We all knew this was coming. We all knew Criterion was going to hit us with a killer line-up of titles this November, in preparation for the holiday sales blitz. And we were pretty sure from all the hints they’ve been dropping the past few weeks that Krzysztof Kieślowski‘s brilliant, moving Three Colors (or Colours, as we prefer here in Canada) Trilogy would be on the docket. So here it is, come to pass, this whopper of a Blu-ray announcement which is comprised of not one but two amazing 3-disc boxed sets due to drain my bank account in a couple of months time.
Speaking of Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander, the other multi-disc behemoth in the bunch, this reminds me that it’s definitely time to revist my now super-extra-outdated list of Top 10 Criterion DVDs that deserve a Blu-ray upgrade. You’ll note that this announcement has taken care of numbers 5 and 2 from the list, leaving scant few titles remaining as DVD only. Fanny and Alexander and Wes Anderson‘s Rushmore are truly gorgeous films and we’re incredibly lucky to be able to see and own them in what will no doubt be reference quality high-def transfers from Criterion. Now don’t you think it’s just about time for them to serve us up a heaping helping of The Last Temptation of Christ and Brazil on Blu? Huh? I’m so damn greedy…
I should also add that I’m a little taken aback by the inclusion of Sidney Lumet‘s 12 Angry Men in the announcement. This is unexpected but amazing news not only on its own merit, being picked up for the collection, but for the inclusion of the Schaffner “Studio One” TV version of the story on the disc. I love Lumet but Schaffner’s my boy. His Planet of the Apes, Patton and Papillon are still favourites. All right, so are Lumet’s Dog Day Afternoon and Network but don’t get me started on my issues with Serpico. Just don’t do it!!
Rounding out the new announcements, Criterion is reissuing Jean Renoir‘s classic The Rules of the Game. I don’t see any differences in their listing of special features on the disc yet but the fact that this bad boy has new cover art and is being published alongside a re-issued, lower priced DVD hints that there’s got to be some difference. Time will tell…
THREE COLORS TRILOGY
(November 15, 2011 – MSRP $79.95)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio
Special Features:
- New high-definition digital restorations with DTS-HD Master Audio
- Three cinema lessons with director Krzysztof Kieślowski
- New interviews with composer Zbigniew Preisner; writer Krzysztof Piesiewicz; and actors Julie Delpy, Zbigniew Zamachowski, and Irène Jacob
- Selected-scene commentary for Blue with actress Juliette Binoche
- Three new video essays, by film writers Annette Insdorf, Tony Rayns, and Dennis Lim
- Kieślowski’s student short The Tram (1966) and his fellow student’s short from the same year The Face, which features Kieślowski in a solo performance
- Two short documentaries by Kieślowski: Seven Women of Different Ages (1978) and Talking Heads (1980)
- Krzysztof Kieślowski: I’m So-So . . . (1995), a feature-length documentary in which the filmmaker discusses his life and work
- Two multi-interview programs, Reflections on “Blue” and Kieślowski: The Early Years, with film critic Geoff Andrew, Binoche, filmmaker Agnieszka Holland, cinematographer Sławomir Idziak, Insdorf, Jacob, and editor Jacques Witta
- Interviews with producer Marin Karmitz and Witta
- Behind-the-scenes programs for White and Red, and Kieślowski Cannes 1994, a short documentary on Red’s world premiere
- Original theatrical trailers
- New and improved English subtitle translations
- PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by critics Colin MacCabe, Nick James, Stuart Klawans, and Georgina Evans, an excerpt from Kieślowski on Kieślowski, and reprinted interviews with cinematographers Sławomir Idziak, Edward Klosinski, and Piotr Sobocinski
FANNY AND ALEXANDER
(November 8, 2011 – MSRP $59.95)
Video: 1.66:1/1.33:1 1080p
Audio: TBA
Special Features:
- High-definition digital restorations of the television and theatrical versions of Fanny and Alexander
- High-definition digital restoration of Ingmar Bergman’s feature-length documentary The Making of “Fanny and Alexander”
- Ingmar Bergman Bids Farewell to Film, a sixty-minute conversation between Bergman and film critic Nils Petter Sundgren recorded for Swedish television in 1984
- Audio commentary on the theatrical version by film scholar Peter Cowie
- A Bergman Tapestry, a documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew
- Costume sketches and footage of the models for the film’s sets
- Stills gallery
- Theatrical trailer
- Optional English-dubbed soundtrack for the theatrical version
- PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by documentarian and film historian Stig Björkman, novelist Rick Moody, and film scholar Paul Arthur
12 ANGRY MEN
(November 22, 2011 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.66:1 1080p
Audio: uncompressed monaural
Special Features:
- New high-definition digital restoration with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Frank Schaffner’s 1955 television version, with an introduction by Ron Simon, director of the Paley Center for Media Studies
- “Twelve Angry Men”: From Television to the Big Screen, a video essay by film scholar Vance Kapley comparing the Sidney Lumet and Schaffner versions
- Archival interviews with Lumet
- New interview about the director with writer Walter Bernstein
- New interview with Simon about television writer Reginald Rose
- New interview with cinematographer John Bailey in which he discusses cinematographer Boris Kaufman
- Tragedy in a Temporary Town (1956), a teleplay directed by Lumet and written by Rose
- Original theatrical trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by writer and law professor Thane Rosenbaum
THE RULES OF THE GAME
(November 15, 2011 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 1.33:1 1080p
Audio: uncompressed monaural
Special Features:
- Restored high-definition digital transfer
- Introduction to the film by Jean Renoir
- Audio commentary written by film scholar Alexander Sesonske and read by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich
- Version comparison: side-by-side analysis of the film’s two endings, and an illustrated study of Renoir’s shooting script
- Selected-scene analysis by Renoir historian Christopher Faulkner
- Excerpts from Jean Renoir, le patron: La Règle et l’exception (1966), a French television program directed by Jacques Rivette
- Part one of Jean Renoir, a two-part 1993 BBC documentary by David Thompson
- Video essay about the film’s production, release, and later reconstruction
- Jean Gaborit and Jacques Durand discuss their reconstruction and rerelease of the film
- Interviews with Renoir’s son and assistant cameraman Alain Renoir, set designer Max Douy, and actress Mila Parély
- Written tributes to the film and Renoir by J. Hoberman, Kent Jones,Paul Schrader, Wim Wenders and others
- Improved English subtitle translation
- Plus: A booklet featuring writings by Sesonske, Renoir, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bertrand Tavernier, and François Truffaut
RUSHMORE
(November 22, 2011 – MSRP $39.95)
Video: 2.35:1 1080p
Audio: TBA
Special Features:
- New high-definition digital transfer of the director’s cut supervised by director Wes Anderson
- Audio commentary by Anderson, cowriter Owen Wilson, and actor Jason Schwartzman
- The Making of “Rushmore,” an exclusive behind-the-scenes documentary by Eric Chase Anderson
- Max Fischer Players Present: Theatrical “adaptations” of Armageddon, Out of Sight, and The Truman Show, staged for the 1999 MTV Movie Awards
- Episode of The Charlie Rose Show featuring Anderson and actor Bill Murray
- Cast audition footage
- Wes Anderson’s hand-drawn storyboards, plus a film-to-storyboard comparison
- Props, posters, behind-the-scenes photos, and other graphic ephemera
- Original theatrical trailer
- Collectible poster
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Dave Kehr
Discussion
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