Independent film distributor Olive Films has revealed further Blu-ray selections for this coming September. Titles include Cyrano de Bergerac, A Double Life, Sion Sono's Love Exposure, and Orson Welles' interpretation of Macbeth.
Cyrano de Bergerac (1950):
Screen legend Jose Ferrer (The Caine Mutiny) won an Academy Award for Best Actor in this adaptation of the Edmond Rostand play. Ferrer plays the title role, a dashing poet whose large physical malady keeps him from wooing his beloved Roxane (Mala Powers, Tammy and the Bachelor).
Cyrano's fear of rejection is so great that he finds himself helping the hapless Christian (William Prince, Spies Like Us) win Roxane's heart.
A Double Life (1947):
Filmmaker George Cukor (A Star is Born) crafted this noir-tinged drama of fame and madness, which stars Ronald Colman (Around the World in 80 Days) as Anthony John, a dangerously unstable thespian whose sanity begins to fray when he accepts an offer to play Othello.
However, the character's psychosis slowly bleeds over into John's consciousness, putting both himself and his wife (Signe Hasso, The House on 92nd Street) in grave danger. A Double Life won Oscars at the 1948 Academy Awards Ceremony for Colman's lead performance as well as for Miklos Rozsa's score.
Love Exposure (2008):
From Olive's official synopsis:
"Having grown in a devout Christian family and desperate to please his sin-obsessed Catholic priest father, young Yu (Takahiro Nishijima), a fairly normal kid who has no legitimate sins to confess, decides to take on sinning big time and becomes a master of up-skirt photography while perfecting his ninja moves required to get just the right angle on his subjects. Things become complicated when our drag-clad hero meets the woman of his dreams; the man-hating Yoko (Hikari Mitsushima), who's involved in [an] all-out street brawl...beating up a gang of men."
Macbeth (1948):
The great Orson Welles (Citizen Kane) turned to William Shakespeare's infamous "Scottish Play" as the inspiration for his 1948 feature and cast himself as the title character, a Scottish nobleman who lets a mysterious prophecy and his wife's murderous ambition lead him down a path of bloodshed and ruin.
Working for Republic Pictures, Welles rearranged Shakespeare's text to suit his artistic ambitions; he ultimately completed this low-budget Macbeth interpretation in just twenty-three days.
The technical and supplementary specifications for each disc are still unknown.
All four Blu-rays are expected to street on September 18th.
Too bad this Macbeth release is the 89-minute version instead of Welles' preferred 105-minute version with the actors speaking in Scottish accents. Still, a must-have.
Definitely picking up Cyrano. It's been nearly 25 years since I saw it, but I remember digging it. Hopefully we get the Gerard Depardieu version over here at some point.
@ nitin ... Yes, where oh where are the Ophuls. But I am more than content that I'll be able to retire my SD edition of A Double Life. Yet another title that I never thought would see an upgrade. Thank you Olive!
Olive, my new best buddy, could we maybe slow our relationship down a little bit? I still feel the need to date other Blu-Rays and you are monopolizing my wallet a bit too much for comfort.
