Death and the Maiden (Starring Sigourney Weaver, Sir Ben Kingsley & Stewart Wilson )

[Canada]

A political activist is convinced that her guest is a man who once tortured her for the government.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnnz214wwkI

[bonehica]

I would love to see this get a region A release. It just had a region B release in Germany.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

DATM is an incredibly well-done & extremely disturbing film. I've only seen it once (on the old DVD) & found it stayed with me for a long time afterwards.

[Show spoiler]I thought it was interesting how - initially -you weren't 100% certain that the Sigourney Weaver character had picked out the right guy (Kingsley) who had tortured her years before, so for a while you felt sorry for this guy she kidnapped & was victimizing - because you thought there was a possibility he was innocent. However, after a while it became obvious that the guy was indeed the person she thought he was...so you didn't have as much (if any) sympathy for him any more..

I.e., in essence, this was an incredible psychological thriller.

I would definitely like to see this again in high-def - but, the subject matter & obscurity of this film make me think we'll probably never see this on Blu...that being said, I know even more obscure films have made it to high-def - so, who knows?!

[orrman]

Well, this one just inched along a little more into becoming a US release. It's now in the "No Release Date: Prenotification Email" Blu-ray metamorphical stage.

[ShellBeacher]

I could see KINO picking this up...if whoever still has it (Warners?) lets them...

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by ShellBeacher

I could see KINO picking this up...if whoever still has it (Warners?) lets them...

This title, like Bitter Moon, is now controlled by Studio Canal. They released the recent German BDs of both titles.

If KL does this in the US, I hope they don't do what they did with the sound on Bitter Moon, which caused me to buy the German BD to replace it.

[FragnitoM]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

This title, like Bitter Moon, is now controlled by Studio Canal. They released the recent German BDs of both titles.

If KL does this in the US, I hope they don't do what they did with the sound on Bitter Moon, which caused me to buy the German BD to replace it.

Do you have a source that it’s owned by studio canal? It was originally fine line Feature releases in the US—which was a division of New Line and part of Warner—many of those films (hoop Dreams, my own private idaho, the player, short cuts, Hedwig, etc) have been released by Criterion. If not criterion I hoped maybe a Warner archive release one day instead of Kino

[An4h0ny]

This movie is amazing.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by FragnitoM

Do you have a source that it’s owned by studio canal? It was originally fine line Feature releases in the US—which was a division of New Line and part of Warner—many of those films (hoop Dreams, my own private idaho, the player, short cuts, Hedwig, etc) have been released by Criterion. If not criterion I hoped maybe a Warner archive release one day instead of Kino

Both Bitter Moon and Death and the Maiden were originally distributed by Fine Line in the US. The long-out-of-print DVDs came out through them.

Fine Line's rights to those two titles lapsed years ago. Thus the DVDs are OOP and they are no longer available to stream in the US.

Both are now controlled by Studio Canal. They released the BDs of both titles in Germany recently. I own both discs. Here's the back of the Death and the Maiden disc, you can clearly see the Studio Canal name:


SC licensed Bitter Moon to Kino Lorber in the US. It's conceivable they could license Death and the Maiden here too. If they do, hopefully it won't suffer from the same audio flaw that Bitter Moon did.

[FragnitoM]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Both Bitter Moon and Death and the Maiden were originally distributed by Fine Line in the US. The long-out-of-print DVDs came out through them.

Fine Line's rights to those two titles lapsed years ago. Thus the DVDs are OOP and they are no longer available to stream in the US.

Both are now controlled by Studio Canal. They released the BDs of both titles in Germany recently. I own both discs. Here's the back of the Death and the Maiden disc, you can clearly see the Studio Canal name:


SC licensed Bitter Moon to Kino Lorber in the US. It's conceivable they could license Death and the Maiden here too. If they do, hopefully it won't suffer from the same audio flaw that Bitter Moon did.

Is that release good? I’m region free so I’d be fine importing

[silverlakephil]

The PQ is nothing to write home about, but if you’re a fan of the movie it is worth purchasing. I think this is Sigourney Weaver’s best performance. If Kino releases it stateside, hopefully they could at least include a commentary since the German import has no extras other then a trailer.

[An4h0ny]

Originally Posted by silverlakephil

I think this is Sigourney Weaver’s best performance.

Agree.

Also one of Kingsley's finest performances.

His resume is so confusing. Shakespearean level actor and he is in so many amazing films, but then he is in a lot of average or crappy films too.

This would be a film to show someone if they doubted his abilities.

Also Amazon.de is having a sale, including this film.
https://www.amazon.de/gp/promotion/A184M2EGZLVHLS

[orrman]

Just curious, does anyone know how to start a discussion thread? Do you have to have some sort of level of access? I want to start one for the movie "One False Move" but I can't figure it out.

Any information would be appreciated.

BTW, this is a great movie. No matter how it happens, hope it gets a U.S. release soon.

[Color Correction]

Cohen Media Group for the US so they can give it a proper restoration.

[FragnitoM]

Fyi this just got added to Kanopy!

[THF90]

If anyone is interested, this is now streaming for free as part of Amazon Prime Video.

[Cremildo]

Screencaps from the French BD.