|
November Classic DVD Roundup - Page 2 |
|
Page 2 of 3
I Was Nineteen and Trace of Stones First Run
directed by: Konrad Wolf and Frank Beyer
Here are two more landmark films from the DEFA Film Library, which has unearthed several gems of historical and dramatic interest from postwar German cinema. “I Was Nineteen” is director Konrad Wolf’s fictionalized account of his experiences as a Russian soldier of German descent returning home with the victorious Allied army, and “Trace of Stones” explores the social and political implications when a construction site foreman falls in love with a young party functionary.
Extras: newsreels (“I Was 19”); actress Krystyna Stypulkowska interview (“Trace of Stones”).
Killer of Sheep Milestone
directed by Charles Burnett
starring Henry G. Sanders, Kaycee Moore, Charles Bracy, Angela Burnett
Charles Burnett’s first feature (made in 1977) was included on the first list of American films preserved by the Library of Congress. This nearly plotless and undramatic movie is so authentic and unforced that it seems like a cinema verite portrait: the result is an honest portrayal of a side of America—working-class blacks—rarely seen onscreen. Too bad Burnett never lived up to its promise, as his subsequent films have shown.
Extras: commentary by Burnett and Richard Pena; 4 Burnett short films; new actor interviews; two versions of Burnett’s feature, “My Brother’s Wedding.”
Knights of the Teutonic Order Facets
directed by Aleksander Ford
starring Andrzej Szalawski and Grazyna Staniszewska
Aleksander Ford’s epic about the fight for independence in medieval Poland, based on the classic novel by Henryk Sienkiewicz, was made in 1960 and contains some of the largest-scale sequences ever seen in a Polish film, including several astoundingly choreographed battles. But, even with its huge dramatic canvas, Ford never loses sight of the individual characters, making this similar to “Lawrence of Arabia” (which it preceded by two years) in its dovetailing of the personal and the epic. Too bad the print of this authentic Polish masterpiece is in such bad shape: ideally, “Knights of the Teutonic Order” should be seen on a big screen in a perfect-looking print.
Leading Ladies Collection, Volume 2 Warners
directed by Joanne Woodward and George Cukor
starring Susan Hayward, Sandy Dennis, Candice Bergen, Diane Keaton, Patty Duke
Warners has packaged another group of films into a set with the tenuous connection of “leading ladies”: sur, w hy not? Here we have Susan Hayward (“I’ll Cry Tomorrow”), Joanne Woodward (“A Big Hand for the Little Lady”), Sandy Dennis (“Up the Down Staircase”), Diane Keaton (“Shoot the Moon”) and Candice Bergen and Jacqueline Bisset (“Rich and Famous”). Of these five, only two really have any interest: “Rich and Famous” is George Cukor’s final film, a frothy if slight adaptation of the play “Old Acquaintance”; but “Shoot the Moon” is an unearthed gem, Alan Parker’s adult, unflinching look at a crumbling marriage, with Keaton and Albert Finney marvelous as the flawed couple. This may be Keaton’s finest performance–her scene in a bathtub singing the Beatles’ “If I Fell” is a heartbreaking moment)–but also of note is Bo Goldman’s cracklingly good script. You can get “Shoot the Moon” on its own, which is my recommendation.
Extras: musical short, vintage newsreel and TV excerpts (“I’ll Cry Tomorrow”); vintage location featurette (“Rich and Famous”); Parker and Goldman commentary (“Shoot the Moon”).
Monsieur Hire Kino
directed by Patrice Leconte
starring Michel Blanc, Sandrine Bonnaire, Luc Thuillier, André Wilms
Patrice Leconte has always been attracted to loners and others on the fringes of society. “Monsieur Hire” was the first—and best—Leconte film to plausibly explore such a character: based on a Georges Simenon novel, this story of a middle-aged man who lives alone, his obsession with a young female neighbor, and a murder for which he is suspected, slowly accumulates its power through Simenon’s and Leconte’s economy of means: the pared-down plot meets the pared-down director. The result is thoroughly satisfying, with great–and greatly understated–performances by Michel Blanc and Sandrine Bonnaire for good measure.
Extras: short interview with Leconte.
|
