I heard a rumor about the Malle set. As expected, after I saw Lacombe Lucien it gets a DVD release, happens all the time. Fists in the Pocket is the pick of the litter for me. I don't think Mr. Arkardin warrants a 3 disc set, but hey if you're gonna do it, do it right.
I would like to get Lacombe, Lucien by itself; I don't need copies of the other two because I still use tapes.
It's never a mistake to see a theatrical screening. Always better.
I'm becoming cautions about interviews and commentaries. They're only occasionally really good it seems.
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I have Fists in the Pocket on DVDr, but it's still the one I'm looking forward to the most.
It looks like Soderbergh's Traffic is also on tap for March.
Those who want to study the Soderbergh Traffic would do well to get to know Gaghan's English source, the Alastair Reid 1989 miniseries Traffik which it mimics in almost every detail and which really is richer and has more depth. Frankly if there's any justice that's the one that should be remembered. But hey, I'm a big fan of Soderbergh and all he's been able to do, especially lately.
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I couldn't agree more on Traffik; it's simply an amazing piece of work. As you said, the depth granted to each character, from the the powerful dealers in Hamburg and London to the meager villagers in Pakistan, is part of what makes it resonant. It played on Sundance Channel last year.
Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Traffic already released in a two disc special edition a couple years ago?
Yes, but note that Soderbergh changed the spelling from Traffik. Traffik, 325 mins., Acorn Media, June 2001, 2 DVD's.
Check out James Bernardinelli's review for a comparison of the two.
I thought Soderbergh's Traffic was excellent, one of the year's best from the US, but it owes all its depth and complexity to the British miniseries, and it shocked me that reviews of the American movie largely seemed unaware of the debt and the original, which was shown in the US on Masterpiece Theater in five weekly episodes, and was riveting. Maybe it's better to digest the complex and troubling material that way, to begin with.
Important to note this, but I'd also note that Simon Moore's original spans more of the globe, in consequence of this, and includes dialogue in more different languages (German for the European druglord) -- things that were simplified, with our loss, in the American movie. It was also a plus not to have the US as the center of the world, not to have overly recognizable Hollywood stars included. Del Toro is a terrific actor and deserved his Oscar. Zeta-Jones is a powerhouse, but her equivalent in "Traffik" played by Lindsay Duncan (the German drug lord's wife is English), struck me as a more interesting character nonetheless. And of course the whole element of the poor drug growers was left out, while the three-stream storytelling was just as effective, and started with the Brits.[Bernardinelli writes]There are two major differences between "Traffik" and Traffic. The first involves location. Soderbergh has transposed events from Europe and Pakistan to the United States and Mexico, with the drug of choice being cocaine, not heroin. Secondly, one of the significant plotlines of the mini-series, the plight of a Pakistani farmer growing opium to provide for his family, has been excised in the interest of time. The other major storylines - two cops with uncertain loyalties, a high-ranking government agent with an addicted daughter, and a bored housewife forced by necessity to act as a drug lord - remain largely intact.
I'm glad to hear Traffic ran on SUndance channel and urge everyone to watch it. This is a brilliant thing, one of the best things ever done on television, as Bernardinelli says, and something that made me think about drugs and economics and morality as nothing else ever has. Again, Soderbergh's adaptation is good, but it's just a chip off a bigger block.
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Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't Traffic already released in a two disc special edition a couple years ago?
Yes, it was. I'm also a little surprised by this release.
Traffik is also available on DVD. Along with Lindsay Duncan, it also features a young Julia Ormond who is quite good as the addicted daughter of a politician.
Sorry, I misunderstood. I thought wpqx was referring to Traffik, because it's 2 discs. Didn't know Traffic was alreadyh out in 2-disc form. There are lots of good actors in both the movie and the series I think.
A review of the year's reissues of older films on dvd from archives, "The Best Vault Raiders of 2005" by Dave Kehr in the NYTimes, which includes Criterion Collection items along with 18 other sources, might be of interest:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/30/mo...+jlsDy/Z2G23Og
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*Thanks for the link, Chris. Criterion certainly had a great year in 2005.
Monterey Pop (1968) - D.A. Pennebaker
Jimi Plays Monterey/Shake! Otis at Monterey (1986/87) - Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker
Elevator to the Gallows (1958) - Louis Malle
Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976) - Barbara Kopple
The 400 Blows (1959) - François Truffaut
Grey Gardens (1975) - Ellen Hovde, Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Muffie Meyer
Link--glad for once you weren't there ahead of me, arsaib! There's way more than I could keep track of. I have to be specialized, and lately on Netflix I've just mostly stuck to French flix.
Elevator to the Gallows and Harlan County are being released? Not surprised about Elevator after it's theatrical re-release, which makes me anxious about The Conformist as well as Passenger.
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Not much for this month but we don't need anything else because Ozu's Late Spring is scheduled. The double disc set will include Tokyo-Ga (1985), director Wim Wenders’ tribute to the filmmaker, an audio commentary by Richard Pena and new liner notes by Michael Atkinson and Donald Richie.
Laugh if you will, but I'm more excited about Tokyo-Ga coming out than Late Spring. I've been waiting for this Wenders (among several others still OOP), and I already have Late Spring on DVD. It is a monumental Ozu film, so alas that is good news indeed. Waiting to pick up Metropolitan for now.
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