RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER COLLECTION – VOLUME 2 – issued as limited Blu Ray edition

RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER COLLECTION – VOLUME 2 (15) GERMANY BLU RAY £64.99
Volume . 2 brings together a collection of his key works from the mid-section of his career in high definition digital restorations prepared by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation.

The films are –

ANGST ESSEN SEELE AUF/FEAR EATS THE SOUL (15 ) 1973 GERMANY
Film is about a German woman who strikes up a friendship with a Moroccan man and the racism they encounter.

EFFI BRIEST (U) 1974 GERMANY
Film adaptation of Theodor Fontane’s novel set in the late 19th century.

FAUSTRECHT DER FREIHEIT/FOX AND HIS FRIENDS (15) 1975 GERMANY
In Fox and His Friends a young, homosexual man, who falls in love with a wealthy industrialist’s son after an unexpected lottery win. However he realises that the affections of his new partner are solely based on his wealth.

CHINESISCHES ROULETTE (15) 1976 GERMANY
Chinese Roulette is a tense psychodrama set in an isolated house during a weekend break in which infidelities are revealed and families break down. Fassbinder’s international breakthrough film,

EHE DER MARIA BRAUN/MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN (15) 1978 GERMANY
Fassbinder’s biggest international hit, Hanna Schygulla plays Maria Braun, whose material
rise parallels Germany’s Economic Miracle of the 1950s.

In German with English subtitles

Limited Edition Features

High definition digital transfers of all films prepared by the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation

High Definition (1080p) Blu-rayTM presentations of all films

Original uncompressed PCM mono 1.0 sound for all films

Optional English subtitles for all films

Exclusive 140-page collectors booklet containing archive articles and new writing by Deborah Allison, Geoff Andrew, Margaret Deriaz and Travis Miles.

Disc One – Fear Eats The Soul

Audio commentary by critic and lecturer Mark Freeman

My Name is Not Ali, Viola Shafik’s 2011 feature-length documentary on the life and death of El Hedi ben Salem, star of Fear Eats the Soul

Interview with director of photography Jürgen Jürges

Theatrical trailer

Disc Two – Effi Briest

Audio commentary by Ken Moulden

Interview with actor Ulli Lommel

Interview with director of photography Jürgen Jürges

Theatrical trailer

Disc Three – Fox And His Friends & Chinese Roulette

Audio commentary by Hamish Ford on Fox and His Friends

Interview with actor Ulli Lommel on Chinese Roulette

Original theatrical trailers for both films

Disc Four – The Marriage Of Maria Braun

Life, Love & Celluloid, a 1998 feature-length documentary on Fassbinder, written and directed by his regular editor, Juliane Lorenz

Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1977, a candid 30-minute interview with the director

The Fassbinder Family, featurette detailing the actors who worked with Fassbinder time and again throughout his career

Argentinian documentary – GUALEGUAYCHÚ: EL PAÍS DEL CARNAVAL/THE CARNIVAL – issued on dvd

GUALEGUAYCHÚ: EL PAÍS DEL CARNAVAL/THE CARNIVAL (18) 2021 ARGENTINA BERGER, MARCO £15.99
Documentary focusing on the Gualeguaychú carnival. The film follows two male friends as they prepare for and take part in the parade.

In Spanish with English subtitles

Psychological German Thriller – SCHLAF/SLEEP – on Blu Ray

SCHLAF/SLEEP (TBA) 2020 GERMANY VENUS, MICHAEL BLU RAY £22.99
Tormented by recurring nightmares of a place she has never been, Marlene cannot help but investigate when she discovers the place is real. Once there, she suffers a breakdown and is admitted to a psychiatric ward. Determined to discover what happened to her, Mona her daughter, follows and finds herself in Stainbach, an idyllic village with a dark history.

In German with English subtitles

Limited Edition Contents

High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation

Original DTS-MA 5.1 audio

Optional English subtitles

Audio commentary by film critic and historian Kim Newman & author Sean Hogan

A Strange Dark Magic, a visual essay by film scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

Sleepwalking through National Trauma, a visual essay by film critic Anton Bitel

Dream & Folktale in Sleep, an interview with anthropologist, dream researcher, and filmmaker Louise S. Milne

Talking in their Sleep, director Michael Venus and star Gro Swantje Kohlhof in conversation

A Dream We Dream Together, a compilation of film festival introductions created during lockdown by director Michael Venus and the cast of Sleep

Making Dreams Come True, a glimpse behind the scenes of Sleep

Deleted Scenes, four deleted scenes

Marlene’s Sketches, explore the many obsessive dream journal sketches that are only glimpsed in the film, created by artist Christoph Vieweg, presented here in full

Trailer

Image Gallery

Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Oink Creative

Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Alison Peirse, an interview with director Michael Venus, and Brothers Grimm fairy tale “Frau Trude”

Double-sided fold-out poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by Oink Creative

Banned Czech allegorical movie -PARTY AND THE GUESTS – issued on dvd and Blu Ray

THE PARTY AND THE GUESTS (U) 1966 CZECHOSLOVAKIA NEMEC, JAN DVD – £12.99 BLU RAY £17.99
A group of friends on an afternoon picnic are accosted by mysterious authority figures and compelled to join a lavish banquet in the woods. Jan Nemec’s surreal and sinister fable is a barbed satire of authoritarianism and conformity, as each of the ‘guests’ find their place among the revellers, succumbing to the will of their menacing hosts.

Distinguished by being ‘banned forever’ by Czech authorities, Nemec’s disquieting film was considered the most politically dangerous film made during the short flowering of Czechoslovak cinema in the 1960’s.

The Blu Ray also contains Jirí Trnka’s renowned animated short film The Hand (1965), another surreal and savage indictment of totalitarianism (again banned by Czech authorities).

In Czech with English subtitles

Bonus Features:

The Party and the Guests (O slavnosti a hostech, 1966) presented from an HD transfer of the new 4K restoration by the Czech National Film Archive.

The Hand (Ruka, 1965): Jirí Trnka’s renowned animated film presented from a new HD restoration and for the first time ever on Blu-ray.

Audio commentary by author Jonathan Owen.

Projection Booth audio commentary with film historians Mike White, Samm Deighan and Kat Ellinger.

A filmed appreciation by Peter Hames

24-page booklet featuring Michael Brooke’s substantial essay on the film.

New and improved English subtitle translation.

World premiere on Blu-ray.

HUNGARIAN MASTERS – THREE FILMS BY ZOLTÁN FÁBRI, ISTVÁN GAÁL AND MIKLÓS JANCSÓ – issued on Blu Ray

HUNGARIAN MASTERS – THREE FILMS BY ZOLTÁN FÁBRI, ISTVÁN GAÁL AND MIKLÓS JANCSÓ (15) HUNGARY 1955-1970 BLU RAY £40.99
Presented from stunning new 4K restorations with a raft of extra features, the set features – Zoltán Fábri’s Merry-Go-Round (Körhinta, 1955); István Gaál’s Current (Sodrásban, 1963) and Miklós Jancsó’s Agnus Dei (Égi bárány, 1970)

MERRY-GO-ROUND (KÖRHINTA, 1955) –

A love story set against the rural backdrop of communist farming collectives, a young girl falls for farm worker Máté, but is betrothed by her domineering father to another man.
This pastoral take on Romeo and Juliet is a rich and achingly beautiful work, framed by the turbulent changes in society taking place at that time.

Voted by international critics as one of the ‘10 Best Hungarian Films of All Time’

CURRENT (SODRÁSBAN 1963) –

A group of young friends on the cusp of adulthood decide to spend one last idyllic day together by the river before they depart for jobs and university. When one of them goes missing, a frantic search begins – and recriminations ensue.

Often cited as the first film of the Hungarian New Wave, István Gaál’s haunting existential drama contemplates the transience of youth and the impermanence of memory. Echoing Antonioni’s L’Avventura and Kurosawa’s Rashomon, Current is a powerful and lyrical work that serves as a lament for a generation.

AGNUS DEI (ÉGI BÁRÁNY, 1970) –

The film explores political upheaval, oppression and the complicity of the Church, in this refined, complex allegory of the rise of fascism in Hungary. The dazzling Agnus Dei marks a transition from Jancsó’s more traditional narrative films of the 1960s, to the more experimental and provocative works of the 1970s.

In Hungarian with English subtitles

EXTRAS
Merry-Go-Round (Körhinta), Current (Sodrásban), and Agnus Dei (Égi bárány) presented from new 4K restorations by the National Film Institute Hungary – Film Archive.

An archival interview with Miklós Jancsó (1987).

Award-winning Hungarian filmmaker István Szabó on the influence and cinematic legacy of Zoltán Fábri.

Tisza – Autumn Sketches (Tisza – Oszi vázlatok, 1962): István Gaál’s acclaimedshort film observing autumn descend along the river Tisza.

A new filmed appreciation of Current.

Merry-Go-Round 1955 screen tests.

A film on the restoration of Merry-Go-Round.

Trailers

Individual booklets with new writing on each film by writers and curators John Cunningham, Peter Hames and Tony Rayns.New and improved English subtitle translations.

World premieres on Blu-ray.

Region-free Blu-rays (A/B/C).

BELLEVILLE RENDEZ-VOUS re-issued on dvd and Blu Ray

BELLEVILLE RENDEZ-VOUS (12A) 2003 FRANCE CHOMET, SYLVAIN DVD – £19.99 BLU RAY – £19.99
This award winning film captured the imagination of audiences the world over with its unique blend of classic animation and razor-sharp wit.

1960s, young orphan Champion lives with his grandmother, Madame Souza, and dreams of winning the Tour de France. But before he is given the chance to compete he is kidnapped by the French Mafia and taken to the city of Belleville where his cycling skills are utilised by the gangsters.

When she follows her grandson’s trail to Belleville, Madame Souza enlists the help of 1930s jazz trio The Triplets of Belleville and her trusty dog Bruno to help her find Champion.

In French with English subtitles

Hungarian movie – ADOPTION – issued on Blu Ray

ADOPTION (15) 1975 HUNGARY MÉSZÁROS, MÁRTA BLU RAY £19.99
43-year-old Kata longs to have a child of her own. Rejected by her married lover, Kata looks into adoption, and befriends orphaned teenager Anna, herself determined to start a new life for herself.

In Hungarian with English subtitles

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

Adoption (Örökbefogadás, 1975) presented from a new director-approved 4K restoration created by the National Film Institute Film Archive, Hungary, and supervised by the film’s cinematographer Lajos Koltai

A new filmed introduction to the film by Márta Mészáros (2021)

A Conversation with Márta Mészáros (2009): an archival filmed interview with the director

Trailer

Booklet with new writing on the film by Carmen Gray

New and improved English subtitle translation

World premiere on Blu-ray

Region free Blu-ray (A/B/C)

Russian movie – LIGHTHOUSE – issued on Blu Ray

THE LIGHTHOUSE (12) 2006 RUSSIA SAAKYAN, MARIYA BLU RAY £19.99
This elegiac, semi-autobiographical drama unfolds against the backdrop and legacy of the Caucasus wars of the early 1990s. Told with a dream-like intensity, a young woman returns to her home in a remote, war-ravaged Armenian village to persuade her grandparents to leave with her for safety in Moscow.

In Russian with English subtitles

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

The Lighthouse (Mayak, 2006) presented from a new 2K restoration by the Hamo Bek-Nazarov Project, approved by the film’s cinematographer Maksim Drozdov
Maria Saakyan’s acclaimed short film Farewell (Proshchanie, 2003)
Surviving Memories: a visual essay by Alessandro Luchetti and Manuela Lazic

Trailers

Booklet featuring an interview with the director, and essays by writer/curator So Mayer and film historian Vigen Galstyan

Region free Blu-ray (A/B/C)

World premiere on Blu-ray

Czech movie – BEAUTY AND THE BEAST – issued on Blu Ray

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (15) 1978 CZECHOSLOVAKIA HERZ, JURAJ DVD – £12.99 BLU RAY £19.99
Herz’s Beauty and the Beast (also known more provocatively as The Virgin and the Monster) follows the familiar story – innocent girl presents herself as sacrifice to a cursed man-beast hiding in exile, and learns to live with, and eventually love her captor – but is transformed into something entirely more twisted and terrifying in Herz’s macabre re-imagining.

Aided by wonderful set and costume design, superb cinematography and evocative score, this is a fairy-tale-turned-horror story from Czechoslovak cinema’s most wryly subversive artist.

In Czech with English subtitles

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• Beauty and the Beast (Panna a netvor, 1978) presented complete and uncut from a new HD transfer from original materials by the Czech National Film Archive

• A newly-recorded Projection Booth audio commentary with Mike White, Samm Deighan and Kat Ellinger

• František Hrubín (1964): a short film on the Czech writer and poet, and co-screenwriter of Beauty and the Beast

• 20-page booklet with new writing on the film by author Jonathan Owen

• New and improved English subtitle translation

• Region free Blu-ray (A/B/C)

Slovakian film – BEFORE TONIGHT IS OVER – released on dvd and Blu Ray

BEFORE TONIGHT IS OVER (15) 1978 SLOVAKIA SLOAN, PETER DVD – £12.99 BLU RAY £19.99
Set entirely in a nightclub in a mountain ski resort over one eventful evening, Peter Solan’s Before Tonight is Over brings together an exceptional cast as they drink, dance, flirt, and fight in a delightful, kaleidoscopic character study.

Highly improvised and experimental in its approach, the film achieves a remarkable, intimate naturalism, offering a sharp critique of then-contemporary life as the characters gradually reveal their dreams, desires and disappointments. Once condemned for its depiction of societies’ vices, the radical Before Tonight is Over remains a potent work of wit and wisdom and is now regarded as one of the great gems of Slovak cinema.

In Slovak with English subtitles

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

Before Tonight is Over (Kým sa skoncí táto noc, 1965) presented from an HD transfer of the new 2K restoration supervised by the Slovak Film Institute.

A Conversation About Peter Solan and His Film ‘Before Tonight Is Over’ (2020): a new filmed appreciation of the film with Martin Kanuch and Rastislav Steranka

Two short films reflecting the locale and milieu of the film: Operation BL (Akcia BL, 1959) and High Tatras (Vysoké Tatry, 1966)

Booklet with new writing on the film by Peter Hames

World premiere on Blu-ray.

Region free Blu-ray (A/B/C)

 

Documentary about Frida Kahlo – FRIDA – VIVA LA VIDA – out on dvd

FRIDA – VIVA LA VIDA (12) 2019 TROILO, GIOVANNI £19.99
Asia Argento travels around Mexico exploring the work and life of renowned artist Frida Kahlo.

In Spanish with English subtitles

JEAN-PIERRE MELVILLE’S – LE SAMOURAI – RELEASED ON BLU RAY

LE SAMOURAI (12) 1967 FRANCE MELVILLE, JEAN-PIERRE BLU RAY – £27.99
A hitman murders a nightclub owner but then comes obsession by a beautiful pianist who was a witness to the crime

In French with English subtitles

SPECIAL FEATURES

New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray

Interviews from 2005 with Rui Nogueira, editor of Melville on Melville, and Ginette Vincendeau, author of Jean-Pierre Melville: An American in Paris

Archival interviews with Melville and actors Alain Delon, François Périer, Nathalie Delon, and Cathy Rosier

Melville-Delon: D’honneur et de nuit (2011), a short documentary exploring the friendship between the director and the actor and their iconic collaboration on this film

PLUS: An essay by film scholar David Thomson, an appreciation by filmmaker John Woo, and excerpts from Melville on Melville

Joseph Losey.’s – MR. KLEIN – released on dvd and Blu Ray

MR. KLEIN (12) 1976 FRANCE DVD £17.99 BLU RAY – £21.99
Set in 1942 in occupied France, Parisian art dealer Robert Klein discovers that he has a Jewish counterpart with the same name, for whom he is mistaken. As he becomes more involved with his alter ego’s identity, Mr Klein puts himself at considerable risk as French authorities begin arresting foreign Jews at the behest of the Nazis.

In French with English subtitles

Special Features

Interactive Menus

Interviews: Henri Lanoe (editor)

Other Documentary: ”Mr. Klein’ Revisited By Michel Ciment’

Alain Delon

Swiss drama – BEYTO – out on dvd

BEYTO (15) 2020 SWITZERLAND GSELL, GITTA £15.99
Beyto is popular among his circle of friends and the rising star of a Bernese swimming club. But when Beyto, the son of Turkish immigrants, falls in love with his swimming coach, Mike, his perfect life begins to unravel.

To preserve the family’s honour the family lure Beyto to their home village in Anatolia and force him to marry Seher, his childhood friend.

In Swiss German with English subtitles

German coming-of-age movie – RÄUBERHÄNDE/BLURRED LINES – out on dvd

RÄUBERHÄNDE/BLURRED LINES (18) 2021 GERMANY ÇATAK, ILKER £15.99
The adaptation of the novel “Räuberhände” by Finn-Ole Heinrich. In this coming-of-age drama adoptive brothers Janik and Samuel embark on a road trip to Istanbul in a bid to save their fractured relationship. Here the two high school students take full advantage of their new-found freedom.

In German with English subtitles