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New Criterion Blu-ray Announcements: Howards End, Wings of Desire, Monsoon Wedding

By brenden ⋅ July 17, 2009 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

At long last, we finally have our Howards End announcement. We reported ages ago that that film was the winner of the Amazon.com vote to become the next Criterion Collection film. Now we’ve got a release date and the official details.

In addition, Criterion is bringing us a couple of amazing films from the last quarter century: Wim Wenders‘ Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin) and Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding. I love both films dearly, each of them connected to significant parts of my life. I can’t wait to get my hands on these!

Special Features:

• High-definition digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Tony Pierce-Roberts (with uncompressed Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
• New appreciation of the late Ismail Merchant by director James Ivory
• Building “Howards End,” a documentary featuring interviews with Ivory, Merchant, Helena Bonham Carter, costume designer Jenny Beavan, and Academy Award–winning production designer Luciana Arrighi
• The Design of “Howards End,” a detailed look at the costume and production designs for the film, including original sketches
• The Wandering Company (1984), a 50-minute documentary about the history of Merchant Ivory Productions
• Original 1992 behind-the-scenes featurette
• Original theatrical trailer
• PLUS: An essay by critic Kenneth Turan

WINGS OF DESIRE
(October 20, 2009 - MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.66:1 1080p
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Special Features:

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Wim Wenders (with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
• Audio commentary featuring Wenders and actor Peter Falk
• The Angels Among Us (2003), a documentary featuring interviews with Wenders, Falk, actors Bruno Ganz and Otto Sander, writer Peter Handke, and composer Jürgen Knieper
• Excerpt from “Wim Wenders Berlin Jan. 87,” an episode of the French television program Cinéma cinémas, including on-set footage
• Interview with director of photography Henri Alekan
• Deleted scenes and outtakes
• Excerpts from the films Alekan la lumière (1985) and Remembrance: Film for Curt Bois (about the actor who plays Homer in Wings of Desire)
• Notes and photos by production designer Heidi Lüdi and art director Toni Lüdi
• Trailers
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Michael Atkinson and writings by Wenders and Handke

MONSOON WEDDING
(October 13, 2009 - MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Special Features:

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director Mira Nair and director of photography Declan Quinn (with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
• Audio commentary featuring Nair
• Nair’s short documentaries So Far from India (1983), India Cabaret (1985), and The Laughing Club of India (2001), featuring video introductions by the director
• Nair’s short fiction films The Day the Mercedes Became a Hat (1993), 11’09″01—September 11 (Segment: “India”) (2002), Migration (2007), and How Can It Be? (2008), featuring video introductions by the director
• New video interview with actor Naseeruddin Shah, conducted by Nair
• New video interviews with Quinn and production designer Stephanie Carroll
• Theatrical trailer
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• PLUS: An essay by critic and travel writer Pico Iyer

Tags: Criterion, Howards End, Mira Nair, Monsoon Wedding, The Criterion Collection, Wim Wenders, Wings of Desire