| Good things come in big boxes – or do they? Fans of the late Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski (Three Colours: Blue, White and Red) will undoubtedly be chuffed to learn that Kino has recently released six more of his harder-to-find films on DVD, including No End (1985), Blind Chance (1981), Camera Buff (1979), The Scar (1976), A Short Film About Killing (1988) and A Short Film About Love (1988). The only annoyance is that each disc sells separately – no word yet on whether Kino intends to package the lot in a less expensive boxed set.
Then again, if they do, it might just make it more difficult to choose from the other boxed sets released in the last month. Warner Brothers has come forth with the Martin Scorsese Collection, an assemblage of five films that is most noteworthy for its inclusion of Mean Streets: Special Edition (1973) and the less well-known Who’s That Knocking at My Door? (1969), each of which features a commentary track from the auteur himself. Scorsese loves to yap about movies, especially his own, but at least the intense little man doesn’t usually waste his breath unless he really has something to say.
Meanwhile, Criterion has delivered Stage and Spectacle: Three Films by Jean Renoir. This collection of late-period films made near the end of the French master’s career includes The Golden Coach (1953), French Cancan (1955) and Elena and Her Men (1956). Who needs special features when you’re faced with three icons of European cinema – Anna Magnani, Jean Gabin and Ingrid Bergman – in blazing Technicolor?
Last, but still worthy of mention next to the collected works of three acclaimed cineastes, First Run Features has unearthed two films from Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui. The Cow (1969), which won acclaim at the Venice Film Festival after being smuggled out of Iran in 1971, is about a grief-stricken peasant who comes to believe he is the embodiment of his dead bovine. Hamoun (1990) is an equally metaphorical story, this one about love, marriage, divorce and life in modern Iran. These films, made 30 years apart, offer a unique opportunity to get acquainted with the oeuvre of one of the most prolific and important filmmakers in Iranian cinema. |
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