The Criterion Collection

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Doctor Jack

Just attempted to watch Stalker. Zzzzzz. Made it halfway and realized that I would rather do anything else than watch the last 80 mins. After not making it through this and Solaris, I am going to just say that Tarkovsky is not for me.

There are starving children in China who do not get to watch Blu-rays, so you'd better finish those.

I get what you're saying, through, because it took a while for me to get into the Tarkovsky groove at first. I've found that the films resonate with me a lot more as I age.

[SammyJankis]

I can't name another film that gets me in a headspace like Stalker. It's the kind of mental engagement that absorbs me in such a trance-like state.

I get that reaction, though.

[javy]

I was somewhat intimidated by Tarkovsky before viewing his films. I watched Stalker first and connected with it immediately and loved it. Then going into Solaris I was still intimidated. It blew my mind.

I've only seen those two films but I believe that's enough for me to say I'm a fan of Tarkovsky, and I'm looking forward to seeing the new restoration of The Sacrifice, I've held off of the old blu-ray for obvious reasons.

[SammyJankis]

The only Tarkovsky I haven't seen is Andrei Rublev, and that won't happen until a film print miraculously plays here or that long overdue blu releases.

[JoeBuck]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

The only Tarkovsky I haven't seen is Andrei Rublev, and that won't happen until a film print miraculously plays here or that long overdue blu releases.

Man oh man are you missing out! I'll pray for you

[Doctor Jack]

Well, apparently I stand alone. Oh well.

[Scottie]

To be fair, you need to be in a certain mood to watch Tarkovsky.

You can't throw any of his films in and expect them to play like a traditional drama.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Doctor Jack

Well, apparently I stand alone. Oh well.

Originally Posted by iScottie

To be fair, you need to be in a certain mood to watch Tarkovsky.

Scottie is right.

I owned Stalker on DVD, and watched it several times in that format. I was excited when I learned that it was out on Blu-ray, but the Blu-ray is still sitting unwatched for when I'm in that Stalker mood.

[Doctor Jack]

Originally Posted by iScottie

To be fair, you need to be in a certain mood to watch Tarkovsky.

You can't throw any of his films in and expect them to play like a traditional drama.

Both of his films I tried to watch, I was ready for them. Didn’t just throw them in. He’s just not for me.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by JoeBuck

Man oh man are you missing out! I'll pray for you

Oh, I know. It's at the very top of my to-see list, and everything I've read (which has been a lot) and seen (very little) leads just gets me eager for when this finally happens.

[deepseababy]

Originally Posted by Jaymole

Looking for Mr Goodbar has been one of my most wanted films for ages on DVD or Blu-ray. I did finally break down and get it on a decent looking DVD 2 years ago as i don't think they will ever resolve the music rights.

Man, is the forecast that bleak? How disappointing.

[Alex82]

Originally Posted by Doctor Jack

Just attempted to watch Stalker. Zzzzzz. Made it halfway and realized that I would rather do anything else than watch the last 80 mins. After not making it through this and Solaris, I am going to just say that Tarkovsky is not for me.

Dang.

I'm afraid you are correct with that last phrase, as I feel Stalker and Solaris are easier to digest than most of his other films, with the exception of Ivan's Childhood, since that was his most "conventional" film.

[cakefactory]

I watched Umbrellas of Cherbourg. I didn't hear of it until I saw it mentioned as a primary inspiration for La La Land, which was a movie I loved primarily because of the ending and thought much of the middle of was a drag.

This one starts slowly and I wasn't sold on it until Act II started, but at that point, I fell deeply in love with it. I didn't see why La La Land was compared to it so much until the ending, as the musical aspects are not even remotely comparable. Only the opening there is really a musical number, the rest of it is all musical performances that would be happening in "real life," almost like the movie was embarrassed to be a musical. I do love the first dance number there, but this! 100% of the dialogue is sung, and it seems like the score must have taken an incredibly long time to write. Which is really refreshing to me as a movie music nut, since most stuff I hear these days is either a collection of songs or paint by numbers crap thanks to movies usually budgeting about 2 weeks of time for the composer to do their work. This is not really even recitative, as it doesn't have the showy visual delivery - it's trying to treat it almost naturalistically, and the dialogue obviously is not written like song lyrics at all. And even with that, there were a couple songs I recognized immediately (I think I heard them played by jazz groups).

One of the things that impressed me the most was how well it fleshed out the characters. In Act I, I assumed the situation would progress how it normally does in these kinds of things, especially given how thin Guy and Genevieve are presented. I thought the mother would just be a nagging shrew, I thought the rich guy would turn out to be a jerk, I thought Guy would come back mangled, etc. But it develops everyone somewhat realistically and doesn't seem to dislike any of its characters! Act II's warm portrayal of the mother/daughter relationship in particular was almost shocking for a movie of this vintage, especially one written by a man. And I was kind of dreading Act III, since Act I had completely failed to sell me on Guy, but it does such a good job with him that I barely missed Genevieve. And the ending, which I'm sure is really famous but I'd never heard about, worked on me like gangbusters.

The production design is gorgeous and weird, especially the famous examples like the Deneuve's flowered blue dress against the same wallpaper or Madeline's orange dress on an orange wall, but the best moments are the occasional visual flourishes. The transition from Genevieve in the dress store into the wedding in particular.

What a gorgeous movie! It's vastly better than La La Land in every respect other than that film's ending, which could be classified as industrial-grade tear gas. After watching the documentary on this disc and hearing Demy's reason for making this movie, the idea of this being the main inspiration makes more sense.

[MifuneFan]

Just took a look at Film Forum's newest calendar (PDF), and there's some interesting Criterion / Janus related stuff included.

From March 23-29, they will be showing Belle de Jour, sourced from a new 4K restoration. This restoration was already released on BD in France, and Germany last year by StudioCanal, but this says it's a Janus Films release, so possible re-release?

From April 6-12, FF will screen Mizoguchi's Story from Chikamatsu (Chikamatsu Monogatari) (1954), as well as Sansho the Bailiff, both sourced from new 4K restorations, and released by Janus Films.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by sc1957

I'm right there with you. Tarkovsky is not for me.

Now try to watch The Turin Horse.

A while back I bought The Turin Horse on blu-ray. Prob. the worst title I ever bought for replay value!

[Doctor Jack]

Watched Jeanne Dielman for the first time ever this morning. Going into it I thought that it really couldn’t be as good as some make it out to be. Figured after 45 mins I would say, yeah I get it, and turn it off. 3 1/2 Hours later it was over and I was completely mesmerized the whole time. The 201 mins get more like 91 mins. I don’t know if it was me, but I was in a constant state of suspense the whole entire time. No idea why. I absolutely loved it.

[Scottie]

[Hoke Moseley]

Originally Posted by Doctor Jack

Just attempted to watch Stalker. Zzzzzz. Made it halfway and realized that I would rather do anything else than watch the last 80 mins. After not making it through this and Solaris, I am going to just say that Tarkovsky is not for me.

[mrjohnnyb]

For those interested, TSPDT has updated their top 1,000 film list:

http://theyshootpictures.com/index.htm

[Doctor Jack]

Originally Posted by Hoke Moseley

I made it 84 mins. I actually found the stuff in the beginning to be pretty great. Once they got into the zone is when I was bored to death.