The Criterion Collection has announced a record seven titles for Blu-ray release in May. On May 3, it will release Fat Girl (Ŕ ma soeur; Catherine Breillat, 2001) and Smiles of a Summer Night (Sommarnattens leende; Ingmar Bergman, 1955). A week later, it will release Something Wild (Jonathan Demme, 1986). On May 17, the studio will put out Diabolique (Les diaboliques; Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1954) and Pale Flower (Kawaita Hana; Masahiro Shinoda, 1964). And last but not least, May 24 will see BD releases for The Great Dictator (Charles Chaplin, 1940) and Solaris (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972).
The transfer of Fat Girl has been director approved. Something Wild is approved by director of photography Tak Fujimoto.
Special features include:
Diabolique
Selected-scene commentary by French-film scholar Kelley Conway
New video interview with Serge Bromberg, codirector of Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno
New video interview with horror film expert Kim Newman
New and improved English subtitle translation
A booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty
Fat Girl
Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of Fat Girl
Two interviews with director Catherine Breillat, one conducted the night after the film's world premiere at the 2001 Berlin Film Festival, the other a look back at the film's production and alternate ending
French and U.S. theatrical trailers
A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau, a 2001 interview with Breillat, and a piece by Breillat on the title
The Great Dictator
New audio commentary by Charlie Chaplin historians Dan Kamin and Hooman Mehran
The Tramp and the Dictator (2001), a documentary narrated by filmmaker Kenneth Branagh and featuring interviews with author Ray Bradbury, director Sidney Lumet, historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr., screenwriter Budd Schulberg, and a host of others
Two new visual essays, by Chaplin archivist Cecilia Cenciarelli and Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance
On-set, color production footage shot by Chaplin's half-brother, Sydney
Deleted scene from Chaplin's 1919 film Sunnyside
Theatrical trailer
A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Michael Wood and a 1940 article by Chaplin on the film
Pale Flower
New video interview with director Masahiro Shinoda
Selected-scene audio commentary by film scholar Peter Grilli, coproducer of Music for the Movies: Toru Takemitsu
Original theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
A new essay by film critic Chuck Stephens
Smiles of a Summer Night
Video introduction to the film by director Ingmar Bergman
Video conversation between Bergman scholar Peter Cowie and writer Jörn Donner, executive producer of Fanny and Alexander
Original theatrical trailer
A booklet featuring an essay by theater and film critic John Simon and a 1961 review by film critic Pauline Kael
Solaris
Audio essay by Andrei Tarkovsky scholars Vida Johnson and Graham Petrie, coauthors of The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky: A Visual Fugue
Nine deleted and alternate scenes
Video interviews with actress Natalya Bondarchuk, cinematographer Vadim Yusov, art director Mikhail Romadin, and composer Eduard Artemyev
Excerpt from a documentary about Stanislaw Lem, the author of the film's source novel
A booklet featuring an essay by critic Phillip Lopate and an appreciation by director Akira Kurosawa
Something Wild
New video interviews with Demme and writer E. Max Frye
Original theatrical trailer
A booklet featuring a new essay by film critic David Thompson
Note for Canada readers
The Great Dictator, Solaris and Something Wild will be available in all of Canada. Fat Girl, Pale Flower and Smiles of a Summer Night will be available in English-speaking Canada only. Diabolique will be available in the US only.
An amazing month with all being must buys for me at some point. I've posted this elsewhere but its very disappointing that "Something Wild" is such a barebones release, seems more like a cheap blu-ray then a 40$ Criterion. Hopefully they'll add more features before its release date or the interviews are long or particularly insightful.
Solaris sounds intriguing to me. I've recorded this film twice on my DVR. Sadly, both times it was wiped out by an error along with all my recordings. I guess it's not meant to be...
Hells YES for The Great Dictator!! And coming on the heels of Modern Times. It's like Criterion knows which Chaplin's are my favorite. (Clasping hands together) Please do The Kid next, please do The Kid next.
Diabolique, The Great Dictator, Solaris and Pale Flower are all Pre-orders for me. I may pick up Fat Girl at some point if the price is right. (Man that sounds bad doesn't it?) I wonder if Criterion will continue to release this amount of BD's on a monthly basis? (My inner film addict is drooling, but my wallet is crying)
I have always meant to see Smiles of a Summer Night since I love its musical adaptation "A little night music". As for everythign wlse, I will have to wait till criterion does their "THREE REASONS" for these films as I'm not familiar with most of them.
'Something Wild' was one of the very few films where Melanie Griffith was quite watchable -- the other one being 'Body Double' (great DePalma thriller that should be added to the Blu catalog!). Also starred Ray Liotta in a very effective turn in one of his first roles. Still, even tho 'Wild' borders as a cult film, it's a surprising candidate for a Criterion treatment. A likely Day 1 (or 2) pickup pour moi
Amazon silently deleted their DVD listings for Catherine Breillat' 'A Real Young Girl' recently. I wonder if 'Fat Girl' will eventually see the same fate.
Re: 'Something Wild'
That does seem like a fairly generic selection (though it was a good if slight film). I actually would have preferred Demme' 'Melvin and Howard' as a selection to 'Something Wild' (both as a film and Criterion fit).
Or even 'Swing Shift' if they could manage to find the footage for Demme' cut (if it wasn't really destroyed by WB). Not sure how many copies they could sell of that but it would be a more interesting release.
I'm getting worried about The Game's Criterion outlook, since it was supposed to be this Spring. I know Fincher still has to approve the transfer, and he's busy shooting in Sweden until the summer, but I hope they can somehow speed up the process (and still do i right, of course). And I really hope they can port over the laserdisc commentary, while they're at it.
I just had a nerd freakout in the office when I discovered not just Solyaris and Diabolique, but Great Dictator AND Pale Flower (!!) are coming to Criterion Blu. Thank you Blu-Ray.com, and Criterion, for helping my working peers know I'm just that much weirder.
Was hoping for more in the way of extras for The Great Dictator (like the Chaplin Today episode/documentary that wasn't on the 2-disc Warner DVD). Still buyin' it though! That, Diaboliques & perhaps Solyaris.
STILL DON'T CARE. Waiting for Spartacus, The Last Temptation Of Christ, Sid & Nancy, Brazil, Rushmore, Traffic, Down By Law, Schizopolis, Chasing Amy, The Sword Of Doom, The Hidden Fortress, Throne Of Blood, Hell all the Akira Kurosawa titles and I want f*cking Robocop, too.
I hate to say that some of those titles won't be getting Criterion Blu-Rays anytime soon; namely Spartacus, Sid & Nancy, Chasing Amy, and Robocop. Universal released Traffic, but they also did Fear & Loathing, which Criterion's doing their own release of, too, so that's not out of the question. I would like to see Last Temptation of Christ and Brazil released soon, too.
I wonder if they have any Hitchcock titles under their radar? Like The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps. Someone once told me they had Foreign Correspondent. Wonder if that's true? Would love to see at least one Hitchcock from Criterion.
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times is my favorite Chaplin film! Thank you Criterion!
Day one for me!!!!!! This is freaking awesome!!!! Can't wait!!!
A good selection for classic film buffs but not for Joe Six Pack. Unfortunately if BD is to become truly mainstream it is JSP that BD must appeal to. Otherwise it is destined (as I've been predicting repeatedly for months now) to become relegated to a niche market of "arty"and culty type films.
The Solaris cover would be way more effective if it didn't have Hari's head floating in the sky; great type though. What's with: "Diabolique will be available in the US only" What? Since when are Criterion films limited in North American markets?
Nathan Arizona ^ : Criterions are region one locked, so they've always been limited to North Americans markets (providing you dont have a region-free player).
Looks as if my long wait to (blind) buy Solaris is finally nearing its end. (I love cerebral sci-fi like 2001 and Moon so I'm definitely willing to take a chance on Solaris. I saw and liked the remake and have long wanted to own both on blu)
Diabolique, Smiles of a Summer Night and Something Wild also sound interesting for various reasons.
I agree that the supplemental package for Something Wild does seem sparse and Criterion should really charge less for it and other titles that come with a smaller selection of extras.
Whenever I see Criterion and Bergman together in a headline I keep hoping it's because Fanny and Alexander is going Criterion Blu. Hint, hint, Criterion. Also, I'm looking forward to Carlos on Criterion Blu.
Epicness! Criterion, you are the BEST! I'll be getting Diabolique and The Great Dictator first and for most. I hope they also plan to release atleast one or two more Chaplin in the later year. I'd hate to think they'd let the other great Chaplins like The Gold Rush, City Lights and The Kid go untouched!
It's great to see the interest in the upcoming Blu-ray releases from Criterion. Please, if you are a fan of top quality presentations of classic and epic films go and buy some of these movies or we are forever doomed to compressed versions that look fine on a laptop or small screen but will never portrait the story in the way the director or actors ever intended. As a owner of some recent Criterion releases, they are worth every penny. See for yourself, but I think they are cinematic magic!
Smiles of a Summer Night is one of those great whimsical, grown up movies you'd never see from a US studio. As with most all Bergman, I really enjoyed it. Something Wild is a strange choice. It's a good movie, but... I haven't seen Solaris, Pale Flower or Fat Girl, so naturally they'll go in my Netflix queue.
Re Chaplin: The Great Dictator is a fine film, but IMO Criterion is heading the wrong direction chronologically speaking. City Lights, The Kid, The Circus, The Gold Rush and many of his early shorts are really where Chaplin shines. I'd rather see those than Modern Times, The Great Dictator, Limelight or Mr. Verdoux. God but I love that cover art!
I am pretty sure they don't have much of a choice. The whole reason for the different regions as far as I can tell is to protect liscensing rights. Criterion does not have those rights outside of Region A probably because it would be cost prohibitive to acquire the rights for their Region A titles in other regions.
One of the things I like the most about collecting Blu-Rays are some of the cover images associated with the films (quick favs: Adventures of Baron Munchausen, BBS Story, Breathless, The Red Shoes, Sweet Smell of Success). Just like an album collector back in the day used to appreciate the cover art on their favorite band's releases. So, suffice it to say, not only was I THRILLED when I saw Diabolique & The Great Dictator was getting the Criterion treatment -- their cover art just has me in awe. Gorgeous!!!
Hmm, I see Criterion, I see Demme. I was hoping to see either of the titles Silence of the Lambs (which hasn't got a decent release yet) and Philadelphia (brilliant and very important movie not available on BD). I haven't seen "Something wild", but it looks too cheesy and neutral to me and I didn't expect Criterion to release such a mainstream movie.
I keep wishing as well for them to get the rights to Sundays and Cybele which now is on DVD: http://www.moviemail-online.co.uk/film/dvd/Sundays-and-Cybele/
Ditto on the Solaris cover. A real let down since the quality of the covers has -if anything- improved since the original release. This has been the catalog title i've been waiting the most, so I'm happy they are releasing it... it could have been better.
It's a bad cover, even without comparing it with non-Criterion covers.
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