Eclipse
Well, they are all pretty amazing. I don’t think I have to recommend things like Ozu’s silent “comedies” or Lubitsch musicals. The Sheptiko set is great, Ascent being one of the greatest of all films, and the upcoming set of Rossellini’s “didactic” TV productions should be very, very rewarding.
I’m getting ready to watch two of the films from Kaurismaki’s eclipse set. I’ve already seen “The Match Factory Girl”. Some other good Kaurismaki films (slightly more on the comedic side):
“The Man Without a Past”
“Lights in the Dusk”
“I Hired a Contract Killer”
Hmm, I really enjoyed Klien’s “Mr. Freedom.” I couldn’t stand the sluggish “Model Couple” though.
I just ordered all the Eclipse Series DVDs. Do they have booklets?
Has anyone seen Early Bergman?
No.
The Eclipse DVDs do not have booklets. They have a short essay that is printed on the left panel of the tray card.
I’d love to see Michelangelo Antonioni’s CINA (1972) end up in the Criterion Eclipse label at some point. Hope the good folks are listening.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068375/
Being a huge Kurosawa fan I think it essential that Eclipse eventually put together an “Early Kurosawa” box, which should include “Sanshiro Sugata”, “The Most Beautiful”, “Sanshiro Sugata II”, and “Those Who Tread On the Tiger’s Tail”. They’re not his best films, by far, but still, given the importance of Kurosawa to the collection, I think it would fit. Anyone agree?
I know it wouldn’t really be a great thing to do until more directors’ works have been put out through Eclipse doing repeats, but I would really like to see more Kaurismäki box sets like the one already released. It seems to pretty much be an import of the Artificial Eye collection, and if they could get the rest of those it would be awesome. Although I already own the Leningrad Cowboys box, so if they were to do that I’d want those films remastered, so not really Eclipse. :P
I still haven’t gotten a chance to watch the Kaurismäki set unfortunately; bit too busy with school. I have gotten to watch Klein’s Mr. Freedom, which I thought was a great pop art film. I would love to see more pop stuff like this put out by Criterion.
Amphetadex,
The Kaurismaki box set is definitely worth the money. Great films. It was a blind buy for me.
With the Kaurismaki set, I’ve only been able to see Shadows in Paradise because of school and work and everything in between. Started watching Ariel last night. Shadows was good and Ariel is good so far.
I have a few Eclipses and I’ve found they are quite interesting. Just to help you out with the ones I own:
Early Bergman – I really liked everything in this set, but I really like everything by Bergman, which made this a no-brainer. If you don’t know any Bergman movies, these would probably seem quite boring. My favorite was the admittedly uneven “To Joy” because I never imagined Bergman could make such an over the top soap opera, complete with evil villains. It has a great soundtrack though.
Larisa Shepitko – Totally a blind purchase, as it was for most other people who bought this, I’d imagine. Wings was so awesome. The Ascent was pretty good as well, with a lot of war-related moral themes. I don’t want to write any spoilers, but the way some of these characters behaved in certain situations, just bothered me a little bit.
Postwar Kurosawa – I’ve only seen the political saga “No Regrets from our Youth”, and it was pretty good, with some interesting insights into Japanese society. Looking forward to watching the rest! I assume this set will be worth the purchase price, since I’ve seen enough other Kurosawa movies to predict that they will all be pretty solid.
Keep up those recommendations so I can think of another set to get (maybe on boxing day!).
Has anyone watched the 2 American Louis Malle Documentaries?
God’s Country, …And the Pursuit of Happiness, are 2 of the greatest documents of American strife & perseverance I’ve ever seen.
Hm, guess my phrasing was bad, I do own the Kaurismäki set, I just haven’t gotten to finish it yet. My priority was finishing the Leningrad Cowboys set I have, which I finally did this past weekend. I’m just hoping Criterion gets the rights to more of his films.
Also, it sounds like the Shepitko set is worth picking up at some point from this, so I might get that at some point soon, especially since it’s so inexpensive.
I only have the Late Ozu set (which I am very pleased with) but I plan to purchase the First Films Of Samuel Fuller and The Delirious Fictions Of William Klein sets soon. I’ve already seen Who Are You, Polly Maggoo and really enjoyed it. I haven’t seen any of the three films in the Fuller set yet though so I am really looking forward to it.
But man, all five films in the Ozu set…so good
The Early Bergman set is fantastic, and I think it’s a testament to the necessity of the series that they included Torment. I love that movie.
The Larisa Shepitko set is great, and cheap. Both Wings and The Ascent are fantastic.
The Postwar Kurosawa is my favorite set, by my favorite director. Scandal, I Live In Fear, and No Regrets For Our Youth are all wonderful.
On my Eclipse short list for purchase:
- LATE OZU LARISA SHEPITKO
-
— THE DELIRIOUS FICTIONS OF WILLIAM KLIEN
I own:
- THE FIRST FILMS OF SAMUEL FULLER AKI KAURISMAKI’S PROLETARIAT TRILOGY
-
What about you guys?
The Raymond Bernard set is great, and has yet to be mentioned here. Wooden Crosses is one of the best WWI films ever made, and his adaptation of Hugo’s Les miserables is the best you’ll ever see.
My favorites are going to have to be The Delirious Fictions of William Klein, Carlos Saura’s Flamenco Trilogy and The Documentaries of Louis Malle.
I can’t believe there isn’t more mention of the Sam Fuller edition. All three pictures are outstanding.
Yes, the Mizoguchi set is great. I only hope they do another Mizoguchi set for eclipse.
Charlotte, what might they also consider releasing by him? I’m not familiar with his work…
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum, Utamaro & His 5 Women, The Lady of Musashino, The Life of Oharu, Woman in the Rumor, A Geisha, Miss Oyu, the 47 Ronin, and many, many, more. There’s really a lot that have yet to be released.
I’ve only bought one Eclipse set and that was the Larisa Shepitko, and “Wings” was so wonderful. Without Criterion or Janus, I don’t think that would have seen the light of day. Criterion needs release “The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum” as a stand alone disc, but any of his work is always welcome. Having seen a print of “Chrysanthemum” about 10 years ago, the memories just flooded back about how sublime that film was.
Andrew, let us know what you think of Ascent, also in that set. It blew me away when I first discovered it.
the fuller set is indeed excellent. i am a huge vincent price fan so ‘the baron of arizona’ (shot by james wong howe on the cheap!) was the draw for me but ‘steel helmet’ is the strongest entry in the set.
Coming from an enormous Kurosawa fan, I’d have to say the Postwar Kurosawa set isn’t exactly essential. I watched all 5 films recently and but can’t imagine myself revisiting any of them, the way I have Red Beard, The Bad Sleep Well, High & Low, Rashomon, and others. That’s not to say those films aren’t worth watching – they each have their merits, but just can’t stack up to Kurosawa’s many later masterpieces.
Scandal is my favorite from the set, because I always enjoy seeing Kurosawa forcing a character to learn compassion for others. The Idiot has an amazing Mifune performance, but the film is much longer than it needs to be. One Wonderful Sunday is fun and light-hearted, making it somewhat unique for Kurosawa. No Regrets For Our Youth and I Live in Fear deal directly with the immediate war and post-war environment, making them a bit dated. But like all Kurosawa films, there is social value to be found in all these films’ stories and character arcs, so if you’re a die-hard fan, go for it.
!! http://theauteurs.com/criterion !!
THIS MONTH
http://criterion.com/festival
CRITERION FESTIVAL
http://criterion.com/festival
FEATURES SIX ECLIPSE TITLES
I am grateful for this site and that you are willing to let us preview these films before purchasing them. I check out Criterions from my libraries yet they do not seem to carry Eclipse titles yet. So thanks for letting us see them here before coming up with the cash to purchase them. Postwar Kurosawa and The First Films of Sam Fuller are the sets I currently have in mind for purchase yet have been unemployed for over a year now so any viewing is gracious viewing. Thank you Criterion.
NE1
http://criterion.com/eclipse/
The Documentaries of Louis Malle took the breath out of my pants.
It made me re-examine Malle, whole oeuvre.
I liked Larisa Shepitko Set, especially Wings.
Who Are You, Polly Magoo? had me giggling for days (notsomuch the other two Klien though).
I’m looking forward to Mizoguchi’s Fallen Women & Carlos Suara’s Flamenco Trilogy.
Has anyone else had the sparetime to delve into some of the others?
http://criterion.com/eclipse/