Band of Outsiders – The Criterion Collection #174 (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

May 9, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

pierreetaix-a

I enjoyed the playfulness, the youthfulness and how entertaining the film came to be. As well as it began to transition to include the more darker undertones. “Band of Outsiders” is just an accessible and enjoyable film by Jean-Luc Godard and this new Blu-ray release featuring the 2010 Gaumont restoration features much better picture quality with better detail, contrast and looks so much better than its 2008 DVD counterpart! Definitely worth the upgrade if you owned the DVD and recommended on Blu-ray!

TITLE: Band of Outsiders – The Criterion Collection #174

YEAR OF FILM: 1964

DURATION: 95 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 1:33:1 aspect ratio, Black and White, Monaural in French with English Subtitles

COMPANY: Janus Films/THE CRITERION COLLECTION

RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2013

Based on the novel “Fools’ Gold” by Dolores Hitchens

Directed by Jean-Luc Godard

Music by Michel Legrand

Cinematography by Raoul Coutard

Edited by Francoise Collin, Dahlia Ezove, Agnes Guillemot

Starring:

Anna Karina as Odile

Sami Frey as Franz

Claude Brasseur as Arthur

Daniele Girard as English Teacher

Louisa Colpeyn as Madame Victoria

Chantal Darget as Arthur’s Aunt

Georges Staquet as Le Legionnaire

Ernest Menzer as Arthur’s Uncle

Narration by Jean-Luc Godard

Four years after Breathless, Jean-Luc Godard reimagined the gangster film even more radically with BAND OF OUTSIDERS. In it, two restless young men (Sweet Movie’s Sami Frey and Eyes Without a Face’s Claude Brasseur) enlist the object of both of their fancies (Pierrot le fou’s Anna Karina) to help them commit a robbery—in her own home. This audacious and wildly entertaining French New Wave gem is at once sentimental and insouciant, effervescently romantic and melancholy, and it features some of Godard’s most memorable set pieces, including the headlong race through the Louvre and the unshakeably cool Madison dance sequence.

In 1964, French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard went to work on his latest film “Bande à part” (Band of Outsiders) which was created with a small budget at around $125,000 and unlike his previous film “Contempt” which was in full color, Godard decided to go back to basics by filming in black and white and also to avoid any interjecting of politics in the film and thus many critics have called it Godard’s most accessible film because it s quite different from many of the films he has directed in the 1960′s.

“Band of Outsiders” is a film based on the novel “Fools’ Gold” by American author Dolores Hitchens and a film which Godard describes “Band of Outsiders” as “Alice in Wonderland meets Franz Kafka”. For many critics, they like to call the film a B-Noir in which the film contains noir elements but also other elements of humor and things that you would see from a French New Wave film. When it first came out in theaters in the US, not many people could understand the concept of the film and thus it didn’t do well in the theaters. But now as the film is 46-years-old, publications such as Time Magazine has selected “Band of Outsiders” as part of its “All Time 100 Movies”.

In 2008, “Band of Outsiders” was released on DVD courtesy of The Criterion Collection and now, the HD version of the film featuring Gaumont’s 2010 high-definition restoration with uncompressed monaural soundtrack was released on Blu-ray courtesy of the Criterion Collection in May 2013.

“Band of Outsiders” revolves around two wannabe criminals Arthur (Claude Brasseur) and Franz (Sami Frey). Franz who attends an English class with a young woman named Odile (Anna Karina) is told by her that a large amount of money is stashed in the villa that she lives at with her Aunt and Mr. Stoltz. Because of this, Franz has told his friend Arthur about it and immediately, Arthur sees this as an opportunity to make some money and knows that in order to make this happen, he must first gain the trust of Odile. So, Franz takes Arthur to meet her at the English class and immediately, Arthur does what he can to make Odile know that he’s interested in her.

Franz has been attracted to Odile for quite some time but because he’s so shy, he never really had the opportunity to get close to her. But Arthur has much more experience with women and immediately, uses his bad boy charm to attract Odile’s affections and thus gets her to ditch her English class and for her to join him for the day in order for him to learn from her about how much more money is inside the villa. With Odile, hooked to Arthur’s words, when she goes home she happens to finds so much money that when she tells Arthur and Franz, immediately the two start planning on how they can steal the money.

But Odile tells them to wait a few days but with Arthur having problems with other people demanding some money immediately from him, he is forced to steal the money sooner than Odile is expecting.

VIDEO:

I gave the 2008 DVD review a positive when it comes to picture quality, but with this restored version courtesy of Gaumont’s 2010 restoration of the film, “Band of Outsiders” in HD definitely surpasses its original DVD version in clarity, detail and contrast. The film is not soft or blurry, you can actually see much better detail in the clothing, well-contrast within the whites and grays of the film and black levels which are inky and deep.

According to the Criterion Collection, the digital master came from a restoration undertaken by Gaumont in 2010. For the restoration, a high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35 mm composite fine grain at Eclair Laboratories in Epinay-sur-Seine, France.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Band of Outsiders” is presented in French monaural LPCM. According to the Criterion Collection, The original monaural soundtrack was restored from a 35 mm optical soundtrack positive.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The “Band of Outsiders” comes with the following special features:

Visual Glossary – (17:58) Featuring selected quotations from “Band of Outsiders” and an explanation of the quotation.
Godard 1964 – (5:17) Featuring Jean-Luc Godard talking about Nouvelle Vague and its Raison D’Etre with filmmaker Andre S. LAbarthe for the documentary “La Nouvelle Vague Par Elle-Meme”.
Anna Karina – (18:26) Featuring an interview with Anna Karina, recorded in 2002. Karina talks about loving films, working with Jean-Luc Godard, Raoul Coutard, running into Claude Brasseur and more.
Raoul Coutard – (11:00) Featuring an interview with Raoul Coutard discussing his work with Jean-Luc Godard, the challenges he had in shooting complicated scenes, the French New Wave and more.
Les Fiances Du Pont Mac Donald – Featuring the short directed by Agnes Varda (used on Agnes’ 1962 film “Cleo From 5 to 7″) starring Jean-Luc Godard, Anna Karina, Sami Frey, Daniele Girard and more.
Trailers – Featuring the original and the re-release trailer for “Band of Outsiders”.

EXTRAS:

“Band of Outsiders” comes with a 26-page booklet which includes the essay “Get Your Madis On” by Joshua Clover, “The Characters According to Godard” from the original press book and “No Questions Asked” featuring an interview between Godard and Godard critic Jean Collet from 1964.

“The Band of Outsiders” is a charming and enjoyable film. Is it my favorite Godard film, I would still have to give the title of “My Godard Favorite” to his 1965 film “Pierrot Le Fou” but I will say that “Band of Outsiders” manages to pull me in with its various scenes and its interesting plot. Needless to say that many Godard fans enjoy the film and even prompted Quentin Tarentino to name his production company “A Band Apart” after the French title “Bande à part”.

The title of the film “Band of Outsiders” is about these three individuals who are outsiders. From the two male characters named after Godard’s favorite authors Arthur Rimbaud and Franz Kafka, Arthur is a player and obviously have some experience breaking the law and schmoozing with women, while Franz is the silent type who you can tell is not so comfortable when his friend actually starts to win Odile’s heart. And as for Odile, an innocent girl with not much experience with being around men and she is very much a different person from these two men. When Arthur asks for a kiss with a tongue, her inexperience shows as she sticks out her tongue. But it’s how these three individuals react to each other, you wonder how in the heck can these three people get mixed up together?

But perhaps that was the winning combination that made this film work as the three characters manage to keep you’re eyes glued to the screen. Not knowing what are going to happen to them but knowing that with director Jean-Luc Godard, anything can happen and for the most part, if you submit your 95 minutes to Godard, you’re definitely in for a wild ride. The ending might be a bit bumpy but the actual ride is where you feel satisfaction as you will encounter quite a few surprises, twists and turns and that is how I feel about “Band of Outsiders”.

From Odile (Karina) looking directly to the camera when asking a question, to the moment of silence which almost seems like an eternity but at the same time, you can’t help but be amused by it. From the playfulness of Arthur and Franz play shooting each other and my two favorite scenes, when the three individuals take part in the “Madison dance” and the Louvre scene in which the three try to break the American Jimmy Johnson’s record of how fast they can see all the art inside the Louvre. How fun is that? So, I was quite amused to see that scene but really enjoyed the various scenes that just stick to your memory (a lot of Godard films tend to do that for me).

But the creation of “Band of Outsiders” was somewhat of Godard’s comeback at the time (one of many). After the beating he took for the film “Les Carabiniers”, Godard decided to work together with his wife Anna Karina (both had separated at the time) and the first time the two worked together since “Vivre sa vie”. But it was a tough time for both husband and wife who were having problems in their marriage, but it was also a film that helped the two grow closer to each other.

Many will take notice that Karina looks different in this film compared to other films and that is because the film was shot after she came out of the hospital after a suicide attempt. But because of this film, Karina credits “Band of Outsiders” of saving her life.

For Godard, “Band of Outsiders” gave the filmmaker a chance to try something different and whether or not he succeeded or failed depends on the viewer as the film today is seen as one of Godard’s best, but at the time of screening at various film festivals, the film infuriated audiences and also previous Godard defenders, film critics who had problems with the film. The film also gave Jean-Luc a chance to name a character after his mother (who died in a scooter accident ten years earlier).

While a low budget film, the film was enjoyed by film critics all over the world, as film critic Richard Brody would lend to the film’s ongoing popularity due to the film’s “overt neo-classicism” but Brody writes in his book “Everything is Cinema”, that the failed experiment was trying to separate “instinctive” and “reflective” elements. The result was failure and so he would come back to combine the elements once again.

As for this Blu-ray release, “Band of Outsiders” looks so much better in HD after the restoration. No longer soft or even blurry, the film shows much more detail, much better contrast and a cleaner picture. Also, you get an uncompressed monaural soundtrack and all six special features that were included on the original 2008 DVD release.

Overall, I enjoyed the playfulness, the youthfulness and how entertaining the film came to be, as well as it began to transition to include more darker undertones. But the film is quite entertaining and I had a fun time watching it. Although there are other films I Godard/Anna Karina films I recommend watching before “Band of Outsiders”, the film is still worth having on your checklist of must-see Godard films.

Definitely recommended!

Pierre Etaix – The Criterion Collection #655 (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

April 25, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Pierre Etaix – The Criterion Collection #655″ is an entertaining and enjoyable French comedy shorts/film set featuring the work of filmmaker/actor Pierre Etaix. From his early shorts to his feature films covering the 1960′s, each of the shorts and films presented in this set look fantastic thanks to its 2010 restoration by Studio 17, The Technicolor Foundation for Cinema Heritage and the Groupama Gan Foundation for Cinema, under the supervision of director Pierre Etaix. For those who enjoy silent cinema or comedy (especially early French comedy) that is more visual than dialogue-driven, will find “Pierre Etaix – The Criterion Collection #655″ to be a set worth owning! Highly recommended!

TITLE: Pierre Etaix – The Criterion Collection #655

YEAR OF FILM: Rupture (1961), Happy Anniversary (1962), The Suitor (1961), Yoyo (1965), As Long As You’ve Got Your Health (1966), Feeling Good (1966), Le Grand Amour (1968), Land of Milk and Honey (1971)

DURATION: Rupture (12:44), Happy Anniversary (13:55), The Suitor (1:24:40), Yoyo (1:38:15), As Long As You’ve Got Your Health (1:08:04), Feeling Good (14:56), Le Grand Amour (1:27:27), Land of Milk and Honey (1:16:31)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 1:33:1 aspect ratio, Black and White, Monaural in French with English Subtitles

COMPANY: Janus Films/THE CRITERION COLLECTION

RELEASE DATE: April 23, 2013

Rupture

Directed by Pierre Etaix

Written by Jean-Claude Carriere and Pierre Etaix

Happy Anniversary

Directed by Pierre Etaix

Written by Jean-Claude Carriere and Pierre Etaix

Cinematography by Pierre Levent

Music by Claude Stieremans

The Suitor

Directed by Pierre Etaix

Written by Jean-Claude Carriere and Pierre Etaix

Director of Photography: Pierre Levent

Music by Jean Pailland

Yoyo

Directed by Pierre Etaix

Written by Jean-Claude Carriere and Pierre Etaix

Produced by Paul Claudon

Music by Jean Paillaud

Cinematography by Jean Boffety

Edited by Henri Lanoe

Production Design by Raymond Gabutti, Raymond Tournon

Costume Design by Jacqueline Guyot

As Long As You’ve Got Your Health

Directed by Pierre Etaix

Written by Jean-Claude Carriere and Pierre Etaix

Produced by Paul Cladon

Music by Rene Giner, Luce Klein, Jean Paillaud

Cinematography by Jean Boffety

Edited by Henri Lanoe, Raymond Lewin, Roger Salesse, Andree Werlin, Marie-Josephe, Yoyotte

Production Design by Jacques D’Ovideo

Set Decoration by Raymond Gabutti

Feeling Good

Written and Directed by Pierre Etaix

Le Grand Amour

Directed by Pierre Etaix

Written by Jean-Claude Carriere

Produced by Paul Cladon

Music by Claude Stieremans

Cinematography by Jean Boffety

Edited by Henri Lanoe

Production Design by Daniel Louradour

Costume Design by Daniel Lourador

Land of Milk and Honey

Directed by Pierre Etaix

Written by Pierre Etaix

Produced by Paul Claudon

Music by Jose Padilla

Cinematography by Georges Lendi

Edited by Michel Lewin

Starring:

The Suitor

Franc Arnell as Stella, the Olympia Star

Pierre Etaix as Pierre, the Suitor

Laurence Ligneres as Laurence, the neighbor

Claude Massot as Pierre’s father

Denise Peronne as Pierre’s mother

Karine Vesely as Ilka, the Swedish Au-pair

Yo Yo

Pierre Etaix as Yoyo

Claudine Auger as Isolina

Philippe Dionnet as Yoyo enfant

Luce Klein as L’ecuyere

As Long As You’ve Got Your Health

Pierre Etaix as Pierre

Denise Peronne

Simon Fonder

Sabine Sun

Vera Valmont

Francoise Occipinti

Claude Massot

Dario Meschi

Emile Coryn

Roger Trapp

Feeling Good

Roger Trapp

Preston

Robert Blome

Pierre Moncorbier

Pierre Etaix

Le Grand Amour

Pierre Etaix as Pierre

Annie Fratellini as Florence

Nicole Calfan as Agnes

Alain Janey as Jacques

Ketty France as mme. Girard

Louis Maiss as Mr. Girard

Land of Milk and Honey

Pierre Etaix

Maurice Biraud

Michel Lewin

A French comedy master whose films went unseen for decades as a result of legal tangles, director-actor Pierre Etaix is a treasure the cinematic world has rediscovered and embraced with relish. His work can be placed on the spectrum of classic physical comedy with that of Jacques Tati and Jerry Lewis, but it also stands alone in its good- natured delicacy. These films, influenced by Etaix’s experiences as a circus acrobat and clown and by the silent film comedies he adored, are elegantly deadpan, but as an on-screen presence, Etaix radiates warmth. This collection includes all of his films, five features, The Suitor,Yoyo, As Long as You’ve Got Your Health, Le grand amour, and Land of Milk and Honey—most of them collaborations with the great screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière—and three shorts, Rupture, the Oscar-winning Happy Anniversary, and Feeling Good. Not one of these is anything less than a bracing and witty delight.

Filmmaker Jacques Tati has inspired many people throughout his lifetime. And for one comedian, actor and filmmaker, Pierre Etaix, is a man who had the opportunity to work with Tati but also alongside international talent such as Robert Bresson, Nagisa Oshima, Otar Iosseliani and Jerry Lewis.

Best known for his short and feature films from the 1960′s, you would think that Pierre Etaix, an Academy Award winner, would be a well-known name to cinema fans worldwide. But unfortunately, his films would be unavailable for decades due to a legal dispute with a distribution company.

But now Pierre Etaix’s films will be released on Blu-ray and DVD for the first time in America courtesy of the Criterion Collection.

“Pierre Etaix – The Criterion Collection #655″ comes with digitally restored short films “Rupture” (1961) about an illustrator having a difficult time at work and “Happy Anniversary” (“Heureux Anniversaire”, 1962), a short story about a wife preparing an anniversary meal for her husband but unfortunately, he is caught up in automobile and traffic situations and not sure if he can make it home in time. The short won an Academy Award in 1963 for “Best Short Subject” and a 1964 BAFTA Award for “Best Short Film”.

The collection also includes his first feature film “The Suitor” (Le Soupirant), a film which was originally conceived as several shorts, but Etaix was told to create a feature film in which he did.

“The Suitor” features Etaix and writer Jean-Claude Carriere doing a homage to Laurel & Hardy in which a man (portrayed by Pierre Etaix) just wants to study astrology but because he lives with his parents, he is trying to fulfill his parents wishes of finding a woman to love and marry, but finding a woman is not as easy as he is not sure what it takes to meet a woman. While he manages to attract Laurence, a woman who lives next door, he becomes obsessed with a singer named Stella on television.

“Yo Yo” was a film created by Pierre Etaix during a difficult time in his life after his father was killed in road accident. Inspired by Federico Fellini’s “8 1/2″, Etaix was excited about the possibility of doing something different but with slapstick. Together with Jean-Claude Carriere, the two were able to create a film that would incorporate their love of silent cinema but from its main protagonist but with sound from everyone and everything else.

The film is about a millionaire who has everything… a palace, material things, musicians, dancers but he doesn’t have love. He often looks at a photo of a pretty woman of his past.

One day while attending the circus, he sees the woman on a white horse and we learn that the millionaire had a relationship with the woman and that she gave birth to his child named Yo Yo ten years ago. Both she and the child were raised in the circus lifestyle but when he marries the woman and both live with him in the chateau. For Yo Yo, to live in such luxury and a place that he loves becomes a big part of him. Fast forward and Yo-Yo has went from acrobat to a clown. But due to war, he is drafted into the military and when he gets out, he realizes that life has changed.

He returns to the chateau which has not been taken care of and so Yo Yo dedicates his life to working as a filmmaker and businessman to acquire wealth to keep up the place. But while doing so, he may have run into the same situations as his father, having the wealthy and focusing so much on material things, he may have let love pass him by.

For the next film titled “Tant qu’on a la santé” (As Long As You’ve Got Your Health), unfortunately with “Yo Yo” not doing well in the box office, producer’s limited Etaix’s budget for his latest film. Etaix has said that this film, he wished he had the budget to put certain things he wanted in the film but producers were adamant against it. So, having to use friends as extras and previous staff to make this film happen, Pierre went to work on “As Long As You’ve Got Your Health” which is a film divided into four parts.

The first part “I – L’insomnie” revolves around a man (portrayed by Pierre Etaix) who is having a hard time sleeping, so he picks up a vampire book and starts to get spooked out by it. While his wife is sleeping right next to him, as he reads, the audience watches the story unfold as a man tries to save a woman from Dracula. But unknown to the man, his wife has a secret.

The second part is “Le cinématographe” and shows a man (portrayed by Pierre Etaix), who goes to the movies to enjoy a western. But he quickly learns that watching a film in a crowded cinema can be quite difficult. Meanwhile, during the movie break, audiences at the theater are treated by the latest in absurd commercialism.

The third part is titled “Tant qu’on a la santé” and is about how life can be very busy for people in today’s world. From the sound of one with a jackhammer and making so much noise that it disrupts peoples lives, people trying to smile as they are stuck in traffic or have some type of problems in their life, to the fast walking crowds of people going to working or leaving work and as everyone goes to the psychiatrist to help them out with stress, they also must suffer from stress.

And the final fourth part is titled “Nous n’irons plus au bois” and is set in a countryside. A man goes out to hunt, a couple goes to the countryside for a picnic and a farmer sets a wire fence to keep people out of his property. But what happens when the hunter and the couple start to go through the wired fence?

For “En pleine forme” (“Feeling Good”), the short was intended to be part of “As Long As You’ve Got Your Health” but was replaced by “I – L’insomnie”. While created in 1966, the short was seen for the first time through the 2010 restoration of Pierre Etaix’s films. The short is about a man who goes out to the country to get away from real life and go camping. But he’s not an outdoorsman and tries his best to go camping. He immediately is ushered to an area of campers, but while everyone has their own campsite in an enclosed area, they live as if they are living like their real life and not enjoying nature.

With the success of “As Long As You’ve Got Your Health”, the opportunity to make a bigger film came. And this time around, Pierre Etaix requested for a color film to be made but also with a larger budget, which the producers of the film agreed.

And so the film that Pierre would go on to make was titled “Le Grand Amour”, made in 1969 and would star Annie Fratellini (Pierre’s real-life wife and also onscreen) an actress Nicole Calfan.

The film revolves around Pierre (portrayed by Pierre Etaix), a man who is the boss of an industrial business and married to the owner’s daughter Florence (portrayed by Annie Fratellini). Pierre begins the film talking about the woman he was friends with and how he met and married Florence. While their relationship is strong, the gossiping women around the area start talking false gossip about Pierre, who is seen saying hello to a woman walking down the street. When a woman tells another woman, the scene is exaggerated to the point that it makes it seem that Pierre has had an affair. The miscommunication leads to Florence leaving him for a few hours, but not knowing why his wife would leave, his friend Jacques (portrayed by Alain Janey) tells him that he should have married a much younger woman, so these problems wouldn’t happen.

But as Pierre and Florence are able to patch things up in their marriage, a beautiful young woman named Agnes (portrayed by Nicole Calfan) has been hired to replace the longtime secretary who is leaving the company. Immediately, Pierre begins to fantasize about her everyday and becomes so obsessed with her to the point that he starts to avoid his wife, starts to collect fallen hair left behind by Agnes and has dreams of him sleeping with her.

And now Pierre starts to wonder if he wants to stay married with Agnes or go after his secretary.

The final film featured is a documentary titled “Land of Milk and Honey” (“Pays de Cocagne”) and it’s a film that is considered by Pierre Etaix to be his most important film. It’s also a film that destroyed his filmmaking career to the point that Etaix would not direct another film for nearly 16 years.

The documentary was shot during the summer of ’68 as his wife Annie Fratellini was a singer and wanted to take part in the Europe 1 sponsored music stage which was traveling throughout France. For Pierre, wanting to support his wife, he figured he would shoot his travel and find something interesting during his trip. And when he saw the advertising and the people that turned out for the Tour de France, Etaix was captivated by the many people at the event, campgrounds and at the beach.

But while traveling, he also learned that the people involved in the traveling music stage were amateurs who couldn’t sing that well, but in their head, consider themselves great singers who want to make a major career of music. So, with so many ideas, Pierre decide to interview people from topics about the man on the moon, the power of advertising, eroticism, marriage and more.

But the film became an experimental film because he wanted to create a comedy, but since there was no script, all he could do is edit the film and make it fun. In the process, critics and viewers thought the film was mocking society and after 10 days in the theater, the bad press led the film to be pulled out and destroying Pierre Etaix’s credibility as a filmmaker with no one in France wanting to work with the filmmaker ever again (until 1987).

VIDEO, AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

The shorts and feature films by Pierre Etaix is presented in 1080p High Definition for the very first time. Considering that the film has not been available on video due to legal issues that prevented the distribution of Pierre Etaix’s films, audiences are getting the opportunity to seeing Pierre’s films in the best picture quality possible.

The first shorts and feature films which include “Rupture”, “Happy Anniversary”, “The Suitor”, “Yoyo”, “As Long As You’ve Got Your Health” and “Feeling Good” are presented in black and white (some acts in “As Long As You’ve Got Your Health” are presented in color or sepia). For these earlier films, the film looks very good for its age and very clean. I didn’t see any warping, damage or major flickering. Picture quality was very good for these films. Black levels were nice and deep while white and grays were well-contrast.

As for “Le Grand Amour” and “Land of Milk and Honey”, these two films look very good. With “Le Grand Amour”, there may be one scene in which Pierre visits his wife’s family, where the film does show its age, but other than that, the color on these two films look fantastic and the film was definitely well-preserved. Also, no problems of discoloration, colors are vibrant and picture quality for the two color films look very good!

As for the monaural lossless audio, French dialogue is crystal clear, as with the music. I detected no major hissing, crackle or pops during my viewing of the film.

According to the Criterion Collection, thew new digital masters were made from 2010 restorations undertaken by Studio 17, The Technicolor Foundation for Cinema Heritage and the Groupama Gan Foundation for Cinema, under the supervision of director Pierre Etaix.

For the restorations of “Rupture”, “Happy Anniversary”, “Feeling Good” and the Suitor, the transfers were created in high-definition on a Spirit Datacine from the original 35 mm camera negatives and the sound was restored from the original track negative. The transfer of “Yoyo” was created in high-definition on a Spirit Datacine from a wet-gate printed 35 mm duplicate negative, and the sound was restored from the optical track negative. For “As Long as You’ve Got Your Health”, the transfer was created in high-definition on a Spirit Datacine from the original 35 mm camera negative and a 35 mm duplicate negative and the sound was restored from the optical track negative. The transfer of “Le Grand amour” was created in 2K restoration on an ARRISCAN film scanner from the original 35 mm camera negative and two-reels of wet-gate interpositive, and the sound was restored from the 35 mm magnetic tracks. And for “Land of Milk and Honey”, the transfer was created in high definition on a Spirit Datacine from a 35 mm blow-up internegative made from the 16 mm reversal, while the sound was restored from the optical track negative.

Subtitles are presented in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Pierre Etaix – The Criterion Collection #655” comes with the following special features:

Pierre Etaix Introduction – For each film presented in the ““Pierre Etaix – The Criterion Collection #655”, there is about a six-minute introduction done by Pierre Etaix.
Pierre Etaix, un destin animé - (1:00:45) A portrait of the life and work of the director by his wife, made in 2011. From Pierre Etaix’ career, his friendship with Jerry Lewis and his longtime working relationship with Jean-Claude Carriere.

EXTRAS:

“Pierre Etaix – The Criterion Collection #655” comes with a slipcase and 56-page booklet with the essays “The Return of Etaix” by David Cairns.

The collection of shorts and films from The Criterion Collection’s Blu-ray release of “Pierre Etaix” is entertaining but also a glimpse of a man who lived his life as a clown but pursued filmmaking and wanted to make people laugh despite not having a massive budget like other French filmmakers.

Inspired by legendary filmmaker and famous comic actor Jacques Tati who captured audiences with his character Monsieur Hulot, Pierre Etaix used his character of Pierre (different characters on each film) and wanted to make his film comedies based on vaudeville and also incorporate silent film style comedy, with few words spoken but everything is visual and humorous.

Featuring films with unusual sound effects played during certain moments of a short or feature film, the goal by Etaix was to create entertainment visually. As clown who used visual jokes to make people laugh, Etaix felt he could do the same on a bigger scale through cinema.

While not a big name thanks to legal issues that prevented his films from being released, the Blu-ray release of “Pierre Etaix” will entertain audiences with its comedy but also films from the ’60s that are now being released in HD for the very first time. And for some, this is probably the first time they have seen the film since its release in theaters back in the ’60s.

“Rupture” has the comedy style of silent films in which a character tries to get work done but for each time he tries, he always ends up doing something so ridiculous that it effects his work. In “Happy Anniversary”, the story is straightforward about a couple trying to celebrate their anniversary, but due to traffic and other circumstances, the husband (or boyfriend) must do all he can to get back home in time.

By the time you get to “The Suitor”, there are some remnants of a Buster Keaton style, as one man of a wealthy family tries to explore the world and discover if he can find a woman (who will possibly be his wife), but how is a man with no experience with women, find the woman that wants to be with him?

In “Yoyo”, the film is entertaining from its many locations to its cinematography and 1920′s dance choreography. The storyline was not the greatest, but I found the film to be entertaining and fascinating as it deals with two men who find out late in their lives that love is more important that financial objects.

For the film “As Long As You’ve Got Your Health”, the film is quite accessible for viewers thanks to it being divided into four parts. And each film has its own charm. Possibly my favorite part revolves around how cinemas were packed at that time and how badly people would go to find a seat but how people could be rude during ones movie viewing. So, this part alone should connect with today’s modern viewers. You also get the extra short titled “Feeling Good” which was originally supposed to be the first feature of “As Long As You’ve Got Your Health”, but Etaix chose to use the vampire segments instead.

The best film in the set is “Le Grand Amour”. Definitely a relevant film about a man’s midlife crisis and wanting to see if he can attract the opposite sex but to also have feelings towards a younger, beautiful woman. But would this man risk his marriage for this secretary? The acting was top notch and the production for this film was much better than Etaix’s previous films.

And the final film “Land of Milk and Honey” is truly an experimental film which included clever editing but was able to take something mundane and make it entertaining with the field of questions that relate from an era that is no longer. The film goes to show about how much risk Etaix was willing to take but while trying to use hours of film to make a film, using that as a visual script to edit and make a comedy. It didn’t work during that time and the film was despised by many during that time, viewers today will probably see it more audacious and experimental than being critical of French society.

The set comes with an introduction by Pierre Etaix, who discusses each of his feature films and also a documentary put together by his wife Odile Etaix, which was also entertaining and informative. But giving us a chance to gain some insight of Pierre Etaix’s work.

Overall, “Pierre Etaix – The Criterion Collection #655″ is an entertaining and enjoyable French comedy shorts/film set featuring the work of filmmaker/actor Pierre Etaix. From his early shorts to his feature films covering the 1960′s, each of the shorts and films presented in this set look fantastic thanks to its 2010 restoration by Studio 17, The Technicolor Foundation for Cinema Heritage and the Groupama Gan Foundation for Cinema, under the supervision of director Pierre Etaix. For those who enjoy silent cinema or comedy (especially early French comedy) that is more visual than dialogue-driven, will find “Pierre Etaix – The Criterion Collection #655″ to be a set worth owning!

Highly recommended!

Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

April 14, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

The “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System” DVD box set is a sample of Masaki Kobayashi’s work and what he has done for his entire career. His humanism and pacifism is noted throughout his career and while he may be known best for “The Human Condition”, “Harakiri” and “Kwaidan”, the four films presented in this set shows how this one man went into filmmaking to make a difference and to not be like other Japanese filmmakers. From his first film in the 1950′s to his last in the 1980′s, his films were seen as rebellious but in truth, it was his voice trying to reach a larger audience and challenging the viewer to consider their the direction that society was headed. “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System” is highly recommended!

TITLE: Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System

DURATION: The Thick-Walled Room (110 minutes), I Will Buy You (112 minutes), Black River (110 minutes) and The Inheritance (108 minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: Black and White, 1:33:1 Aspect Ratio, (2:40:1 for “The Inheritance”), Monaural, Japanese with English subtitles

COMPANY: Janus Films/The Criterion Collection

RELEASED: April 16, 2013

One of the most important filmmakers to emerge from Japan’s cinematic golden age, Masaki Kobayashi is best remembered today for his 1959 epic The Human Condition, but that is just one of the blistering films he made in a career dedicated to criticizing his country’s rigid social and political orders. He first found his voice—rebellious, angry, engaged—in the fifties, following his life-altering experiences as a soldier in World War II; the four films collected here, made in the same period as The Human Condition, reflect Kobayashi’s coming into his own as an artist. He fought to get these powerful dramas made at a studio more oriented at the time toward quiet family melodramas; they are unforgettable pictures of a postwar Japan troubled by identity crises and moral corruption on scales both intimate and institutional.

When it comes to Japanese cinema, when Masaki Kobayashi’s name comes up, one will remember the filmmaker for being a pacifist but taking on films that criticized his country’s social and political orders.

Best known for his trilogy of films titled “The Human Condition” (1959-1961), a trilogy on the effects of World War II on a Japanese pacifist and socialist, Kobayashi is also known for his films “Harakiri” (1962, which won the Jury Prize at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival) and “Kwaidan ” (1964, which won the Special Jury Prize at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival and received a “Best Foreign Language Film” Academy Award nomination).

But prior to these cinematic masterpiece, Kobayashi showed a rebellious side in his earlier films from the ’50s. To best showcase his earlier work, The Criterion Collection has put together four of his earlier films in an Eclipse Series set titled “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System”.

Included are the following three films from the ’50s and one from the ’60s : “The Thick-Walled Room” (“Kabe atsuki heya”, 1953), “I Will Buy You” (“Anata Kaimasu”, 1956), “Black River” (“Kuroi kawa”, 1957) and “The Inheritance” (“Karami-Ai”, 1964).

Here are my reviews for each of the films included in this DVD set:

The Thick-Walled Room” (“Kabe atsuki heya”, 1953)

“I Will Buy You” (“Anata Kaimasu”, 1956)

“Black River” (“Kuroi kawa”, 1957)

“The Inheritance” (“Karami-Ai”, 1964)

For those unfamiliar with Masaki Kobayashi’s films, one must know that there is always a message that he wants his viewers to see, learn and realize how society is being corrupted . It’s a Japan that he has seen change and not for the best.

His films tend to feature characters that are flawed, characters who have shaded pasts or are currently shady that you can understand why Kobayashi goes through the effort of trying to get his message out. It’s because its a big part of the human nature that existed and still exists today not just in Japanese culture but all around the world.

With the release of the four-movie DVD set “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System”, the Criterion Collection has selected four films that are very different from each other, but they also have similarities.

Masaki Kobayashi’s “The Thick-Walled Room” is thought-provoking and bold.

Considering the film was one of the first to be made after World War II about Japanese soldiers after the war, his film confronts the harsh realities of life for war criminals but also confronting the reality that those who made the decisions of war, those who ordered the soldiers to do the things they did were not punished as badly as them.

But also the harsh reality that life for these war criminals would no longer be the same after they leave prison, even if it’s for a day of mourning.

Their life for many of these war criminals have been stripped and during American occupation, because of the atrocities that some of the soldiers had committed, they weren’t going to receive any special treatment.

“The Thick-Walled Room” was not about coming up with solutions. Yamashita is a man who was forced by his commanding officer to kill an innocent man that too them in and fed them and to make things worse, his friend makes up a lie that he is responsible for killing innocent people to steal their food and earning him more time in jail. And among the soldiers featured, he is the one that has suffered the most. And you wonder what will happen if released from jail, so he can go back to his family to mourn his mother’s death for a day. Will he seek revenge against the former friend who lied? Will he run away, so he can never return back to prison? How will life be for this man outside of prison? Or is life much better for him if he goes back to prison?

Yokota is the complex character of the film. During the war, he was a translator who did not want to fight. But with a rotten superior officer, he was forced to do things he never wanted to do.

He is a man who also tries to understand who is at fault for the war. Was it the soldiers? Was it the people who commanded them? Is this harsh prison sentence created for them to repent? He struggles with how life has changed for him and his fellow soldiers.

But he really wants to repent or at least contribute while in prison.

While the portrayals of the Japanese are well-done, there are things that are important to point out. In Japan, there was a lot of propaganda during World War II that Americans and other allies had mistreated and tortured Japanese prisoner of war. There were major incidents that things did happen such as a soldier sending a Japanese skull back home or a letter opener carved from Japanese bone. But also those who did surrender being killed to death by soldiers. Of course, American military said these actions were based on rumors. But true or false, it did make Japanese feel that they should die by fighting back than surrender and be stuck in a prison where they would be tortured. It is known that in some areas, Japanese POW’s treatment were terrible, especially those who surrendered to the Soviet forces as these POW’s.

We do see how in the film, Japanese POW’s were used for propaganda and to spread rumors around the prison. We do see POW’s who wish they can kill themselves but also the shame that many feel about surrendering and not dying.

While Kobayashi probably could have been more polemic with this film, the film was more about how these men have changed from being soldiers to prisoners that feel there is no life for them. Anything that literally made them happy, has been stripped away. Honor for their family, love for their wives or girlfriends, all they know is the cell they sleep in, the hard labor that they occasionally have to do and being around other Japanese who feel shamed, or dealing with the atrocities they had committed, these things weigh heavily on their mind and some can suppress it and try to repent, other just want to end their miserable life.

For his next film titled “I Will Buy You”, it’s probably a film that can be summarized with the word “greed” or perhaps one can call it “the way of modern business”.

I suppose in our day and age of professional athletes making millions of dollars and endorsement deals, we no longer balk about a unique quarterback, a pitcher or a basketball player making a ton of money. The agents get the same amount of press for landing major deals and as for scouting, go on a sports news site and colleges incurring major infractions because of incorrect scouting is still big news.

But while the concept of scouting athletes have gone on for decades, I find it interesting that filmmaker Masaki Kobayashi zeroed on this back in 1956 for his film “I Will Buy You”.

At first, we are shown how a scout named Kishimoto, for the baseball team, the Toyo Flowers is determined on trying to recruit graduating college player Kurita. We see through his narration of how he observes everyone around Kurita, from his mentor and handler Kyuki, his brothers and even his girlfriend.

But while Kishimoto is wise, we also learn that Kyuki is also wise to the scouts, trying to make things better for him as a businessman and also earning a fat paycheck. But Kyuki is also sick…or is he?

We see this tete a tete between both men, also seeing other scouts trying to shower the family and Kurita with gifts.

But then the bombshell…Kurita is not a dumb athlete, he knows that by milking everyone, he can earn big money and gifts for his family and he is just as bad as the scout and his handler, which his girlfriend now detests.

While I’m not sure how the impact of the film was to professional baseball in Japan at the time, while Kobayashi is a rebel when it comes to his films, having followed Japanese pop culture for decades and seeing how Japanese baseball is such a popular pasttime in the country, it’s almost how we feel today when star players receive a major deal from their sports team or even an actor or actress that receives a big payday for a film, we don’t blink an eye because it’s how things are.

Still, this was 1956, not long after World War II, so I’m sure the film did probably raise a few eyebrows, but this is the atmosphere created by the team owners and them wanting to land a huge star athlete. But in the case of “I Will Buy You”, we start to see Kishimoto realizing things about the work that he does. He is torn by the dishonesty and the practices of the industry, but that is part of the business of professional sports.

Forty years after this film was made, in America, Cameron Crowe would direct the film “Jerry Maguire” which centers around an agent with his only star athlete but showing how the business of professional sports is about, with an added romantic angle to the film.

And nearly 20-years after that film was made, now all we hear is about college infractions of bad recruiting practices to star athletes who lost their fortune.

But it’s obvious that Minoru Ono (who wrote the original novel) saw how professional sports was heading and Masaki Kobayashi saw it as a way to show people the greed that exists in professional sports.

Unfortunately, where greed and corruption in politics is what people rebel against, but when it comes to sports, it’s still entertainment and whenever it comes to athletes making big money, may it be in the 1950′s to today’s major sports, people are much more forgiving.

“Black River” has a message from filmmaker Masaki Kobayashi that tries to show how life for people after post-war and those living near the U.S. military bases are being affected negatively by Western culture.

The message of western culture affecting other countries is nothing new. Even in feudal Japan with the first confrontation of foreign merchants, there have always been a belief that the foreigners brought diseases and other unwanted situations to their country and it changed people for the worse.

Even today, the political debate of US bases in Asia is still a sore spot for many people and unfortunate, even American soldiers have been guilty of committing crimes upon Japanese that increases the hostility of locals even more.

But after World War II, Japan was under uncertain times. Actually, many countries and their future were uncertain as people lived in poverty, without jobs, without income and people did things in order to survive.

For “Black River”, women are seen turning to prostitution in order to make money. Men were unemployed and in order to get things done (or to get people out of an establishment), some turned to the yakuza.

While the living conditions of these people are bad but not the worst, the message that Kobayashi delivered with this film at the time is why isn’t anything being done to stop this deviant behavior?

The film also goes into the woman’s right after rape. The character of Shizuko is set-up by Killer Joe, who has been infatuated with the young woman and pretends to be her savior, when in truth, he became the man who raped her while she was unconscious.

The following day, she wants Killer Joe to accompany her to the police but Joe reminds her that all it would do is embarrass the both of them. And she knows it is true. Rape laws were not as strong as today and even in America during the 1950′s, rape was only punishable if there was extreme physical violence involved. If a woman did not fight back, there was no crime. Eventually, laws in the 1960′s would later change this but Masaki Kobayashi knew that it was terrible that a woman’s word was not strong enough and Kobayashi showed the film that because of her situation, she couldn’t tell police because she was unconscious at the time and probably for many rape victims in Japan of the time, whether or not it was intentional, the message was that women had to bear the burden after becoming a rape victim, as there were no major rape laws in Japan.

As for the film, while enjoyable as a whole, the problem lies within its pacing as the film starts introducing us to the people who live in the slum village but then begins to focus on Nishida, Shizuka and Joe and the love triangle that exists for the three. The other characters featured in the first half are not given the same presence by the second half and you tend to forget them, as your attention is diverted on the love triangle and how things will eventually resolve itself by the end of the film.

Still, when it comes to a message about the changes upon Japan society because of the U.S. military bases, Kobayashi’s “Black River” definitely showcases a message of a corrupted culture.

While created after his masterpiece “The Human Condition”, Masaki Kobayashi’s “The Inheritance” showcases the worst behavior of people and sometimes it happens after the death of a loved one (especially if that loved one had money).

While the story of people trying to get their cut from one’s will may seem banal, Kobayashi’s film is different as it showcases how one secretary was able to methodically plan her way to get into her boss’s will.

“The Inheritance” begins with a wealthy business man dying from cancer and trying to plan his will before he dies. What he knows is that his current wife will get a third from the will, but also wanting to give a third to his illegitimate children, the problem is that he doesn’t even know who his children are, nor has he been a part of their lives. But he sends his secretary Yasuko to find them.

Meanwhile, his lawyer and his staff know they want a cut from the will and try to find a way to get some of that money, as does the businessman’s young wife who tries to find a way to derail any finding of the illegitimate children, so she can get most of the money herself.

Suffice to say, a common theme from Kobayashi’s films are characters that are typically shady in their own right. But the performance from actress Keiko Kishi as the cool and collected secretary Yasuko was well-done, and to see how her character is able to plan her way of getting into the film was quite fascinating and the writing was clever.

Overall, the “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System” DVD box set is a sample of Masaki Kobayashi’s work and what he has done for his entire career. His humanism and pacifism is noted throughout his career and while he may be known best for “The Human Condition”, “Harakiri” and “Kwaidan”, the four films presented in this set shows how this one man went into filmmaking to make a difference and to not be like other Japanese filmmakers. From his first film in the 1950′s to his last in the 1980′s, his films were seen as rebellious but in truth, it was his voice trying to reach a larger audience and challenging the viewer to consider their the direction that society was headed.

“Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System” is highly recommended!

Filed Under: Asian Cinema DVD/Blu-ray, DVD Reviews, THE CRITERION COLLECTION

The Inheritance (as part of the Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System) (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

April 14, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“The Inheritance” is a film that benefits from its use of 2:40:1 and capturing more of the surroundings of its characters, the film also benefits from the performances of its cast and also clever writing. As the fourth film presented in the “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System”, the film is probably the best of the four in terms of quality and storytelling. A fitting addition to this DVD set!

TITLE: The Inheritance (as part of the Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System)

YEAR OF FILM: 1962

DURATION: 108 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Black and White, 2:40:1 Aspect Ratio, Monaural, Japanese with English subtitles

COMPANY: Janus Films/The Criterion Collection

RELEASED: April 16, 2013

Directed by Masaki Kobayashi

Based on the Novel by Norio Nanjo

Written by Koichi Inagaki

Music by Toru Takemitsu

Cinematography by Takashi Kawamata

Starring:

Toru Abe as Detective

Minoru Chiaki as Fujii Junichi

Jun Hamamura

Atsuko Kawaguchi as Mayumi

Yusuke Kawazu as Sadao

Keiko Kishi as Yasuko

Tatsuya Nakadai as Furukawa Kikuo

On his deathbed, a wealthy businessman announces that his fortune is to be split equally among his three illegitimate children, whose whereabouts are unknown. A bevy of lawyers and associates begin machinations to procure the money for themselves, resorting to the use of impostors and blackmail. Yet all are outwitted by the cunning of the man’s secretary (Keiko Kishi), in this entertaining condemnation of unchecked greed.

With the previous three films included in the “Masaki Kobayashi Against the System” released in the 1950′s, “The Inheritance” was released in 1962 after Kobayashi’s hit film “The Human Condition”. Also, another major difference is this film was shot in 2:40:1 aspect ratio versus the standard 1:33:1.

“The Inheritance” begins with a woman named Yasuko (portrayed by Keiko Kishi) doing some shopping and runs into a man that she did not want to see.

Yasuko’s story begins with the introduction to the wealthy businessman (portrayed by So Yamamura) who finds out that he has only several months to live. Knowing that he is about to die, he plans out his will of who will get the inheritance. He knows that his young wife (portrayed by Misako Watanabe) will get a third but he also has three illegitimate children that need to be found.

He has not kept up with the whereabouts of the three children and no one knows about them. So, the search begins for these three illegitimate children as they would get a right to his inheritance. And as his lawyer tries to search for them, the businessman also has his secretary looking for them as well.

But when word of an inheritance begins catch the attention of various individuals, everyone starts to have their own personal interest of trying to get a piece of it.

But are any of these individuals entitled to the inheritance?

VIDEO:

“The Inheritance” is presented in black and white and the only film in the “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System” DVD set to be featured in 2:40:1 aspect ratio. Of the four films featured in the DVD box set, “The Inheritance” does look the best. Better contrast when it comes to the gray and white and black levels are also good. Detail is much more evident and the picture quality is just looks better than Kobayashi’s films from the 50′s.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“The Inheritance” is presented in Japanese monaural with English subtitles. Dialogue is clear, Toru Takemitsu’s jazzy score sounds very good and I heard no significant clicks, pops or humming through the entire film.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Eclipse Series releases do not come with special features but included in the insert is a background on Kobayashi and the information about the film.

Watching “The Inheritance”, the four film included in the “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System” DVD box set. You start to realize the underlying theme of capitalism and greed.

Overall, “The Inheritance” is a film that benefits from its use of 2:40:1 and capturing more of the surroundings of its characters, the film also benefits from the performances of its cast and also clever writing. As the fourth film presented in the “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System”, the film is probably the best of the four in terms of quality and storytelling. A fitting addition to this DVD set!

Filed Under: Asian Cinema DVD/Blu-ray, DVD Reviews, THE CRITERION COLLECTION

Black River (as part of the Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System) (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

April 13, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

When it comes to a message about the changes upon Japan society because of the U.S. military bases, Kobayashi’s “Black River” definitely showcases a message of a corrupted culture. As the third film featured in the “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System”, “Black River” is another worthy addition to this DVD box set.

TITLE: Black River (as part of the Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System)

YEAR OF FILM: 1956

DURATION: 110 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Black and White, 1:33:1 Aspect Ratio, Monaural, Japanese with English subtitles

COMPANY: Janus Films/The Criterion Collection

RELEASED: April 16, 2013

Directed by Masaki Kobayashi

Based on the Story by Takeo Tomishima

Written by Zenzo Matsuyama

Music by Chuji Kinoshita

Cinematography by Yuharu Atsuta

Art Direction by Kazue Hirataka

Starring:

Fumio Watanabe as Nishida

Ineko Arima as Shizuka

Tatsuya Nakadai as Killer Joe

Asao Sano

Seiji Miyaguchi

Eijiro Tono

Perhaps Masaki Kobayashi’s most sordid film, Black River examines the rampant corruption on and around U.S. military bases in Japan following World War II. Kobayashi spirals out from the story of a love triangle that develops between a good-natured student, his innocent girlfriend, and a coldhearted petty criminal (Tatsuya Nakadai, in his first major role) to reveal a nation slowly succumbing to lawlessness and violence.

With “The Thick-Walled Room” focusing on Japanese prisoners during American occupation and “I Will Buy You” focusing on the Japanese business of scouting and high earnings for an upcoming college baseball player, for the film “Black River”, Masaki Kobayashi focused on life for Japanese near the U.S. military bases near Japan following World War II.

With many Japanese not having an income, for one neighborhood near Atsugi naval air base, the people living in the area are poor and Japanese women earn their money through prostitution while bars catering to American serviceman can be seen in the area. The area invites the criminal element, especially the yakuza and the message that Kobayashi wants people to see is how can this behavior go on without anyone being punished?

“Black River” focuses on a group of people living in the slum neighborhood, just barely surviving. And for many of them, they live under a landlord (portrayed by Isuzu Yamada) who is becoming more adamant when it comes to collecting the end of the month rent. But unknown to them is that the landlord is conspiring with a yakuza named Killer Joe (portrayed by Tatsuya Nakadai) to drive the residents out, so she can install a bathhouse. The landlord has also hired a woman to take the feces from the waste area and use it as fertilizer for plants to be planted near the slum.

For book seller/reader Nishida (portrayed by Fumio Watanabe), he is more interested in doing his work and reading that working a full-time or part-time job and rather not integrate with the people living in the slum but preferring to live in the area because it is cheap. Shizuko (portrayed by Ineko Arima) is a local girl who works to pay the bills and has an interest in Nishida.

The two live alongside a man with tuberculosis who is sick and his wife is trying to help him, several prostitutes and a husband who finds out his wife is a prostitute for the American servicemen.

And while the US military police try to prevent prostitution, servicemen end up finding their way into the neighborhood.

As for Shizuko, her life is changed when Killer Joe stages a kidnapping and comes to save Shizuko, but ends up raping her and making her his girlfriend. But when Joe finds out that she has an interest towards Nishida, and she tells Nishida the truth of what happened to her and why she’s with a guy like Joe, what will happen?

VIDEO:

“Black River” is presented in black and white (1:33:1 Aspect Ratio). Considering the film is nearly 60-years-old, this film fares better compared to “The Thick-Walled Room” which had a bit of damage and white and black specks. For “Black River”, picture quality is much better and looks great on DVD. The film looks very good for its age, better contrast with white and grays, black levels are good and no signs of excessive digital noise reduction, flicker and maintains a good amount of detail.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Black River” is presented in Japanese monaural with English subtitles. Dialogue is clear and heard no significant clicks, pops or humming through the entire film.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Eclipse Series releases do not come with special features but included in the insert is a background on Kobayashi and the information about the “Black River”.

Still, when it comes to a message about the changes upon Japan society because of the U.S. military bases, Kobayashi’s “Black River” definitely showcases a message of a corrupted culture. As the third film featured in the “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System”, “Black River” is another worthy addition to this DVD box set.

Filed Under: Asian Cinema DVD/Blu-ray, DVD Reviews, THE CRITERION COLLECTION

I Will Buy You (as part of the Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System) (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

April 13, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“I Will Buy You” is an exciting and enjoyable film from Masaki Kobayashi showing us the big business of recruiting a star college baseball player for the big leagues and how far these scouts would go, as well as the handlers and even the athlete themselves. A worthy addition to “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System” DVD box set.

TITLE: I Will Buy You (as part of the Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System)

YEAR OF FILM: 1956

DURATION: 112 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Black and White, 1:33:1 Aspect Ratio, Monaural, Japanese with English subtitles

COMPANY: Janus Films/The Criterion Collection

RELEASED: April 16, 2013

Directed by Masaki Kobayashi

Based on the Story by Minoru Ono

Written by Zenzo Matsuyama

Music by Chuji Kinoshita

Cinematography by Yuharu Atsuta

Art Direction by Kazue Hirataka

Starring:

Keiji Sada as Kishimoto

Keiko Kishi as Fueko

Minoru Oki as Kurita

Yunosuke Ito as Kyuki

Mitsuko Mito

Jun Tatara

Masaki Kobayashi’s pitiless take on Japan’s professional baseball industry is unlike any other sports film ever made. A condemnation of the inhumanity bred by a mercenary, bribery-fueled business, it follows the sharklike maneuvers of a scout dead set on signing a promising player to the team the Toyo Flowers.

As baseball is loved by the Japanese, as professional sports is known to be big business today with scouting, agents, coaches and so many people involved in trying to find the next big thing, it’s almost common knowledge to see how each year, colleges try to recruit the best athletes for their program. But before then, when a player was to go professional, before any draft system was in place, players were scouted and they and their families were enticed by gifts to join a team.

While one can see such a trait as life for a professional athlete and in today’s world, it may seem trivial since football, baseball and basketball athletes become multimillionaires and some have seen the asking price of these athletes as a sport corrupted by big money and greed.

In Japan, back in 1956, director Masaki Kobayashi saw how the sports world was full of greed and ruthless people on both sides were affected and decided to take a step back from criticizing Japan’s social and political stance and take on Japan’s favorite pasttime…baseball.

And with his film “I will Buy You, an adaptation of Minoru Ono’s novel, it’s not more about baseball but the strategy scouts try to recruit a top athlete, how far they will go and how the players and their families get involved in the process.

The film is about a scout named Kishimoto (portrayed by Keiji Sada) for the Toyo Flowers, team not known for its finances but they really want to land baseball’s young and popular hitters about to graduate from college, Goro Kurita (portrayed by Minoru Ooki). But Kishimoto quickly learns that to entice Kurita, he must try to win over the young player’s mentor and guardian Kyuki (portrayed by Yunosuke Ito).

And Kishimoto tries to use strategies to winover Kyuki but also try and entice Kyuki’s poor family, especially his brothers.

But Kishimoto knows that things are going to be tough because Kyuki also has his own interests and that is to use his position with Kurita and get a better job and earn a lot of money.

And as Kishimoto must go against other scouting companies using strategies to land Kurita, Kyuki tries to be a middleman and try to hold out in the last minute, in order to raise Kurita’s stock as a baseball player, so the asking price can go up.

But as these men try to outwit each other by brandishing gifts to Kurita and his family, his girlfriend Fueko (portrayed by Keiko Kishi), is absolutely disgusted by Kurita because Kurita is pretending that he knows nothing about baseball, when in fact, he is milking everyone in order for him and his family to get free gifts, but also using them in the process.

But in the end, how far will each of these men go in order to seal the deal!

VIDEO:

“I Will Buy You” is presented in black and white (1:33:1 Aspect Ratio). Considering the film is nearly 60-years-old, this film fares better compared to “The Thick-Walled Room” which had a bit of damage and white and black specks. For “I Will Buy You”, picture quality is much better and looks great on DVD. The film looks very good for its age, better contrast with white and grays, black levels are good and no signs of excessive digital noise reduction, flicker and maintains a good amount of detail.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“I Will Buy You” is presented in Japanese monaural with English subtitles. Dialogue is clear and heard no significant clicks, pops or humming through the entire film.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Eclipse Series releases do not come with special features but included in the insert is a background on Kobayashi and the information about the film.

A film about greed or perhaps one can call it “the way of modern business”.

But while the concept of scouting athletes have gone on for decades, I find it interesting that filmmaker Masaki Kobayashi zeroed on this back in 1956 for his film “I Will Buy You”.

We see this tete a tete between both men, also seeing other scouts trying to shower the family and Kurita with gifts.

And nearly 20-years after that film was made, now all we hear is about college infractions of bad recruiting practices to star athletes who lost their fortune.

Overall, “I Will Buy You” is an exciting and enjoyable film from Masaki Kobayashi showing us the big business of recruiting a star college baseball player for the big leagues and how far these scouts would go, as well as the handlers and even the athlete themselves. A worthy addition to “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System” DVD box set.

Filed Under: Asian Cinema DVD/Blu-ray, DVD Reviews, THE CRITERION COLLECTION

The Thick-Walled Room (as part of the Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System) (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

April 11, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“The Thick-Walled Room” is a fascinating film by Masaki Kobayashi and as an earlier work, he would go so much further in a film like “The Human Condition” over a decade later. But a film such as “The Thick-Walled Room”, goes to show how bold he was to stand up against social and political orders. A rebellious early film for Masaki Kobayashi and a fitting film to be included in “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System”!

TITLE: The Thick-Walled Room (as part of the Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System)

YEAR OF FILM: 1956

DURATION: 110 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Black and White, 1:33:1 Aspect Ratio, Monaural, Japanese with English subtitles

COMPANY: Janus Films/The Criterion Collection

RELEASED: April 16, 2013

Directed by Masaki Kobayashi

Written by Kobo Abe

Music by Chuji Kinoshita

Cinematography by Hiroyuki Kusuda

Starring:

Ko Mishima

Torahiko Hamada

Keiko Kishi

Toshiko Kobayashi

Eitaro Ozawa

Even early on in his directing career, Masaki Kobayashi didn’t shy away from controversy. Among the first Japanese films to deal directly with the scars of World War II, this drama about a group of rank-and-file Japanese soldiers jailed for crimes against humanity was adapted from the diaries of real prisoners. Because of its potentially inflammatory content, the film was shelved by the studio for three years before being released.

Back in 1941, Kobayashi became an apprentice director for Shochiku Studios. But he was immediately drafted into the army and sent to Manchuria. As a pacifist, he would do all he can to refuse promotion to a rank higher than a private and also spent time as a prisoner of war.

This would have an influence in his third film made in 1953 titled “Kabe atsuki heya” (“The Thick-Walled room”) in which he wanted to create a post-war film in regards to war criminals, rank-and-file military men who acted on orders and have been imprisoned and are treated cruelly by the American occupying force.

The film is based on the diaries of real-life prisoners and how the low-ranking soldiers are treated and the psychological anguish they endured in the prison.

Although the film was created after American occupation of Japan ended in 1952, the Japanese government feared that it would offend the U.S. and demanded the film to be cut or withheld. Kobayashi would not cut the film but the film was shelved and released three years later, in 1956.

“The Thick-Walled Room” focuses on six former B and C class soldiers held inside a thick-walled room. Tired of having to break rocks, the group sits in their cells reading letters (from family members who are shamed of their kin being war criminal or loved ones who have no idea what has happened to them) and remembering their life when they were free men or life as a soldier.

For Yamashita, he remembers how his group was helped by a villager and fed. But Yamashita receives orders from his commanding officer to kill the villager despite how much the villager has helped their group. And this memory continues to haunt them.

The film then transitions to the war between North and South Korea and how the Americans are involved. Yokota receives word that he is being visited by a guest in prison and it’s his brother, a journalist. His brother asks him how his cell mates are doing and Yokota describes how he thought life in prison would make things much more spiritual but it became the opposite. People became more vulgar.

He describes how one guy keeps imagining that he has a store, another keeps talking about intimate details of his wife, but for the most part, everyone has gone for the worse. Yokota’s brother tells him that they aren’t guilty for their crimes (as they were just following orders), but Yokota tells him that he has begun to think differently. War is evil but no one opposed the war. But Yokota’s brother tells him that those who started the war are at fault. The conglomerates, the military and their minions. And those who led the war got light sentences, while the B and C-class soldiers received the heavier sentences.

The film then shows Yokota’s past as a soldier and how he was a foreign language translator. And how a foreign prisoner of war was caught stealing and under orders, Yokota was forced to whip a foreign man, who screamed for help in front of Yokota. The foreign man ends up dying and Yokota would be responsible for taking the body to the crematorium but where he met a girl that he fell in love with.

But as other men have their own past and some who have their own inner personal demons to contend with, when Yokota’s brother publishes an article that may jeopardize the release of the group. But for the Japanese that are imprisoned, will their lives be the same after they are released?

VIDEO:

“The Thick-Walled Room” is presented in black and white (1:33:1 Aspect Ratio). Considering the film is 60-years-old, while some frames of the film had suffered damage overtime, and features white/black specks, they are not the type that hurts your viewing of the film. The film looks very good for its age, no signs of excessive digital noise reduction and maintains a good amount of detail.

It’s also important for people to remember that Eclipse Series films do not get the remastering and restoration that goes into a Criterion Collection release, but is presented on DVD the best possible way it can. And for the most part, the picture quality is as good as what one can expect from a DVD release.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“The Thick-Walled Room” is presented in Japanese monaural with English subtitles. Dialogue is clear and heard no significant clicks, pops or humming through the entire film.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Eclipse Series releases do not come with special features but included in the insert is a background on Kobayashi and the information about the film and why Shochiku was worried about “The Thick-Walled Room”.

Masaki Kobayashi’s “The Thick-Walled Room” is thought-provoking and bold.

But also the harsh reality that life for these war criminals would no longer be the same after they leave prison, even if it’s for a day of mourning.

Yokota is the complex character of the film. During the war, he was a translator who did not want to fight. But with a rotten superior officer, he was forced to do things he never wanted to do.

But he really wants to repent or at least contribute while in prison.

A rebellious early film for Masaki Kobayashi and a fitting film to be included in “Eclipse Series 38: Masaki Kobayashi Against the System”!

Filed Under: Asian Cinema DVD/Blu-ray, DVD Reviews, THE CRITERION COLLECTION

Gate of Hell – The Criterion Collection #653 (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

April 10, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

A tragic film about unrequited love and ones believe in love and honor, “Gate of Hell” is in essence, wonderful Japanese cinema showcasing a love triangle during feudal Japan. One of the great Teinosuke Kinugasa films which also happens to be the first Japanese color film made by Daiei Film and the first to color film to be released outside of Japan. “Gate of Hell” is highly recommended!

TITLE: Gate of Hell – The Criterion Collection #653

YEAR OF FILM: 1953

DURATION: 89 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 1:37:1 aspect ratio,Color, Japanese Monaural with English Subtitles

COMPANY: Janus Films/THE CRITERION COLLECTION

RELEASE DATE: April 9, 2013

Directed by Teinosuke Kinugasa

Based on the play “Kesa’s Husband” by Kan Kikuchi

Written by Teinosuke Kinugasa, Masaichi Nagata

Produced by Masaichi Nagata

Music by Yasushi Akutagawa

Cinematography by Kohei Sugiyama

Edited by Shigeo Nishida

Production Design by Hiroshi Ozawa

Art Direction by Kisaku Ito

Set Decoration by Kosaburo Nakajima

Costume Design by Shima Yoshizane

Starring:

Kazuo Hasegawa as Moritoh Enda

Machiko Kyo as Lady Kesa

Isao Yamagata as Wataru Watanabe

Yataro Kurokawa as Shigemori

Kotaro Bando as Rokuroh

Jun Tazaki as Kogenta

Koreya Senda as Gen Kiyomori

Masao Shimizu as Nobuyori

Tatsuya Ishiguro as Yachuta

Kenjiro Uemura as Masanaka

Gen Shimizu as Saburosuke

Michiko Araki as Mano

HYoshi Minami as Tone

Kikue Mori as Sawa

A winner of Academy Awards for best foreign-language film and best costume design, GATE OF HELL is a visually sumptuous, psychologically penetrating work from Teinosuke Kinugasa (A Page of Madness). In the midst of epic, violent intrigue in twelfth-century Japan, an imperial warrior falls for a lady-in-waiting; even after he discovers she is married, he goes to extreme lengths to win her love. Kinugasa’s film is an unforgettable, tragic story of obsession and unrequited passion that was an early triumph of color cinematography in Japan.

When it comes to filmmaker Teinosuke Kinugasa, his name may not be as familiar with Kurosawa, Ozu or Nagase to the Western world but his accomplishments have been noticed within the last century.

From his silent films such as”Kurutta Ippeji” or “Jujiro”, the latter was the first Japanese film to be released commercially in Europe and was praised for its camera work, during a time when German Expressionism was being celebrated.

It wasn’t until the ’50s in which Kinugasa, who had traveled around the world and met other filmmakers outside of Japan, he began to use color and also use of widescreen.

And in 1953, Kinugasa would release the film “Jigokumon” (Gate of Hell) which would eventually receive critical praise, winner of “Best Film” at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival and also winning an Oscar for “Best Foreign Film”.

While other countries have experimented with Technicolor, “Gate of Hell” was among the first to showcase Japan in color and its beauty would captivate viewers at the time.

Unfortunately, for a film that was so well-revered, it was virtually a lost film. According to Stephen Prince in his essay of the film titled “A Colorful History” (included in the Criterion Collection insert), Prince said “the fragile photochemical process used to make it caused its colors to fade, and viewers could no longer see the spectacular designs Kinugasa and his team had created.”

Fortunately, because Daeie had made separation masters of “Gate of Hell”, a full-color duplicate negative of the film was made and the film’s Eastmancolor was reproduced. In 2011, a 2K restoration was undertaken by the National Film Center of the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo and Kadokawa Shoten Co. Ltd. in cooperation with NHK.

And now, this restoration will be released on Blu-ray (and DVD) courtesy of the Criterion Collection.

“Gate of Hell” is set in 1160 during the Heiji Rebellion (a short civil ware between rival subjects, the Taira and Minamoto warrior clans of Emperor Go-Shirakawa). Minamoto attacked the Imperial residence and in order to protect the emperor and his wife, Lady Kesa (portrayed by Machiko Kyo, “Rashomon”, “Ugetsu”, “The Teahouse of the August Moon”), an empress-in-waiting, volunteers to be a decoy and to escort her will be the samurai Morito Enda (portrayed by Kazuo Hasegawa, The Tale of Genji”, “Chushingura”, “Jujiro”).

After the Minamoto tries to attack them, Morito and Lade Kesa manage to escape and he tries to seek refuge at his brother’s home. But he quickly finds out that his brother has joined up with the rebels. While his brother and his friends try to get Morito to join them, Morito has no intention. Instead, Morito goes to warn Kiyomori and tell him about the traitor’s plans, but also ends up killing a traitor.

Fast forward and Morito runs into Lady Kesa and her aunt. He realizes how smitten he is with her.

While Kiyomori awards his loyal soldiers with governorship or prized possessions, Morito goes to Gen Kiyomori (portrayed by Koreya Senda) and tells him that he wants him to grant his marriage with Lady Kesa. For Kiyomori, he wants to make it happen but is told that it’s not possible.

It is revealed that Lady Kesa has married a man named Wataru Watanabe (portrayed by Isao Yamagata), an imperial guard. It is also revealed that Wataru and Lade Kesa are quite happy with each other.

Meanwhile, as Kiyomori and his staff tell Morito to let it goes because she is married, he does not want to let it go because he loves Lady Kesa so much.

Knowing that, Kiyomori will grant his wish to contact her to see him, so he can arrange a meeting between both Morito and Kesa. And he can ask her how she really feels about him.

When the two meet, he is quite happy to see her, but she is not so happy to see him. He confesses his love to her and she tells him how happy she is with Wataru, but Morito insists that he would do everything and anything for her. But she is thankful for him helping her and their meeting ends.

It is revealed that a horse-racing festival is to take place and for Morito, he is willing to compete against Wataru (who is considered to be the best horseman). Determined in beating him (as he feels he is a better man than Wataru), Morito hatred towards him grows.

But the more that Morito starts to think about Lady Kesa, the crush then becomes an obsession.

But what happens when Morito’s obsession with Lady Kesa grows to the point that he is willing to murder Wataru and others in order to make her his woman?

VIDEO:

“Gate of Hell” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:37:1 aspect ratio) and it’s important to note that the film features the original Eastman color look which is vibrant and well-saturated. But because it is the first Japanese color film, the film does have a bit of softness at times. But nothing to be disappointed about. The fact that people are able to see a film that was once virtually lost, can now see the film in color but also how affective Teinosuke Kinugasa was when it came to decorative art, lighting and more.

According to the Criterion Collection, the new digital master was created from the 2011 2K restoration undertaken by the National Film Center of the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo and Kadokawa Shoten, Co., Ltd. in cooperation with NHK. For the restoration, a new digital transfer, supervised by cameraman Fujio Morita, was created in 4K resolution on an IMAGER scanner at Imagica from a 35 mm duplicate negative and several 35 mm master positives, the original camera negative no longer exists.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Gate of Hell” is presented in monaural LPCM. Dialogue is very good and I detected no hiss, pops or any problems with the lossless audio.

According to the Criterion Collection, the original monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit form 35 mm positive and negative soundtracks. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube’s integrated workstation.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Gate of Hell – The Criterion Collection #653” comes no special features.

EXTRAS:

“Gate of Hell – The Criterion Collection #653” comes with five-fold insert with production credits on one side and the essay, “A Colorful History” by Stephen Prince.

“Gate of Hell” left an impression on many people for its time because of its use of color. While most Japanese films were black and white, always being an innovator, Teinosuke Kinugasa experimented with Eastman color and also widescreen. And what people saw was a visually stunning film for 1953 and an amazing use of color that showcases the beauty of Japan’s clothing to also a glimpse of Japan’s environments for the feudal era.

So, “Gate of Hell” is an important film from the Criterion Collection as this film that has long been forgotten because of its film state, has been restored. Being one of the earliest Japanese color films, the film would also go on to win at the Cannes Film Festival and an Academy Award, further showing that people enjoyed “Gate of Hell” for its cinematography but also its tragic story.

Kinugasa’s storytelling is rather poetic in a tragic kind of way.

From showcasing an artwork of the Heiji Rebellion to help narrate of what was happening in Japan at the time, featuring beautiful costume and production design and effective lighting, “Gate of Hell” manages to showcase the beauty of the film but also showcasing the nature of people of that era.

One man obsessed with a married woman that he loves, but she does not feel the same way for him. As a virtuous woman, she pledges her love for her husband but is willing to protect her and her husband’s honor by not mentioning anything in regards to Morito.

Call it an early Japanese love triangle, the films efficacy is thanks to its talents, primarily Kazuo Hasegawa and Machiko Kyo.

Hasegawa’s Morito goes from being a heroic warrior but his unattainable love for Lady Heska starts to consume him that he will not stop to make Lady Eska his and decides that he will kill anyone who would dare stop him from being with her.

Meanwhile, Machiko Kyo was amazing as Lady Kesa. From her emotional demeanor to playing a traditional Japanese instrument, it just felt right. But we get to see the growing sense of uneasiness from Kesa, knowing that Morito desperately wants to be with her, but knowing that she loves her husband and tries to keep herself virtuous with honor.

But how far will Morito go in order to make Lady Kesa his and what about her husband? And how far will Lady Kesa go to protect her honor?

Suffice to say, the film ends in a non-banal way that cinema fans should be happy with. It’s not one that people can easily predict and that’s also part of the charm of “Gate of Hell”.

As for the DVD, because there are no special features, no booklet but the DVD insert, “Gate of Hell” will more than likely be a cheaper Criterion Collection Blu-ray and DVD release. Picture quality is good for an Eastman color Japanese classic, no banding or artifact issues and lossless audio features no problematic issues, pops, hiss or anything negative.

Overall, a tragic film about unrequited love and ones believe in love and honor, “Gate of Hell” is in essence, wonderful Japanese cinema showcasing a love triangle during feudal Japan. One of the great Teinosuke Kinugasa films which also happens to be the first Japanese color film made by Daiei Film and the first to color film to be released outside of Japan.

“Gate of Hell” is highly recommended!

Filed Under: Asian Cinema DVD/Blu-ray, Blu-ray Reviews, THE CRITERION COLLECTION

A Man Escaped – The Criterion Collection #650 (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

March 27, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“A Man Escaped” is a film that showcases Robert Bresson’s wonderful direction but it’s also a Blu-ray release and its special features that Robert Bresson fans and cineaste will surely enjoy for it. These are the type of Criterion Collection releases I love…great film and special features that thoroughly examines the work of the filmmaker. “A Man Escaped” is highly recommended!

TITLE: A Man Escaped – The Criterion Collection #650

YEAR OF FILM: 1956

DURATION: 101 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 1:33:1 aspect ratio, Black and White, French Monaural with English Subtitles

COMPANY: Janus Films/THE CRITERION COLLECTION

RELEASE DATE: March 26, 2013

Directed by Robert Bresson

Scenario and Dialogue by Robert Bresson

Memoir by Andre Devigny

Producer: Alain Poire, Jean Thuillier

Cinematography by Leonce-Henri Burel

Edited by Raymond Lamy

Production Design by Pierre Charbonnier

Art Direction by Pierre Carbonnier

Starring:

Francois Leterrier as Le Lieutenant Fontaine

Charles Le Clainche as Francois Jost

Maruice Beerblock as Blanchet

Roland Monod as Le pasteur Deleyris

Jacques Ertaud as Orsini

Jean Paul Delhumeau as Hebrard

Roger Treherne as Terry

With the simplest of concepts and sparest of techniques, Robert Bresson (Au hasard Balthazar) made one of the most suspenseful jailbreak films of all time in A Man Escaped. Based on the memoirs of an imprisoned French resistance leader, this unbelievably taut and methodical marvel follows the fictional Fontaine’s single-minded pursuit of freedom, detailing the planning and carrying out of his escape with gripping precision. But Bresson’s film is not merely process-minded—it’s a work of intense spirituality and humanity.

Robert Bresson, a legendary French filmmaker known for cinematic maserpieces such as “Pickpocket”, “Diary of a Country Priest” and his most popular film “Au Hasard Balthazar”.

But Bresson was also known for his film “A Man Escaped” (“Un condamné à mort s’est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut”), which was based on the memoirs of Andre Devigny, a prisoner of war that was held at Fort Montluc by the Nazi’s during World War II and escaped on his day of execution.

The film would earn Bresson a “Best Director” award at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival but also a Palme d’Or nomination.

And now “A Man Escaped” will be released by The Criterion Collection on Blu-ray and DVD on March 2013.

“A Man Escaped” begins with a camera shot at a plaque commemorating the 7,000 men who died at the hands of the Nazi’s at Montluc prison.

We are introduced to Fontaine (portrayed by Francois Leterrier), a member of the French Resistance who tries to escape the prison via car. The Nazi’s capture him during a vehicle stop and Fontaine is punished and beaten for trying to escape.

While incarcerated, Fontaine is able to communicate with a person next door via morse code. Meanwhile, using string and a sack, he is able to speak and get items to three Frenchman who are exercising near his prison cell. The men help Fontaine deliver messages outside of the cell but also bring him items he can use.

As Fontaine is moved into cell 107 on the top floor of the prison, he begins to inspect his cell and realizes that the boards are made of low quality wood. With the spoon that he uses to eat, he begins to use the spoon to chip away at the wood and is able to remove the boards from the prison cell door and able to roam around the hallway where he can meet with other prisoners.

But while incarcerated, each day we can hear the Nazi’s kill someone from the prison and it all comes down to one’s usefulness at the prison. We are also introduced to other prisoners such as Orsini (portrayed by Jacques Ertaud), who also tries to attempt an escape from prison but because his rope has no hooks, he is caught, punished and beaten by the Nazis.

But despite the fate of those who try to escape, the information they pass in hopes for someone to escape the prison becomes important.

Fontaine knows he must thoroughly plan his escape from Montluc prison but he is placed with a young man. But can this young man be trusted or is he working for the Nazi’s?

VIDEO:

“A Man Escaped” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:33:1 aspect ratio). The film features wonderful contrast and is well-detailed. Whites and grays are well-contrast, black levels are also much better. I saw no damage or major flickering, banding, if anything, the film looks magnificent on Blu-ray!

According to the Criterion Collection, this high-definition digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on an ARRISCAN film scanner from the original 35 mm camera negative at Eclaire Laboratories in Epinay-sur-Seine, France. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps and flicker were manually removed using MTI’s DRS and Pixel Farm’s PFClean, while Image System’s Phoenix was used for small dirt, grain and noise reduction.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“A Man Escaped” is presented in French LPCM 1.0. Dialogue is clear and subtitles are easy to read. I detected no pops, crackles or terrible hiss during my viewing of the film.

According to the Criterion Collection, the original monaural soundtrack was remaster at 24-bit from a sound negative. Clicks, thumps, hiss and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube’s integrated workstation.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“A Man Escaped – The Criterion Collection #650” comes with the following special features:

Bresson Without a Trace – (1:07:31) From a 1965 television program of “Cineastes de notre temps” in which the Bresson gives his first on-camera interview. (Note: Do not watch this unless you have seen his previous films as the featurette does contain spoilers.)
The Road to Bresson - (56:22) A 1984 documentary featuring interviews with filmmakers Louis Malle, Paul schrader and Andrei Tarkovsky. Featuring the filmmakers who also try to get an interview with Bresson who is promoting his film “L’Argent” at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Essence of Forms - (45:56) A Documentary from 2010 win which collaborators and admirers of Bresson’s including actor Francois Leterrier and director Buruno Dumont, share their thoughts about the director and his work.
Functions of Film Sound – (19:48) A visual essay on the use of sound in “A Man Escaped” by film scholars David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson.
Trailers – (3:10) The theatrical trailer for “A Man Escaped”.

EXTRAS:

“A Man Escaped – The Criterion Collection #650” comes with an 20-page booklet with the following essay “Quintessential Bresson” by Tony Pipolo.

Robert Bresson, a legendary filmmaker who may have not made too many films within the last 40-years of his life, but each of his films are respected by filmmakers because of his constant search of getting the shot he needs.

A style that is not for patient producers, Bresson is known to have a seen redone and shot many dozens of times until he felt he got the shot he needed. As many filmmakers would say about Bresson’s style, he comes to a shot not knowing what he wants, but through repetition he eventually is in search for a shot that can be used.

He was a man that was dedicated in refining the precision of his own cinema style, stayed away from professional actors, abolishing psychology and suffice to say, those who understood his work, looked at Robert Bresson as a genius, while those who didn’t, find his work maddening or incomprehensible.

While Bresson’s style is not a style that not many people could read about or hear about, it is because he shunned the public life and wanted to be known for his work and not about him, as a person.

Known for his masterpiece “Au hasard Balthazar” and his work for”Les dames du bois de Boulogne”, “Diary of a Country Priest”, “Pickpocket” and”Mouchette”, the Criterion Collection gives viewers a chance to know Robert Bresson the filmmaker through the Blu-ray release of “A Man Escaped”.

While I recommend films such as “Au hasard Balthazar”, “Pickpocket” and “Diary of a Country Priest” to see the varying styles of Robert Bresson as a filmmaker, I must say that the release of “A Man Escaped” is important for the fact that it’s a film that shows his technique of simple concepts but techniques that are not easily replicated.

This is also a release that features Bressons’ first on-camera interview in “Bresson: Without a Trace” from 1965, the wonderful documentary “The Road to Bresson” in which legendary filmmakers such as Louis Malle, Andrei Tarkovsky, Paul Schrader and others discuss the brilliance of Bresson but also seeing those who just don’t get his work (as seen in the “L’argent”press conference at the Cannes Film Festival).

But Criterion Collection goes even further by including “The Essence of Forms” featuring those who have collaborated with Robert Bresson but also “Functions of Film Sound” in which film scholars David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson discuss Bresson’s work and the use of sound in “A Man Escaped” with efficacy.

But for his film “A Man Escaped”, description on paper or this review makes everything seem so simple. In fact, that is a word that is often used with Robert Bresson’s films is “simple”, but yet not easily replicated. Remember, Bresson is a filmmaker who will keep filming do-overs as many times as he wants to get the right shot. His films have gone over schedule, gone over budget and he has even bankrupt a few producers because he has a style that requires patience.

For this prison film, a French Resistance leader has been imprisoned by the Nazi’s and as life is futile for those incarcerated and just counting the days when they will be executed, the protagonist Fontaine is using his contacts throughout prison to find out details of what he can do to escape. Using anything that he has access to, may it be a spoon, blankets or shreddings to be used for rope, the film is exciting because you want to see this man escape. We know it’s based on a true story based on the memoir of Andre Devigny, but we must see things visually to fully understand.

Bresson captures Fontaine’s urgency, his sadness, his fears and displays it on camera. Bresson’s skill as a filmmaker is not to be obtrusive but also having the audience be part of the film through tension, suspense and emotion, not just visually but also through its carefully planned use of audio.

This is fantastic cinema and in his talented list within his oeuvre, while he has many films that can be labeled as a masterpiece, “A Man Escape” is wonderful, but it’s the overall experience through this Blu-ray release that makes it worthwhile for the cineaste.

The Criterion Collection’s presentation on Blu-ray is fantastic. Wonderful detail and contrast with picture and audio quality that looks unblemished and for a film that is nearly 60-years-old, fantastic. But of all the Robert Bresson releases from the Criterion Collection, it is this release that gives Bresson fans a chance to truly know the filmmaker.

Overall, “A Man Escaped” is a film that showcases Robert Bresson’s wonderful direction but it’s also a Blu-ray release and its special features that Robert Bresson fans and cineaste will surely enjoy for it. These are the type of Criterion Collection releases I love…great film and special features that thoroughly examines the work of the filmmaker. “A Man Escaped” is highly recommended!

Filed Under: Blu-ray Reviews, THE CRITERION COLLECTION

Monsieur Verdoux – The Criterion Collection #652 (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

March 24, 2013 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment

“Monsieur Verdoux” is another magnificent Charlie Chaplin Blu-ray release but is also a film that is deserving of its recognition as a true Charlie Chaplin cinematic masterpiece. Highly recommended!

TITLE: Monsieur Verdoux – The Criterion Collection #652

YEAR OF FILM: 1947

DURATION: 124 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 1:33:1 aspect ratio, Black and White, Monaural

COMPANY: Janus Films/THE CRITERION COLLECTION

RELEASE DATE: March 26, 2013

Directed by Charles Chaplin

Original Story by Charles Chaplin

Based on an Idea by Orson Welles

Produced by Charles Chaplin

Music by Charles Chaplin

Cinematography by Roland Totheroh

Edited by Willard Nico

Art Direction by John Beckman

Starring:

Charles Chaplin as Henri Verdoux, Varnay, Bonheur, Floray

Mady Correll as Mona, his wife

Allison Roddan as Peter, their son

Robert Lewis as Maurice Bottello

Audrey Betz as Martha Bottello

Martha Raye as Annabella Bonheur

Ada May as Annette, her maid

Isobel Elsom as Marie Grosnay

Marjorie Bennett as the Maid

Helene Heigh as Yvonne, Marie’s friend

Margaret Hoffman as Lydia Floray

Marilyn Nash as The Girl

Irving Bacon as Pierre Couvais

Edwin Mills as Jean Couvais

Virginia Brissac as Carlotta Couvais

Almira Sessions as Lena Couvais

Eula Morgan as Phoebe Couvais

Bernard Nedell as Prefect of Police

Charles Evans as Detective Morrow

William Frawley as Jean La Salle

Charlie Chaplin plays shockingly against type in his most controversial film, a brilliant and bleak black comedy about money, marriage, and murder. Chaplin is a twentieth-century Bluebeard, an enigmatic family man who goes to extreme lengths to support his wife and child, attempting to bump off a series of wealthy widows (including one played by the indefatigable Martha Raye, in a hilarious performance). This deeply philosophical and wildly entertaining film is a work of true sophistication, both for the moral questions it dares to ask and the way it deconstructs its megastar’s loveable on-screen persona.

He is an icon.

Charlie Chaplin, the British comedian known for winning legions of fans through his character, “The Tramp” and one of the most important figures in cinema history.

While Charlie Chaplin will forever be a legend known for wonderful film such as “City Lights”, “The Gold Rush”, “Modern Times” and “The Great Dictator” to name a few. His life reads like a rags-to-riches story as a child born into poverty and hardship and would become a performer at a young age and eventually become scouted by the film industry and making his first appearance in film in 1914 for Keystone Studios.

The actor would eventually move on to do work for studios such as Essanay, Mutual and First National corporations and would become one of the most successful men in the world by 1918. And in 1919, in order to gain complete control of his films, Chaplin along with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith would create the American film studio known as United Artist.

And as Charlie Chaplin would survive the transition from silent to talkie in the 1930′s. It’s the 1940′s that would prove to be detrimental for Charlie Chaplin. It began with an actress named Joan Barry accusing Chaplin that she was pregnant with his baby. Because Chaplin has had several divorces, media portrayed him as a womanizer.

While working on his latest film “Monsieur Verdoux”, because he would not renounce his British citizenship and was speaking favorably to open a Second Front to help the Soviets and support Soviet-American friendship groups. Because he socialized with Hanns Eisler and Bertolt Brecht and also attended functions of Soviet diplomats in the U.S., he was accused of being communist and branded a threat to national security. Federal authorities would use the Joan Barry case to bring up Chaplin on four indictments which include interfering with Barry’s arrest and violating the Mann Act for transportation of women across state lines for sexual purposes.

While Chaplin was acquitted, unfortunately, because of the negative publicity, the federal government successfully achieved what they wanted, to hurt Chaplin’s career.

More negative publicity would affect Charlie Chaplin when he married his 18-year-old protegee Oona O’Neill (Chaplin was 54 at the time), the daughter of Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Eugene O’Neill and writer Agnes Boulton. And because he would not consent to her marriage to Chaplin, despite their close relationship, O’Neill ended his relationship with his daughter.

And while Chaplin was happy to be married to Oona and continued to work on his new film “Monsieur Verdoux” (which he started in 1942), a film which came from an idea from Orson Welles about a bluebeard/French serial killer named Henri Landru. While Chaplin tried to sway American sentiment that he was not a communist and even had a major publicist try to promote his new film and also to prepare audiences for a non-Tramp role, unfortunately, his reputation was already tarnished.

He was booed at the premiere, people wanted to boycott his film and Charlie Chaplin who was known to earn $5 million for his films, would only make $300,000+ in the box office and became a commercial flop. But in other countries, the film was a success.

But the damage was done and Chaplin’s American career would never be the same ever again. By his next film “Limelight”, when he went to screen the film in London, while returning back home with his family, the Attorney General revoked Chaplin’s re-entry permit. But because Chaplin and his films were warmly received, he would make Switzerland his new home.

While the film was not looked at positively back in the 1940′s, as decades have past, many would recognize “Monsieur Verdoux” as Charlie Chaplin’s first major talkie film that was a true masterpiece. Even in Charlie Chaplin’s autobiography, he wrote “Monsieur Verdoux is the cleverest and most brilliant film I have yet made”.

And now, “Monsieur Verdoux” will be released on Blu-ray and DVD by The Criterion Collection in March 2013.

“Monsieur Verdoux” is a black comedy in which Charlie Chaplin plays the role of Monsieur Verdoux. We watch as he invests money from a widow (that he just killed) into the stock market. Meanwhile, we watch as a family tries desperately to get in touch with Thelma, a woman who had married Monsieur Verdoux and has taken all her money out and sold her business for him.

Worried about Thelma, they go to talk with authorities and as they look into this case, they realized that there are other middle-aged women who are missing or people have not heard from. They suspect that this man who married Thelma is a mystery man who is a bluebeard, a man who marries women and kills them for their money.

We then see how Monsieur Verdoux, also going by the names Varnay, Bonheur and Floray, has married several widows and uses a job as a fake pretense to having to travel all the time. He tells each person he has married that he is on a business trip, when the truth is that he is trying to win over each of these women and getting them to take their money out of the bank, in which he can murder them right after and take their money and reinvest it into the stock market, a plan which he uses to help his disabled wife Mona (portrayed by Mady Correll) and his son Peter (portrayed by Allison Roddan).

While visiting with Mona, she tells him that she would rather have the life of living in a one room than having him travel all the time for business. But Verdoux tells her that he will never ever have her live that kind of life again.

Meanwhile, while walking home, he runs into a girl (portrayed by Marilyn Nash), a woman that he feels he can sweet talk but finds out that she is broke and just got out of prison. He treats her with normalcy and even feeds her and gives her advice which she eventually becomes grateful to him for his help.

But as he is able to keep his wives on a routine, so none of them will see him with another woman, what happens when two of his wives break their normal routine. And also what happens when Monsieur Verdoux is affected during the Wall Street Crash of 1929?

Will Verdoux be caught by the authorities? And what can drive a man to commit these crimes?

VIDEO:

“Monsieur Verdoux” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:33:1 aspect ratio). The film features wonderful contrast and is well-detailed. Whites and grays are well-contrast, black levels are also much better. I saw no damage or major flickering, banding, if anything, the film looks magnificent on Blu-ray!

According to the Criterion Collection, this high-definition digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on an ARRISCAN film scanner from the original 35 mm camera negative at L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, Italy. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps and flicker were manually removed using MTI’s DRS and Pixel Farm’s PFClean, while Image System’s Phoenix was used for small dirt, grain, noise reduction and jitter.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Monsieur Verdoux” is presented in English LPCM 1.0. Dialogue is clear and subtitles are easy to read. I detected no pops, crackles or terrible hiss during my viewing of the film.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Monsieur Verdoux – The Criterion Collection #652” comes with the following special features:

Chaplin Today – Monsieur Verdoux – (27:01) Directed by Bernard Eisenschitz, featuring observations by filmmaker Claude Chabrol and actor Normany Lloyd about the troubling times of Charlie Chaplin and the brilliance of the film “Monsieur Verdoux”.
Charlie Chaplin and the American Press - (24:54) Kate Guyonvarch, Director of the Charlie Chaplin Company, Roy Export and Charles Maland, author of “Chaplin and American Culture” review the coverage of Chaplin the American press.
Marilyn Nash - (8:05) A 1997 audio interview with images by Charlie Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance with Marilyn Nash (who starred as “The Girl” in “Monsieur Verdoux”).
Radio Ads – (6:15) Featuring a total of eight radio ads: “A Modern French Bluebeard”, “This Merchant of Death”, “A Warning”, “For Women Without A Sense of Humor”, “Lady, Can You Take a Dare?”, “The Top Picture of the Year”, “The Suave, Sinister Lady-Killer” and “Remember – It’s a Comedy”.
Trailers – (8:38) Three trailers for “Monsieur Verdoux” from France, Germany and the United States.

EXTRAS:

“Monsieur Verdoux – The Criterion Collection #652” comes with an 38-page booklet with the following essays: “Sympathy for the Devil” by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, the article that Charlie Chaplin wrote for the “Continental Daily Mail” titled “My New Film” and Andre Bazin’s “The Myth of Monsieur Verdoux” from Bazin’s film “What is Cinema? Vol II”.

It’s hard to use the word sympathetic when it comes to a character that is a mass murderer. Nor should one sympathize for one that is amoral for the crimes they have committed.

But what Charlie Chaplin was able to create was a character that is intelligent, witty but its the idea in his head that what he has done is miniscule to what countries have done in war. Where one man kills, he is a murder. When a nation kills, they are seen as not.

This is an interesting juxtaposition from Chaplin’s last film “The Great Dictator” in which the threat of Hitler was scaring the masses, Chaplin used his famous personality to preach for a kinder world where people rise above their hate, greed and brutality.

But by 1947, he had been branded guilty by the mass media and U.S. government for his political beliefs and because of his personal life. Two years before “Monsieur Verdoux” was released in theaters, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II and while images of the devastation was suppressed by American media at the time, because Chaplin was a person who traveled the world and had conversations with many of the affluent people in business and also military, he had a chance to know about war, the effects of war and was tired of war.

But as he seeked to form a working bond between American and Soviets, it would backfire on him as he would be branded a communist. Anyone who dare side with him, would also be branded a communist and unfortunately, many people in the entertainment industry were automatically judged to be communist but Chaplin would be remembered not just as a silent film star icon but also an actor persecuted by the U.S. Govt. and never allowed to come home until 1972, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences offered Chaplin an Honorary Award and would be Chaplin’s first time in the U.S. after 20-years since his re-entry to the U.S. was revoked. And a standing ovation that would last 12-minutes, the longest in Academy’s history. Chaplin would also be awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II in 1975.

So, as we look back at “Monsieur Verdoux” and many see this film as a masterpiece, you can’t help but feel a bittersweet attitude towards the film. Primarily because how poorly the film was received because of his treatment by the U.S. government but also the large amount of negative press that he received.

Chaplin tried his best to defend the film. A film that cost him two million dollars and took seven years to make. But it was his drive to tell a story about how a poor French clerk who lost his job due to the Depression looked at wooing wealthy women, marrying them and murdering them as a way to support the wife and child that he does love. In his mind, that contemporary civilization is making mass murderers of us all.

While the film is a comedy, Chaplin knew the state of how things were in America and the world at the time. After a major World War, these were serious times in which he felt he could use his personality for good and at 58, there was no need for the tramp as he could not play the popular character all his life. But it was his opportunity to create pity for all humanity as he would say, “in the drastic circumstances of present-day living”.

Charlie Chaplin in “Monsieur Verdoux” is wonderful. His ability to play a character that is calm, collected but able to pursue multiple women by using his charm and trying to find anyway he can to get their money.

Meanwhile, as much as he has been able to travel and marry or have relationships with many married women in his life, some he manages to kill, some he doesn’t (because he doesn’t know how to get them to give him access to the money), we are introduced to another character, a girl (portrayed by Marilyn Nash) who has been released from prison and receives inspiration from the one man who tries to help her and most of all, listen to her…Monsieur Verdoux. Her character has become an important and pivotal character towards the end of the film but it’s the planning of the characters in the film that make “Monsieur Verdoux” a fascinating film and at times a comedy.

Most of the comedy is derived from the scenes featuring comedian Martha Raye as Annabella Bonheur, a wisecracking, blunt and yet wealthy woman with a laugh of a hyena. But in addition to Bonheur, we have appearances by William Frawley (best known as Fred Mertz in the sitcom “I Love Lucy”) and Fritz Leiber, Sr.

But the work and performance of Charlie Chaplin is incredible. If anyone was able to get away from his well-known “Tramp” role, we as audiences of today, recognize that Chaplin was successful. Unfortunately, because of the release of the film during his worse time of his personal life, the film would not receive the recognition then, as it does now.

So, we go back to the question of whether a film about an amoral mass murderer should be regarded as wonderful cinema, especially among the many masterpieces in his oeuvre. I have to say yes. We sympathize with Verdoux, but we know that as much as his amoral perspective is only justifiable to him but not to the masses, it’s because Verdoux was a man who knew he did wrong but he was the product of society and that he will not be the only one with that mindset.

But as a society who believes one man who kills any is a murder, what of a country that kills many more for the sake of war or business. Is he any different?

As for the Criterion Collection Blu-ray release, the film delivers the most beautiful version of this film to date. The special features are also important in introducing people to what Charlie Chaplin was enduring in his personal life and his career at the time but also featuring interviews with people who knew him.

Overall, “Monsieur Verdoux” is another magnificent Charlie Chaplin Blu-ray release but is also a film that is deserving of its recognition as a true Charlie Chaplin cinematic masterpiece. Highly recommended!

Filed Under: Blu-ray Reviews, THE CRITERION COLLECTION