June Classics on DVD Roundup | Times Square New York City

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June Classics on DVD Roundup

Written by Kevin Filipski

True Classics!

Le combat dans l’ile (Zeitgeist), the 1961 debut by French director Alain Cavalier, is some kind of movie miracle: a New Wave-inspired crime thriller that still feels fresh nearly 50 years later. Cavalier--who went on to make the memorable 1986 biopic Therese--shows an aptitude for gritty characterization and subtle tension in his story of a right-wing extremist (Jean-Louis Trintigant) and his left-wing pacifist friend (Henri Serre) who end up loving the same woman: the right-winger’s beautiful wife (Romy Schneider). Shot in luminous black and white by Pierre Lhomme, Le combat breathes extraordinarily new life into a love triangle hinging on jealousy and revenge. Although extras are minimal—on-set photos and a new Cavalier short—the latter is a doozy: France 1961 is a self-referential short slyly and affectionately shows how an unknown director felt making a movie by using photos of Schneider and her co-stars.

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Before Stonewall/After Stonewall (First Run) showcases two classic documentaries from 1985 and 1996 that give an absorbing crash course in the history of gay rights in America, with the famous Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village as the dividing line (lone extra: additional interviews); 1990’s Close Up (Criterion), Abbas Kiarostami’s first successful blend of fiction and documentary, is given a dynamic two-disc package that puts it in a fascinating historical context (best extra: Kiarostami's first feature, The Traveler); 1964’s Divided Heaven (First Run), another winner from East Germany’s DEFA film library, is reminiscent of its era’s free-form New Wave films with its bittersweet story of a young woman‘s recovery from a breakdown; Mad About You—The Complete Fourth Season (Shout Factory), comprising all 24 episodes of the 1995-6 season, stars Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser as the mismatched couple whose attempts to start a family are just one of the story threads: the season’s guests include Hank Azaria and, believe it or not, Yoko Ono (best extra: Hunt and Reiser intros); I’m not much of a Jim Jarmusch fan, and the director’s 1989 multi-narrative epic Mystery Train (Criterion) didn’t change my mind, although Criterion has given it a thoroughly jammed release that his fans will eat up (best extra: documentary on film's locations); Carol Reed’s 1940 thriller Night Train to Munich (Criterion) hails from when the British were in the midst of a then-losing war against the Nazis, and this tidy 90-minute spy movie is a hell of a fun ride (lone extra: video conversation between film scholars Peter Evans and Bruce Babington); during the 1960-1 season, the 39 episodes of The Real McCoys—The Complete Fourth Season (Infinity) find its former rural family still comically unable to fit into the posh San Fernando Valley surroundings; Word Is Out (Milestone), the landmark 1977 documentary, explores the histories of 26 gay and lesbian Americans, who without embarrassment discuss their outed lives (best extra: updates on several subjects).

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