings everywhere.

[ShellOilJunior]

I had a chance to re-visit The Secret of the Grain over my 4-day weekend. It was my 3rd or 4th viewing and I enjoy it more each time.

I like how the story is simple, the dialogue is realistic and the characters are well-developed. I love the music and Hafsia Herzi is dynamite

[amoergosum]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Richard III Blu-ray REVIEW

Incredible transfer.

[jacksonwalker]

Originally Posted by amoergosum

Incredible transfer.

In reading the review, I am thinking that there might be some new material since the 2004 Criterion 2-disc DVD. I may have to upgrade if there are additional scenes or special features.

[octagon]

You can add my voice to the Downfall/Bruno Ganz chorus. It's an incredible film and is right up there with The Lives of Others as Exhibit A in my rebuttal case that yes, they do in fact still make them like they used to, you just have to know where to look.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by octagon

You can add my voice to the Downfall/Bruno Ganz chorus. It's an incredible film and is right up there with The Lives of Others as Exhibit A in my rebuttal case that yes, they do in fact still make them like they used to, you just have to know where to look.

The Lives of Others is one of my all-time favorite films, and it was one of the first Blu-rays that I added to my collection. I revisit this film two or three times each year, and it never grows stale.

I am also an enthusiastic fan of Downfall. That movie was chilling in its depiction of the figurative walls closing in. To bring this to a low denominator, though, I did develop quite a crush on Alexandra Maria Lara when I saw the film. She also stars in the Ian Curtis/Joy Division biopic, Control.

[bluesilo]

Watched 12 angry men last night for the forum. Looking forward to the discussion. Boy does that transfer look fantastic.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by oildude

Both Armageddon and Retribution are really terrific reads. Armageddon deals with the final destructive year of the war against Nazi Germany on both the Western and Eastern fronts. In particular, Hastings does a very good job of making the reader realize just how titanic the struggle was on the Eastern Front, how the Red Army was in effect destroyed and rebuilt three times during the war, yet it kept hammering away at the Germans, learning to fight them more effectively and finally to beat them despite suffering colossal losses of 11 million battle dead. Hastings wields facts like a rapier in the context of his narrative; reading staggering statistics like this placed in such human terms by his masterful writing makes the book emotionally compelling and unimagineably heartbreaking. That the Red Army was able to move so rapidly and enact massive encirclements of German forces in the final year of the war was due in no small part to lend-lease of trucks, supplies, and food from the western allies, something Hastings goes into detail about, and the Russians were reluctant to acknowledge after the war.

The book also pulls no punches regarding the plight of German civilians in the path of the advancing armies, especially the fate of German women at the hands of a vengeful Red Army, and I dare anyone to read the story of the Baltic port evacuation ships Wilhelm Gustloff and Steuben without a tear in their eye. Yeah, the book is that good.

I think my extensive readings on European history, particularly the Soviet-German war of 1941-45, together with having grown up in Germany and having today a good many Russian and German friends, are huge reasons I am so drawn to cinema from these two nations. For me, films like Larisa Shepitko's Wings and The Ascent, or Tarkovsky's Ivan's Childhood, have an emotional anchoring that is deeper than if I had watched them without any knowledge of what happened during that time, or if I had not known some of those who lived through it or been friends with their children and grandchildren.

Knowing more about the film's situation, culture and people heightens it's value. Tarkovsky's film captures all those moral dilemmas and experiences seen in the eastern front. It is very poetic. Ivan's Childhood is so far my favorite film from him. What is amazing of the film is that most of the violence is off screen, but still carries the emotional weight. (Very similar to A Man Escaped)

I have four more films to watch from him: Andrei Rublev (I plan to watch this week), The Mirror, The Sacrifice and Nostalghia.

[drbikeshorts]

Originally Posted by MasturB

Any other good criterions flick with a widescreen aspect ratio that pre-date the 70's?

400 Blows, 8 1/2, 12 Angry Men, Paths of Glory, Army of Shadows, Le Cercle, are all widescreen.

Not that it's a major requirement, but I am obsessed with how good the picture quality is on these movies that have been restored. I still watch a lot of them that are 4:3, but I'm interested in the widescreen.

I was watching 8 1/2 yesterday, and was amazed at how beautiful the picture looks considering how old the movie is, same for all the others I mentioned. Would like to buy more of them like that to compare and contrast.

Well, you're actually talking about a group of films with a range of three different aspect ratios from 1.66:1 to 1.85:1 to 2.35:1.
Also, the narrower aspect ratios of 1.66:1 and 1.85:1 are achieved by masking a full 35mm frame, whereas the 2.35:1 of The 400 Blows is from using an anamorphic lens to squeeze the wider image onto the 35mm frame. They have very different properties.
Tell us more about what you liked in these films...

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by drbikeshorts

Well, you're actually talking about a group of films with a range of three different aspect ratios from 1.66:1 to 1.85:1 to 2.35:1.
Also, the narrower aspect ratios of 1.66:1 and 1.85:1 are achieved by masking a full 35mm frame, whereas the 2.35:1 of The 400 Blows is from using an anamorphic lens to squeeze the wider image onto the 35mm frame. They have very different properties.
Tell us more about what you liked in these films...

Don't forget 2.20:1

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

Knowing more about the film's situation, culture and people heightens it's value. Tarkovsky's film captures all those moral dilemmas and experiences seen in the eastern front. It is very poetic. Ivan's Childhood is so far my favorite film from him. What is amazing of the film is that most of the violence is off screen, but still carries the emotional weight. (Very similar to A Man Escaped)

I have four more films to watch from him: Andrei Rublev (I plan to watch this week), The Mirror, The Sacrifice and Nostalghia.

How did you get your hands on Mirror, Nostalghia and Andrei Rublev?

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

How did you get your hands on Mirror, Nostalghia and Andrei Rublev?

They are not blu rays, I have them on my Netflix queue DVDs. I hope criterion will release another Tarkovsky film soon.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

They are not blu rays, I have them on my Netflix queue DVDs. I hope criterion will release another Tarkovsky film soon.

Same here.

I desperately need to get a Roku box and Netflix/Hulu