HARAKIRI – Blu-ray Edition
Following the collapse of his clan, an unemployed samurai (Ran’s Tatsuya Nakadai) arrives at the manor of Lord Iyi, begging to be allowed to commit ritual suicide on the property. Iyi’s clansmen, believing the desperate ronin is merely angling for a new position, try to force his hand and get him to eviscerate himself—but they have underestimated his beliefs and his personal brand of honor. Winner of the 1963 Cannes Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize, Harakiri, directed by Masaki Kobayashi (The Human Condition) is a fierce evocation of individual agency in the face of a corrupt and hypocritical system.
1962 • 133 Minutes • Black & White • Monaural • In Japanese With English Subtitles • 2.35:1 Aspect
Ratio
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
• High-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Video introduction by Japanese-film historian Donald Richie
• Excerpt from a rare Directors Guild of Japan video interview with director Masaki Kobayashi, moderated by filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda
• Video interviews with star Tatsuya Nakadai and screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto
• Original theatrical trailer
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Joan Mellen and a reprint of a 1972 interview by Mellen with Kobayashi
TITLE: Harakiri (BLU-RAY EDITION)
CAT. NO: CC2063BD
UPC: 7-15515-08751-3
ISBN: 978-1-60465-488-2
SRP: $39.95
PREBOOK: 9/6/11
STREET: 10/4/11
SALÒ, OR THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM – BLU-ray Edition
The notorious final film from Pier Paolo Pasolini (Mamma Roma), Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, has been called nauseating, shocking, depraved, pornographic . . . It’s also a masterpiece. The controversial poet, novelist, and filmmaker’s transposition of the Marquis de Sade’s eighteenth-century opus of torture and degradation to Fascist Italy in 1944 remains one of the most passionately debated films of all time, a thought-provoking inquiry into the political, social, and sexual dynamics that define the world we live in.
1975 • 116 Minutes • Color • Monaural • In Italian With English Subtitles • 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
• High-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• “Salòâ€: Yesterday and Today, a thirty-three-minute 2002 documentary featuring interviews with director Pier Paolo Pasolini, actor-filmmaker Jean-Claude Biette, and Pasolini friend Ninetto Davoli
• Fade to Black, a twenty-three-minute 2001 documentary featuring directors Bernardo Bertolucci, Catherine Breillat, and John Maybury, as well as scholar David Forgacs
• The End of “Salò,†a forty-minute documentary about the film’s production
• Video interviews with set designer Dante Ferretti and director and film scholar Jean-Pierre Gorin
• Optional English-dubbed soundtrack
• Theatrical trailer
• PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by Neil Bartlett, Breillat, Naomi Greene, Sam Rohdie, Roberto Chiesi, and Gary Indiana, and excerpts from Gideon Bachmann’s on-set diary
TITLE: Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (BLU-RAY EDITION)
CAT. NO: CC2062BD
UPC: 7-15515-08741-4
ISBN: 978-1-60465-487-5
SRP: $39.95
PREBOOK: 9/6/11
STREET: 10/4/11
THE FOUR FEATHERS – Blu-ray & DVD
This spectacular Technicolor epic, directed by Zoltán Korda (Jungle Book), is considered the finest of the many adaptations of A.E.W. Mason’s classic 1902 adventure novel about the British Empire’s exploits in Africa, and a crowning achievement of Alexander Korda’s legendary production company, London Films. Set at the end of the nineteenth century, The Four Feathers follows the travails of a young officer (Rembrandt’s John Clements) accused of cowardice after he resigns his post on the eve of a major deployment to Khartoum; he must fight to redeem himself in the eyes of his fellow officers (including The Fallen Idol’s Ralph Richardson) and fiancée (The Thief of Bagdad’s June Duprez). Featuring music by Miklós Rózsa (The Killers) and Oscar-nominated cinematography by Georges Périnal (The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp), The Four Feathers is a thrilling, thunderous epic.
1939 • 115 Minutes • Color • Monaural • 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
• New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
• Audio commentary by film historian Charles Drazin
• New video interview with David Korda, son of director Zoltán Korda
• A Day at Denham, a short film from 1939 featuring footage of Zoltán Korda on the set of The Four Feathers
• Trailer
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Michael Sragow
TITLE: The Four Feathers (BLU-RAY EDITION)
CAT. NO: CC2064BD
UPC: 7-15515-08761-2
ISBN: 978-1-60465-489-9
SRP: $39.95
PREBOOK: 9/13/11
STREET: 10/11/11
TITLE: The Four Feathers (DVD EDITION)
CAT. NO: CC2065D
UPC: 7-15515-08771-1
ISBN: 978-1-60465-490-5
SRP: $29.95
PREBOOK: 9/13/11
STREET: 10/11/11
KURONEKO – Blu-ray & DVD
In this poetic and atmospheric horror fable, set in a village in war-torn medieval Japan, a malevolent spirit has been ripping out the throats of itinerant samurai. When a military hero is sent to dispatch the unseen force, he finds that he must struggle with his own personal demons as well. From Kaneto Shindo, director of the terror classic Onibaba, Kuroneko (Black Cat) is a spectacularly eerie twilight tale with a shocking feminist angle, evoked through ghostly special effects and exquisite cinematography.
1968 • 99 Minutes • Black & White • Monaural • In Japanese With English Subtitles • 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
• New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
• Video interview with director Kaneto Shindo from the Directors Guild of Japan
• New video interview with critic Tadao Sato
• Theatrical trailer
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Maitland McDonagh and an excerpt from film scholar Joan Mellen’s 1972 interview with Shindo
TITLE: Kuroneko (BLU-RAY EDITION)
CAT. NO: CC2066BD
UPC: 7-15515-08781-0
ISBN: 978-1-60465-491-2
SRP: $39.95
PREBOOK: 9/20/11
STREET: 10/18/11
TITLE: Kuroneko (DVD EDITION)
CAT. NO: CC2067D
UPC: 7-15515-08791-9
ISBN: 978-1-60465-492-9
SRP: $29.95
PREBOOK: 9/20/11
STREET: 10/18/11
IDENTIFICATION OF A WOMAN – Blu-ray & DVD
Identification of a Woman, directed by Michelangelo Antonioni (Red Desert), is a body-and soul-baring voyage into one man’s artistic and erotic consciousness. After his wife leaves him, a film director finds himself drawn into affairs with two enigmatic women, while at the same time searching for the right subject (and actress) for his next film. This spellbinding anti-romance was a late-career coup for the legendary Italian filmmaker, and is renowned for its sexual explicitness and an extended scene on a fog-enshrouded highway that stands with the director’s greatest set pieces.
1982 • 130 Minutes • Color • Monaural • In Italian With English Subtitles • 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
• New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
• Theatrical trailer
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic John Powers and a reprinted 1982 interview with Michelangelo Antonioni by critic Gideon Bachmann
TITLE: Identification of a Woman (BLU-RAY EDITION)
CAT. NO: CC2070BD
UPC: 7-15515-08821-3
ISBN: 978-1-60465-495-0
SRP: $29.95
PREBOOK: 9/27/11
STREET: 10/25/11
TITLE: Identification of a Woman (DVD EDITION)
CAT. NO: CC2071D
UPC: 7-15515-08831-2
ISBN: 978-1-60465-496-7
SRP: $19.95
PREBOOK: 9/27/11
STREET: 10/25/11
DAZED AND CONFUSED – Blu-ray Edition
America, 1976. The last day of school. Bongs blaze, bell-bottoms ring, and rock and roll rules. Among the best teen films ever made, Dazed and Confused, directed by Richard Linklater (Slacker), eavesdrops on a group of seniors-to-be and incoming freshmen. A launching pad for a number of future stars, Linklater’s first studio effort also features endlessly quotable dialogue and a blasting, stadium-ready soundtrack. Sidestepping nostalgia, Dazed and Confused is less about “the best years of our lives†than the boredom, angst, and excitement of teenagers waiting . . . for something to happen.
1993 • 102 Minutes • Color • 5.1 surround • 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
• High-definition digital transfer of the director’s cut, supervised by director Richard Linklater and cinematographer Lee Daniel, with 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• Audio commentary by Linklater
• Making Dazed, a fifty-minute documentary by Kahane Corn
• Rare on-set interviews and behind-the-scenes footage
• Footage from the ten-year anniversary celebration
• Audition footage and deleted scenes
• Original theatrical trailer
• PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by Kent Jones, Jim DeRogatis, and Chuck Klosterman; memories of the film from the cast and crew; character profiles; and the original film poster by Frank Kozik
TITLE: Dazed and Confused (BLU-RAY EDITION)
CAT. NO: CC2072BD
UPC: 7-15515-08841-1
ISBN: 978-1-60465-497-4
SRP: $39.95
PREBOOK: 9/27/11
STREET: 10/25/11
ISLAND OF LOST SOULS – Blu-ray & DVD
A twisted treasure from Hollywood’s pre-Code horror heyday, Island of Lost Souls is a cautionary tale of science run amok adapted from H. G. Wells’s novel The Island of Dr. Moreau. In one of his first major movie roles, Charles Laughton (The Private Life of Henry VIII) is a mad doctor conducting ghastly genetic experiments on a remote island in the South Seas, much to the fear and disgust of the shipwrecked sailor (Richard Arlen) who finds himself trapped there. This touchstone of movie terror, directed by Erle C. Kenton (House of Frankenstein), is elegantly shot by Karl Struss (The Great Dictator), features groundbreaking makeup effects that inspired generations of monster-movie artists, and costars Bela Lugosi (Dracula) in one his most gruesome roles.
1932 • 70 Minutes • Black & White • Monaural • 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
• New high-definition digital restoration of the uncut theatrical version, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
• Audio commentary by film historian Gregory Mank, author of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff and Hollywood’s Maddest Doctors
• New video conversation among filmmaker John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), Oscar-winning makeup artist Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London, Videodrome), and genre expert Bob Burns
• New interviews with horror film historian David J. Skal (The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror); filmmaker Richard Stanley (Hardware, original director of the ill-fated 1996 remake of The Island of Dr. Moreau)
• New interviews with Devo founding members Gerald Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh, whose manifesto is rooted in themes from Island of Lost Souls
• Theatrical trailer
• PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Christine Smallwood
TITLE: Island of Lost Souls (BLU-RAY EDITION)
CAT. NO: CC2068BD
UPC: 7-15515-08801-5
ISBN: 978-1-60465-493-6
SRP: $39.95
PREBOOK: 9/27/11
STREET: 10/25/11
TITLE: Island of Lost Souls (DVD EDITION)
CAT. NO: CC2069D
UPC: 7-15515-08811-4
ISBN: 978-1-60465-494-3
SRP: $29.95
PREBOOK: 9/27/11
STREET: 10/25/11
Eclipse Series 29: Aki Kaurismäki’s Leningrad Cowboys
In the late eighties and early nineties, Aki Kaurismäki (The Match Factory Girl), the master of the deadpan, fashioned a waggish fish-out-of-water tale about a U.S. tour by “the worst rock-and-roll band in the world.†Leningrad Cowboys Go America’s posse of fur-coated, outrageously pompadoured hipsters struck such a chord with international audiences that the fictional band became a genuine attraction, touring the world. Later, Kaurismäki created a sequel, Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses, and filmed a gigantic stadium show the band put on in Helsinki for the rollicking documentary Total Balalaika Show. This Eclipse series, presents these crackpot musical and comic odysseys, along with five Leningrad Cowboys music videos directed by Kaurismäki.
THREE-DVD BOX SET INCLUDES:
Leningrad Cowboys Go America
A struggling Siberian rock band leaves the lonely tundra to tour the United States because, as they are told, “they put up with anything there.†Aki Kaurismäki’s winningly aloof farce follows the men as they bravely make their way across the New World, carrying a coffin full of beer and sporting hairdos like unicorn horns. Leningrad Cowboys Go America was such a sensation that the band gained a real-life cult following.
1989 · 79 Minutes · Color · Stereo · 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses
Living in Mexico with a top-ten hit under their belts, the Leningrad Cowboys have fallen on hard times. When they move north to rejoin their manager (Kaurismäki mainstay Matti Pellonpää) for a gig in Coney Island, he seems to have turned into a delusional self-proclaimed prophet who wishes to lead them back to the promised land of Siberia. Like the first installment, Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses is a road movie, but this time the humorous hardships come from the rocky terrain of the new Europe.
1994 · 94 Minutes · Color · Stereo · 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
Total Balalaika Show
Kaurismäki’s documentary of the Leningrad Cowboys’ massive Helsinki Square concert, on Finland’s largest stage, is a loving tribute to the rock band he made famous. Seventy thousand people from Finland and Russia turned out for this megaspectacle, with musical selections, from Sibelius to Bob Dylan, that crossed genre and national divides. And the band was joined onstage by the 150-member Russian Red Army Choir; Variety called it “the most incongruous—and inspired—cross-cultural pairing since Nureyev danced with Miss Piggy.â€
1994 · 57 Minutes · Color · Stereo · 1.66:1 Aspect Ratio
ALSO FEATURING THE FOLLOWING LENINGRAD COWBOYS MUSIC VIDEOS:
Rocky VI, Thru the Wire, L.A. Woman, These Boots, and Those Were the Days
TITLE: Eclipse Series 29: Aki Kaurismäki’s Leningrad Cowboys
CAT. NO: ECL135
UPC: 7-15515-08851-0
ISBN: 978-1-60465-498-1
SRP: $44.95
PREBOOK: 9/20/11
STREET: 10/18/11
Attention Canada  – HARAKIRI, IDENTIFICATION OF A WOMAN & Eclipse Series 29: Aki Kaurismäki’s Leningrad Cowboys are available in English-speaking Canada only. All other October titles are available in all Canada