Foreign Films - Page 35

Manufacturer: Flicker Alley

Blu-ray/DVD Dual-Format Edition In commemoration of the 99th anniversary of the film s original release, Flicker Alley along with the San Francisco Silent Film Festival and La Cinémathèque française is proud to present the Blu-ray/DVD premiere of one of the holy grails of lost films: William Gillette s Sherlock Holmes. Long considered lost until a complete dupe negative was identified in the vaults of la Cinémathèque française last year, this William Gillette film is a vital missing link in the history of Sherlock Holmes on screen. By the time it was produced at Essanay Studios in 1916, Gillette had been established as the world s foremost interpreter of Holmes on stage having played him approximately 1300 times since his 1899 debut. This newly-restored edition, thanks to the monumental efforts of both the San Francisco Silent Film Festival and la Cinémathèque française, represents the sole surviving appearance of Gillette s Holmes on film. Presented with optional French and English intertitles and an original score composed and performed by Neil Brand, Guenter Buchwald, and Frank Bockius, Flicker Alley is honored to bring Sherlock Holmes onto Blu-ray and DVD for the first time ever. The film faithfully retains the play s famous set pieces Holmes s encounter with Professor Moriarty, his daring escape from the Stepney Gas Chamber, and the tour-de-force deductions. It also illustrates how Gillette, who wrote the adaptation himself, wove bits from Conan Doyle s stories ranging from A Scandal in Bohemia to The Final Problem, into an original, innovative mystery play. Film restorer Robert Byrne says, It s an amazing privilege to work with these reels that have been lost for generations. William Gillette s Sherlock Holmes has ranked among the holy grails of lost film and my first glimpse of the footage confirms Gillette s magnetism. Audiences are going to be blown away when they see the original Sherlock Holmes on screen for the first time. Bonus Materials Include: - Optional English an...

Manufacturer: Criterion Collection Brand: IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT Color: black & white

In the late 1940s, the incandescent Hollywood star Ingrid Bergman (Casablanca) found herself so moved by the revolutionary neorealist films of Roberto Rossellini (Rome Open City) that she sent the director a letter, introducing herself and offering her talents. The resulting collaboration produced a series of films that are works of both sociopolitical concern and metaphysical melodrama, each starring Bergman as a woman experiencing physical dislocation and psychic torment in postwar Italy. It also famously led to a scandalous affair and eventual marriage between filmmaker and star, and the focus on their personal lives in the press unfortunately overshadowed the extraordinary films they made together. Stromboli, Europe ’51, and Journey to Italy are intensely personal portraits that reveal the director at his most emotional and the glamorous actor at her most anguished, and that capture them and the world around them in transition. STROMBOLI The first collaboration between Roberto Rossellini and Ingrid Bergman is a devastating portrait of a woman’s existential crisis, set against the beautiful and forbidding backdrop of a volcanic island. After World War II, a Lithuanian refugee (Bergman) marries a simple Italian fisherman (Mario Vitale) she meets in a prisoner of war camp and accompanies him back to his isolated village on an island off the coast of Sicily. Cut off from the world, she finds herself crumbling emotionally, but she is destined for a dramatic epiphany. Balancing the director’s trademark neorealism (exemplified here in a remarkable depiction of the fishermen’s lives and work) with deeply felt melodrama, Stromboli is a revelation. English-language version: 1950 106 minutes Black & White Monaural 1.37:1 aspect ratio Italian-language version: 1950 100 minutes Black & White Monaural In Italian with English subtitles 1.37:1 aspect ratio EUROPE ’51 Ingrid Bergman plays a wealthy, self-absorbed socialite in Rome racked by guilt over the shocking death of her youn...

Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Brand: Image Entertainment

A singular work in film history, Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles brillantly evokes, with meticulous detail and sense of impending doom, the daily domestic routine of a middle-aged widow - whose chores include making the beds, cooking dinner for her grown son, and turning the occasional trick- just as it begins to break down. In its enormous spareness, Akerman's film seems simple, but it encompasses an entire world. Whether seen as an exacting character portrait or one of cinema's most hypnotic and complete depictions of space and time, Jeanne Dielman is an astonishing, compelling movie experiment, one that has been analyzed and argued over for decades.Stills from Jeanne Dielman (Click for larger image)

Manufacturer: Criterion Collection (Direct) Brand: CRITERION COLLECTIONS

Takashi Murakami, one of the most popular artists in the world, made his directorial debut with Jellyfish Eyes, taking his boundless imagination to the screen in a tale that is about friendship and loyalty at the same time as it addresses humanity’s penchant for destruction. After moving to a country town with his mother following his father’s death, a young boy befriends a charming, flying, jellyfish-like sprite—only to discover that his schoolmates have similar friends, and that neither they nor the town itself are what they seem to be. Pointedly set in a post-Fukushima world, Murakami’s modest-budgeted special effects extravaganza boasts unforgettable creature designs and carries a message of cooperation and hope for all ages. DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • New, high-definition digital master, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack • New interview with director Takashi Murakami • Two new behind-the-scenes documentaries on the making of the film • Trailer for Jellyfish Eyes 2 • New English subtitle translation • PLUS: An essay by critic Glen Helfand

Manufacturer: Raro Video USA Brand: KINO INTERNATIONAL

Director Francesco Barilli's hallucinatory giallo horror-thriller stars Mimsy Farmer who portrays Sylvia, a chemist who begins to suffer from strange visions; a mysterious woman in black applying perfume in a mirror appears to her and strangers follow her everywhere she goes. Barilli's psychological investigation into the workings of the mind becomes apparent when it is revealed that as a child, Sylvia committed a horrible crime. The slow progression from successful scientist to a woman on the verge of insanity shows an in-depth look at the intricacies of the haunted mind. This is a remarkable film, weaving reality, fantasy and memory into an almost seamless fabric.Bonus Features: New and improved English subtitle translation, Original Trailer, Interview with the Director, Short Film "The Wandering Knight (Il Cavaliere Errante)" by Francesco Barilli (23 min.), fully illustrated booklet containing critical analysis