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A Nous La Liberte (The
Criterion Collection/$29.95) is an adroit satire of the industrial
revolution. Filmed in 1931 by French director Rene Clair, the story
centers around Emile, an escaped convict who becomes a rich industrialist.
However, his grand plans for his phonograph factory are jeopardized when a
prison pal stops by for a visit. Yes, the story leans a little too heavily
to the left. But the pacing, the robust wit, and the workmanlike directing
are readily present. And there are a half-dozen or so special features.
They include a crisp new digital transfer, an improved English subtitle
translation, "Entr'acte" (the 1924 Surrealistic short by Clair
and artist Francis Picabia), and a 1998 video interview with Madame Bronja
Clair. The DVD is in B&W, runs for 83 minutes, and has a 1.33:1 aspect
ratio. www.criterionco.com Home Vision Entertainment gives us two absorbing titles from director Ron Mann. Comic Book Confidential ($19.95) is a fine celebration of comic book artists and writers. Mann covers everyone from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to William M. Gaines and Lynda Barry. He does a particularly commendable job exploring the works and style of Jaime Hernandez and Art Spiegleman. Alas, host Harlan Ellison seems unenthusiastic. Released in 1988, this digitally remastered presentation is in both color and B&W, and it has a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. In the lively and often moving Poetry in Motion ($19.95), Mann films over two-dozen of North America's leading "beat" poets as they sing, chant, shout, and exclaim their work. The poets include Allen Ginsberg, Gary Synder, Michael McClure, John Cage, Ntozake Shange, and Ted Berrigan. The most moving (and perceptive) works are from Charles Bukowski, Tom Waits, William Burroughs, Amiri Baraka, and the lovely Anne Waldman. This 1982 presentation has been digitally remastered. It is in color, runs for 90 minutes. It has a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. www.homevision.com A classic British miniseries based on Evelyn Waugh's first-rate novel, Brideshead Revisited ($79.95) has been brought to DVD by Acorn Media. This praiseworthy production of the 11-hour 1982 series stars Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, Diana Quick, Claire Bloom, Sir John Gielgud, and Sir Lawrence Olivier (in an Emmy-winning performance). Essentially, Waugh's novel is a story of youthful beliefs, sexual exploration (and repression), squandered beauty, and attempted grace. The sound could be crisper, and the digital transfer shows some graniness. The color, however, holds up fairly well. Further, the acting and the musical score are mesmerizing, as are the settings, which include Oxford and Venice. This 3-DVD production includes a "Brideshead Revisited Companion Guide," which contains the director's introduction and a biography of Waugh. Full-screen format. www.acornmedia.com A deep and quietly stylistic work, Akira Kurosawa's Red Beard (The Criterion Collection/$39.95) examines the complex and strident relationship between a compassionate doctor and his know-it-all young protege in 19th-century Japan. In his last role for Kurosawa, Toshiro Mifune delivers a stellar performance as the older physician and clinic director. The new high-definition digital transfer of this 1965 film has restored image and sound, and it is enhanced for widescreeen televisions. Special features include notes by Japanese-film historian Donald Ritchie and audio commentary by Kurosawa film scholar, Stephen Prince. The DVD is in black & white, runs for 185 minutes, and has a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. In Japanese with English subtitles. www.criterionco.com The Criterion Collection gives us Anthony Asquith's film adaption of The Important of Being Ernest ($29.99). Produced in 1952 and based on the classic Oscar Wilde play, the film brims with exceptional performances by Michael Redgraves, Joan Greenwood, and Dame Edith Evans. The story centers around two young woman who think themselves engaged to the same nonexistent man. Winningly paced, the script is also replete with wit and subtext. The sharp digital transfer is in color and runs for 95. Special features include the original theatrical trailer and rare production stills, with notes by film historian Bruce Eder. The DVD has a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. www.criterionco.com Inspirations (Home Vision Entertainment/$29.95) is an engaging 1997 documentary. Award-winning director Michael Apted's question is: "How do artists get ideas?" He interviewed seven diverse and creative persons. They include choreographer Edouard lock, dancer Louise Lecavalier, glass artist Dale Chihuly, Pueblo sculptor Nora Naranjo-Morse, Japaneses architect Tadao Audo, painter Roy Lichtenstein, and the multi-skilled David Bowie. This new digital transfer is enhanced for 16x9 television and features 2.0 Dolby Stereo Mix. It is in color, and it runs for 100 minutes. www.homevision.com By turns frightening, compelling, and darkly-comic, Barbet Schroeder's 1974 documentary General Idi Amin Dada ($29.99) has been released by The Criterion Collection. The director shows how, in 1971, the small African nation of Uganda was taken over by the dictator General Idi Amin, whose eight-year reign of horror resulted in the deaths of more than 300,000 people. Ironically, Schroeder's unflinching work was done with the full cooperation of Amin. Not only did the latter sit for interviews, he scores the film with his accordion music! This Director Approved DVD is a crisp new digital transfer, with an exclusive video interview with Schroeder. The DVD is in color and runs for 90 minutes. It has a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. www.criterionco.com The Cranes Are Flying (Criterion Collection/$29.99) is rich and beautifully-crafted story of Veronica and Boris, who are blissfully in love. Their plans and their being together are shattered by the start of World War II. Tatyana Samojlova and Aekesei Batalov give deft performances as the young Moscow lovers. And Mikhail Kalatozov's direction is superb, powerfully utilizing everything from dream sequences and the horrors of battle to poignant moments and symbolism (especially fine is the repeated V-formation of the flying cranes). This new digital transfer from the award-winning (Palm d'Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival) black & white film has restored image and sound, as well as improved English subtitles. The DVD has an 1.33:1 aspect ratio and runs for 95 minutes. www.criterionco.com The Criterion Collection gives us Akira Kurosawa's masterful Rashomon ($39.99). The story surrounds a rape and murder told from four very different points of view. It appears, at least, that a samurai and his devoted wife are attacked by a bandit on the highway. The samarai is tortured and killed, and his wife raped. Toshiro Mifune gives one of his best performances in this work. Exquisite cinematography, expert pacing, and dramatic flashbacks are a few of the film's many hallmarks. Special features include commentary by Japanese-film historian Donald Richie, video introduction by Robert Altman, and excerpts from "The World of Kazuo Miyagawa," a documentary film about Rashomon's cinematographer. This new high-definition transfer has restored image and sound, with improved English subtitle translation. The DVD is in b&w, runs for 88 minutes, and has a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. www.criterionco.com
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