Oh boy! This is a big, big day. I think a lot of us were expecting Criterion to announce a Blu-ray release of Powell and Pressburger‘s The Red Shoes at some point, seeing as how it was all over the news last year due to its remarkable restoration. But actually seeing the cover, the disc details…well, I’m left a bit breathless. Never satisfied to leave my lungs at peace, Criterion has also announced plans to deliver P&P’s Black Narcissus on Blu on the same day!!
…pant…pant…
I think it might be time to revisit my old list of the Top 10 Criterion DVDs that deserve a Blu-ray upgrade.
Also, time for a puff of the old ventolin breather, methinks…
THE RED SHOES
(July 20, 2010 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.33:1 1080p
Audio: uncompressed monaural
Special Features:
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- Audio commentary by film historian Ian Christie, featuring interviews with stars Marius Goring and Moira Shearer, cinematographer Jack Cardiff, composer Brian Easdale, and filmmaker Martin Scorsese
- Introductory restoration demonstration with Scorsese
- Profile of “The Red Shoes” (2000), a twenty-five-minute documentary
- Video interview with Thelma Schoonmaker Powell, Michael Powell’s widow
- Gallery from Scorsese’s collection of The Red Shoes memorabilia
- The “Red Shoes” Sketches, an animated film made from Hein Heckroth’s painted storyboards
- Readings by actor Jeremy Irons of excerpts from Powell and Pressburger’s novelization of The Red Shoes and the original Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale
- Theatrical trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by Christie
BLACK NARCISSUS
(July 20, 2010 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.33:1 1080p
Audio: uncompressed monaural
Special Features:
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- Video introduction by French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier
- Audio commentary featuring the late director Michael Powell and filmmaker Martin Scorsese
- The Audacious Adventurer, a 2006 video piece in which Tavernier discusses Black Narcissus and Powell
- Profile of “Black Narcissus” (2000), a twenty-five-minute documentary
- Painting with Light, a twenty-seven-minute documentary about Jack Cardiff’s Oscar-winning cinematography on Black Narcissus
- Original theatrical trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Kent Jones
THE SECRET OF THE GRAIN
(July 27, 2010 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio
Special Features:
DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION
- New high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Abdellatif Kechiche (with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- New video interview with Kechiche
- Sueur, Kechiche’s captivating extended version of the film’s climactic belly dancing sequence, featuring a new introduction by the director
- New video interview with film scholar Ludovic Cortade
- Excerpt from a 20 heures television interview with Kechiche and actress Hafsia Herzi
- Video interviews with Herzi, actress Bouraouïa Marzouk, and the film’s musicians
- Theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Wesley Morris
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