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STAR FLEET - NAGAI             FABULOUS FILMS FHED2474

Originally known as Ekkusu bonbâ (X-Bomber) this classic marionette TV series was created by manga master Go Nagai and first aired in Japan in 1980, billed as being filmed in Sūpāmariorama similar to Gerry Anderson’s Supermarionation works. The series was renamed Star Fleet and dubbed by English speaking actors for broadcast by LWT in the UK in 1982. The action and story line are more reminiscent of anime than Andersons Thunderbirds and Stingray, with puppets controlled from below by rods to avoid difficulties with strings. As the year 3000 approaches and people on Earth begin to enjoy peace following the end of space war 111, the imperial alliance under its imperial master launch a new assault. Powerless to defend itself, the Earth Defense Forces Pluto base is destroyed and the evil Commander Makara reveals that the same fate awaits the Earth unless the mysterious F-Zero-One is handed over to her. Earth’s defending forces are ill-prepared for another war and pin their hopes on Dr Benn Robinson and his new X-Bomber programme. Now released for the first time on DVD, this collectors edition features all 24 episodes of the series fully restored. The box set also includes a cornucopia of extras and collectables including stills galleries, character and machine profiles, Brians Mays Star Fleet promo video, a 56 page comic book, postcards, a double sided poster, and an excellent Making Of documentary featuring interviews with creator Go Nagai, director Louis Elman, the voice of Dr Benn (Peter Marinker), composer Paul Bliss and the great Gerry Anderson.

THE MYSTERIOUS CITIES OF GOLD     FABULOUS FILMS FHED2048

The Mysterious Cities of Gold is a Franco-Japanese animated television series first shown in 1982. The series comprises 39 episodes told in a single continuous narrative and is a mix of ancient South American history, archaeology, and science fiction. It tells the story a young Spanish boy named Esteban who joins a voyage in 1532 to the New World in search of the lost Cities of Gold. He hopes to find his father, from whom he was separated on being rescued from a sinking ship by Magellan’s expedition. On arrival in South America, Esteban and his companions begin uncovering evidence relating to the Cities of Gold and various ancient technologies, and also become deeply embroiled in a conflict between the Spanish, the various native populations and later, a strange race called the Olmecs. The travellers encounter the Mayans and Inca, and the wonders of the Mu Empire, including a solar powered ship (the Solaris) and The Golden Condor, a huge solar-powered ornithopter (mechanical bird), capable of travelling considerable distances under solar power. They are constantly pursued by antagonists Gomez and Gaspard, who are also in search of the Cities of Gold. The story was written by Jean Chalopin and Bernard Deyriès, and is loosely based on the children’s novel The King’s Fifth by Scott O’Dell. The series was directed by Bernard Deyriès, Edouard David, Kenichi Murakami and Kenichi Maruyama, with a musical score composed by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy. Colourful and sophisticated animation is allied to a stirring, fantastical story that appeals to imaginations of all ages. As well as all 39 fully restored episodes, this long-awaited box set includes a vast range of extras, including documentaries, deleted scenes, character biographies, two booklets and a poster.

A STORY OF CRADLEY HEATH - BLOOMER & SMITH         H-ARTS

This outstanding documentary celebrates the small forgotten Black Country town of Cradley Heath (pronounced ‘Crayd-ley’). Warren Smith began to film the town in 2006, concentrating on the changing landscape, especially old shops, housing, historical buildings, community buildings, pubs and greenland that were being destroyed to make way for a new by-pass and giant Tesco supermarket. He contacted his friend Harry Bloomer to help and inspired by the work of Philip Donnellan they began the ambitious task of video documenting the lives and thoughts of the Cradley Heath people. Hundreds of residents took part in the film. including Beatrice Richards, born in 1898, who sadly passed away during the latter stages of production.  Directed, photographed and brilliantly edited by Harry Bloomer and Warren Smith, the documentary tells the story of Cradley Heath by means of historic photographs and film, contemporary footage, evocative artwork, music and, above all, the bostin folk of Cradley Heath. Much has changed in recent years but the town’s residents remain friendly, hard-working, sparky, resilient, resourceful and justifiably proud. It’s their testimony that makes the film so special as they share their invariably shrewd opinions and often poignant memories. The documentary also immortalises the town’s old buildings, such as pubs, churches and cinemas, many of which have been lost. The resulting film, like the town’s residents, is warm-hearted, funny and totally engaging. In addition to the documentary, this two-hour DVD also includes ten short films dealing with subjects as varied as unicycling, Christmas and ‘walking the ways’. The DVD (RRP £12.99 + P&P) is available from: Black Country Bugle, Black Country Living Museum, Blackheath Market, Broadfield House Glass Museum, Redhouse Glass Cone, Dudley Art Museum, Haden Hill House Museum, Dudley Libraries, Action Heart Centre and the TeeT Shirt Shop, as well as by Telephone: 01384 635969. Highly recommended.

DER LETZE MANN     EUREKA EKA40262

Der Letze Mann has been voted the second greatest film of all time in international critics’ polls and is one of the most brilliant of German Expressionist silent films. Director F. W. Murnau uses a constantly moving and subjective camera to capture the emotional anguish of a man whose life is suddenly devoid of meaning. Because of his age, an elderly doorman (played by Emil Jannings) at the Atlantic Hotel finds himself ignominiously demoted to washroom attendant. Particularly galling to the poor man is the loss of his uniform, which gives him pride and prestige. Crestfallen, he spends the day wandering the city, getting drunk and dreaming of suicide, mourning the loss of his dignity, and trying desperately to hang on to a shred of hope. The director shows his flair for storytelling by using no title cards for this film, except for one just before the unlikely epilogue that was forced on Murnau by studio executives, who also pressed him and screenwriter Carl Mayer to change the film’s title from ‘The Last Man’ to ‘The Last Laugh’. With its masterful visual storytelling, great cinematography by Karl Freund, and groundbreaking technical innovations, this landmark work has been hugely influential in the history of the cinema. Emil Jannings is superb and there is a touching performance by Georg John as his friend, the night watchman. Eureka’s Masters of Cinema Series features the original German domestic version of the film, meticulously restored, with extras that include a documentary by Murnau expert Luciano Berriatúa and a lavishly illustrated 36-page booklet with writing by film scholars R. Dixon Smith, Tony Rayns and Lotte H. Eisner. Also newly available on DVD is Fritz Lang’s amazing, though little-known epic, FRAU IM MOND (EUREKA EKA40238), in which a scientist believes that there is gold on the moon and builds a spaceship to fly to there to find it. Frau im Mond was the first feature-length film (made in 1929) to portray space-exploration in a serious manner and was Fritz Lang’s last silent film. It enjoyably combines espionage, melodrama and comic-book sci-fi into a storyline that is by turns delirious, hushed and deranged. This DVD features Frau im Mond newly restored to its near-original length of almost three hours. Extras include The First Scientific Science-Fiction Film (a documentary about Frau im Mond made by Gabriele Jacobi) and a 36-page booklet containing analysis by Michael E. Grost of the film and of Fritz Lang’s work.

NOSFERATU - F W MURNAU       EUREKA  EKA40025

The word ‘nosferatu’ comes from an old Slavonic word nosufur-atu, derived from the Greek for ‘plague carrier’ (vampires were long regarded as the carriers of diseases). In Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau’s groundbreaking 1922 masterpiece, Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (‘A Symphony of Horrors’) a city clerk named Hutter (Gustav Von Wangenheim) leaves his bride (Greta Schroeder) to conduct business in the distant Carpathian mountains with an eccentric client, Graf Orlok (the amazing Max Schreck). The closer Hutter gets to his destination during a long and hazardous journey, the more terrified are the people he meets. What he finds when he reaches Orlok’s castle is enough to make the flesh of the most devoted horror fan creep. On Nosferatu’s first release, critics were divided and the public bewildered by the director’s clever use of time and space distortion. It was the first film to be based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula character and the first from the production company Prana-Film. It was also the last one the company made before going bankrupt after Stoker’s estate sued for copyright infringement. An English judge ordered that all copies of the film be destroyed and the negative burned. Fortunately, the order was not enforceable in Germany, so a print survived and Nosferatu has subsequently gained a reputation as one of the greatest movie adaptations of the vampire legend. This Special Edition two DVD set features the full-length version as well as a sepia version, handsomely restored and digitally remastered. Extras include a commentary track, trailers and footage showing locations, original artworks and theatrical posters. This timeless classic of the silent film era is a supreme example of German Expressionism and a deeply unsettling film, with unforgettable images and a powerfully sinister atmosphere.

FAUST – MURNAU               EUREKA: MASTERS OF CINEMA EKA40210

Murnau and screenwriter Hans Kyser’s Faust draws on older traditions of the legendary tale as well as on Goethe’s version, and this innovative film contains many memorable images and amazing special effects. The stars are Gösta Ekman (who as Faust miraculously changes from a bearded old man to a handsome youth), Emil Jannings as the sinister Mephisto and the little-known actress Camilla Horn in a terrific performance as Gretchen. With superb photography and art direction, this classic tale of a man who sells his soul to the devil is a triumph of the silent film era. Murnau, ever the perfectionist, shot many takes of each scene with only the best making the final German domestic cut of the film. Only the prints made for export outside Germany were seen until recently and this version was thought to be the only one in existence. Using the nitrate duplicate negatives printed in 1926 (and an array of international sources) Murnau’s authentic German version of Faust has now been meticulously reconstructed by Luciano Berriatúa for Filmoteca Española from which this newly restored transfer is sourced, now available for the first time in the UK in Eureka’s Masters of Cinema Series. The Special Edition double DVD features this brilliantly restored film with audio commentary by critics David Ehrenstein and Bill Krohn, a new harp score by Stan Ambrose as well as the Timothy Brock orchestral score, original German intertitles and optional English subtitles. Three hours of extras include the previously available export version; Tony Rayns on Faust; Faust: The different versions; a 28-page booklet with essays by Peter Spooner and R. Dixon Smith; and a selection of rare production stills.

HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET, SERIES 3     FREMANTLE FHED2059

The highly acclaimed American television police procedural series Homicide: Life on the Street chronicled the work of a fictional Baltimore Police Department homicide unit. Based on David Simon’s nonfiction book  Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, the series ran for seven seasons between 1993 and 1999. Many of the characters and stories were based on individuals and events depicted in the book, and Simon would also later use them in his own series, The Wire. Homicide was developed by Paul Attanasio, with Oscar-winning film director Barry Levinson as executive producer and writer-director Tom Fontana as the main guiding hand behind the series, which provided viewers with a gritty, no-nonsense glimpse into the lives of of inner-city detectives, opting for a bleak sort of realism that showed the repetitive, spiritually draining, existential essence of the job. Homicide developed a trademark feel and look that distinguished itself from its contemporaries. Filmed with hand-held 16mm cameras almost entirely on location in the Fells Point area of Baltimore the show was notable for its use of music montages, jump-cut editing and occasional audacious repetitions of crucial shots. Great writing and a brilliant ensemble cast also helped Homicide win an Emmy and become the first drama ever to win three prestigious Peabody Awards for best drama. The complete third series is now available from Fremantle as a six disc-set featuring all 22 episodes, with guest stars such as Chris Rock and Lily Tomlin. As well as the surprise marriage of Meldrick Lewis, the series includes the unpopular promotion of Howard to Sergeant, a gripping final episode with Det. Frank Pembleton in mortal danger, and a new character named Mike Kellerman, played by Reed Diamond, who joins Homicide from the ‘barbecue squad’. The outstanding cast also includes charismatic Andre Braugher as Frank Pembleton, Richard Belzer as the droll John Munch, Kyle Secor as Tim Bayliss, the brilliant Clark Johnson as Lewis, the pre-Raphaelite Melissa Leo, Isabella Hoffman as Capt. Megan Russert and Yaphet Kotto as the formidable Lt. Al ‘Gee’ Giardello. HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET, SERIES 2 (FREMANTLE  FHED2058) is available as a five disc-set featuring all 20 episodes, including a dramatic trilogy in which three detectives are seriously wounded as a result of a gunman’s ambush. Meanwhile, the rest of the unit grapples with this reminder of their own mortality as they hunt for the perpetrator. The team also mixes their personal and professional lives, with several affairs among the department’s officers and two of them deciding to buy their own bar. These superb box sets are an ideal way to appreciate television’s most compelling, authentic and hard-hitting detective series.

THE SIMPSONS MOVIE       TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX  3462501000

The world’s favourite dysfunctional family’s big screen debut reveals Homer’s heroic stupidity in all its glory as the family and fellow residents of Springfield wreak their usual havoc in this critically-acclaimed full-length film, now released on DVD. Homer must save the world from a catastrophe he himself created when his pet pig triggers a disaster the likes of which Springfield has never experienced. As Marge is outraged by Homer’s monumental blunder, a vengeful mob descends on the Simpson household and the calamity draws the attention of U.S. President Arnold Schwarzenegger (voiced by Harry Shearer). With the fates of Springfield and the world hanging in the balance, Homer embarks on a personal odyssey of redemption - seeking forgiveness from Marge, the reunion of his splintered family and the salvation of his hometown. Starring Dan Castellaneta (Homer), Julie Kavner  (Marge), Nancy Cartwright (Bart), Yeardley Smith (Lisa), Hank Azaria (Moe, Apu, Chief Wiggum) and Harry Shearer (Mr Burns), plus guest voices Albert Brooks, Green Day and Tom Hanks, this joyous film is essential viewing for new and committed fans alike. DVD extras include audio commentaries and deleted scenes. The Simpsons Movie successfully captures the spirit and quality of the show’s best years and proves to have been well worth the wait.

JOHN OSBORNE AND THE GIFT OF FRIENDSHIP     DIGITAL CLASSICS DC10020

John James Osborne was born in London in 1929, the son of a copywriter and a Cockney barmaid. After a private education, he tried his hand at journalism before joining Anthony Creighton’s provincial theatre touring company as a stage manager and actor. His first play, The Devil Inside Him, co-written with Stella Linden, was written in 1950. He changed the face of British theatre forever when his emotionally charged play, Look Back in Anger, was first staged in 1956. Set in a scruffy flat in the Midlands and featuring anti-hero Jimmy Porter as the archetypal angry young man railing at national apathy, the play captured the imagination of a disillusioned post-war British public. It was immediately recognised as a theatrical landmark and helped British theatre throw off the formal constraints of previous generations. A unique aspect of this celebratory two-hour film about the playwright is the recent discovery of extracts from some of the original stage performances of his most famous plays: Laurence Olivier hoofing it in The Entertainer, Albert Finney mesmerising in Luther, Nicol Williamson in Inadmissable Evidence, Robert Stephens in Epitaph For George Dillon, Jill Bennett in A Patriot For Me, with a young John Osborne as Reidl. The DVD also features behind-the-scenes footage from Osborne’s Oscar-winning film Tom Jones and contributions from, among others, Richard Burton, David Hare, Kenneth Tynan, Claire Bloom, Kenneth Tynan, Tony Richardson, Natasha Richardson, John Heilpern (Osborne’s authorised biographer) and the late Helen Osborne. Misunderstanding and controversy surrounded the playwright’s career until he died at the age of 65 and was buried at Clun in Shropshire alongside his last wife, Helen. Tony Palmer’s riveting and sympathetic film interweaves extraordinary footage from Osborne’s plays with contributions from his friends and colleagues to create a loving portrait of this great if sometimes difficult man. Other highly recommended Tony Palmer films from Digital Classics include SALZBURG FESTIVAL (DC10016), with performances from 1920 to the present day and interviews current stars such as Plácido Domingo and Simon Rattle, and TESTIMONY (DC10010), a controversial feature starring Ben Kingsley and based on the dramatic relationship between Shostakovich and Stalin.

NODDY'S MAGICAL CHRISTMAS ADVENTURES       UNIVERSAL

Noddy was created by British children’s author Enid Blyton in a series of books originally published between 1949 and 1963. The first book, Noddy Goes to Toyland, explains his origins. Carved by a woodsman, he ran away after the man began to make a wooden lion, which Noddy was scared of. As he wanders through the woods he meets Big Ears, a friendly brownie, who decides that Noddy is a toy and takes him to live in Toyland. The little wooden boy with the jingly blue hat has since become one of the most loved children's characters of the modern era and several generations of children have grown up enjoying the stories either through books, television or the stage. Over 200 million Noddy books have been sold in over 30 languages (600,000 annuals each year in France alone) as well as over a million DVDs, and since the first puppet series in 1954 Noddy has had several more TV incarnations. To mark his imminent 60th birthday, Universal Pictures has released this new DVD featuring three of his great adventures: Noddy’s Magical Christmas Adventures, Noddy Saves Christmas and Catch a Falling Star. As an added bonus, the DVD also contains two games: Pathfinder and Spot the Difference. Children’s fads come and go but the popularity of Enid Blyton’s mischievous little boy - together with Big Ears, Mr Plod and the other residents of Toytown - remains undimmed, so he looks set to go on for at least another 60 years.

LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN – OPHULS     SECOND SIGHT 2NDVD 3104

Letter from an Unknown Woman, made in 1948, was based on a novel by Stefan Zweig and adapted by Howard Koch. It tells the story of a man who, while reading a letter written by a woman he does not remember, gets glimpses into her life story as she remembers it. Starring Joan Fontaine, Louis Jourdan, Mady Christians and Marcel Journet, this bittersweet tale of obsessive love is perhaps the greatest of the twenty films Max Ophüls directed. Convincingly and sympathetically told, it has soulful performances by Fontaine and Jourdan, wonderfully romantic music by Daniele Amfitheatrof and exquisite black and white photography by Franz Planer. DVD extras include an insightful video essay by the film historian Tag Gallagher. Other films in the excellent Max Ophuls Collection series of DVDs from Second Sight are THE RECKLESS MOMENT, a sophisticated film noir starring James Mason and Joan Bennett at their best (2NDVD 3105), LE PLAISIR, which Jean-Luc Godard called the ‘the greatest film made in France since the liberation’ (2NDVD 3107) and a dazzling masterpiece based on three Guy de Maupassant stories, MADAME DE... (2NDVD 3106). Together they make a splendid tribute to one of cinema’s great visual stylists.

DOUBLE INDEMNITY - BILLY WILDER         UNIVERSAL 8232965

James M. Cain’s ‘hard-boiled’ 1943 novella was originally published in serial form in Liberty Magazine. Adapted for the screen by director Billy Wilder and writer Raymond Chandler, Double Indemnity became a film noir masterpiece - a cynical, witty thriller about sex, corruption and murder. The story was based on a real-life crime of 1927 when a New York housewife persuaded her young lover to kill her husband after having him take out an insurance policy with a double-indemnity clause. One of the greatest films of all time inexplicably received no Academy Awards even though nominated in seven categories (including Best Picture, Actress and Director). The flawless cast includes the superb Edward G. Robinson (in a supporting role as the shrewd, fast-talking claims investigator, Barton Keyes), Barbara Stanwyck (magnificent in a blonde wig and sleazy gold anklet as the beautiful femme fatale, Phyllis Dietrichson) and Fred MacMurray playing against type as tempted insurance salesman Walter Neff. This near-perfect film about a near-perfect crime was Billy Wilder’s personal favourite among his own work and although it has inspired countless imitations, including The Postman Always Rings Twice and The Last Seduction, Double Indemnity has never been surpassed. This new DVD comes with an introductory booklet by Glenn Mitchell containing a history of the making of the film as well as entertaining trivia. An undisputed classic, not to be missed.

THE GODFATHER: THE COPPOLA RESTORATION       PARAMOUNT

Director Francis Ford Coppola’s phenomenally successful 1972 film, The Godfather, was based on Mario Puzo’s 1969 novel of the same name. Starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton and Sterling Hayden, the film chronicles the activities of the Corleone crime family from 1945 to 1955. Hugely entertaining and impeccably made, it set the standard for mafia films and inspired both Hollywood and contemporary culture. The Academy Award winning screenplay was by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne and The Godfather also received Oscars for Best Picture and Best Actor (Brando). A box office and critical success, odten ranked as one of the greatest films in American cinematic history, it was followed by two sequels: The Godfather Part II (1974) and The Godfather Part III (1990). This superb 5-disc collection from Paramount brings together these three classic films, fully restored using state-of-the-art digital technology under the supervision of Coppola himself, and including a newly remastered version of The Godfather: Part III. This box set also has a host of special features, including director commentaries for all three films, theatrical trailers, character and cast biographies, a look at the complexities of the restoration process, and new information about how the film almost didn’t get made. Other featurettes include ‘When the Shooting Stopped’ and ‘Godfather World, which explore The Godfather’s influence on popular culture today. This is a definitive collection that justly celebrates one of the great landmarks in American cinema.

COLOURS! CLOUDS! & GOD!           BLUE DOLPHIN BDVD 2011

This DVD contains three fascinating documentaries on the subject of fractals, mathematics and geometry. ‘Colours of Infinity’, presented by Arthur C. Clarke, delves into the wonderful world of the Mandelbrot set and fractal geometry: a discovery that could only be realised fully with advanced computers, without which they could never be seen. A simple mathematical formula promises to lead to amazing uses in many branches of science, medicine, computer graphics, weather reporting and analysis, geography, topography and even economics. The music is by David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. ‘Clouds Are Not Spheres’ tells the story of the life and work of the highly regarded maverick mathematician, Benoît Mandlebrot - a great innovator and discoverer of the Mandlebrot set as well as fractal geometry, which he named. ‘Is God A Number?’ is a fascinating account of the science of mathematics and its connection to mind and consciousness. Presented in inimitable style by Michael Barnsley and featuring Sir Roger Penrose, the film looks at the mystery of consciousness, whilst exploring the links between mathematics, mind and the physical, observable universe. All titles were produced and directed by Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon. Available for the first time on DVD, these three extraordinary films are filled with beautiful images and profound thoughts that will open your mind. Also on the DVD is a bonus ‘chill-out’ film featuring further astonishing images and the music of David Gilmour.

THE CEMENT GARDEN SPECIAL EDITION – BIRKIN     ARROW

Ian McEwan’s critically acclaimed 1978 novel, The Cement Garden, was adapted into this memorable 1993 film by Andrew Birkin. A family of four fatherless children hides their mother’s death to avoid going to an orphanage, with the eldest two thinking that they are capable of assuming the mature roles forced upon them. Parenthood and maturity, however, are superceded stronger urges, which brother Jack and sexy sister Julie find hard to resist. Dreamy visuals, a haunting soundtrack and near perfect performances make this film a feast for the imagination. Andrew Robertson takes the leading role of grumpy teenager Jack and there are outstanding performances by Sinead Cusack as the dying mother and the luminous Charlotte Gainsbourg as long-legged Julie. The Cement Garden is a dark, compelling and occasionally funny film, with a powerful yet subtle erotic message. Filmed mostly in and around a bleak concrete house, with sometimes stark sexual imagery, the film shows how social rules and regulations can lead to the dissolution of an already disintegrating family. Extras include additional scenes and a pithy commentary by the director. ‘A positive triumph’ - The Guardian.

THE ROUND-UP – JANCSO       SECOND RUN

Hungarian film director and screenwriter Miklós Jancsó studied but avoided a legal career and moved to the capital Budapest, wher he received his Diploma in Film Directing at the Academy of Theatre and Film Arts in 1950. He achieved international prominence as a director in the 1960s, most notably with My Way Home, The Round-Up, and The Red and the White. His films are characterised by strong visual stylisation, elegantly choreographed shots and long takes, and frequent themes include the nature of power and how it is abused. His most famous works are set in historical periods but are often assumed to be allegories of contemporary Hungary under Communism. Set in a detention camp in Hungary 1869 at a time of guerrilla campaigns against the ruling Austrians, The Round-Up (Szegénylegények) shows attempts by the authorities to weed out those who took part in the rebellion. The brutal, dictatorial methods depicted were seen by many as an analysis of the clampdown that followed Hungary’s failed uprising against Russian-imposed Communism in 1956. The film was shot in widescreen in black and white by regular Jancsó collaborator Tamás Somló and uses the director’s favourite setting, desolate and usually burning landscape of the Hungarian puszta (plain), shot in characteristically oppressive sunlight. A profound influence on filmmakers from Sergio Leone to Béla Tarr, The Round-Up is widely acknowledged as a masterpiece of world cinema. Jancsó deliberately avoids conventional heroics to focus on the persecution and dehumanization manifest in a time of conflict, using his formidable technique to create a remarkable and terrifyingly bleak picture of war and the abuse of power that can still shock, and which speaks eloquently to audiences today. On many writers, critics and filmmakers Best Film lists, this is the first ever DVD release of this provocative, haunting film in the English-speaking world.

JASON KING – THE COMPLETE SERIES SPECIAL EDITION     NETWORK

The Jason King television series first ran from 1971 to 1972 and featured the further adventures of a strange character who originally appeared in Department S, where he was a happy dandy working as part of a team of investigators. In Jason King he had left that service and was concentrating on writing adventure novels following the adventures of the fictional Mark Caine, who closely resembled Jason King in looks, manner, style, and personality. In the course of visiting international locations as part of his research, or through being summoned by people needing assistance, King would find himself embroiled in adventure stories featuring glamorous women, exotic locations, menacing villains, political turmoil or espionage intrigue. Peter Wyngarde reprises his starring role with flamboyant relish as Jason King, despite being continually harassed by British Intelligence and his publisher, continues to enjoy his playboy lifestyle to the full, from good food to beautiful women. This splendid seven-disc set includes all 26 episodes complete and uncut – more than 21 hours of entertaining frivolity. Special features include a television play called The Cross Fire, also starring Peter Wyngarde and set in Algeria during French colonial rule. ‘A bit too early for coffee; I’ll have a Scotch’ - Jason King.

DUCK SOUP – MARX BROTHERS           UNIVERSAL CLASSICS

‘Remember, you’re fighting for this woman’s honour, which is probably more than she ever did.’ - Rufus T. Firefly in Duck Soup, directed by Leo McCarey in 1933 and featuring the Marx Brothers at their anarchic best. Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo (his last film as one of the brothers) are joined by the wonderful  Margaret Dumont, Raquel Torres, Louis Calhern and Edgar Kennedy. Compared to the Marx Brothers’ previous films, Duck Soup was a disappointment at the box-office after opening to mixed reviews but is now considered one of the funniest films of all time. The small Ruritanian state of Freedonia is in financial trouble after borrowing a huge sum of cash from wealthy widow Mrs Teasdale (Dumont). She insists on replacing the current president with the outrageous Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho) and mayhem ensues. To complicate matters, a neighbouring state of Sylvania sends in inept spies Chicolini and Pinky (Chico and Harpo) to obtain top secret information and cause further chaos. Highlights include the beautifully timed mirror sequence (a vaudeville classic) and the relentless stream of one-liners, puns and riddles (‘what has four pairs of pants, lives in Philadelphia, and it never rains but it pours?’). This satire on politics and warmongering is one of four early Marx Brothers’ films – the others are Monkey Business, Animal Crackers and Horse Feathers – included in a range of essential films released on DVD by Universal under the banner Cinema Classics. They include ‘the greatest film of all time’, Citizen Kane (with a brilliant optional commentary by film historian Ken Barnes), the irrepressible Mae West in Belle of the Nineties, Hitchcock classics such as family Plot and The Trouble With Harry  - a total of 31 award winners, from Film Noir (see below), Thriller, Comedy, Westerns, Horror and Sci-fi, War, Drama, Romance and Musicals.

FILM NOIR – UNIVERSAL CLASSICS

From the early 1940s to the late 1950s, Hollywood made a series of great crime dramas that came to be known as Film Noir. The term was first applied by  the French critic Nino Frank in 1946, although most of those involved in the making of the classic Noirs later professed to be unaware of having created a distinctive type of film. What these stylish movies had in common was an emphasis on moral ambiguity and sexual motivation. Often made on a modest budget, these Hollywood films had low-key black-and-white photography influenced by German Expressionism and featured stories derived from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that flourished in the United States during the Great Depression. With tough guys, tougher – and gorgeous – women, alongside hard-bitten police and cynical, wise-cracking private eyes, the Film Noir genre was pioneered by Universal and other studios and has been one of the most enduring of all modern film genres. Universal’s new Cinema Classics range celebrates these much-loved films by re-issuing some of the finest examples, including A Touch Of Evil (starring Orson Welles, Janet Leigh, Charlton Heston and an uncredited Marlene Dietrich), The Killers (a definitive noir with one of the greatest opening sequences in film history), Double Indemnity (directed by Billy Wilder, screenplay by Raymond Chandler, starring the wonderful Babara Stanwyck as Phyllis Dietrichson and Edward G. Robinson as Barton Keyes), The Blue Dahlia (starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake and also written by Chandler), The Glass Key (with Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd), a Philip Marlow tale, Murder My Sweet (aka Farewell My Lovely) and This Gun For Hire (an early example of the genre, based on a Graham Greene novel). ‘Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money - and a woman, and I didn’t get the money and I didn’t get the woman. Pretty, isn’t it?’ - Walter Neff.

SLEUTH – KENNETH BRANAGH           PARAMOUNT

Michael Caine and Jude Law star in the gripping remake of the 1972 classic, stylishly directed by Kenneth Branagh, with a sharply adapted script by Nobel prizewinner Harold Pinter. The film was produced by Jude Law, who plays Milo Tindle opposite Caine as Andrew Wyke (Caine starred as Tindle opposite Laurence Olivier’s Wyke in the original). This is the second film in which Law takes on a role originated by Caine - the first being Alfie. Although classed as a ‘remake’, this new version is very different from the original both the original Anthony Shaffer play and the earlier film, which Pinter had not seen prior to writing his screenplay. Locked up in a high-tech English manor, bound in a deadly duel of wits Wyke Tindle come together as English gentlemen to discuss the matter of Wyke’s wife; the woman both men are sleeping with. But as wit becomes wicked and clever becomes cut-throat, their game of one-upmanship spirals out of control in an escalating series of cat and mouse twists that can only lead to a deadly outcome. The Pinteresque dialogue crackles enjoyably and Branagh’s direction elicits all the menace and sly humour. Caine gives one of his finest recent performances, revealing a real chemistry as he spars verbally and otherwise with Jude Law in this fascinating two-hander. Special features with the DVD include commentaries by Kenneth Branagh, Michael Caine and Jude Law, as well as behind the scenes documentaries.

TONY HANCOCK - THE COMPLETE COLLECTION     BBCDVD2168

‘Stone me, what a life!’ Anthony John Hancock was born in 1924 in Hall Green, Birmingham, but from the age of three was brought up in Bournemouth, where his father ran the Railway Hotel and worked as a comedian and entertainer. Tony left school at the age of fifteen and after failing his audition for ENSA ended up with The Ralph Reader Gang Show, which led to work in radio programmes such as Workers’ Playtime and Educating Archie. In 1954 he was given his own BBC radio show, Hancock’s Half Hour, scripted by the great Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. This became a huge hit as the lugubrious, misunderstood genius Anthony Aloysius St John Hancock spent five years and over a hundred episodes living in East Cheam’s shabby Railway Cuttings. The show transferred triumphantly to television in 1957, making Hancock an even bigger star. Experienced film actor Sid James became increasingly important in the show, with his down to earth approach always ready to puncture Hancock’s pretensions. Tony Hancock began to feel that his work with the incomparable James was turning them into a double act, so his last BBC series in 1961 was made without him. Despite this, the series included many of Hancock’s most memorable shows, such as The Blood Donor and The Radio Ham, where Hancock enters the world of the amateur wireless buff only to find he has to deal with a mayday call from a ship in distress. Sadly, his highly strung personality and alcoholism caused increasing difficulties in his private and professional lives and brought about his death aged only 45. This definitive DVD collection features all 39 surviving episodes of the Hancock’s Half-Hour and Hancock television shows. The boxset also includes many extras, such as John Freeman’s revealing in-depth ‘Face To Face’ interview with Hancock, audio commentaries featuring Ray Galton, Alan Simpson and Paul Merton on three episodes, and missing scripts from several Half-Hours. Essential viewing and a splendid tribute to the lad himself.

THE KING OF KONG – GORDON         REVOLVER

In the cutthroat world of Donkey Kong only one man can rule. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters is a documentary that follows newcomer Steve Wiebe as he tries to take the world high score for the classic arcade game Donkey Kong from long-reigning champion Billy Mitchell, who doesn’t intend to relinquish his crown without a fight. This is the stuff of gladiatorial battle: good versus evil, right versus wrong, nerd versus…super nerd? Skilfully directed by Seth Gordon, this hilarious and perceptive film received great critical acclaim on its release last year and has gained a huge fanbase in the gaming world. The South Park episode 1109 (‘More Crap’) is loosely based on The King of Kong and includes a scene where a previous world record holder, Bono, sends in an unverified video to steal his challenger’s thunder. One of the best documentaries seen in years, this wonderfully weird film is essential viewing for anyone who loves rooting for the underdog. A host of special features with this DVD include a commentary by director Seth Gordon, producer Ed Cunningham, associate producer Clay Tweel and associate producer Luis Lopez, bonus footage, extended interviews with the participants, and A Really, Really Brief History of Donkey Kong. ‘Insanely funny’ - Rolling Stone.

IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON  - SINGTON           4DVD   F4DVD90105

The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. It was the fifth human spaceflight of the Apollo program and the third human voyage to the moon. Launched on July 16, 1969, it carried Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, Jr. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon, while Collins orbited above, fulfilling President John F. Kennedy’s pledge to reach the moon by the end of the 1960s. Between 1968 and 1972, nine American spacecraft voyaged to the Moon, and twelve men walked on its surface - the only human beings ever to have stood on another world. Filmmaker David Sington’s critically acclaimed and multi-award-winning documentary, In the Shadow of the Moon, includes breathtaking never before seen footage from the NASA archives and brings together for the first, and possibly the last, time surviving crew members from every Apollo mission which flew to the Moon, allowing them to tell their story in their own riveting words. The many DVD extras include ‘Behind the Shadow’ showing unseen footage and astronaut stories, ‘Scoring Apollo’ a featurette presented by composer Philip Sheppard and the theatrical trailer. A favourite with critics and cinema audiences alike, this uplifting movie is an intimate epic that vividly captures the spirit, daring and passion of an extraordinary era. Highly recommended.

THE ANDRZEJ WAJDA WAR TRILOGY           ARROW FCD323

Polish film director Andrzej Wajda’s first three full-length films are among the greatest war films of all time. Pokolenie (aka A Generation,  1955), Kanal (aka Canal, 1957) and Popiól i diament (aka Ashes and Diamonds, 1958) were groundbreaking films that helped usher in the Polish School movement. Although often been regarded as a trilogy, each film boldly stands on its own as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the struggle for personal and national freedom. Pokolenie is about a generation of youth coming out of age during the Nazi occupation of Poland. The superb Kanal (winner of the Special Jury Prize at Cannes) was the first film made about the Warsaw uprising and brought its director an international reputation. The Popiól i diament is a complex masterpiece set in the early days of Soviet occupation following Second World War. Zbigniew Cybulski (Poland’s James Dean, rarely seen without dark glasses) won international fame in the role of a young rebel hit-man. This indispensable set of essential films also includes an interview with Andrzej Wajda, who received an honorary Academy Award in 1999 for his body of work, which consists of more than thirty-five features.

HORROR & SCI-FI - UNIVERSAL CLASSICS

Universal Horror is the name given to the distinctive series of horror films made by Universal Studios in California from the 1920s through to the 1950s. With their iconic gallery of monsters, the films of this major Hollywood studio created a lasting impression on generations of avid moviegoers around the world. Such great horror films as Tod Browning’s Dracula (starring Bela Lugosi) and James Whale’s Frankenstein (with the unforgettable Boris Karloff), together with sci-fi and several titles from the master of horror, Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho, Frenzy and The Birds), are now available on DVD in the Universal Classics series. Along with these universally famous and much parodied films there are many lesser-known ones, such as Dracula’s Daughter, Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (again with the wonderfully spooky Bela Lugosi), She-Wolf Of London (a young woman suspects she may be responsible for a series of ghastly murders), Son Of Frankenstein (with Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi), Bride Of Frankenstein (with Esa Lanchester as the monster’s sexy mate), Creature From The Black Lagoon (a prehistoric Gill-man falls in love with the beautiful fiancé of a scientist), James Whale’s The Invisible Man, The Phantom Of The Opera (starring Claude Rains as the obsessed musician haunting Paris’s Opera House), The Wolf Man, Werewolf Of London (a doctor subconsciously goes on nightly rampages through the city) and Slaughterhouse-Five (based on Kurt Vonnegut’s famous anti-war novel). Many of the horror genre’s most conventions - the creaking staircase, the cobwebs, the swirling mist and the mobs of peasants pursuing monsters with torches - originated with these immensely enjoyable films.

THE VERY BEST OF FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE           NETWORK

The innovative television comedy and music show Saturday Live was broadcast in the UK by Channel 4. Heavily influenced by the American show Saturday Night Live, it made stars of Ben Elton, Harry Enfield, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, and featured appearances (in some cases debut television appearances) by Patrick Marber, Morwenna Banks, Chris Barrie, Emo Philips and many others, including Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall as  The Dangerous Brothers. The show was succeeded by Friday Night Live, a shorter and slightly more tightly-formatted version with Elton as the permanent host, which ran for a single series in 1988. Network has now released a double DVD set featuring highlights of this successful show, which stars some of Britain’s brightest comedians. Impeccably held together by Ben Elton in his prome, Friday Night Live has the first ever appearance of  Harry Enfield’s now iconic, loud-mouthed ‘Loadsamoney’ character, as well as turns by Stephen Fry, Lee Evans, Moray Hunter, Jack Docherty (who co-wrote the series with Ben Elton), Josie Lawrence, Hugh Laurie, Jo Brand (in her television debut), Josie Lawrence, the outrageous Dame Edna Everage, Robbie Coltrane and many others. Highlights include Harry Enfield’s immortal  Stavros (‘Power to the Peeps’), Julian Clary’s Leader of the Pack and Ben Elton on ‘Hateful Adverts’. The producers of Friday Night Live had an unerring instinct for finding the best new comedy talent around at the time and most of it stands up remarkably  well.

BORSTAL BOY - SHERIDAN                 REVOLVER

In Brendan Behan’s autobiographical novel, Borstal Boy, published in 1958, he memorably related his experience of imprisonment at Hollesley Bay for carrying explosives into the United Kingdom on a mission for the IRA.. The story takes its name from the Borstal, a British jail for juveniles, of which Hollesley was one. The book was banned in Ireland on the grounds of obscenity but in 1967 it was adapted as an award-winning play by Frank McMahon and staged at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. In 2000, the book was adapted again for this film by its director Peter Sheridan. An emotionally moving coming-of-age drama, the film stars the talented young American actor Shawn Hatosy as sixteen year-old republican Behan on a bombing mission from Ireland to Liverpool during the Second World War.  His mission is thwarted when he is apprehended and sent to a Borstal in East Anglia, where he is forced to live face-to-face with those he perceived as ‘the enemy’. This confrontation reveals deep inner conflict and forces self-examination that is both traumatic and revealing as events take an unexpected and tragic turn. In the emotional vortex, Brendan finally faces up to the truth. Shawn Hatosy gives a remarkable performance as the teenager gone wrong and the ensemble cast also includes the excellent Danny Dyer as an openly gay sailor, Michael York as the warden, Eva Birthistle as the warden’s beautiful daughter and a brief appearance by Ronnie Drew (of Dubliners fame). Sheridan has taken a few liberties with Behan’s original book but this is a touching, thoughtful and engrossing film. Extras include a documentary with comments by the actors and director plus a brilliant short film, ‘The Breakfast’, also directed by Peter Sheridan. Official website: http://www.borstalboy.co.uk

THE JIM JARMUSCH COLLECTION, VOL. 1         OPTIMUM OPTD1231

American director Jim Jarmusch was born in 1953 in the industrial city of Akron, Ohio. He left his hometown at the age of 17 for New York City, where he was accepted into NYU’s prestigious Tisch Film School, despite having no prior film experience. Before graduating, Jarmusch decided to drop out and use his scholarship funds to pay for his first feature film, Permanent Vacation, which introduced audiences to the droll, deadpan style that he would later develop in Stranger Than Paradise and Down by Law. He had worked as a teaching assistant to the revered director Nicholas Ray while at NYU and as a production assistant on Wim Wenders’ tribute to Ray, Lightning Over Water. Jarmusch’s first major film, Stranger Than Paradise, was released in 1984 to critical acclaim (winning the Camera D’Or for Best First Film at Cannes). Telling a strange journey of three disillusioned youths from New York via Cleveland to Florida, the film broke many conventions of traditional Hollywood moviemaking and became a landmark in modern independent film. In 1986, Jarmusch wrote and directed the iconic Down by Law, a film about three convicts in a New Orleans jailhouse. This stars musicians-turned-actors Tom Waits and John Lurie, who also contribute to the soundtrack. The epitome of laid-back cool, Jarmusch writes all of his own scripts and often works with the same bunch of eclectic actors, musicians, artists and technicians, producing work of distinct visual and narrative appeal that has earned him a loyal cult audience, as well as international acclaim and box office success. This invaluable collection from Optimum includes all three of his first feature films. Extras include a Stranger than Paradise in Cleveland featurette, deleted scenes from Down by Law, and Tom Waits ‘dance’ video for It’s Alright With Me, also directed by Jarmusch. This collection is essential viewing of work by one of the world’s most original, compassionate and funny ‘indie’ directors.

SAPPHIRE & STEEL - THE COMPLETE SERIES SPECIAL EDITION   NETWORK

Set in a world in which the future and past collide and time overturns reality, Sapphire and Steel will capture your consciousness and transport you to altered states. Eerie, frightening forces are at work and only two superhuman agents, Sapphire and Steel (Joanna Lumley and David McCallum), can stop the strange events and restore natural order to the universe with their uncanny powers. Produced by ATV as its answer to the BBC’s Doctor Who, Sapphire & Steel was created by Peter J. Hammond, who conceived the programme after a stay in a haunted castle. The stories are often cryptic, raising more questions than answers, and have an eerie atmosphere, being as much ghost stories as they are science fiction. Time is like a corridor that surrounds everything, but there are weak spots where Time – implied to be a potentially malignant force – can break into the present and take things. This Special Edition 6-DVD set from Network features the complete series of this thought-provoking, unsettling and powerful drama, which built up a massive following when it was originally broadcast almost thirty years ago and remains much talked about to this day. Joanna Lumley and David McCallum are perfectly cast as the two agents, and despite modest budgets the sets look great and this much underrated series packs a wonderfully creepy punch.  view clip

BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ – FASSBINDER         SECOND SIGHT

Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s amazing Berlin Alexanderplatz was originally broadcast in 1980 as a 14-part television series set in Germany between the two World Wars. In 1983, it was released theatrically - playing two or three episodes a night - and soon acquired a cult following for the longest narrative film ever made. This epic film explores the character of Franz Biberkopf, ‘hero’ of Alfred Döblin’s acclaimed novel, as well as the Alexanderplatz area of Berlin that he inhabits. Franz (brilliantly played by Gunter Lamprecht) gets out of prison following a four-year sentence for the manslaughter of his girlfriend and becomes involved in the decadent Berlin of the 1920s, with pimps, prostitutes, Nazis and psychotic small-time crook Reinhold (Gottfried John). Facing these temptations, Franz is too easily led by others. Following a massive restoration project overseen by the original editor, Berlin Alexanderplatz is now available for the first time on DVD in this superb six-disc box set. Extras include special features:  ‘Making Of, A Mega-Movie And Its’ Story’, ‘The Restoration’ - before and after, stills and productions photos gallery and the Berlinale trailer. The remastered version received its world premiere in February 2007 at the Berlin International Film Festival, when the first two episodes were shown. This remarkable 15½ hours long masterpiece becomes an even more intense and powerful experience when seen over two or three days rather than over several weeks as originally shown on television. ‘The work of a genuine master’ - Time Out.

THE NEO-REALIST COLLECTION BOX SET         ARROW FCD252

The Italian neo-realist film movement is characterised by stories set amongst the poor and working class as the country grappled with the difficult postwar economical and moral conditions The films, shot on location and frequently using non-professional actors, reflected changes in the Italian psyche and the conditions of everyday life: defeat, poverty, and desperation. Realism is always emphasised, and performances are mostly devoid of the self-consciousness that amateur acting usually entails. The movement started in about 1943 and became a global phenomenon in 1946 when Roberto Rossellini’s Roma, città aperta (Rome, Open City), based on real events that took place in Nazi-occupied Italy in 1944, won the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Vittorio De Sica’s poignant 1948 film Ladri di biciclette (Bicycle Thieves) was another landmark film that defined the Italian Neorealist approach with its brutal portrayal of post-war working-class life, its truthful acting, its compassion and poetic rhythm. This box set features five powerful and beautifully shot films that paint an unforgettable picture of ‘real’ Italian life. As well as Rome, Open City and the wonderful Bicycle Thieves, this set includes Vittorio de Sica’s Miracle in Milan (1951, telling the story of Toto, a newborn discovered in a cabbage patch) and Umberto D (1952, a simple and moving portrayal of attachment, dignity and suffering) and Frederico Fellini’s award-winning I Vitteloni (1953, a compassionate semi-autobiographical film detailing the lives of a group of young bloods drifting aimlessly and dreaming of escape from their small seacoast town). This splendid collection celebrates a period of film history that was deeply influenced by the political ideals and social history of its time and has become immortal thanks to some of the greatest films ever made.

THE OPEN ROAD – CLAUDE FRIESE-GREENE       BFI  FILMS BFIVD739

Claude Friese-Greene was born in 1898 in London. . His father, William Friese-Greene, was possibly the inventor of Kinematography and by 1889 had patented his ‘chronophotographic’ camera. His system produced Biocolour, where black and white films were given the illusion of colour by passing them through red or green filters. Unfortunately, William’s creation was too crude to succeed and he sold the rights, due to bankruptcy, for just £500. Claude eventually continued with his father’s work and pursued a career as a filmmaker, cinematographer and technician. In 1924, he set off from England’s southern tip, Land’s End in Cornwall, and travelled 1600 miles to the most northern point of Scotland, John O’Groats, and went on to produce a series of 26 short films that together made up ‘The Open Road’. This journey took Claude and his friend Robin Haywood Booth three years to produce, while travelling across the English countryside in an open top Vauxhall D-type. This glorious time-honoured work has us seeing the people and their different environment during the time of peace between the First World War and before the depression era of the 1930s and before the build up to the Second World War. This unique travelogue was intended to be shown weekly at the cinema but although creating an initial impact when it was first exhibited at trade shows in 1925, Claude’s experimental colour process failed to reach a large audience owing to heavy flicker and colour fringing. The original negatives were deposited with the BFI for preservation in the late 1950s. Great enthusiasm for the film was created by the documentary series The Lost World of Friese-Greene, a co-production with the BBC that was televised in 2006 and released by the BFI on DVD. Now the BFI National Archive has restored a special compilation of highlights from the journey, using digital intermediate technology (the Archive’s first such project) to remove the technical defects of the original. The Open Road is important both as a landmark in the development of colour on film but also as a fascinating social record of inter-war Britain. The film is presented on this DVD with a new score by pianist Neil Brand and renowned violinist and silent film accompanist Günter Buchwald. The restoration remains true to the original colour while using the latest technology to create a clearer image with a remarkable reduction in the flicker and colour fringing. This ‘cinematic postcard’ of Britain in the 1920s is fascinating and the films speak much more resonantly for themseves without the superfluous commentary that marred the television series. Extras include a short aerial tour of the West Country in ‘Across England in an Aeroplane’ (UK, 1919-20, silent) and an illustrated 17-page booklet with background notes, details on the digital reconstruction of the film and musician biographies.

ADVENTURES OF A TAXI DRIVER/PRIVATE EYE/PLUMBER’S MATE ICON 10135

Stanley Long, born in South London in 1933, became one of Britain’s most prolific filmakers. He began his career as a photographer, before producing 8mm striptease shorts or ‘glamour home movies’, with titles such as Peachy Paula and Cuddly Carole. Long – sometimes known as Stanley A. Long – also worked (uncredited) with Roman Polanski on Repulsion (1965) and with David Bailey. Beginning in the late fifties, his feature film career spanned the history of the British sexplotation era, from coy nudist films of the 1950s to these three sex comedies made in the 1970s. Adventures of a Taxi Driver (1975), Adventures of a Private Eye (1977) and Adventures of a Plumber’s Mate starred the indefatigible Barry Evans playing essentially the same character (called North, South and West), together with a wide range of British acting talent that included Diana Dors, Irene Handl, Harry H. Corbett, Liz Fraser, Fred Emney, Robert Lindsay, Judy Geeson, Brian Wilde, Arthur Mullard and Ian Lavender. Not to mention surprising cameos from the likes of Elaine Page and William Rushton. Produced with miniscule budgets - Taxi Driver cost just £30,000 - the films’ quaint mixture of silly plots, slapstick humour and beautiful girls was a box office hit in the UK (Adventures of a Taxi Driver even outperformed Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver when they were released in the same year). The series was sold to over 30 countries worldwide and made millions for Stanley Long’s distribution company Alpha Films, which became one of the most successful independent distributors of the era. Extras with this three-disc set from Icon include theatrical trailers and a revealing commentary by Stanley Long.

REMEMBER ME – MUCCINO       BLUEBELL BLC013

Gabriele Muccino’s bittersweet drama Remember Me (aka Ricordarti Di Me) concerns the dysfunctional Italian middle-class family Ristuccia. Middle-aged executive Carlo (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) has a stalled, monotonous life without passion and his wife Giulia (Laura Morante) is a frustrated woman because she gave up of being an actress in her youth to dedicate her time to the family. Their son Paolo (Silvio Muccino) feels lost and rejected, trying to find who he is and flirting with a schoolmate. Seventeen-year-old daughter Valentina (Nicoletta Romanoff) wants to work in a television show and is fighting to have an audition. The family is blown apart when Carlo meets his former sweetheart, Allessia (the beautiful Monica Belluci), after meeting her in a class reunion. They confess to each other that their marriages are in crisis and begin an affair. Meanwhile Giulia is invited to an audition in a stage production, Paolo tries to make friends using marijuana in his birthday party and Valentina has sex in order to become a dancer on a successful TV show. Their relationships change when Carlo has an accident. Superbly written and directed, this engrossing and poignant film tells the story of a normal family struggling to keep a balance between personal fulfillment and the need they have for each other. Fabrizio Bentivoglio is perfect as a decent man in crisis and Laura Morante is sensationally good as his wife, a woman teetering on the edge of a breakdown  yet essentially strong. Remember Me was nominated for ten Donatello Awards, and won Best Producer, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (for Bellucci) from the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists. ‘Its deceptively light farcical elements give it dignity and emotional power’  - Time Out.

HALF NELSON – RYAN FLECK       AXIOM FILMS AXM560

An inner-city teacher struggling with addiction forms an unlikely bond with a young student who catches him in a compromising position in director Ryan Fleck's feature-length adaptation of his own award-winning short film Gowanus, Brooklyn. Despite his dedication to the junior-high students who fill his shabby classroom, idealistic inner-city teacher Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) leads a secret life that the majority of his students will never know. Day after day, he somehow finds the energy to inspire his 13 and 14-year-olds to examine everything from civil rights to the Civil War with a new enthusiasm. Rejecting the standard curriculum in favour of an edgier approach, Dan teaches his students how change works and how to think for themselves. When his drug-soaked nightlife begins to bleed over into his daytime hours and troubled student Drey (Shareeka Epps) makes a startling discovery, the tenuous bond that forms between the pair leads to a warm friendship that could either lead them down a dangerous path or provide the human companionship needed to see things from a fresh perspective and start life anew. The film received rapturous critical acclaim on its release, finding its way on to many top ten films of 2006 lists. Ryan Gosling gives a mesmerising performance as the disillusioned teacher and young Shareeka Epps is astonishingly good as the struggling student. From the classroom to the basketball court, to the painful addiction scenes, Epps and Gosling make Half Nelson come alive with anger, pain and the true pathos of life in America today. The generous array of extras includes commentary from writer/director Ryan Fleck and writer/editor Anna Boden, Fleck and Bodens Sundance award-winning short film ‘Gowanus, Brooklyn’ (also starring the remarkable Shareeka Epps), interviews with Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, Q&A with Fleck and Boden at the Everyman Cinema in London, cast audition footage, out-takes, deleted and extended scenes, a photo gallery and trailer.

THE COMPLETE RUMBLING HEARTS       REVELATION FILMS FUN72400

Originally a computer adventure game, Rumbling Hearts was later adapted as an anime that first aired in Japan between 2003 and 2004. Regularly voted one of top ten anime films, the complete series is now available first time in this box set of three DVDs. Volume One introduces four high school friends, Haruka, Takayuki, Mitsuki and Shinji. Life’s promise shines brightly on them until an accident leaves Haruka in a coma and her boyfriend, Takayuki, can’t forgive himself. Mitsuki dedicates her life to helping this tragic young man and the pair fall into a guilt-ridden relationship. When Haruka awakens after three years, Takayuki is torn between his unhappy real-life relationship and daydream high school romance. In Rumbling Hearts Volume Two, Haruka’s condition has everyone living out a warped high school daydream, as they are forced to act as if the three years since the accident simply have not occurred. Sworn to uphold the façade for the young girl’s sake, Takayuki spends more and more time at the hospital and his old feelings for first true love begin to resurface and he begins to neglect the reality for the fantasy. In Volume Three, the entire world has gone crazy, with Haruka collapsing back into a coma and Mitsuki leaving Takayuki for good. When Haruka wakes up for the second time, she realises that three years have passed and wants to know why she lost three years. Faced with unpleasant reality, the young girl must have courage enough for them all. Dealing sensitively with big themes such as guilt, friendship and faith, love and betrayal, Rumbling Hearts tells of the silent sufferings of real life. The amazing art work is fluid and smooth and the music helps draw you in the story takes that takes time to show how such a dramatic event can make everyone involved into a victim.

SCREEN ICONS: THE ALEC GUINNESS COLLECTION     OPTIMUM OPTD1064

Sir Alec Guinness was a member of a distinguished generation of British actors that included Olivier, Redgrave, Gielgud and Richardson. Alec Guinness was called ‘the outstanding poet of anonymity’ by Peter Ustinov and was perhaps the most versatile of them all, able effortlessly to portray characters that ranged from eight members of the doomed family D’Ascoyne to a Jedi master in the Star Wars films. With the perfect timing of a comedian and the hypnotic intensity of the greatest dramatic actors, he dazzled audiences in both hard-hitting dramas and comedies alike. Guinness was an extra in the 1934 film, Evensong, but made his first real screen impact as Herbert Pocket in director David Lean’s 1946 adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. He won international recognition in Robert Hamer’s masterpiece, Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), the best of the Ealing Studio black comedies, and continued to work at a prolific pace for the next fifty years, receiving four Oscar nominations and an honorary Academy Award in 1979. This collection includes the wonderful Kind Hearts and Coronets as well as four more Ealing comedies, each a gem that showcases his astonishing talent. The Man in the White Suit (1951) and Barnacle Bill (1957) are both classic Ealing David-and-Goliath stories. The Captain’s Paradise (1953) follows the increasingly farcical life of a bigamist ferry captain and Last Holiday (1950) is the tale of a timid man who is given a short time to live, so decides to have a last hurrah. This box set features one of the Britain’s best-loved and most accomplished actors in his prime.

PALMS – ARISTAKISIAN             SECOND RUN  DVD026

Artur Aristakisian (born in Kishinov, capital of Moldova) is the first hippie of the Russian film community. It took him eight years to be accepted into the Moscow Film School (VGIK), where he lived in classrooms and cooked his food while hiding behind the curtains during his classmates’ rehearsals. For four years he struggled to complete Palms (Ladoni), an astonishing portrait of people who live outside ‘society’ and exist on the margins of life. Between 1986 and 1990, Aristakisian lived among the tramps and beggars of Kishinov, studying them and empathising with their plight. This documentary follows a series of case studies - all disadvantaged in some way - as they go about their daily business of struggling to eke out an existence in a cruel and hostile world. Aristakisian takes a philosophical, almost spiritual, view of his subjects but, by way of rationalising, he likens them to Christ and his disciples, whose outsider status was part of their uniqueness. Aristakisian’s sensitive narration is that of a father intoning truths to his unborn child, while the monochrome photography perfectly captures the former Soviet city in all its desolate glory. Palms is one of the most remarkable debuts of recent years and this unique and magical documentary has won many awards, including the 1994 Karlovy Vary Film Festival Ecumenical Jury Prize and San Francisco Film Festival  Satyajit Ray Prize. DVD extras include an interview with the director and a booklet with an interesting essay by Graeme Hobbs.

BARAKA & CHRONOS - RON FRICKE     SECOND SIGHT 2NDVD 3112

Baraka takes its title from an ancient Middle Eastern word meaning ‘a blessing’, or ‘breath of life’. This visually stunning and inspirational film was shot over 13 months in 24 countries and is an overwhelming experience that spans the geographical, cultural and social diversity of our changing planet. A journey of rediscovery,  Baraka is the power, the beauty and the rage of life itself. Often compared to Koyaanisqatsi (to which Ron Fricke’s pioneering time-lapse photography techniques contributed hugely), Baraka uses footage of landscapes, churches, ruins, religious ceremonies and cities, filmed with time-lapse photography to capture the pulse of humanity as it flocks and swarms in daily activity. In addition to making comparisons between natural and technological phenomena, the film searches for a universal cultural perspective. DVD extras include ‘The Making of Baraka’, crew interviews and the original trailer. Ron Fricke’s Chronos was originally released in 1985 in IMAX theatres. The 42-minutes long film has a soundtrack consisting of a single continuous piece by composer Michael Stearns and was also shot in dozens of locations on five continents. Chronos relates to the concept of time passing on different scales - covering the history of civilisation from pre-historic Stonehenge via Egypt, Rome and Late Antiquity to the rise of Western Europe in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the modern era. Other time scales reflect changing seasons, the passing of night and day, and the movement of shadows of the sun or the passing of people on the street. There are awe-inspiring shots of the American mid-West, the grids of motorways and the conveyor-belt imagery of humans caught-up in the neon-lit rush of New York City. This was Fricke’s debut film as a director, made using innovative cameras and rigging built to handle the unusually long and smooth time-lapse shots, such as a 24-hour expanse of a desert captured while evenly panning 180 degrees. Michael Stearns, while composing the experimental soundtrack, used an extraordinary custom-made instrument called ‘The Beam’ - 12 feet long and made of extruded aluminium with 24 of 19-22 gauge piano strings. On this DVD, optional subtitles can be selected which list the location of each shot, such as The Pyramids, Mont St. Michel, St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome, Nôtre Dame in Paris, The Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Pompeii, The Acropolis and The Louvre. Other extras include commentary by Ron Fricke, Michael Stearns and production manager Anton Walpole about the techniques employed and the difficulties faced in making this breathtaking film. Now available together in this box set, Baraka and Chronos are unforgettable experiences.

OF MICE AND MEN – MILESTONE           ARROW FILMS FCD347

John Steinbeck novella, Of Mice and Men, was first published in 1937 and tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant workers searching for a safe haven from the cruelties of the world during the 1930s. The title was taken from Robert Burns’ poem, To a Mouse (The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley) and is an ironic allusion to the problems of the main characters. Quick-witted George looks after the disabled, possibly autistic Lennie and dreams of escaping to a better life. Lennie Small, despite his name, is a very big man physically but with the dreams and attributes of a child. He dreams of ‘living off the fatta’ the lan’ and being able to tend to rabbits. Having the mental ability of a child and the strength of a ‘bull’ leaves him unable to control or judge his own strength, resulting in a series of accidental killings as he mauls things to death when they try to escape. Set in California’s bucolic Salinas Valley, Of Mice and Men paints a bold, vivid picture of life during the Great Depression and has been filmed several times. This classic 1939 adaptation is the definitive version, with fine black and white cinematography and Lon Chaney Jr. as Lennie alongside Burgess Meredith as George, who had previously played the part in over 200 performances on Broadway. Directed by Lewis Milestone, the film was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Original score by the great American composer Aaron Copland. Meredith and Chaney are superb in the roles of their careers and receive great support from Charles Bickford, Noah Beery Jr., veteran Bob Steele as the hot-headed Curley and Betty Field as his bored wife.

CONVERSATIONS WITH OTHER WOMEN       REVELATION FILMS PAR61347

This subtle, stylish film stars Helena Bonham Carter and Aaron Eckhart and tells the bittersweet story of a couple whose reunion at a wedding reception ignites a mysterious attraction for each other that is deeper and more emotionally perilous than they are willing to admit. At a New York City wedding reception two guests, seemingly strangers, become entangled in a sexually-charged battle of wits.  But as the night carries on in a cigarette smoke haze, the nameless couple’s repartee deepens to reveal the passion of their two decades past love affair. Escaping the party for a hotel room, the two are soon gripped by their mutual past and the individual choices that lead them to the present. Director Hans Canosa’s feature debut is shot entirely in split-screen, a technique pioneered in 1913 by Lois Weber’s short film Suspense and French director Abel Gance’s 1927 silent epic, and featured most recently in the television series 24. In the wrong hands this could prove an annoying gimmick but here it adds to the romantic mystery as the couple’s story gradually unravels and is understood by the audience. Conversations With Other Women is an unconventional and poignant love story with spirited performances by the Helena Bonham Carter as a woman on a mission and Aaron Eckhart as the charming if somewhat immature man. This film won a Special Jury prize and Best Actress prize for Bonham Carter at the 2005 Tokyo Film Festival, and Gabrielle Zevin received a nomination for Best First Screenplay at the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards. DVD extras include interviews with the actors and director, a trailer, a discussion on the merits of split-screen, and a photo gallery.

SEX & FURY – NORIFUMI SUZUKI       FABULOUS FILMS  FHED1989

This prime example of Japanese sexploitation stars the beautiful and sultry Reiko Ike as Ocho Inoshika, a gambler, pickpocket and swordswoman in early 1920s Meiji Era Tokyo. At a young age, Ocho witnessed the brutal murder of her father, killed in cold blood by the local Yakuza.  As the tale unfolds Ocho uses her deadly swordplay and female sexuality to outsmart her assailants and extracts cold hearted revenge for the death of her father, in a bloody climax of sex and violence. Director Norifumi Suzuki creates visually stunning scenes featuring wild colour and expressive movement, with spectacular photography throughout. The film has a good deal of nudity along with the violence but this is a key part of the genre and the final shot stunning of Ocho in the falling snow is supremely memorable. Sex & Fury may seem strangely familiar if you are a fan of the Kill Bill series. Quentin Tarrentino has acknowledged his considerable debt to this movie as well as to its follow up, FEMALE YAKUZA TALE (FHED1990). The latter was directed by Teruo Ishii and Reiko Ike returns to play the lead as Ocho, gambler and underworld mover and shaker who gets caught up in a complicated tale of kidnapping, murder and drug trafficking. All hell breaks lose in this fast paced, delirious blend of sex, violence and pop cinema. Less surreal and psychedelic than Sex and Fury, the sequel features a remarkable opening sequence involving a naked Ocho slaughtering multiple opponents in slow-motion, and the film builds to another fantastic climax. Sex & Fury and Female Yakuza have acquired a period charm and are essential viewing for all fans of 1970s exploitation cinema. DVD extras include theatrical trailers and other promotional material. ‘Reiko Ike became the ultimate cult queen’ - Jonathan Ross.

THE CLASSIC HORROR COLLECTION     CLASSIC ENTERTAINMENT CE104

The horror genre has always been a staple of the movies, creating fear and terror in viewers with often outrageous plots involving evil forces such as vampires, zombies, monsters, serial killers and creatures from outer space. Early films often drew their inspiration from stories in classic literature, such as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Many of the earliest feature length horror films, such as The Golem, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu, were created by German film makers during the 1910s and 1920s. These films were a significant influence on later Hollywood filmmakers, both for their Expressionistic style and supernatural characters. In the early 1930s, American producers, particularly Universal Pictures, popularised the horror film with successful Gothic features that included Dracula, The Mummy, James Whale’s Frankenstein and The Invisible Man. Some actors built entire careers in such films, most notably Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Both of these stars appear in several of the 21 classics included in this splendid 7-DVD box set. Among the highlights are the excellent Horror Hotel (a.k.a. The City of the Dead, with Christopher Lee and a spooky Valentine Dyall), The Terror (a Roger Corman exploitation quickie with Karloff and a young Jack Nicholson), The Corpse Vanishes (Lugosi), House on Haunted Hill (Vincent Price), The Ghoul (Karloff), A Bucket of Blood (brilliant beatnik horror comedy), Little Shop of Horrors (another early appearance by Nicholson), the wonderfully eerie Carnival of Souls, the hilarious Mesa of Lost Women (Jackie Coogan),  Creature from the Haunted Sea (a horror comedy from Roger Corman), Dementia 13 (one of Francis Ford Coppola’s first films as director), Shock (film noir shocker with Vincent Price) and Attack of the Giant Leeches (enjoyable nonsense with the lovely Yvette Vickers). This excellent value box set provides 25 hours of delicious late-night entertainment.

HIGH HOPES – MIKE LEIGH       FABULOUS / FREMANTLE FHED2019

Set mostly in King’s Cross, London, Mike Leigh’s 1988 film explores the lives of a working-class couple, Cyril (Philip Davis) and his girlfriend Shirley (superbly played by Ruth Sheen), and their friends, neighbours and family. Motor-cycle courier Cyril reads Karl Marx and is an old-style socialist who despairs of his working-class but Tory-voting mother, her ghastly yuppie neighbours, his pretentious, social-climbing sister and her insensitive, philandering car-salesman husband. Wayne left home because of an argument about pies and finds himself lost in London. Cyril would like to machine gun the royal family.  Rupert and Laetitia Boothe-Brain play sex games, while deep in suburbia Valerie fails to arouse her husband Martin with a suggestion that he be Michael Douglas and she a virgin.  Cyril’s mother gets locked out of her house and is criticised by her snobbish neighbour for selfishly occupying a whole house in an increasingly fashionable area. Shirley wants a baby, but Cyril is reluctant, feeling that the world should be spared more babies until everyone has a job, a place to live and enough to eat. This disparate cast of characters swim in an out of each others lives, seamlessly orchestrated by director Mike Leigh in his inimitable slice-of-life style. DVD extras include on-set news footage, an interview with Mike Leigh, the original production notes, biographies, stills and a poster gallery. This funny and touching film poignantly evokes the bleakness of the third term of Margaret Thatcher’s government.

CLOSE-UP – KIAROSTAMI         SODA

Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami’s film tells the story of the real-life trial of a man who impersonated film-maker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, conning a family into believing they would star in his new film. It features the people involved, acting as themselves, and the dialogue is in Persian. Kiarostami is the most influential and controversial post-revolutionary Iranian director and Close-Up was one of the first of films that brought him international attention. Set around the time of the 1990 Iran earthquake, Kiarostami’s film invites the creative participation of its audience, interrupting the expected dramatic flow of the story-line with minor characters whose lives are not considered dramatic or important. The director mixes fact and fiction in such a way that it is impossible to separate the two. The non-chronological order of the scenes in the film which offer different points-of-view urge the audience to make sense of the story (putting it in their order), as well as asking them to judge the characters on their own terms. Close-Up not only refers to the role of cinema in Iran as a means of power, popularity, and social mobility, but it also confronts the viewer with her/his own relationship to cinema. Kiarostami thus criticises the role of media and the media-maker in deceiving the audience. In this film more than his other films, Kiarostami reveals the characters through their lies and performances, and the final beautiful scene confirms the director’s compassion for his subject and makes this essential viewing for all cineastes. Hossain Sabzian gives a remarkable performance as ‘himself’ and ‘Mohsen Makhmalbaf’. DVD extras include: ‘Close-Up in close up’ hosted by Geoff Andrew and ‘The Opening Night of Close-Up’ (II Giorno della prima di Close Up), a short film by Nanni Moretti.

LIFE ON MARS – COMPLETE SERIES 2       CONTENDER CTD10517

The much-acclaimed Life on Mars series, mixing time travel with police drama, was a huge hit when was shown on BBC One between 2006 and 2007, winning BAFTA and International Emmy awards. The central character is DCI Sam Tyler of Greater Manchester Police (John Simm), who, after being hit by a car in 2006, finds himself in the year 1973, the era of ‘Sweeney’ type policing, Mark III Cortinas, sheep-skin jackets and flared trousers. In his new situation Tyler works for Manchester and Salford Police CID as a DI under DCI Gene Hunt (a rumbustious performance by Philip Glenister) and faces various culture clashes, often regarding differences in his approach to policing compared to that of his colleagues. The series also features a strong ambiguity concerning Tyler’s predicament: it is unclear whether he really has travelled back in time, is in a coma in 2006 and imagining his experiences, or if he is from 1973 but mentally unstable. The final episode of series two gained the largest audience figure for the second run, with an average of seven million people despite competition from Champions League football on ITV. This splendid four-DVD box set features every episode from series two as well as more than two hours of extras. The cast is first-class and the Seventies setting is designed to perfection - although part of the fun is looking for the occasional anachronism. With great scripts, knowing humour and intriguing mystery, Life on Mars is essential viewing.

THE THIRD MAN – SPECIAL EDITION         OPTIMUM OPTD0585

This superlative film noir was directed in 1949 by Carol Reed, with a screenplay by Graham Greene. Set in post-war Vienna, when the city was divided between the Allied powers of Britain, France, the USA and the USSR, the central character is pulp western author, Holly Martins. He is searching for an old friend, Harry Lime, only to discover that he recently died in a traffic accident. From talking to Lime’s friends and associates Martins notices that some of the stories are inconsistent and decides to find out what really happened to his friend. The atmospheric use of black and white expressionist cinematography (by Australian Robert Krasker), combines with harsh lighting and distorted camera angles to captures perfectly the exhausted look of cynical post-war Vienna at the start of the Cold War. Add to this an irresistible musical theme and brilliant performances and you have the best British film of all time, as voted for by the British Film Institute. Joseph Cotton is excellent as Holly Martins and Orson Welles is the perfect as Harry Lime, one of cinema's most fascinating villains. There are memorable performances too from Trevor Howard as a British Major of Police and the beautiful Alida Valli as Harry’s faithful lover, but the real star of the film is Vienna itself. Extras with this double-DVD special edition include two cinema trailers, a featurette about Anton Karas and his zither music, an episode of The Third Man on the radio (‘Ticket to Tangiers’, written and narrated by Orson Welles), a photo gallery, filmographies, and an exemplary documentary presented in Cannes Film Festival 2005: ‘Shadowing the Third Man’. This masterpiece is one of a range of 100 British films being made available by ITV and Optimum to coincide with BBC2’s Summer of British Film. Other classic titles include A Matter of Life and Death, Billy Liar, Brief Encounter, Great Expectations, Henry V, The Red Shoes, 9 Songs, The Wicker Man and The Dam Busters.

TAKE CARE OF MY CAT – JAE-EUN JEONG     BLUEBELL

Five girlfriends in their early twenties live in the dingy Korean port town of Inchon. A close-knit circle in high school, their paths begin to diverge as they step into the adult world and struggle against the weight of family expectations and class prejudice. Hee-joo leaves Inchon for the bright lights of Seoul, Ji-young and Tae-hee dream of studying overseas and bubbly twins Bri-ryu and Ohn-jo eke out a living selling hand made jewellery. Despite their brave efforts can the girls retain the bond they once had or will their growing ambition cause them to lose sight of that once precious friendship? This touching, warm and witty coming of age movie deals sympathetically and subtly with universal and profound themes yet remains engaging and highly accessible. There are delightfully natural performances by the young cast, especially Doona Bae as the optimistic Tae-hee. Director Jae-eun Jeong studied film at the Korean National University of Arts and before making this graceful and perceptive film she directed several shorts, including Yujin’ Secret Codes, which won the Grand Prix of the Women’s Film Festival in Seoul. Take Care of My Cat (Goyangileul butaghae) is a gem of a film and a highly accomplished feature debut by this young director.

THE CLAUDE CHABROL COLLECTION: VOLUME 2         ARROW FCD304

Along with François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol’s name is famously associated with the Cahiers du Cinéma and the rise of the French New Wave. Born in Paris in 1930, Chabrol was evacuated during the Occupation to a village in the Massif Central, where he and a friend set up a makeshift cinema in a barn. Returning to Paris after the Liberation, he studied law and began attending the thriving postwar ciné-clubs and cinémathèques where he met Truffaut, Godard and Eric Rohmer. A fan of Fritz Lang and Alfred Hitchcock, he was invited to contribute articles to Cahiers and supported himself by working at the Paris publicity office of 20th Century-Fox. He directed his first film, the revolutionary Le Beau Serge, in 1958 and became known for his chilling Hitchcock-influenced tales of murder. The films in this second collection from Arrow Films encapsulate Chabrol’s jaundiced attitude towards the French bourgeoisie. La Rupture (The Breach, 1970), with its sensational opening, forms part of the ‘Hélène cycle’ that he made with his second wife Stéphane Audran. Inspired by Charlotte Armstrong’s pulp novel, The Balloon Man, it centres on the abuse suffered by a former stripper at the hands of drug-addicted husband Jean-Claude Drouot and father-in-law Michel Bouquet, as they try to discredit her divorce suit. Chabrol’s regular screenwriter, Paul Gégauff, plays an equally monstrous spouse in Une Partie de Plaisir (Pleasure Party, 1974), which disconcertingly co-stars his ex-wife Danielle as the target of his murderous rage after a demand for an open marriage backfires. The best laid plans of a treacherous partner also go awry in Les Innocents aux Mains Sales (Innocents with Dirty Hands, 1975), as no sooner have the beautiful Romy Schneider and St Tropez lover Paolo Giusti killed her rich and boorish husband (Rod Steiger) than he keeps coming back to haunt them. A hybrid of The Postman Always Rings Twice and Les Diaboliques, this nasty chiller finds echo in the policier Poulet au Vinaigre (Cop au Vin, 1984) and the savage exposé of middle-class morality and France’s guilty past, La Fleur du Mal (The Flower of Evil, 2003). There’s a lighter tone to the espionage caper, La Route de Corinthe (The Road to Corinth, 1967), in which Jean Seberg has to find the black boxes that will prove she didn’t kill spy husband, Christian Marquand. Extras include trailers and presentations of Fleur du Mal and Poulet au Vinaigre by Joel Magny, an interview of Caroline Eliacheff (co-scriptwriter of Fleur du Mal) and Lecon de Cinema with Claude Chabrol’s commentary on selected scenes of both films. Chabrol is one of France’s most prolific filmmakers, having directed more than fifty-five films in five decades, so this set of six DVDs is a welcome chance to catch up on some favourites and some that you may have missed. THE CLAUDE CHABROL COLLECTION: VOLUME 1 (ARROW FCD272) is another superb box set that includes eight films, mostly from the late 1960s and early 1970s: Les Biches (a polysexual menage-à-trois set in Paris and St Tropez), La Femme Infidèle (a study of jealousy, infidelity and murder), Que La Bête Meure, the brilliantly disturbing Le Boucher, Juste Avant La Nuit, Les Noces Rouges (a deadly tale of forbidden love), excellent political thriller Nada, and Madame Bovary (starring Isabelle Huppert).

EISENSTEIN COLLECTION, VOLUME  ONE           TARTAN  TVD3742

The revolutionary Soviet film director and theorist Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein was born in 1898. His father was an affluent architect of Jewish descent who converted to Orthodox Christianity  (young Sergei was raised in the Orthodox faith) and his mother was Russian. Eisenstein studied at the Institute of Civil Engineering in Petrograd and after the fall of the tsar in 1917 he worked as an engineer for the Red Army before joining the Moscow Proletkult Theater as a set designer and then director. The Proletkult's director was Vsevolod Meyerhold and as a film director Eisenstein furthered Meyerhold’s theories with his own ‘montage of attractions’ - editing a sequence of pictures to produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of its parts. He explained his methods in detail in many articles and books and made an enormous impact on film makers in the 1920s. In his first films he used non-professional actors and his narratives were less concerned with individuals than with broad social issues such as class conflict. This DVD box set from Tartan Video is the first of three issued to celebrate the great auteur’s career and mark the 90th year since the Russian Revolution. Volume One features his three most important early silent films: Strike (1925), Battleship Potemkin (1925) and October, or Ten Days That Shook The World (1927). Strike was Eisenstein’s first full-length feature and depicts a strike by the workers of a factory in pre-revolutionary Russia, showing their subsequent suppression. The hugely influential Battleship Potemkin is a masterpiece, providing a glorified account of a real-life uprising that occurred in 1905 when the crew of a Russian ship rebelled against their oppressive officers. The international success of Battleship Potemkin led to Eisenstein being chosen to direct October, one of two films commissioned by the Soviet government to honour the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution. Strike and Battleship Potemkin are released here with their original soundtracks and new scores by Ed Hughes (October has the original soundtrack only). Other DVD extras include behind the scenes footage of Ed Hughes recording the new soundtracks. Eisenstein’s popularity and influence has waxed and waned with the passage of time but this collection proves again that he was the master of metaphor and allusion.

THE HAROLD LLOYD COLLECTION             OPTIMUM  OPTD0

The great American film actor and director Harold Clayton Lloyd was born in Burchard, Nebraska, in 1893. He began acting at an early age with theatrical repertory companies, making his film debut as an extra in a 1913 one-reel film before joining the influential Hal Roach Company. In 1917 Lloyd found the idea that became his trademark and changed him from a good comedian into a major star. Shedding grotesque comedy clothes and characterisations, he created an American archetype - an optimistic and determined go-getter sporting horn-rimmed spectacles and a toothy smile. He retained this ‘Glasses Character’ (as he called his comic persona) throughout the rest of his career, which spanned 34 years and around 200 films, both silent and ‘talkies’. Harold Lloyd’s comedies often contained ‘thrill sequences’, including car chases and such memorable daredevil physical feats as hanging from the hands of a clock high above the street in Safety Last! (1923). Lloyd did many of these dangerous stunts himself, despite having been injured during the filming of Haunted Spooks (1920) when an accident with a prop bomb resulted in the loss of the thumb and index finger of his right hand (disguised on film with the use of a special prosthetic glove). Safety Last! and Haunted Spooks are just two of the films in this comprehensive 9-DVD boxset of the great man’s work. Among the others included here are Grandma’s Boy (much admired by both Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton), The Kid Brother (Lloyd’s own favourite of all his films),  Movie Crazy, The Freshman (his most popular and arguably funniest film) and Speedy (‘Speedy’ was Harold Lloyd’s real-life nickname), along with many other gems and exclusive extras. With new orchestral scores and restored, digitally re-mastered prints, this splendid collection is a fitting celebration of one of cinema’s most inspired and enduring comic geniuses.

A LITTLE TRIP TO HEAVEN – BALTASAR KORMAKUR       REVOLVER  REVD2044

Baltasar Kormákur was born in 1966 and is one of Iceland’s most popular young actors as well as being a director and successful theatre impresario. He directed his first feature, 101 Reykjavík, in 2001 and his most recent film, Mýrin (Jar City), has been widely acclaimed. A Little Trip to Heaven is a dark, moody thriller from 2005, set in the USA but shot almost entirely in Iceland. After a suspicious fatal car accident in rural northern Minnesota where the identity of the victim was forged, the Quality Life insurance company sends a smart and dogged investigator Abe Holt (a curiously-accented Forest Whitaker) to identify the body. The unique beneficiary of the one million dollars death benefit is the victim’s sister, Isold (played by the beautiful Julia Stiles), who lives with her son Thor (Alfred Harmsworth) and husband Fred (a subtly menacing performance by Jeremy Renner) in a poor cabin in the middle of nowhere. As the investigation progresses, Abe discovers the truth about the fraud but feels sorry for Isold and tries to help her, with tragic consequences. The three leading actors are excellent and there are fine supporting performances by Peter Coyote, Philip Jackson, Anne Reid, Phyllida Law and Joanna Scanlan as a sleazily sexy bartender. Part noir, part Coen Brothers, this haunting film is stylishly photographed by Óttar Guðnason.

RIFIFI – JULES DASSIN             ARROW FILMS  FCD127

The 1955 film ‘Du rififi chez les hommes’ was released in the English-speaking world as Rififi, a word that means fighting or brawling. Famously, the film features an audacious 30-minute robbery sequence that occupies a quarter of the running time and is played without dialogue or music. It was directed by Jules Dassin, who made many American film noir classics such as The Naked City, Thieves’ Highway and Night and the City, but had to leave Hollywood after being blacklisted by HUAC. He filmed Rififi on a low budget on the streets of Paris in realistic lighting and in black and white it looks particularly stunning in this new digital transfer. The Bogartesque Jean Servais is superb as Tony le Stephanois, a master thief with a battered face and a tubercular cough, souvenirs of a recent spell in prison. The cynical, aging Tony is reluctant to return to a life of crime, but when he realises his girlfriend has thrown him over for a rival gangster, he agrees to attempt one last job. Together with three collaborators - a young father (the excellent Carl Mohner), an extrovert Franco-Italian and a sentimental Milanese safecracker (played by Dassin himself) - Tony meticulously engineers his biggest heist yet: robbing the most heavily guarded jewellery store in Paris. With glamorous photography by Philippe Agostini, beautiful women, ruthless crooks, shiny automobiles, relentlessly mounting tension and a satisfyingly cathartic ending, this is a true classic that stands the test of time. François Truffaut called Rififi ‘the best film noir he had ever seen’ and it has influenced many other directors, including Stanley Kubrick, Louis Malle and Quentin Tarantino. The film is an unmissable treat and extras on this superbly produced DVD include a Q&A with Jules Dassin at the NFT, TV review and Jules Dassin interview, the original (English-dubbed) theatrical trailer and a sequence of fine production stills.

CHRONOS – RON FRICKE           SECOND SIGHT 2NDVD 3115

Ron Fricke’s pioneering time-lapse photography techniques contributed hugely to the success of Godfrey Reggio’s 1983 cult film, Koyaanisqatsi, with its remarkable images clouds, waterfalls and mountains with a complementary score by composer Philip Glass. Chronos is an abstract film with no actors or dialogue and created with custom-built time-lapse cameras. Originally released in IMAX theatres, the 42 minutes long film has a soundtrack consisting of a single continuous piece by composer Michael Stearns. Filmed in dozens of locations on five continents, Chronos relates to the concept of time passing on different scales - covering the history of civilisation from pre-historic Stonehenge via Egypt, Rome and Late Antiquity to the rise of Western Europe in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the modern era. Other time scales reflect changing seasons, the passing of night and day, and the movement of shadows of the sun or the passing of people on the street. There are awe-inspiring shots of the American mid-West, the grids of motorways and the conveyor-belt imagery of humans caught-up in the neon-lit rush of New York City. Fricke’s debut film as a director was made using innovative cameras and rigging built to handle the unusually long and smooth time-lapse shots, such as a 24-hour expanse of a desert captured while perfectly-evenly panning 180 degrees. Michael Stearns, while composing the experimental soundtrack, used an extraordinary custom-made instrument called ‘The Beam’ - 12 feet long and made of extruded aluminium with 24 of 19-22 gauge piano strings. On this new DVD, optional subtitles can be selected which list the location of each shot, such as The Pyramids, Mont St. Michel, St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome, Nôtre Dame in Paris, The Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Pompeii, The Acropolis and The Louvre. Other extras include commentary by Ron Fricke, Michael Stearns and production manager Anton Walpole about the techniques employed and the difficulties faced in making this breathtaking film.

THE BEAST MUST DIE – PAUL ANNETT       OPTIMUM  OPTD0810

The British film company Amicus Productions, founded by American producer and screenwriter Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg, was based at Shepperton Studios and is best known for horror anthologies such as Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors and The House That Dripped Blood. Amicus films are sometimes mistaken for the output of the better-known Hammer Films, to which they are similar in visual style, and with which they share many stars, including Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Unlike the period gothic Hammer films, though, Amicus productions were usually set in the present day and now enjoy a considerable cult following of their own. The Beast Must Die was directed by Paul Annett in 1974 and tells the story if eccentric millionaire tycoon Tom Newcliffe (Bahamian-born Calvin Lockhart), a big game hunter with a dream of capturing the biggest prey of his life - a werewolf! To this end, he invites a number of guests to his estate, all of whom have shady and suspicious pasts, in the belief that one among them - the one that will become the hunted - is about to become a blood-crazed werewolf. When an outbreak of violence occurs on the first night, Newcliffe informs his guests that they must remain throughout the cycle of the full moon. The servants have been dismissed, the phones disconnected. They are captives at the mercy of each other’s beastliness. As the horrors mount, the fearless hunter begins to realise that he is a mortal pitted against powers beyond man’s understanding. This enjoyably silly mystery thriller - complete with a ‘werewolf break’ to make up your mind which guest really is the beast - also stars a curiously-accented Peter Cushing as an expert on lycanthropy, sultry Marlene Clark, a young Michael Gambon, the suave Charles Gray, Anton Diffring and the beautiful Ciaran Madden. The excellent cinematography is by Jack Hildyard. Other classic horror films newly issued by Optimum include I, Monster (another Amicus production, with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee), Ghost Ship and Dr Crippen.

ARTEMISIA – AGNES MERLET         BLUEBELL FILMS BLB004

Artemisia Gentileschi was born in Rome in 1593 and received her early training in art from her father, Orazio Gentileschi, as well a friend of his, Agostino Tassi. Artemisia became one of the first women artists to achieve recognition in the male-dominated world of post-Renaissance art. When most female artists were limited to portrait painting and imitative poses, she was the first woman to paint major historical and religious scenarios. In 1612, her father brought suit against Tassi for raping Artemisia, which resulted in a highly publicised seven-month trial. The trauma of this rape and trial greatly affected Artemisia’s painting as she attempted to deal with the physical and psychic pain. Her style was heavily influenced by dramatic realism and marked chiaroscuro (contrasting light and dark) of Caravaggio. After her death, she drifted into obscurity, her works often attributed to her father or other artists, but in recent years she has been more widely recognised as one of the world’s greatest female artists. This controversial French film, directed by Agnes Merlet in 1998, tells the story of Artemisia Gentileschi’s youth, when she was guided and protected by her father, played by Michel Serrault. Professional curiosity about the male anatomy, forbidden for her eyes, led her to the knowledge of sexual pleasure, and the traumatic events of the rape and its consequences make up the central theme of the film. This true story of an extraordinary woman occasionally plays fast and loose with the historic facts but remains a fine, sumptuously photographed romantic drama, with an excellent central performance by the beautiful Valentina Cervi.

THE STRAUSS FAMILY     ACORN AVNE5005

The Austrian composer Johann Strauss II is famous for his waltzes, such as The Blue Danube, and the popularity of the waltz in Vienna during the 19th century is due in large part to him. Son of the composer Johann Strauss I and brother of composers Josef and Eduard Strauss, Johann II – ‘the waltz king’ - revolutionised the waltz, elevating it from a lowly peasant dance to entertainment fit for the royal Habsburg court. He also wrote many polkas and as as well as the evergree operetta, Die Fledermaus. This triple DVD set features this most famous of musical families as portrayed in a lavish eight part drama series first broadcast by ITV in 1972, when it was the year’s thirteenth most most popular programme. The saga spans 85 years and brings to life Johann Strauss and his sons, his marriage, mistresses, public adulation and humiliation – a story of music, passion, jealousy, tragedy and the lives and loves of two generations. The talented cast includes Eric Woofe as Strauss senior, Stuart Wilson as young Johann and the excellent Anne Stallybrass as long suffering, devoted wife and mother Anna Strauss. The music was provided by the London Symphony Orchestra. The eventful lives of the Strauss family lend themselves splendidly to the soap-opera treatment and the costumes, sets and music enjoyably capture the spirit of the era.

THE SHIELD - SERIES FOUR         SONY CDRP2197

The Shield is an award-winning American police series created by Shawn Ryan and The Barn Productions for Fox Television Studios and Sony Pictures Television. Shown on Five in the UK and currently in its sixth season, the show features an experimental division of the Los Angeles Police Department located in the fictional Farmington district (‘the Farm’) of Los Angeles, using a converted church (‘the Barn’) as a police station. Detective Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) is leader of the Strike Team, a four-man anti-gang unit that adopts a variety of often illegal and unethical methods to bring justice to the streets, while making a profit through drug protection schemes and robbery. The cops are shown to be not above planting drugs on and coercing confessions out of gang members. Common themes are the citizens’ distrust of police, the social impact of drugs and gang warfare, and the conflict between ethics and political expediency. Controversial for its portrayal of corrupt police officers, The Shield has won critical praise for its realism, particularly in its portrayal of gang violence. Season Four saw the first appearance of the formidable Glenn Close as Farmington’s new Captain and deals with the fallout from the Strike Team disbandment. Michael Chiklis still has top billing as Mackey and the ensemble cast also includes Walton Goggins, (Michael Peña, Kenneth Johnson, David Rees Snell and the excellent CCH Pounder, who together with Close was nominated for an Emmy. Extras with this four-DVD include commentaries from the entire cast (including Glenn Close) and a documentary showing day-to-day production with behind-the-scenes footage. Close and Chiklis might seem an unlikely duo but their screen partnership is riveting and the rest of the cast are in fine form. Gritty, fast-paced and often gory, The Shield may sometimes be confusing but is never boring.

THE JEAN-LUC GODARD COLLECTION, VOL. 1     OPTIMUM OPTD0824

Jean-Luc Godard was born to Franco-Swiss parents in Paris in 1930 and educated at the Sorbonne, where he became involved with the young group of filmmakers and film theorists who would become to the French Nouvelle Vague, or New Wave. Known for stylistic implementations that challenged the conventions of Hollywood cinema, Godard soon became recognised one of the most audacious and influential filmmakers in the world. His work is unambiguously political and reflects a profound knowledge of film history as well as existential and Marxist philosophy. From his stylish 1959 debut feature A Bout De Souffle, ‘the film which epitomised the iconoclasm of the early Nouvelle Vague (Time Out), Godard has remained controversial and intriguing throughout his lengthy film career. This outstanding collection includes the exhilarating and sexy A Bout De Souffle, otherwise known as Breathless (starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg), as well as Passion, the futuristic Alphaville (winner of the Golden Bear award at the 1965 Berlin Film Festival) and Made in the USA (an American Noir hommage starring Anna Karina), plus many extras and a comprehensive bonus disc of special features. These include: The Dinosaur & The Baby, a classic interview between Fritz Lang and Jean-Luc Godard; Jean-Luc As Seen By Luc, a short film by Godard’s long time friend and director Luc Moullet; Godard, Love, Poetry,  exploring how the director’s  relationship with Anna Karina has influenced his work. All the extras are new to UK DVD. ‘The filmmaker of the Sixties’ - Independent on Sunday. Optimum has also released another superb DVD box set, THE JEAN RENOIR COLLECTION (OPTD0867). Renoir was born in the Paris’s Montmartre district in 1894, the second son of Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. As a director and actor, Jean Renoir made over forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s and is famous for his accurate and poignant observation of the nuances of human behaviour. Included here are his anti-war masterpiece La Grande Illusion, La Bête Humaine (starring Jean Gabin and Simone Simon), La Marseillaise, Elena et les Hommes (with Ingrid Bergman), Le Testament Du Docteur Cordelier (based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde), the joyful Dejeuner Sur Herbe and Le Caporal Epingle, revisiting the prison camp setting first exploited in La Grande Illusion almost 30 years before. All the titles have been digitally restored and this box-set marks the DVD premiere of all apart from La Grande Illusion and La Bête Humaine. Extra include an introduction to La Grande Illusion by Ginette Vincendeau and two shorts by Jean Renoir (Sur Un Air De Charleston and La Petite Marchande D’Allumette), as well as fascinating documentaries about La Marseillaise, Le Dejeuner Sur L’Herbe and Le Caporel Epingle. Essential viewing of films by the man Orson Welles called ‘the greatest of all directors’.

JIMMY AND JUDY         REVOLVER  REVD2026

The ultimate teenage outcast road trip movie, Jimmy and Judy charts the path of a pair of outsiders who fall in love and out of control as they travel across an American landscape dotted with hypocrisy, materialism, drugs and violence. Starring Edward Furlong and Rachel Bella, this unconventional love story offers a fresh take on classic adolescent themes such as rebellion, love and anger. Jimmy is a passionate outsider doing whatever he wants, documenting every detail of his life on video camera. Judy falls in love with him, fuelling their most intimate and self-loathing emotions. The partnership intensifies and drives their love of violence, drugs, sex and ultimately murder. One fateful evening a tragedy sets off a domino effect of trouble, forcing them to run away from their homes and embark on an explosive journey. Each move they make brings them closer together, yet further away from redemption. Written and directed by Randall K. Rubin and Jon Schroder, the film eschews conventional cinematic grammar in favour of an intense, verite style of narrative. The directors use the immediacy of hand-held video to give an unprecedented intimacy into the adventures of this modern day Bonnie & Clyde. The film is set up as an ongoing video diary, first of Jimmy’s sociopathic pranks, then of the couple’s blossoming romance and subsequent flight into a violent and anarchic middle-American wilderness.  The two leading actors have a real chemistry on screen and there are fine performances by Chaney Kley as an intoxicated meth-head and William Sadler as Uncle Rodney, the predatory leader of a drug besotted commune dedicated to the ‘garbage culture’. Clearly influenced by films such as Wild at Heart, Natural Born Killers and Badlands, Jimmy and Judy could become another cult classic.

THE COVENANT – RENNY HARLIN       SONY

Renny Harlin, the most successful Finnish film director in the history of Hollywood, making such box-office hits as A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, Cliffhanger with Sylvester Stallone (nominated for 3 Oscars), Deep Blue Sea and The Long Kiss Goodnight. The Covenant, released in 2006, tells the story of the Sons of Ipswich, four young students at the elite Spenser Academy who are bound by their sacred ancestry. As descendants of the original families who settled in Ipswich Colony in the 1600s, the four boys have all been born with special powers. When the body of a dead student is discovered after a party, secrets begin to unravel which threaten to break the covenant of silence that has protected their families for hundreds of years. Starring some of Hollywood’s hottest and fittest, up-and-coming young actors, this low-budget horror film explores the world of witchcraft, magic and psychological horror without going over the top with excessive gore (one of the most frightening moments is created by an army of spiders). This may not be the kind of film that wins Academy Awards but it’s a glossily enjoyable popcorn movie with suitably all-American performances by Steven Strait, Taylor Kitsch (last seen in Snakes on a Plane) and Laura Ramsey. Pierre Gill’s excellent photography relishes the swirling fog, dark nights, heavy rain, ominous forests and inevitable raging thunderstorm. DVD extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette (Breaking the Silence: Exposing the Covenant) and a director commentary.

THE RISE AND RISE OF MICHAEL RIMMER     DIGITAL CLASSICS DC10036

This brilliant British political satire stars Peter Cook as the mysterious young Michael Rimmer, who appears at a small advertising agency and takes over from the hapless employees, who including the bumbling Pumer (played by John Cleese), skiving boss Ferrett (Arthur Lowe) and sexy secretary Tanya (the statuesque Valerie Leon). Rimmer rises through the ranks of the agency and soon moves into politics, acting as a spin doctor for the leader of the Tory opposition. With chicanery, manipulation, and relentless opinion polls, the Machiavellian Rimmer becomes MP for Budleigh Moor and acquires a trophy wife before rapidly working his way up, with charismatic deception, to even greater heights as his ‘policy-light’ style of leadership somehow wins the hearts of the nation. Co-written by Peter Cook with John Cleese, Graham Chapman and director Kevin Billington, The Rise And Rise Of Michael Rimmer also has a superb supporting cast that features stalearts such as Denholm Elliott, Harold Pinter and Dennis Price. Way ahead of its time (it was made in the mini-skirted, flared-trousered world of 1970), this funny and serious film remains strikingly relevant in the current climate of British political spin, taking a subversive look at the road to political success. Digitally restored, this sharply-observed classic is now available for the first time on DVD. Bonus material includes a picture gallery and the original film poster.

INTO GREAT SILENCE – PHILIP GRONING         SODA  SODA033

This quiet, contemplative film examines life inside the Grande Chartreuse, head monastery of the reclusive Carthusian Order in France. Nestled in a beautiful valley deep in the French Alps, the Grande Chartreuse is considered one of the world’s most ascetic monasteries. The Order of the Carthusians was founded by Saint Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and this order of hermits has been located in the mountains near Grenoble ever since. Themonks dedicate themselves entirely to the service of God and to spiritual life, in permanent silence. The monastery was buried under an avalanche in 1132 and came close to being destroyed by fire eight times in its history (the present-day structure was built in 1688). In 1984, German filmmaker Philip Gröning wrote to the Carthusian order for permission to make a documentary about them. Sixteen years later, they were ready. Gröning, without crew or artificial lighting, lived in the monks’ quarters for six months - filming their daily prayers, tasks, rituals and rare outdoor excursions. This transcendent, closely observed film seeks to embody a monastery, rather than simply depict one - it has no score, no voiceover and no archival footage. What remains is stunningly elemental: time, space and light. One of the most mesmerizing and poetic chronicles of spirituality ever created, Into great Silence (Die Grosse Stille) dissolves the border between screen and audience with a total immersion into the hush of monastic life. More meditation than documentary, it’s a rare, transformative experience. This long, intimate and almost wordless portrait of an ordered, cloistered world is immensely touching and provides true insight into another way to live one’s life. Extras with this two-disc set include a making-of documentary, over three hours of additional scenes, stills, sound and document galleries, including the original 1984 film outline.

ROMEO, JULIET AND DARKNESS – JIRI WEISS     SECOND RUN DVD 028

Romeo, Juliet and Darkness is a tragic love story that is also a thriller and a social commentary. Set during the German occupation of Prague in 1942 the film is an unconventional treatment of the Anne Frank theme, telling the story of a young student, Pavel, who shelters a Jewish girl, Hanka, in his apartment building’s attic. He is her only link to the outside world and over time their relationship grows. When the two are discovered by Pavel’s mother, she forces the residents of the apartment building to decide whether Hana can remain. Wonderfully shot by Václav Hanuš in beautiful black and white photography, the film examines the consequences of the young man’s act of compassion in the face of the Nazi occupation. Director Jirí Weiss perfectly captures the fear of living under such conditions and there are fine performances by Ivan Mistrík as Pavel and Daniela Smutná as Hanka. During the mid-1950s, before the Prague Spring ushered in the Czechoslovak new wave cinema, there were several film directors who were able to make imaginative films, mostly by avoiding contemporary themes. Weiss, born in Prague’s German-speaking Jewish community, was one of best directors of that generation and this poetic, moving and compassionate film, released in 1960, is one of his greatest achievements. Digitally re-mastered and newly subtitled in English, this is the first time that Romeo, Juliet and Darkness has been available on DVD.

LE JOUR SE LEVE – MARCEL CARNE             OPTIMUM OPTD0903

The great French director Marcel Carné was born in Paris and began his film career as an assistant of Jacques Feyder. By age of 25, Carné had directed his first film (Jenny). This began his long-lasting collaboration with the surrealist poet and screenwriter Jacques Prévert, and Carné also worked regularly with composer Maurice Jaubert and actor Jean Gabin to create films such as Hôtel du Nord (1938) that defined the poetic realism style of pre-war French cinema. Under the German occupation of France during the Second World War, Marcel Carné continued working under the Vichy government but subverted the regime’s attempts at control by making his anti-Nazi masterpiece Les Enfants du paradis (Children of Paradise), recently voted ‘Best French Film of the Century’ in a poll of French critics. Le Jour se leve (1939) is a fine example of the 1930s French film-making, in which the formidable Jean Gabin plays Francois, a manual labourer in a Parisian iron foundry, who kills the suave music-hall entertainer Valentin (Jules Berry) before locking himself in his attic room in a poor lodging house. As the film unfolds through a series of flashbacks, Francois’ motivations for murder are revealed as he contemplates his fate and his love for a fellow orphan, flower-seller Françoise (Jacqueline Laurent). Gabin brilliantly portrays the different aspects of his character’s complex personality and Jules Berry is unforgettable as the sadistic Valentin. The excellent Arletty also appears as Clara, who has left Valentin and immediately falls for François, who is too besotted with Françoise to appreciate her. The expressionist black and white photography is immaculate and the memorable sets are by Alexandre Trauner. Jacques Prévert’s taut script was based on a story by Jacques Viot. Soon after the start of the war, the French government banned Le Jour se leve and it remained banned throughout the German occupation. When the war ended, RKO produced a poor Hollywood remake starring Henry Fonda and withdrew the original version for a decade, attempting to destroy all copies. Luckily the film survived to become recognised as a true classic. Also available from Optimum are Marcel Carné’s previous film, Quai des Brumes (OPTD0904), and a set of two films by that remarkable pioneer of the avant-garde Jean Cocteau - Le Sang D’Un Poete and La Testament D’Orphee (OPTD0900).

GHOSTS – NICK BROOMFIELD         TARTAN TVD 3729

This extraordinary film tells the story of a young girl, Ai Qin, who pays $25,000 to be smuggled into the UK in order to support her family back in China and becomes just another one of three million migrant workers. After a gruelling six-month overland journey, she is forced to live with eleven other Chinese in a small house in Thetford, Norfolk, working in factories and fields preparing food for British supermarkets. Nick Broomfield is best known for his idiosyncratic documentaries and this is only his second dramatic feature - his first being the unsuccessful Diamond Skulls in 1989. He brings his great skills as a documentary maker to Ghosts, using non-professional actors, hand-held cameras, natural light and real life locations. The film was inspired by the Morecambe bay tragedy of 2004, when a gang of Chinese cockle-pickers found themselves trapped by the fast-moving tide. This horrendous event, resulting in 23 deaths, lifted the lid on an invisible immigrant workforce who toil as virtual slaves in this country. Broomfield’s first experience of migrant life was in a house in Liverpool, where Guardian writer Hsiao-Hung Pai introduced him to a group of Chinese workers. The genuine relationships fostered among the actors (who actually lived for several weeks in the run-down house they nicknamed the ‘Big Brother Chinese House’) adds authenticity to their remarkable performances. Ai Qin is outstanding as the film’s heroine and the rest of the amateur cast are equally convincing. The film concludes with the violence and tragedy that took place among the cockle pickers, filmed by Broomfield in the real Morecambe Bay at a night. A strong riptide threatened to put the cast and crew in danger and the white van that the actors cling to in the water was actually lost in Morecambe Bay, where it remains today. This is a gripping, thought-provoking and moving film that should make everyone think again about how workers at the bottom of the heap are treated.

BECKET – PETER GLENVILLE     SECOND SIGHT 2NDVD3119

This 1964 film adaptation of the play by Jean Anouilh was directed by Peter Glenville and stars Richard Burton as Thomas Becket and Peter O’Toole as King Henry II. Others in the stellar cast include John Gielgud, Donald Wolfit, Martita Hunt, Pamela Brown, Siân Phillips, Felix Aylmer and the marvelous Wilfrid Lawson. The original Anouilh play premiered in Paris in 1959 and opened on Broadway with Laurence Olivier and Anthony Quinn in a production that was also directed by Peter Glenville. The film, made at Shepperton Studios and stunningly photographed by Geoffrey Unsworth on location at Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle and Bamburgh Beach in Northumberland, received twelve Academy Award nominations, including Best Actor for both Burton and O’Toole and Best Supporting Actor for Gielgud, and won the Best Screenplay Award for Edward Anhalt. The film is a leisurely-paced epic that tells of the tempestuous yet passionate friendship between King Henry and his trusted companion Becket, to whom he gives the position of Archbishop of Canterbury in the hope that this will provide him with control over the church. However, Becket takes his new duties seriously and his devotion to God brings him into direct conflict with the state and his lifelong friend. Their rift endures prompting Henry’s damning exclamation ‘Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?’ and the Archbishop’s subsequent murder. Previously unavailable for 20 years, Becket has been rediscovered and beautifully restored with the aid of Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation and is now available for the first time on DVD. Extras include a Peter O’ Toole commentary, an interview with editor Anne V. Coates (recent recipient of the BAFTA Fellowship award) and an interview with the composer Laurence Rosenthal. O’Toole and Burton give typically idiosyncratic performances and John Gielgud is wonderfully mischievous as the waspish French King Louis VII. ‘Exhilarating’ - The Sunday Telegraph.

BLACK BOOK – PAUL VERHOEVEN           TARTAN TVD 3726

The Dutch director, screenwriter and producer Paul Verhoeven is best known for his American feature films RoboCop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct and Starship Troopers. After making films in the United States for twenty years, he returned to the Netherlands to make Black Book with screenwriter Gerard Soeteman. They had been working on the script for fifteen years but only resolved their problems with the story by eventually changing the main character from a man to a woman. Unlike Verhoeven’s earlier film about the Second World War, Soldier of Orange, Black Book is not a true story, although the director states that many of the events shown in it are true. Set in Nazi-occupied Holland during the last months of the war, the film tells the story of a beautiful young Jewish chanteuse called Rachel Stein (played by Carice van Houten). When her temporary safe house is destroyed by a bomb, she joins fellow refugees in an attempt to reach safe Allied territory by boat. Tragedy strikes when a Nazi patrol intercepts their escape, ruthlessly killing everybody onboard including Rachel’s family, so only she escapes the massacre. Embittered and desperate for revenge, she joins the Resistance where, assigned a new identity as the blond Ellis de Vries, she is charged with infiltrating the German security service by seducing senior officer Muntze (subtly played by Sebastian Koch). Without warning she becomes entangled in a deadly web of double-dealing and betrayal. Twenty years in the making, this sexy thriller finds Paul Verhoeven back in peak form. Entertaining, well-acted and fast-paced, this is an epic tale of courage and fierce emotion. Black Book was the most awarded film at the Netherlands Film Festival in 2006 and is the most expensive, as well as most commercially successful, Dutch film ever made. The outstanding performance of actress Carice van Houten in the demanding central role is a revelation and Waldemar Kobus is excellent as the evil Günther Franken. DVD extras include interviews with Verhoeven and van Houten as well as the original theatrical trailer.

THE PARTY AND THE GUESTS – JAN NEMEC   SECOND RUN DVD 020

Czech film-maker Jan Němec studied at the state film school in Prague in the 1950s, when Czechoslovakia was ruled by a Soviet-controlled puppet government and artists were subject to extreme censorship. Němec became part of the underground, subversive movement in film-making, art and literature that became known as the Czech New Wave. After directing the influential Holocaust-themed Diamonds of the Night, he made his most controversial film, ‘O slavnosti a hostech’, in 1966. Literally translated as ‘About Celebration and Guests’, the plot revolves around a group of friends on a picnic who are invited to a bizarre banquet by a bullying sadist who eventually forces them into blind conformity and brutality. Belatedly released during the short-lived liberalisation of early 1968, the film was formally ‘banned forever’ in 1973 until Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution of 1989. The widespread assumption, shared by Antonín Novotný, the country’s President at the time of production, was that the film was a direct attack on the Communist government and therefore too dangerous to show. In fact, ‘The Party and the Guests’ is really more of an absurdist satire, influenced by the work of Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco as well as by the surrealist films of Luis Bunuel. As a result of the ban by the Czech authorities this film has long been unavailable and rarely seen but has now been released on DVD for the first time by Second Run, with restored image and sound. Extras include a newly filmed appreciation by Peter Hames and improved English subtitles. Excellently acted and with superb black and white photography, this bold satirical fable has humour and true psychological depth. ‘An acute piece of historical insight and a marvellous idea’ - Time Out.

HITCHCOCK: THE EARLY YEARS         OPTIMUM OPTD0726

Alfred Hitchcock had been interested in cinema from an early age and during the early 1920s he began to design title cards for silent films and soon acquired a thorough grounding in all aspects of film making, including writing, design and direction. He directed his first feature, The Pleasure Garden in Germany in 1925 and received immediate critical acclaim. By the age of twenty-seven with several successes behind him he was regarded as one of the mot promising young film directors in all Europe, with a reputation for being a patient, polished, highly intelligent director who showed more subtlety and imagination in his work than most of his contemporaries. The most famous of the nine films in this Special Edition box set is Blackmail, featuring Anny Ondra (Hitchcock’s first ‘Blonde’) in the famous scene with the bread knife. Originally shot as a silent film, when sound became available during the course of shooting, Hitchcock re-shot certain scenes with sound, making it the Master of Suspense’s first talking film. It also includes one of the first of his trademark cameo appearances (being bothered by a small boy on the underground). The other films here are Hitchcock’s early expressionist classic The Ring (1927), The Farmer’s Wife (1928), the frothy love-story Champagne (1928), The Manxman (1928), the experimental Murder! starring Herbert Marshall (1930), The Skin Game, based on a play by John Galsworthy (1931), the darkly comic Rich & Strange (1932), and Number Seventeen (1942). There are picture galleries for all the films and introductions by the French director and film historian, Noel Simsolo. The Ring, Champagne, The Farmer’s Wife and The Manxman have been fully re-mastered and feature new soundtracks. Other extras include an alternative ending to Murder!, a scene from the original, silent version of Blackmail, Anny Ondra’s vocal audition by a mischievous Hitchcock, and a fascinating documentary about the director’s early work, featuring Claude Chabrol and Bernard Eisenschitz.

NEW STREET LAW         ACORN AV9488

Set in Manchester, this gritty British television series features two rival barristers chambers, one headed by the principled Jack Roper (John Hannah), which deals with defending clients, the other by Laurence Scammel Q.C. (Paul Freeman), Roper’s former mentor, which deals with prosecuting them. Professional rivalry becomes personal when Scammel’s beautiful and talented daughter, Laura (played by Lisa Faulkner) becomes more deeply embroiled in the two men’s struggle, forcing her to choose between family loyalty and her conscience. Encouraged by his glamorous wife, the ruthlessly ambitious Honor Scammell (Penny Downie), Laurence resolves to crush the opposition for good, no matter what it takes. With both sides drawn into ever fiercer conflict, there can only be one winner. Other regular characters include Jack’s old friend Al Ware (Chris Gascoyne), lovable chancer Charlie Darling (John Thomson), no-nonsense Annie Quick (Lara Cazalet) and cocky Joe Stevens (Lee Williams). This first series  was shown on BBC1 in 2006 and features guest stars such as Diane Keen, Mark Womack, Les Dennis and Nikki Sanderson. Intelligently written by the award winning G.F Newman, who also created Judge John Deed, this gripping, contemporary legal drama makes compelling viewing. The triple DVD set contains all the episodes from the first series of New Street Law together with extras such as an introduction by the excellent John Hannah, cast filmographies and interviews, and a behind-the-scenes picture gallery.

ESMA’S SECRET (GRBAVICA) - JASMILA ZBANIC       DOGWOOF ALT114

Grbavica, this film’s title in its native Bosnia, is a neighbourhood in Sarajevo where several acts of ethnic cleansing took place and where life has still not returned to normal after the Balkan war. Jasmila Zbanic’s powerful and affecting film tells the story of Esma (Mirjana Karanovic), a single mother, and her headstrong 12-year-old daughter Sara (eloquently played by Luna Mijovic). Unable to survive on government benefit, Esma takes a job as a cocktail waitress in a night club to help pay for the school outing to which Sara is looking forward. A discount on the trip is offered for ‘shaheeds’ - people whose fathers died as martyrs in the war - so Sara has to submit official papers regarding her father’s death, which leads directly into the traumas that still dominate the realities of everyday life. This touching film won the Golden Bear at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize for best World Cinema at the Sundance Film Festival. Esma’s Secret is a warm and at times a heart-rending film that gives a memorable portrait of a mother-daughter relationship, with a wonderfully subtle performance by Mirjana Karanovic in the central role. Esma and Sara’s lives are touched by love, helping both of them to accept their past, face the future and to allow Esma to finally reveal her agonising secret. Bosnian director Jasmila Zbanic’s first major feature film is a remarkable achievement - emotionally harrowing at times yet ultimately providing an uplifting experience. Highly recommended.

BUSTER KEATON - THE COMPLETE SHORT FILMS, 1917-1923   EUREKA EKA40211

Joseph Frank Keaton Jr. (1895-1966), more usually known by his professional name as Buster Keaton, was arguably America’s greatest silent-film comic actor and filmmaker. With his trademark physical comedy and deadpan expression, earning him the nickname ‘The Great Stone Face’, he performed and directed some of the most sophisticated, innovative and influential work in the history of cinema. In February 1917, Keaton met Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle at the Talmadge Studios in New York City, where Arbuckle was under contract to Joseph M. Schenck, and was hired as a co-star and gag-man. After his successful work with Arbuckle, Schenck gave Keaton his own production unit where he made a series of two-reel comedies, including One Week (1920), Cops (1922), The Electric House (1922), and The Playhouse (1921). Based on the success of these shorts, he graduated to full-length features, making him one of the most famous comedians in the world. This magnificent four-disc box set contains thirty-two films, with a running time of over 740 minutes, and documents Buster Keaton’s short films made between 1917 and 1923. Starting with The Butcher Boy, this collection captures Keaton’s first steps in front of a camera, charting his early association with ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle through to starring in his own box office hits. Using Chaplin’s old Hollywood studio, Keaton created a succession of the most timeless, classic comedy shorts ever realised. This Masters of Cinema Series collection includes audio commentaries by Joseph McBride on six of the films as well as an excellent 180-page book. ‘A comedian does funny things. A good comedian does things funny’ - Buster Keaton.

SIR HENRY AT RAWLINSON END             DIGITAL CLASSICS DC10028

Vivian Stanshall (1943-1995) was an English musician, painter, singer, broadcaster, songwriter, poet, writer, wit, and raconteur, best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, and for narrating Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells. Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, Stanshall’s surreal exploration of the British upper classes, came to the public’s attention in the 1970s when he recorded several sessions for BBC Radio One’s John Peel show in which he elaborated, with a mixture of eloquence and irreverence, on the weird and wonderful adventures of the inebriated and blimpish Sir Henry Rawlinson, his dotty wife Great Aunt Florrie, his ‘unusual’ brother Huber, old Scrotum the wrinkled retainer, Mrs E, the rambling and unhygienic cook, and many other inhabitants of the crumbling Rawlinson End. The Rawlinson family had been populating Stanshall’s surreal imagination for some time, appearing (in name, at least) for the first time on the Bonzos’ 1967 track The Intro & The Outro: ‘Great to hear the Rawlinsons on trombone’. An LP released in 1978, Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, reworked some of the material from the Peel sessions and this sepia-tinted black and white film version, starring Trevor Howard as Sir Henry, and Stanshall himself as Hubert, appeared in 1980. Crammed with extraordinary one-liners (‘If I had all the money I’ve spent on drink – I’d spend it on drink’), this shambolic tour de force also stars Patrick Magee, Denise Coffey, Sheila Reid, J.G. Devlin as the memorable Old Scrotum, Harry Fowler, Jeremy Child, Suzanne Danielle and  Liz Smith as Lady Phillipa of Staines. Available for the first time on DVD, with bonus material including a trailer and a commentary by director Steve Roberts with actors Sheila Reid and Jeremy Childs. ‘A comic masterpiece’ – NME.

RESISTANCE[S]               LOWAVE  017

This excellent DVD compilation features eight films and videos from Middle Eastern and North African artists, showing a wide range of contemporary experimental creativity. Using images to lead the narrative, each artist raises fundamental questions relating to humanity, politics and aesthetics.  What unites these films is their determination to resist the narrow stereotyping of Islam and of the Middle East prevalent in Western media, and a creative use of images and sounds to invent a more nuanced, multifaceted understanding. Highlights include Dansons, a amusingly subversive video by Algerian Zoulikha Bouabdellah. Bouabdellah in which she expresses her dual Algerian and French identity by dancing to the awkward rhythms of La Marseillaise and ‘Dieu Me Pardonne’, where the Moroccan artist Mounir Fatmi creates a beautiful and disturbing collage of sexual imagery, bombs, guns, explosions, masked gunmen, riots and fighting in the streets. ‘Allahu Akbar’, by the American-based filmmaker ‘Usama Alshaibi’ features stunning abstract kaleidoscopes of animation that reflects traditional geometric themes of Islamic art and the irresistible, pulsating soundtrack of popular Iraqi music. In ‘Transit’, Taysir Batniji uses a simple slide show of photographs to show the endless ordeal of waiting endured by Palestinians and Egyptians attempting to travel between Gaza and Egypt.  ‘Wet Tiles’, by Lamya Gargash from United Arab Emirates, is an obscure film about a young woman apparently being prepared for an arranged marriage. ‘Untitled Part 3B: (as if) Beauty Never Ends..’ is a brilliant film by Canadian Jayce Salloum, inspired by the  moving monologue of a Palestinian refugee returning to his destroyed house. ‘K3 (Les Femmes)’ is an experimental piece by French filmmaker Frédérique Devaux. The longest work in this collection is ‘Ça Sera Beau, From Beyrouth with Love’, by Lebanese filmmaker Waël Noureddine, and this ambitious, cinematic portrait of the mutilated city and people of Beirut has gained added poignancy in the light of recent tragic events. Essential viewing.

TIDELAND – TERRY GILLIAM               REVOLVER   REVD1972

Based on Mitch Cullin’s novel of the same name, Tideland was co-written and directed by Terry Gilliam and is a macabre, surreal film about an abandoned child named Jeliza-Rose (Jodelle Ferland). Described by Gilliam as ‘Alice in Wonderland meets Psycho’, the story centres on the girl’s solitary adventures during one summer in rural Texas while staying at a rundown farmhouse, focussing on her increasingly dark, imaginative fantasy life - a world where fireflies have names, squirrels talk, and the heads of four dolls, long since separated from their bodies, keep her company. Both Jeliza-Rose’s parents are junkies, and when her mother (Jennifer Tilly) dies, she embarks on a strange journey with her father, Noah (Jeff Bridges), a washed-out rock musician. The film drifts between reality and fantasy as Jeliza-Rose escapes the loneliness of her new existence into her fantasies and meets Dickens (Brendan Fletcher), a mentally damaged young man with the mind of a ten-year-old. Dressed in a wet suit and diving mask, he spends his days hiding out in a junk heaped wig-wam turned submarine, waiting to catch the monster shark that inhabits the railway tracks. Then there’s his older sister Dell (Janet McTeer), a tall ghost-like figure dressed in black who is blind in one eye from a bee sting and hides behind a beekeeper’s mesh hood. Tideland premiered at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival, since when it has received a mixed response from both viewers and critics, ranging from ‘Brilliant…an unforgettable experience’ (The Times) to ‘gruesomely awful (Entertainment Weekly). This ‘poetic horror film’ is one that people either love or hate, and you really need to see this unsettling film for yourself to decide. Expect a bizarre, phantasmagorical nightmare, with wonderfully creepy performance by Jodelle Ferland as the modern day Alice. A host of extras on this double DVD include an introduction by Terry Gilliam, commentary with Gilliam and scriptwriter Tony Grisoni, interviews with Gilliam and producer Jeremy Thomas, a 60-minute documentary of The Making of Tideland, a behind the scenes featurette, deleted Scenes, a Q&A with Mitch Cullin and Terry Gilliam, and the theatrical trailer.

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH – DE MILLE         PARAMOUNT

This dazzling 1952 film set in the circus world was produced, directed and narrated by Cecil B. DeMille. It stars energetic Betty Hutton (Holly) and debonair Cornel Wilde (‘The Great Sebastian’) as trapeze artists competing for the centre ring, with Charlton Heston in his first big break as the tough circus manager running the show. As Holly and Sebastian indulge in their dangerous one-upmanship in the ring, he pursues her on the ground. Subplots involve the secret past of Buttons the Clown (James Stewart, who never removes his makeup) and the efforts of racketeers to muscle in on the game concessions. The film also features such Hollywood stalwarts as Dorothy Lamour (in a sarong), wonderful Gloria Grahame as the elephant girl, Henry Wilcoxon as an FBI Agent, Lyle Bettger and Lawrence Tierney. Bob Hope and Bing Crosby have fleeting cameo roles as popcorn-eating spectators in the crowd. The Greatest Show on Earth is a typically full-on Cecil B. DeMille spectacular and makes a lively tribute to an American institution: the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Controversially, the film won Oscars for Best Story and Best Picture in 1952 (in opposition to Singin’ in the Rain, High Noon and The Quiet Man, among others) but this was more a tribute to a lifetime’s work by DeMille, who famously directed the first Hollywood film, The Squaw Man, forty years earlier. With its colourful characters, purple dialogue, lions and elephants, exciting circus acts, a train wreck and splendid photography, this brash extravaganza remains an irresistible treat.

REDS – WARREN BEATTY                 PARAMOUNT PHE9056

This ambitious, award-winning film tells a moving and heroic love story set against a backdrop of New York intellectualism, Bolshevik revolution and the politics of war. One night in 1912 the writer Louise Bryant goes to a lecture given by a radical journalist, John Reed. Although a respectable married woman, she leaves her husband for the charismatic Reed and becomes an important feminist and radical in her own right, becoming involved with labour and political disputes. The couple travel to Russia in time for the October Revolution in 1917 and return to the USA hoping to lead a similar revolution. Writer-director Warren Beatty knew he faced a challenge when he took on the task of bringing to life the story of one of history’s greatest socialists, but by using his commercial success and box office pulling power he succeeded. This epic film stars Beatty himself as John Reed, together with Jack Nicholson (brilliant as the playwright Eugene O’Neill), Diane Keaton (marvellously sexy as Louise Bryant, a part Beatty originally intended for Julie Christie), Paul Sorvino, M. Emmet Walsh and Gene Hackman in a cameo role as Pete Van Wherry. Nominated for twelve Academy Awards, Reds won four Oscars for Art Direction, the terrific Cinematography of Vittorio Storaro, Best Supporting Actress for Maureen Stapleton and Best Director for Beatty, securing his place as a leading powerhouse in film-making. With a Steven Sondheim score and first-rate cast, Reds is as poignant now as ever. This two disc special edition set features new interviews with Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, Vittorio Storaro and the composer. The film itself includes interspersed interviews with well-known social activists, many of whom were contemporaries of Reed and Bryant.

NATASHA           WARNER VISION 5101199292

The charming Russian ballet dancer and actress Natalya Romanovna Makarova was born in 1940 in Leningrad, where she performed with the Kirov Ballet from 1956 to 1970. After defecting to the West while on tour in London in 1970, she performed with the American Ballet Theatre in the USA and with the Royal Ballet in England. Although keen to expand her range by dancing in works by modern choreographers she remains most identified with classical ballets such as Swan Lake and Giselle. With the ABT she worked extensively with Tudor, Balanchine, Robbins and Tetley. With The Royal Ballet her repertoire included Swan Lake, Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Les Sylphides, Manon, Song of the Earth, A Month in the Country,  Elite Syncopations, Checkmate and Les Biches. Makarova has also appeared as a guest artist with many leading ballet companies throughout the world, including the Paris Opera Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Stuttgart Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, London Festival Ballet, and Roland Petit’s Ballets de Marseille. Her television appearances have included an acclaimed Ballerina Series for the BBC and this 1985 television special, Natasha, which shows off Makarova’s delightful personality as well as her astonishing range and artistry as a dancer. Some of her most acclaimed interpretations, including Natalya Petrovna in Ashton’s A Month in the Country and Juliet in MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet are featured here alongside dances created especially for her. Highlights include and extract from her Tony Award-winning performance in the musical On your Toes, an erotically-charged Carmen pas de deux with Denys Ganio, the Prelude to Les Sylphides and an amazingly fluid interpretation of the Saint-Saëns Dying Swan solo by Fokine. The dance programme is stylishly linked by Makarova herself, making this a fascinating visual biography of one of the greatest female dancers of our time.

LONESOME DOVE – SIMON WINCER     ACORN AV9200

Based on Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel set in the late 19th century, this acclaimed television mini-series stars Academy Award winners Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones. In an epic tale of the Old West, two aging cowboys and former Texas Rangers leave the small town of Lonesome Dove and head out on an adventurous 2500-mile cattle drive to the lush ranch country of Montana. They steal a herd from a gang of Mexican cattle rustlers and battle horse thieves, Indian tribes and a renegade half-breed killer named Blue Duck (Frederic Forrest) along the way. The exceptional cast also includes Robert Urich as a cardsharp, Anjelica Huston as an old flame, Danny Glover, Ricky Schroder, Diane Lane, Chris Cooper, D.B. Sweeney, Steve Buscemi, and a cameo role for Larry McMurtry. The Australian director Simon Wincer cleverly balances sweeping drama and intimacy against the stunning landscape of the American Southwest while creating a host of memorable characters. Duvall and Jones are superb in the main roles. The production is extremely faithful to Larry McMurtry’s great novel and this is the kind of film that can be watched over and over again with undiminished pleasure. If you enjoy classic Westerns such as Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Shane, you will find this grand and touching epic is a film to relish. As well as a stirring story, glorious scenery and great performances (especially by Duvall, Jones and two scene-stealing pigs) there is a fine Emmy-winning musical score by Basil Poledouris. Extras include interviews with writer Larry McMurtry and producer Suzanne De Passe.

BERKELEY IN THE SIXTIES  - MARK KIRCHELLE       DIGITAL CLASSICS LIB6051

Berkeley, the oldest (founded in 1868) campus of the University of California system, came to the world’s attention during the 1960s with its reputation for student activism. The Free Speech Movement began at Berkeley in 1964 as an impromptu response to the university’s ban on campus political activity, and Student protests continued into the early 1970s. One of the most publicised events was the People’s Park protest in 1969, when students and city residents took over a plot of land belonging to the university and turned it into a community park. The university decided to reclaim control by bringing in law enforcement sending in bulldozers. Governor Ronald Reagan called in National Guard and more violence erupted, resulting in many people being hurt. One student died, a police officer was stabbed and a bystander blinded. This Oscar nominated 1990 documentary produced by Mark Kirchelle tells the remarkable story of this small group of students who challenged the establishment and changed the face of America. This outstanding film brings 1960s California back to life with its civil rights marches and anti Vietnam protests, showing how it evolved from the 1950s HUAC communist witch-hunt and led to the rise of feminism, hippiedom and the Black Panthers. Archive footage is brilliantly combined with specially filmed interviews and commentary by people such as Jack Weinberg, Frank Bardacke, Susan Griffin and Bobby Seale, who all participated in bringing about profound changes over half a century ago. Interest in political film making has lately been revived and ‘Berkeley In The Sixties’ was the forerunner of today’s radical documentary making, providing a snap shot of a time when a nation of youth found it’s voice and defied the establishment. As well as inspiring and sometimes shocking archival visual images, the film also features evocative music from the era, including The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, The Band, Joan Baez and Jefferson Airplane. This invaluable documentary is essential viewing for anyone wishing to understand the 60s counterculture and it consequences. Highly recommended.

A LONG WEEKEND IN PEST & BUDA – KAROLY MAKK       SECOND RUN  021

The veteran film director and screenwriter Károly Makk was born the son of a cinema projectionist in Hungary in 1925. In a career of more than 60 years he has worked on over 40 films, making his first feature as a director in 1954. The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 had a profound effect on him, and in 1970 he tackled the subject of political repression in his masterpiece, Love (Szerelem), winner of a special award at Cannes in 1971. This moving commentary on life under political tyranny made no direct reference to 1956, although this is the context in which the film is inevitably seen. A Long Weekend in Pest & Buda reunites the director with two of Hungary’s greatest actors, Mari Törõcsik and Iván Darva, who starred in Love over 30 years earlier. They were once a couple who meet again when he visits her after she falls terminally ill. This beautifully-photographed (cinematographer Elemér Ragályi) film reflects honestly in a Bergmanesque manner on age, memory and how we reinvent ourselves. Emotionally mature and often moving, the romantic drama is set in picturesque Budapest and shows how, despite our best efforts, we can never quite escape our past. A Long Weekend in Pest & Buda won the 2003 Moscow International Film Festival Golden St George prize, and Mari Törõcsik’s superb performance earned her the 2003 Bulgaria Film Festival best actress award. There are strong performances too by Eszter Nagy-Kálózy as the discovered daughter and Eileen Aitkins as the neglected wife. Extras on this DVD release include filmed interviews with Károly Makk and co-writer/exec producer Marc Vlessing, as well as a booklet featuring Mari Törõcsik speaking about Károly Makk and an essay by author John Cunningham.

NORMAN MCLAREN – THE MASTERS EDITION       SODA PICTURES

Norman McLaren (1914-1987) was a pioneering Scottish animator and film director, best known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada. Born in Stirling, Scotland, he studied set design at Glasgow School of Art and his early experiments in animation included scratching and painting on the the actual film stock. After working as a cameraman in Scotland and England, he went to Spain to film the Civil War then emigrated to the USA in 1939 before moving to Canada in 1941 to work for the NFB at the invitation of the hugely influential John Grierson, with whom he had earlier worked at the famous GPO film unit. He started an animation studio to train Canadian animators and make his own films. These included Neighbours (1952), which won both the Canadian Film Award and the Academy Award. Besides the brilliant combination of visuals and sound, the film has a strong social message against violence and war. Neighbours used a style of animation known as pixilation, where the camera films people and objects a few frames at a time, and McLaren continued experimenting with image and sound as he developed his techniques for combining and synchronising animation with music. Other groundbreaking films included Pas de Deux (1968), Line: Horizontal (1962) and Opening Speech (1960, featuring McLaren himself in live action). This definitive seven DVD ‘Masters Edition’ box set of immaculately restored films from Soda Pictures brings together for the first time all of McLaren’s surviving work, as well as many tests, works in progress, 15 original thematic documentaries and an 88-page booklet. The perfect tribute to a creative genius who influenced and inspired artists, animators and filmmakers from Picasso and Truffaut to Lucas and Linklater. ‘Movies move! How it moves is as important as what moves’ - Norman McLaren.

THE BAKER STREET DOZEN           ORBIT MEDIA ORB10121

Sherlock Holmes the world’s most frequently filmed fictional character (in second place is Dracula) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s immortal detective has appeared in almost 200 films to date, the first being Sherlock Holmes Baffled, a one-reel film made in 1900 and running less than a minute. Perhaps the most memorable incarnation of Holmes and Watson was in Universal’s entertaining Rathbone/Bruce series of movies made during the early 1940s ‘based on characters created by Conan Doyle’. All twelve were newly written and not contained in the original published series. Basil Rathbone’s career as Holmes began with The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, both made by 20th Century Fox and released in 1939. As well as his film performances, Rathbone also played Holmes 219 times on radio, as well as on television and the stage. The Universal series transported Holmes and Watson to a contemporary setting that sometimes pitted him against Nazi agents. South African born Rathbone nevertheless portrays Conan Doyle’s detective brilliantly, partly due to his remarkable resemblance to Sidney Paget’s Strand illustrations that accompanied the original stories. Nigel Bruce - the son of a baronet and a descendant of Robert the Bruce - played Watson as more of a bumbler than Doyle intended but made his character wonderfully genial. This box set of six double feature discs features all of the original Universal films, in which Holmes goes to Washington, Faces Death, meets The Spider Woman and finds Terror by Night. In Pursuit to Algiers, Holmes and Watson manage to find thicker fog on a ship than in London and Nigel Bruce gets to sing Loch Lomond (surprisingly well). Highly recommended.

STYLE WARS – TONY SILVER       WIENERWORLD WNRD2412

Filmed in New York in 1982, this seminal film, originally broadcast on PBS, documents the golden age of youthful creativity and exploding hip-hop subculture. Young graffiti artists were transforming the city with their unique art, ‘writing’ their ‘pieces’ to create a new visual language and using the city's dilapidated subway system as a canvas. Unfortunately, their art was deemed vandalism to Mayor Ed Koch, the NYPD and the Metropolitan Transit Authority, all of whom opposed a movement that physically transformed the urban landscape and invented a new visual language to express both the artists individuality and the voice of the community. Style Wars brilliantly captures the look and feel of New York’s ramshackle subway system as the graffiti writers’ public playground and battleground. Meanwhile, MC’s, DJ’s and B-Boys were rocking the city with new sounds and new moves, as street corner break-dance battles became performance art. The film’s soundtrack features classic performances by The Sugar Hill Gang, The Treacherous Three, The Fearless Four, Grand Master Flash and The Furious Five, Trouble Funk, Rammellzee/K-Rob and Dion. Directed by Tony Silver and produced by Tony Silver and photographer Henry Chalfont, Style Wars was awarded the Grand Prize for Documentaries at the Sundance Film Festival in 1984 and in 2003 it was acclaimed at New York’s Tribeca Festival and at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. The film has been remixed for the DVD in 5.1 surround sound, and has more than three hours of additional documentary and artistic material, earning it the title of Best DVD of the Year by The Onion. Beautifully shot and edited, with an outstanding soundtrack, this exhilarating film is a fascinating time capsule and makes essential viewing for all fans of early hip-hop culture. Bonus Features on this double DVD set include over 23 minutes of outtake footage, feature commentary and interview with the director and producer, 32 artist galleries including new interviews, trains and rare photos, tributes to Dondi and Shy 147, guest interviews with Fab 5 Freddy, Goldie, Guru, DJ Red Alert and photographer Martha Cooper, and a ‘Destroy All Lines’ 30 min. loop of over 200 cars and burners. ‘A breakthrough documentary’ - New York Times.

YASUJIRO OZU: VOL. 4         TARTAN  TVD3702

Volume 4 in Tartan’s excellent series of work by the great Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu features his last film, An Autumn Afternoon, made in 1962 (the year before he died). Known in Japan as Sanma no Aji, this meditative film stars Chishu Ryu (an Ozu regular who also featured in Tokyo Twilight) as the widower patriarch of the Hirayama family who lives with his daughter (played by Shima Iwashita). She is happy to care for him but he is determined to find her a husband and sets about arranging a suitable marriage. The strength of this touching and unforgettable film rests in Ozu’s ability to observe events without passing judgement, and An Autumn Afternoon contains the main themes prominent in most of his work – the generation gap, Westernisation and marriage. In this final masterpiece, Ozu finds quiet poetry in the urban landscape and interiors, exquisitely shot in colour, and explores love and the human predicament with his usual wisdom and subtlety. Look out too for a scene-stealing performance by Eijiro Tono as an old school teacher known as ‘The Gourd’. The other film included here is Late Autumn (Akibiyori), made two years earlier. This takes a lighter look on the director’s favourite theme of intergenerational conflict and differing expectations as a woman gives up thoughts of marriage in order to care for her widowed mother (Setsuko Hara). However, the mother wishes her daughter (Yoko Tsukasa) to marry even though this means a lonely old age for her. Soon however suitors are being sought for both generations, often with misunderstandings and comical confusions. Both films feature the delightful Mariko Okada and are highly recommended for anyone who admires the work of one of the world’s finest directors. Volume 3 in this series can be seen here

TOMMY COOPER: THE VERY BEST OF & MISSING PIECES   FREMANTLE MEDIA FHED1977

The great British comedian and magician Tommy Cooper was born in Caerphilly, Wales, in 1921. He entered show business on Christmas Eve, 1947, after seven years in the army and rapidly became a top of the bill variety act before television brought him to national recognition. After his debut on the BBC talent show New To You in March 1948, he started starring in his own shows, most notably for Thames Television from 1968 to 1980, and was hugely popular for four decades. Despite being an accomplished magician and member of the Magic Circle, he made an art form of getting magic tricks wrong, becoming one of the most recognisable and inventive British comedians since Charlie Chaplin. Sample Joke: Two Cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other, ‘Does this taste funny to you?’ Famed for his red fez and much imitated catchphrases such as ‘Just like that!’ he continued to perform despite health problems and died in 1984 after collapsing from a heart attack in front of millions of television viewers, midway through his act on a popular variety show, Live from Her Majesty’s. Most of the audience thought it was part of his act and continued laughing until it became apparent that he was seriously ill. These two specially compiled collections of timeless clips selected from the Thames Television archives show the ‘comedian’s comedian’ at his best, featuring all his classic routines. DVD extras include a biography and a book of gags. This is essential viewing for all classic comedy fans. ‘No other comic would work with him, he was too good. If you didn’t like Tommy Cooper the comic, you didn’t like comedy’ - Eric Morecambe.

HELLZAPOPPIN’ – H. C. POTTER         SECOND SIGHT  2NDVD 3113

The ground-breaking and hugely influential comedy classic Hellzapoppin’ was a hit revue on stage from 1938 to 1941, becoming then the longest-running Broadway musical with 1,404 performances. A frenetic comedy hodgepodge full of sight gags and slapstick, the show was continually rewritten during its run to remain topical and a circus atmosphere prevailed, with midgets, clowns, trained pigeons and much audience participation. The book was by Olsen & Johnson (John ‘Ole’ Olsen and Harold ‘Chic’ Johnson), a comedy team more like Crosby and Hope than Laurel and Hardy. The movie version was made in 1941, directed by H.C. Potter and depicting Ole and Chic making a movie for the fictitious studio Miracle Pictures (‘If it’s a good picture, it's a Miracle!’), and featuring Olsen & Johnson (playing themselves), the loud and indefatigable Martha Raye, Misha Auer, Elisha Cook and the very funny Hugh Herber. The special effects were innovative for their time and the frantic dance routine performed by dancing of the Harlem Congeroo Dancers has never been bettered. The songs have corny lyrics typical of their period and are nothing special, and some of the humour has dated, but you there is no time to analyse as you are swept along to the next gag before you know it. Brief respites from the madness come in the form of variety acts and synchronised swimming, and the funniest sneezing ever seen in a movie. Hellzapoppin’ was way ahead of its time and its zaniness inspired generations of comedians to come, including Danny Kaye, Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis and Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in show. ‘Outstrips the works of the Marx Brothers’ - Time Out.

MAN PUSH CART – RAMIN BAHRANI           DOGWOOF PICTURES  ALT109

Ramin Bahrani’s memorable and refreshing film tells the story of Ahmad, a Pakistani immigrant living in New York. Every night while the city sleeps, he laboriously drags his heavy push cart along the streets to a corner in Midtown Manhattan where he sells coffee and donuts to a city he cannot call his own. A former rock star in his own country, he now ekes out a living from his cart to hurried New Yorkers by day and by night supplements his income selling pirate pornographic DVDs. He carefully saves his money in the hope that he will one day raise enough to purchase a place of his own and reunite with his estranged son. Times are tough in the city and hard-working Ahmad (played by Ahmad Razvi) soon strikes up a tentative friendship with fellow countryman Mohammed (Charles Daniel Sandoval) and Spanish newsstand worker, Noemi (Leticia Dolera). As Ahmad, Mohammed, and Noemi gradually begin to socialise together, a tragedy in Ahmad’s past prompts the struggling newcomer to question the true nature of his current relationships. Iranian-American director Bahrani was named ‘US Star of Tomorrow’ by Screen International and Man Push Cart is his feature film debut, earning many awards including Best Film at the London Film Festival. Beautifully observed, Man Push Cart is a subtle and technically accomplished film, wholly original in subject, location and characters. Haunting and insightful, this poignant film gives a revealing picture of a rarely depicted community in the Big Apple - the sort of people others pass by every day without really seeing them. Michael Simmonds’s cinematography is superb and a there is a wonderfully convincing performance by Ahmad Razvi as the push cart vendor, perhaps because he is not a professional actor but is able to draw on personal experience. Highly recommended. ‘A hymn to New York’s invisibles’ - Daily Telegraph.

DRIVING LESSONS - JEREMY BROCK     TARTAN TVD 3700

This is a coming of age story about Ben, an unhappy, shy teenage boy whose world changes dramatically when he goes to work for a grandly eccentric retired actress, ‘Dame’ Evie Walton, who teaches him about girls, driving and life on the road to the Edinburgh festival. This odd couple – a sort of British ‘Harold and Maude’ – are played by flame-haired Rupert Grint and national treasure Julie Walters. Writer-director Jeremy Brock based the story on his own experience, as a teenager, with Dame Peggy Ashcroft. Julie Walters giving is hilariously over the top as the imperious, foul-mouthed Evie and Rupert Grint, a sixteen year old actor previously known as Harry Potter’s best friend Ron, makes his curiously acquiescent character ultimately sympathetic. There are fine performances too by Nicholas Farrell as Ben’s tortured vicar father and Laura Linney is brilliant (with a perfect English accent) as the possessive, unhinged mother. Michelle Duncan plays a cheerfully obliging Scottish lass and Jim Norton is taciturnly effective as the mysterious delinquent, Mr Fincham. The plot is sometimes implausible and sentimental, and the denouement frankly ludicrous, but this is essentially a wise, warm-hearted and likeable film. The imaginative soundtrack features Sufjan Stevens, John Renbourn, Scottish folk band Salsa Celtica, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake and Chopin’s First Nocturne in B flat Minor. DVD extras include a commentary by Jeremy Brock, interviews with Julie Walters and Rupert Grint, deleted scenes and the original theatrical trailer.

THE KING OF QUEENS: SEASON 1               PARAMOUNT

This clever situation comedy series debuted in 1998 and is currently in its ninth and final season, making it the longest-running American live-action sitcom on the air. Blue-collar couple Doug Heffernan and Carrie Heffernan (Kevin James and Leah Remini) share their home in Rego Park, Queens, New York with Carrie’s idiosyncratic dad, Arthur Spooner (brilliantly played by veteran Jerry Stiller, who was Frank Costanza in Seinfeld). Burly Doug, who makes a living as a parcel deliveryman often has to scheme to find time alone with Carrie, who works as a legal secretary at a large law firm. This is complicated by Arthur, who can be quite a handful - so much so that they hire a dog-walker, Holly (Nicole Sullivan), to look after him. When he’s not working, clashing with Arthur, or spending time with the sexy Carrie, Doug hangs out with his advice-giving buddies Deacon Palmer (Victor Williams), Spence Olchin (Patton Oswalt), and his cousin Danny Heffernan (Gary Valentine). This deceptively simple yet smartly scripted comedy bounces along because Doug, though completely a guy’s guy, constantly struggles to keep the world around him in a delicate emotional balance. Meanwhile, his wife Carrie, though utterly feminine, uses the kind of no-nonsense rational approach that’s usually a man’s province. Add to this mix Carrie’s fussy, self-absorbed father and you’ve got the building blocks for an excellent and durable show. The King of Queens: Season 1 will delight audiences with storylines firmly rooted in the everyday world, with much of the humour centring around Doug and Carrie’s petty neuroses, ill-advised scheming and much juggling of obligations to friends and family. In one classic moment, Doug and Carrie have a furious argument in absolute silence at a cello concert - a scene typical of this hit comedy that fuses deft physicality and well-developed characters with delightful silliness.

JUNEBUG - PHIL MORRISON                 EUREKA EKA40219

British-born Chicago art dealer Madeleine (coolly and elegantly played by Embeth Davidtz) travels to rural North Carolina with her handsome new husband George (Alessandro Nivola) to close a deal with a reclusive artist David Wark (Frank Hoyt Taylor) and to be introduced to George’s close-knit working-class family. Unfamiliar with their southern lifestyle, Madeleine enters the house with an open mind but George’s possessive mother Peg (Celia Weston), his kindly, taciturn father Eugene (Scott Wilson) and embittered younger brother Johnny (Ben McKenzie) react to the new bride with bemusement and hostility. Johnny’s lonely wife Ashley (Oscar-nominated Amy Adams), whose marriage has produced an unhappy pregnancy, welcomes the glamorous visitor as a sister and steers her through this insular community with her non-stop conversation. Ashley’s openness and generosity help to heal the rifts between brother and sibling, parent and child. Director Phil Morrison’s wise and intimate study of Southern morals and manners is a deft evocation of an unsophisticated yet deeply spiritual backwater. Body language is as important as dialogue in expressing emotions and the acting is wonderfully subtle throughout, particularly by Ben McKenzie and the brilliant Amy Adams. Nothing much happens on the surface in Junebug but every moment rings true and the film seduces the viewer with its languorous tone before delivering an unexpectedly emotional climax. Morrison and screenwriter Angus MacLachlan have created a complex, sympathetic portrait of small-town life that avoids cliches and remains in the memory. As well as an excellent transfer of the film, the double DVD also includes an audio commentary by Amy Adams and Embeth Davidtz, Q&A with Amy Adams, deleted scenes, behind the scenes documentaries and casting sessions.

HELL (L’ENFER) - DANIS TANOVIC     MOMENTUM MP574D

In Paris in the 1980s, a man, fresh from his release from prison, is rejected by his wife. After a violent confrontation he throws himself from his apartment window, witnessed by his three young daughters. In present day Paris, the sisters, now grown up, live their own separate, lonely lives and the family bonds are broken. Sophie (the stunning Emmanuelle Beart), the eldest, is married with young children and suspects her husband of having an affair. Repressed middle sister Celine (a brilliantly subtle performance by Karin Viard) lives a solitary life, caring for her difficult mother (Carole Bouquet) who is the mute resident in a care home outside Paris. The youngest sister, Anne (Marie Gillain) is a student involved in a doomed relationship with one of her tutors at the Sorbonne. It takes a handsome stranger (Guillaume Canet) to make change things, gradually drawing them together again and back into their shared, tragic past. Hell is based on the second part of a planned trilogy (Heaven, Hell and Purgatory) originally conceived by the late Polish writer/director Krzysztof Kieslowski with his collaborator Krzysztof Piesiewicz. The first, Heaven, was shot by Tom Tykwer. Bosnian director Danis Tanovic’s No Man’s Land won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2002 and with this harrowing yet enormously rewarding film he pays due homage to the much acclaimed Kieslowski. Laurent Dailland’s lush cinematography perfectly captures the moody interiors and the acting is superb throughout, especially by Beart and Viard, with touching cameos from Jean Rochefort as a fellow inmate of the mother and Georges Siatidis as a sympathetic train porter.  Special features include a ‘making of’ documentary and a trailer. Not to be confused with L’Enfer (1994), directed by Claude Chabrol and also starring Emmanuelle Beart). ‘A masterclass of French fine acting’ - Empire.

FELLINI BOX SET             INFINITY ARTHOUSE INF216

Federico Fellini (1920-1993) was one of the most influential and revered Italian film-makers of the 20th century. His films, most famously La Dolce Vita and Amarcord, combine memory, dreams, fantasy, humour and desire in a uniquely exuberant style. This splendid six-disc box set from Infinity Arthouse features three of his later works together with a host of extras - self portraits of Marcello Mastrioianni and Fellini and a brilliant series of films documenting the director’s life. Orchestra Rehearsal (Prova d’orchestra), made in 1978, is a sharp musical satire created for television on the single set of a Medieval Roman chapel that is now an oratorio. We meet most of the members of an orchestra as it rehearses a piece composed by the Fellini’s long-time associate Nino Rota before the musicians eventually revolt, only to rediscover the consolations of music. And The Ship Sails On (E la nave va), starring Freddie Jones and Barbara Jefford, is rare and haunting Fellini fable set on board a luxury liner that leaves Italy in July 1914 with the ashes of the famous opera singer Tetua (Janet Suzman). The egocentric passengers include aristocrats, diplomats and a band of opera singers, who indulge their follies and fancies both vocally and romantically, but their gilded world is about to receive a chill blast of reality. The story somehow also includes a sick rhinoceros, a hypnotised chicken and duelling tenors. Ginger and Fred (1986) is Fellini’s award-winning take on the world of small time show business. Two former dancers from the 1940s, Ginger (Giulietta Masina) and Fred (Marcello Mastroianni), who imitated the dance routines of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, reunite after retiring for over twenty years to appear on a TV variety show. The film is both a touchingly nostalgic journey into the past and a viciously satirical attack on television, portraying it as a mindless freakshow. ‘The sense of the miraculous is Fellini’s greatest gift to cinema’ - Financial Times.

BALLETS RUSSES         REVOLVER ENTERTAINMENT

The Ballets Russes, established in 1909 by the Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev, was resident first in the Théâtre Mogador, Paris, and then in Monte Carlo. It created a sensation and went on to become the most influential ballet company of the 20th century. Directed with consummate invention and infused with anecdotal interviews from many of the company’s glamorous stars, this fascinating documentary treats modern audiences to a rare glimpse of the remarkable merger of Russian, American, European, and Latin American dancers, choreographers, composers and designers that transformed the face of ballet for generations. Unearthing a treasure trove of archival footage, Emmy Award winning filmmakers Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller show the company’s Diaghilev-era beginnings in turn-of-the-century Paris when artists such as Dame Alicia Markova, Frederic Franklin, Nijinsky, Balanchine, Picasso, Miro, Matisse and Stravinsky united in an unparalleled collaboration. Rare magical performances, home movies, letters and diaries are intercut with intimate interviews with former stars, bringing to life the extraordinary journey of the company and the individuals who danced in it. The film culminates with the first and only Ballets Russes Reunion Celebration, held in 2000 in New Orleans, bringing together almost a hundred surviving dancers, most of whom had not seen each other in more than fifty years. Their undimmed enthusiasm, touching reminiscences and general perkiness make a convincing case for the power of dance. Extras include an extensive photo gallery, additional archive footage and interviews with Frederic Franklin, Alicia Markova, George Zoritch, Maria Tallchief and Alan Howard. This splendid and joyful documentary, released on DVD on August 21, celebrates a glorious period of cultural history and makes essential viewing for anyone interested in the art of dance. ‘Riveting’ - The Guardian.

THE RIVER - JEAN RENOIR         THE BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE  BFIVD619 

Jean Renoir was born in 1894 the Montmartre district of Paris, France, as the second son of the painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. As a film director and actor, Jean Renoir made over forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s. The River was filmed in India in 1951 and helped launch the careers of Satyajit Ray, who was an assisted on the film, and Subrata Mitra, Ray’s cinematographer. It was produced by Kenneth McEldowney, a florist and real estate agent from Los Angeles, to prove to his wife, an MGM publicist, that he could make a better film than Hollywood. The River, which opened in 1951 in New York to public and critical acclaim, was based on a novel by the writer of Black Narcissus, Rumer Godden. It is an autobiographical coming-of-age tale of an adolescent girl living with her English family on the banks of West Bengal during the waning years of British colonial life. Exquisitely shot in luminous Technicolor by Renoir’s nephew Claude, The River is a visual tour de force and a glorious, meditative tribute to the sights and sounds of Indian culture. Its central character (and the film’s narrator) is fourteen-year-old Harriet (Patricia Walters), the eldest of five children. Harriet and her beautiful, slightly older friend Valerie (Adrienne Corri) experience the intensity of first love when Captain John (Thomas E. Breen) comes to stay with their neighbours, a mixed-race family with a daughter, Melanie (Radha), of similar age. Captain John, who has lost a leg in active service, captivates the three teenagers, each of whom develops romantic feelings towards this heroic and enigmatic young man. Perhaps Renoir’s most symbolic and spiritual film, The River is a vital and stunningly beautiful work. Following its theatrical re-release at the NFT in 2006, bfi Video has now released on this DVD a new, high-definition digital transfer of The River in its original aspect ratio. It was mastered from the film restoration by the Academy Film Archive, carried out in association with the British Film Institute and Janus Films. Extras include a specially commissioned filmed introduction by Indian filmmaker Kumar Shahani and seven rarely-seen short films set in India, including a surprisingly fascinating documentary about the huge jute industry and two films in Technicolor by great British cinematographer Jack Cardiff. An accompanying illustrated booklet includes a film essay and Rumer Godden interview by David Thompson and a biography of the director as well as notes on all the short films. This is an immaculate release of a beguiling, profound and beautiful film by one of cinema’s most gifted and humane directors.

PASSENGER - ANDRZEJ MUNK           SECOND RUN DVD 018

The film director and screenwriter Andrzej Munk was one of the leading artists with Andrzej Wajda at the Polish Film School in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Munk was born in Kraków in 1921 and moved to Warsaw during the German occupation of Poland, forced to hide because of his partly Jewish ancestry. In 1944 he took part in the Warsaw Uprising and after the war he graduated from the Łódź Film and Theatre School before making films such as Man on the Tracks, Heroism and Bad Luck. Andrzej Munk died in a car accident near Łowicz in 1961 while on his way home from Auschwitz concentration camp where he was finishing his last film, Passenger (Pasażerka). This haunting and dream-like film tells the story of a German woman (played by the excellent Aleksandra Slaska) on a cruise ship coming back to Europe who recognises the face of another woman. She tells her husband how she tried to protect the girl from her vicious captors but we later learn in flashback what really happened. Passenger was completed by his friends after the director’s death, leaving parts of the story unexplained. What remains is shocking yet essential viewing as one of the most audacious fictions ever made about the Holocaust, and this is the first digitally restored DVD release of Munk’s film. Extras include a documentary about the director with contributions from Roman Polanski and Andrzej Wajda, and a booklet detailing the making of the film. ‘I can think of no other movie to compare with Munk’s, in the precise and harrowing balance of romantic beauty and profound terror’ - NY Times.

YASUJIRO OZU: VOL. 3       TARTAN TVD3565

The great Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu is famous as much for the technical style and innovation of his films as for their humane narrative content. He did not conform to most Hollywood conventions, such as the 180-degree rule where an imaginary line is drawn between two characters in a dialogue-scene, which the camera does not cross. Also, rather than use typical over-the-shoulder shots in his dialogue scenes, the camera gazes on the actors directly, which has the effect of placing the viewer in the middle of the scene. Instead of using typical transitions between scenes, Ozu shows shots of static objects or uses direct cuts, rather than fades or dissolves. His camera, rarely, if ever moved. He also invented the ‘tatami shot’, in which the camera is placed on the ground, where it would be if one were kneeling on a tatami mat, so it comes as no surprise to discover that his favourite film was Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane.  Ozu made his first film in 1927 and went on to direct 55 more before his death in 1963. As a director, he was eccentric and a notorious perfectionist. Regarded as one of the ‘most Japanese’ film-makers, his work was rarely shown overseas before the 1960s. Today, he is recognised as one the world’s finest directors, renowned for his deceptively quiet, formalist style, and his intensely moving Tokyo Story was voted the greatest film ever made by Halliwell’s 1000 Greatest Films. This collection features three of his classic movies from the late 1950s: the darkly beautiful masterpiece Tokyo Twilight (Ozu’s last film made in black and white), Equinox Flower (his first film in colour) and Good Morning (an updating of his earlier silent film I Was Born, But...). Superbly mastered prints, original theatrical trailers and extensive film notes reveal a true genius of world cinema. Essential viewing.

ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL             UNIVERSAL 8244001

All Creatures Great and Small was the title given to a U.S. book first published in 1972 comprising James Herriot’s first two publications, If Only They Could Talk and It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet. The name was borrowed from the second line of the hymn All Things Bright and beautiful, and derived from a suggestion by Herriot’s daughter, who thought the book should be titled Ill Creatures Great and Small. The books were part autobiography and part fiction, based on Herriot’s life as a young veterinary surgeon working in and around Thirsk, Yorkshire just before and during the Second World War. They became hugely successful, inspiring two feature films and this popular television series as well as a lucrative James Herriot tourism industry around Thirsk. For television, Christopher Timothy played James Herriot, the novice vet who joins the practice of Siegfried Farnon (Robert Hardy) and his easygoing brother Tristan (Peter Davison). Set in the fictional Yorkshire Dales town of Darrowby, initially in the 1930s, the programme reflected a much gentler time when life moved at a slower pace. The shows ended in 1980 after three series, with Herriot and Tristan Farnon heading off to World War Two, but public pressure brought about a return for the series in 1988. First rate performances and production values helped ensure that All Creatures Great and Small stand out as a shining example of British television at its best, and this excellent four DVD set from Universal features all 14 episodes from the third series, which finds the vets concerned about the coming war and how life will change in the Dales. The usual characters are featured such as Mrs Pumphrey with Tricky, her hypochondriac poodle, and Dr Bennett who never misses a chance to get the ‘vit’nery’ drunk. This is the most emotional of the three original seasons, with both Siegfried and James eventually called into service and Tristan passing his tests to run the practice on his own merit. Well-crafted scripts, great characters and period details combine with memorable performances (especially by Robert Hardy) to produce one of the most enjoyable television series of all time.

KONG: RETURN TO THE JUNGLE       BKN HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Ever since the original King Kong fell to his tragic death off the Empire State Building there has been a fascination with this greatest of all the apes. BKN Entertainment’s engaging, CGI-animated feature sees the return of Kong as a huge gorilla recreated by combining the DNA of the original with a human. He is now able to mind-link with his ‘brother’ Jason, making him even more powerful than his predecessor. He lives on remote Kong Island together with various dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, safely protected until a sinister hunter and a scientist with a grudge against Kong capture him and other island creatures – including a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex – to take to a futuristic zoo in New York. Once there, the animals escape and cause havoc in the city. Amid the plot’s many twists and turns it’s down to Jason and Kong to save the remarkable animals and restore them to their island home. Kong, Return to the Jungle is primarily suited to an audience aged 4-8 but the imaginative storytelling and rollicking action make this is a movie anyone can enjoy.

THE BIG BOTTOM COLLECTION             UNIVERSAL  8246909

The early 1990s British television sitcom Bottom was written by and starred Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson as Richard Richard (Richie) and Edward Elizabeth Hitler (Eddie), who share a flat in Hammersmith, West London. The idea for the show came about when, in 1991, Mayall and Edmondson co-starred in a West End production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot and decided to create a cruder cousin to this classic play about the pointlessness of life. Bottom went on to ran for three series, and is famous for its extravagantly violent slapstick style. The programme also led to five live theatre shows, in which the performers often (apparently) ad lib and are able to be far cruder than in the television incarnation. This DVD brings together all five live shows plus Best of Bottom Live, a celebration of what were some of the most anarchic, squalid, violent and hilarious comedy tours ever seen, with all the best bits as well as interviews with Rik and Ade’s unlucky neighbours and a ‘making of’ documentary revealing how they managed to sink to such depths of depravity. As an added bonus, the collection also includes the duo’s riotous feature film, Guest House Paradiso, made following the ‘Hooligan’s Island’ tour. Mayall and Edmondson wrote the film’s script and it was directed by Edmondson in 1999. The characters, based on Richie and Eddie, run a filthy hotel next to a nuclear power plant, with guests that include the ubiquitous Bill Nighy and outrageous ‘Mrs Foxfur’ (Fenella Fielding). This anarchic blend of slapstick, farce and abuse is quintessentially British, so it’s no surprise that the public has taken these two head-banging morons to its bosom.

BOB DYLAN - THE UNAUTHORISED DOCUMENTARIES   WIENERWORLD DR-4525

Born on 24 May 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota, Robert Alan Zimmerman grew up in nearby Hibbing. ‘The Greatest Songwriter Ever’ has released more than 40 albums since his 1962 debut, Bob Dylan. His second release, 1963’s The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, featured many classic songs and began a series of albums that completely changed the world’s perceptions of popular music. Around five hundred songs later (Like a Rolling Stone was voted the best song of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine and the NME) Dylan continues to surprise, challenge, mystify and fascinate in equal measure as he pursues his ‘Never Ending Tour’. Despite countless words written about him over the years, the coolest man on the planet remains, partly by his own choice, an enigma. This box set from Wienerworld features three films documenting the major tours of Dylan’s life, brought together for the first time on DVD. The set includes the CD soundtrack to Rolling Thunder and The Gospel Years and nine excellent photograph postcards. In Bob Dylan 1975-1981 Rolling Thunder and The Gospel Years, director Joel Gilbert reveals these monumental periods of Bob Dylan’s life and music through insider portraits, exclusive photos, concert footage and location visits as well as interviews with, among others, boxer Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter and folk legend Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. Bob Dylan World Tours 1966-1974 features the work of Barry Feinstein, who was the exclusive tour photographer on Bob Dylan and The Band’s legendary 1966 and 1974 world tours. Joel Gilbert chronicles these tours with 150 selections of Feinstein’s finest portraits, visits to Big Pink and Woodstock, and interviews with D.A. Pennebaker, rock journalist Al Aronowitz and the obsessive ‘Dylanologist’ AJ Weberman. Bob Dylan 1966 World Tour, The Home Movies features drummer Mickey Jones, who toured the world in 1966 with Dylan and The Band and captured on film what became known as ‘the tour that changed rock and roll forever’. Joel Gilbert updates this release with exclusive interviews with Charlie Daniels, Johnny Rivers, Trini Lopez and soundman Richard Alderson. Dylan followers are notoriously ‘completist’ so these fascinating DVDs are sure to be essential viewing for many of his fans.

KZ – REX BLOOMSTEIN       SHOOTING PEOPLE FILMS

KZ is the German for concentration camp. In this groundbreaking film, veteran British documentary maker Rex Bloomstein examines the distubing phenomenon of ‘Holocaust tourism’ as his camera lingers over the parade of guides and visitors to the former Nazi concentration camp in the Austrian town of Mauthausen on the banks of the River Danube. The picturesque town and its beautiful surroundings contrasts with the horrors of the camp, a place that attracts busloads of tourists, including schoolchildren, from around the world. The documentary uses no archive footage, commentary, music, reconstructions with actors, or testimony from survivors, but instead tells the story of how we interpret historical events today, what our relationship is with them and how individuals respond when they encounter places with an extraordinary past. Tour guides come to work at the camp every day while nearby the locals go about their daily lives. This is a place where many thousands of people from over 30 nations were tortured and murdered. How does it feel to be a tourist at a former concentration camp? How does it feel to work here as a guide, day in, day out? How does it feel to live here as a local with the dark secrets of the past? And what of those who've chosen this town to be their new home? There are no shocking visuals but the words eloquently express the dreadful horrors of the camp. This haunting film provides no easy answers but asks questions that remain profoundly disturbing. ‘Perhaps the first postmodern Holocaust movie’ - The Jewish Chronicle.

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN & THE BIONIC WOMAN       UNIVERSAL

The Six Million Dollar Man was an American television series about a cyborg working for a U.S. secret service called OSI (Office of Scientific Intelligence). Based on the novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin, the show first aired between 1973 and 1978, with Steve Austin ruggedly played by Lee Majors. The background story is the crash of former astronaut Austin in an M2-F2, shown in the opening credits. Severely injured, he is ‘rebuilt’ in an operation that costs six million dollars. His right arm, both legs and left eye are replaced by experimental bionic (cybernetic) implants that enhance his strength, speed and vision far above the human norm. He uses these enhanced abilities to work as a secret agent and as a guinea pig for bionics, investigating foreign spies, mad scientists, bombers and even space aliens. The second season of Six Million Dollar Man has now been released for the first time on DVD in this six DVD set (Universal Cat No: 8243285), including all 21 episodes and with a total running time of 17hrs 42mins. Steve meets a glamorous blonde (played by his then real-life wife and Charlie’s Angel Farrah Fawcett) and also becomes engaged to former girlfriend, Jaime Sommers (the delightful Lindsay Wagner), who has a near fatal accident when skydiving. She too is cybernetically  modified and starred in several successful television series of her own as The Bionic Woman, the second of which is also now released on DVD. These six discs (Universal Cat No: 8243291) contain complete second season of 22 episodes with a running time of 17hrs 32mins. After fully recovering from her near fatal bout of bionic rejection, Jaime is assigned to spy missions of her own. Outfitted with bionic legs, a bionic arm and a bionic ear, she leads a double life as a schoolteacher and an undercover OSI operative.  The second season finds her involved in many weird and wonderful missions in which she is forced to become a female wrestler, don a nun’s habit and become the private tutor to a young prince. With their charmingly dated special effects, cold war paranoia and entertaining 1970s clothes, both series provide many hours of slick entertainment and enjoyable nostalgia.

FAUSTO 5.0 - ISIDRO ORTIZ             NUCLEUS FILMS  NUC0004            

This unusual and disturbing fantasy horror film, in which the Faust myth is retold in a futuristic Barcelona, forms the third part of a trilogy of productions based on Faust from the Spanish theatre group La Fura Dels Baus. The others are a stage play (Faust Versio 3.0) and an opera (The Damnation Of Faust). Fausto 5.0 tells the story of Dr Fausto (played by Argentine actor Miguel Ángel Solá), who is resident surgeon in an experimental ward specialising in terminal cases. Being constantly surrounded by the dead and the dying has resulted in the doctor becoming alienated and weary of life. One day he meets the charismatic Santos Vella (brilliantly portrayed by Eduard Fernández) who claims that the doctor saved his life eight years previously and says that he will do anything to repay him, including granting his every wish. Santos insistently leads Dr Fausto in an exploration of the city, showing him the light and dark realms of human desire. Both lead actors are excellent and the beautiful Najwa Nimri gives a subtle and convicing performance as the doctor’s assistant. The film is an unusual collaboration between the three directors - Álex Ollé and Carlos Padrisa (both members of the La Fura dels Baus) and Isidro Ortiz. It exudes an oppressive sense of death and decay and is reminiscent of the work of Davids Cronenberg and Lynch. A strange, erotic and darkly atmospheric film, the award-winning Fausto 5.0 generates a nightmarish vision of the future, with excellent cinematography by Pedro del Ray and an effective soundtrack. The enhanced widescreen presentation is accompanied by options for Dolby Digital 5.1 or stereo sound, and DVD extras include English subtitles, a ‘Making of Fausto 5.0’ feature, the theatrical trailer and trailers for other Nucleus Films releases.

BALANCHINE         KULTUR  D2448

George Balanchine was one of the last century’s most important and influential choreographers, his work forming a link between classical and modern ballet. He was born Georgi Melitonovich Balanchivadze in St Petersburg, Russia, in 1904. While still in his teens he choreographed his first work, a pas de deux called La Nuit (1920, music by Anton Rubinstein). After the Russian revolution, he performed with his group in Europe and defected to become ballet master in Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes company. After Diaghilev’s death, Balanchine moved to the United States, where in 1934 he founded the School of American Ballet, later to become the New York City Ballet. By the time of his death in 1983, he had created over 400 works and was ranked among the greatest choreographers in the history of ballet. Originally produced for the PBS series, Dance in America, this DVD celebrates George Balanchine’s remarkable artistry and pays tribute to the themes of his ballets. By means of rare archival audio and video footage, interviews, film and photographs, the documentary traces Balanchine’s life from his youth at the Maryinsky Theater, through his work for Hollywood and Broadway, to his work with the New York City Ballet. It also examines Balanchine’s thoughts on dance making and features selections from some of his many ballets, including Chaconne, Agon, Symphony in C, Apollo, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Western Symphony. ‘A thrilling experience’ – New York Daily News.

HOTEL DU NORD – MARCEL CARNE     SODA PICTURES SODA017

French film director Marcel Carné (1906-1996) was born in Paris and began his career in silent film as a trainee with director Jacques Feyder. By the age 25, he had directed his first film and begun a successful collaboration with the surrealist poet and screenwriter Jacques Prévert that lasted for more than a dozen years during which they created films that defined French cinema of the day. Under the German occupation of France during the Second World War, Carné subverted the regime’s attempts to control art by filming his masterpiece, Les Enfants du Paradis. Hotel du Nord was the second in Marcel Carne’s trio of ‘fatalistic romantic melodramas’, the other two being Quai des Brumes and Le Jour se Leve. The story for Hotel du Nord is based on a novel of the same name by Eugene Dabit, whose parents operated the hotel around which the film is built and where much of the shooting took place. Renee (an extremely effective performance by Annabella) and Pierre (Jean-Pierre Aumont) take a room at the shabby Parisian Hotel du Nord with the intention of seeing through a suicide pact. However, Pierre shoots Annabella, but cannot turn the gun on himself. Seedy pimp Monsieur Edmond (Louis Jouvet) and his mistress Raymonde (Arletty) help Aumont to escape the authorities, but he can’t escape from himself. Beautifully photographed and acted, with a fine screenplay by Jean Aurenche. the bittersweet Hotel du Nord is a true classic, revealing a Paris wonderfully alive and filled with both comedy and tragedy. DVD extras include a stills gallery, theatrical trailer, and an introduction by the film historian Paul Ryan. Highly recommended for, among many other things, Raymonde’s famous riposte ‘Atmosphere, atmosphere, do I look like an atmosphere?’

BEFORE THE NICKELODION     THE BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE BFIVD577

Edwin Stanton Porter (1870-1941) was an influential early American film pioneer. In the late 1890s he worked as a projectionist and mechanic, eventually becoming director and cameraman for Thomas Edison and the Edison Manufacturing Company. Influenced by England’s ‘Brighton School’ and the films of Georges Méliès, Porter went on to make important shorts such as the hugely popular and imaginative Life of an American Fireman (1903) and The Great Train Robbery (1903), one of the cinema’s first Westerns. The latter was also groundbreaking for its use of cross-cutting in editing to show simultaneous action in different places. In these films and many others, Porter helped to develop the modern concept of continuity editing and he is credited with discovering that the basic unit of structure in film was the shot rather than the scene, paving the way for D.W. Griffith’s advances in editing and screen storytelling. In an attempt to resist the new industrial system born out of the popularity of nickleodeons, Porter left Edison in 1909 to form his own production company and became an investor in Adolph Zukor’s company Famous Players, where he directed features starring Pauline Frederick and Mary Pickford. This award-winning documentary explores the work of the illustrious pioneer from telephone operator to projectionist and finally prestigious film director, based on research by the leading scholar of early American film, Charles Musser, who also co-wrote and directed it. Porter was a product of a system that was emerging out of the years of invention and would feed the thousands of nickelodeons, or cheap cinemas, which mushroomed across American from 1907. As narrator Blanche Sweet acknowledges, to study Porter’s fortunes is to witness the emergence of the American cinema industry. He made over 200 films between 1901 and 1908, and this documentary has excerpts from Life of an American Fireman, Jack and the Beanstalk (1902) and The Great Train Robbery. The accompanying illustrated booklet has an introduction as biographies of Porter, Charles Musser and Blanche Sweet, a talented actress who started work at Biograph with D.W. Griffith in 1909.

INTIMATE LIGHTING - IVAN PASSER           SECOND RUN DVD 009

The Czech director Ivan Passer was an important figure in his country’s short lived New Wave cinema, working as scriptwriter on many Milos Forman films. He made his directorial debut with a look at football fanaticism in A Boring Afternoon before going on to make his first feature, Intimate Lighting (Intimní osvetlení) in 1965. Shot during a sultry summer on real locations in Tabor, the film was premiered in 1966 at Cannes, where it took the Youth Prize, and subsequently won a special award from the American Society of Film Critics. After the Soviet invasion in 1968, Passer fled Czechoslovakia and eventually moved to the USA, to direct offbeat films such as Cutter’s Way. The wry and sympathetic Intimate Lighting remains his most personal and most successful work, showing the visit of professional cellist Petr (played by Zdenek Bezusek) and his beautiful girlfriend Stepa (Vera Kresadlova, wife of Milos Forman) to his melancholic old friend Bambas (Karel Blasek), head of the music school in a small country town, where Petr has been engaged to solo with the rustic orchestra. In anecdotal fashion, the film reflects on the sophisticated urbanity of the visitors and the homely simplicity of the villagers. Instead of creating drama or portraying unusual situations, Passer focuses on the humour of the ordinary as Intimate Lighting shows true affection and understanding for all its characters, even in the midst of petty bickering and resentments. Played mostly by non-professional actors the film is beautifully shot (by Miroslav Ondricek and Jan Strecha) and acted and music seems to permeate every frame. Nothing much happens, but we see the universal in the banal and this wise, gentle film becomes more moving and unforgettable with repeated viewing. The DVD includes an excellent print and a revealing interview with Ivan Passer. The sleeve notes are by Phillip Bergson and more information can be found on the Second Run website. ‘One of the ten films that have most affected me’ - Krzyzstof Kieslowski.

LES VALSEUSES - BERNARD BLIER       SECOND SIGHT  2NDVD 3102

French writer-director Bertrand Blier based his controversial debut film, Les Valseuses (Going Places), on his own novel. It was a huge hit in France on its release in 1974, bringing the charismatic Gérard Depardieu to the world’s attention and establishing Blier as a major new talent. Stuffed with a typically French robust and rustic sense of humour, the film details the plight of two aimless drifters (Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere) who spend their days wandering the French countryside in search of women and an outlet for their petty criminal tendencies. Their hedonistic spree of debauchery frequently results in them fighting or running their way out of trouble. After temporarily leaving a girl who is unable to have an orgasm, they approach an older woman just out of prison, on the assumption that she must be dying for it (which she is, literally). With a couple of deaths sending them on the run, their rambling delinquency takes on rather more romantic fugitive connotations. The delinquent pair are joined by a supporting array of characters, played by the wonderful Jeanne Moreau, irresistible Miou-Miou and a very young Isabelle Huppert in one of her earliest roles. One of the key French films of the seventies, Les Valseuses (literally The Testicles, in English) uses grim humour to portray unbridled sex, violence and criminality as the two anti-heroes romp unashamedly through the French countryside. ‘A revolutionary film’ - Pauline Kael.

DICKENS BEFORE SOUND       THE BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE   BFIVD526

Many Charles Dickens works were adapted for the stage during his own lifetime and there have been well over 200 films based on his novels, beginning with the silent short film Death of Nancy Sykes in 1897. The most memorable are probably the musical Oliver! and two classic David Lean films: Oliver Twist (1948) and Great Expectations (1946). Almost a hundred film versions of Dickens’ stories were made before the coming of sound, mainly in Britain and the USA, but also in countries such as France, Italy, Russia, Germany and Denmark. Only about a third of them have survived and most have rarely been seen. This splendidly produced double DVD features eleven rare films showing how early cinema storytelling developed, as practitioners of this new art form struggled to transform a tale from page to screen. Here you can find the first existing Dickens movie adaptation, Scrooge; or Marley’s Ghost (W R Booth, UK, 1901) photographed only thirty-one years after the author’s death. Other highlights include an entirely original attempt to animate a series of beautiful original lantern slides depicting the story of Gabriel Grub; the first Dickensian sound film, with Bransby Williams as the character Grandfather Smallweed from Bleak House (Hugh Croise, UK, date unknown); and a 74-minute version of Oliver Twist (Frank Lloyd, USA, 1922) featuring two great performers of the silent screen, Jackie Coogan and Lon Chaney. The films have been given new scores by the composer and pianist Neil Brand, and Ken Campbell speaks the words of Dickens over Gabriel Grub and a highly enjoyable excerpt from The Pickwick Papers (Larry Trimble, USA/UK, 1913). There is a commentary by screenwriter Michael Eaton on The Cricket on the Hearth (D W Griffith, USA, 1909). Other extras include an excellent illustrated 40-page booklet with an introduction, notes on each film and original production stills, and a downloadable essay by Dickens scholar Graham Petrie.

CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA - KALIRAI   PECCADILLO PICTURES  PPD118

This colourful farce is set in Preston, where the Chopra family's only son Jimi (Chris Bisson) foolishly allows himself to be persuaded to get engaged to the beautiful Simran (Jinder Mahal), who has come from India and is the daughter of an old friend of the family. The problem is that Jimi is already in love and living with Jack. Jimi can’t bring himself to break his family’s heart or give up Jack but fate intervenes when a series of accidents and misunderstanding leads Simran to believe that Jimi is father to eight year old Hannah (a film-stealing performance by Katy Clayton). Jimi is thrown into more confusion when his family propose that instead he will marry Vanessa, his landlady and Hannah’s mother (played by Sally Bankes). Mayhem and misunderstanding reigns at the ceremony but, as with all good farces, everything works out in the end. The screenplay for Chicken Tikka Masala was produced by 18 year old Roopesh Parekh and directed by Harmage Singh Kalirai. Occasionally the low budget and inexperience shows but the film's warm-heartedness and pacey humour generally keep the unlikely story bubbling along. Highlights include stirling performances by veteran actor Saeed Jaffrey as Jimi's father, Zohra Sehgal as his outrageous grandmother and Harish Patel as, inimitably, Harish Patel. In the tradition of My Beautiful Launderette and Bhaji On The Beach, this inspired piece of independent film making has enough twists and turns to keep you entertained until the end.

THE SHIRLEY TEMPLE COLLECTION         TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX

Shirley Jane Temple was born in 1928 in Santa Monica, California. During the 1930s she became the most famous child actress of all time, starring in more than forty films. She began her career at the age of three, appearing in two series of shorts for Educational Pictures. She signed to Fox Film Corporation (later to become Twentieth Century Fox) in 1933 and became the studio’s most lucrative player, ranking as the top-grossing box office star in America for four years in a row. Even at the age of five, the hallmark of her acting work was her professionalism: she always had her lines memorised and dance steps prepared when shooting began. Even in her earliest films she could handle complex tap choreography and was teamed with the famed Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson, who coached and developed the choreography for many of her films. After leaving show business Shirley Temple Black became involved in Republican Party politics and held several diplomatic posts, serving as American ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. These new releases from Twentieth Century Fox feature six of her most famous films, all expertly re-mastered and colourised, giving a whole new perspective on Hollywood’s favourite curly-haired girl. Each DVD also contains the original black and white version, and comes with a different charm bracelet. The films included are Bright Eyes (featuring the famous ‘On The Good Ship Lollipop’), the hilarious Baby Take A Bow, The Little Colonel, Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Dimples, and The Littlest Rebel (in which  our heroine meets President Lincoln). Shirley Temple was a remarkable phenomenon who lightened up the world at a time when such cheerfulness was much needed. These attractively presented DVDs - available as two box sets or individually - make a fitting tribute to a beguiling talent that still seems fresh after more than seventy years.

PRISON - INGMAR BERGMAN               TARTAN TVD3578

Also known as Fängelse or The Devil’s Wanton, this fascinating early film by Ingmar Bergman was the first one he directed from his own original screenplay. In it a film director is persuaded by a professor of his that the world is controlled by the devil. He decides to make that the theme for his next movie and passes the idea on to a writer, who is coincidentally is going through his own hell on earth with his prostitute lover - a haunting performance by Doris Svedlund. Trying to make a new start, she is hounded and tormented by her sadistic ex-pimp while dream, nightmare and reality merge. Bergmanesque themes of suicide and faith are addressed and Gunnar Fischer’s hard-edged expressionist cinematography, sometimes reminiscent of film noir, captures Stockholm’s old city locations brilliantly, effectively complementing the harsh subject matter. Shot on a miniscule budget in 1949 Prison was Bergman’s first masterpiece and remains his most experimental film. With its daring structure and unflinching exploration of often uncomfortable ideas, this remarkable work is essential viewing for anyone interested in twentieth century film-making. Tartan’s Ingmar Bergman Collection series on DVD also now includes MUSIC IN DARKNESS (TVD3559), starring Birger Malmsten and the beautiful Mai Zetterling. The director here takes his inspiration from Dante’s Divine Comedy to tell the story of a handsome young pianist, blinded in a military accident, and his developing relationship with his pupil. Love wins through in the end and Bergman’s fourth feature, made in 1948, proved a popular success in Sweden at the time, helping to establish him as one of the world’s great film-makers. DVD extras include trailers, filmographies and notes by Philip Strick.

THE PRISONER 40TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION     NETWORK 7952663

This British television allegorical science fiction series, created by and starring the charismatic Patrick McGoohan, tells the enigmatic story of a man who abruptly resigns from his position as a top-level government agent and is held captive in a small, colourful village by unknown people who are concerned about his resignation. Each episode typically features the imprisoned former agent - labelled ‘Number Six’ by his captors who refuse to use names - failing to escape ‘The Village’ (exteriors were filmed primarily on location at the Hotel Portmeirion resort village in North Wales) but resisting the interrogation and brainwashing attempts by his captors. This multilayered drama asks challenging questions about democracy and individual freedom, making its political commentary as relevant in today’s era of mass CTV surveillance and ID cards as it was when the series was first broadcast. Only seventeen episodes of The Prisoner were produced, with the first being shown on ITV on 1 October 1967 and the last airing on 4 February 1968. Network is now releasing a special edition DVD box set to mark the 40th anniversary of one of the most radical, thought-provoking dramas in the history of television. Newly restored from the programme’s original film elements, this is the only release of the show ever to be endorsed by Patrick McGoohan and is essential viewing for all fans of his surreal, mesmeric and enchanting  masterpiece. The seven discs contain all 17 episodes digitally restored with Dolby 5.1 sound treatment, as well as an alternate version of first episode ‘Arrival’ with music only track. The generous array of extras include a 288 page book by television historian Andrew Pixley, original script PDFs including ones never filmed, seven audio commentaries by production members, a new 90 minute documentary titled Don’t Knock Yourself Out with contributions from cast and crew (including McGoohan, Annette Andre, George Baker, Wanda Ventham, Fenella Fielding, Earl Cameron, Sheila Allen, Leo McKern and ITV chairman Michael Grade), behind-the-scenes footage, a stills gallery with many previously unseen pictures, production documentation, trailers and Easter Eggs (including Television’s Greatest Hits clip with Patrick McGoohan and a McGoohan audio interview with Roger Goodman). An undisputed landmark in television history.

THE CHILD - JEAN-PIERRE & LUC DARDENNE     ARTIFICIAL EYE ART316DVD

Belgian brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne founded their company ‘Derives’ in 1975 to produce and direct more than 60 documentaries. They began making fictional films about ten years ago and have gained an international reputation for creating outstanding realistic dramas. Their latest work, The Child (‘L’Enfant’), was awarded the prestigious 2005 Palme d’Or, making it the second time the brothers have won the Cannes Film Festival’s highest honour. The film stars the charismatic Jeremie Renier as Bruno, a young petty thief who has fathered a baby with his girlfriend Sonia, played by newcomer Deborah Francois. Desperate for cash and terrified at the prospect of raising his son, Bruno sells the infant to some black-market connections who promise to find him an adoptive home. Sonia then goes into a state of shock while Bruno attempts to undo his reckless deed, becoming ever more ensnared in a world of greed and violence. Shot on location in the unpromising environs of a decaying east Belgian industrial town, The Child is a compassionate yet unsentimental masterpiece of suspense that grips throughout before ending in a scene of moving redemption. The acting is totally convincing, especially by Jeremie Renier and Deborah Francois, who is a revelation as the angelic Sonia. Extras include an interview with the Dardenne Brothers and trailers for their previous movies. This exciting, shocking and morally profound film is not to be missed. ‘Absolutely terrific’ - Time Out.

PAN’S LABYRINTH       OPTIMUM  OPTBD0756 & OPTHD0756

Visionary Mexican film-maker Guillermo del Toro’s fantastical film, Pan’s Labyrinth (Spanish: El Laberinto del Fauno, or ‘The Labyrinth of the Faun’) is an enchanting yet dark fairytale for adults – a compelling and beautiful vision that is the director’s most personal film yet. Inspired by the Brothers Grimm and Jorge Luis Borges, Pan’s Labyrinth is set during Spain after the Civil War and tells an allegorical story of a girl named Ofelia who is given three tasks by a mysterious faun. Meanwhile, her stepfather, the Falangist Captain Vidal, viciously hunts the Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who continued fighting the Franco regime in the region, as her pregnant mother grows ill. The alternate setting is a secret ‘dream world’ that Ofelia enters through an overgrown labyrinth garden, where she meets many strange and magical creatures who become central to her story. Sergi Lopez is excellent as the brutal Captain Vidal tasked and his stepdaughter Ofelia is wonderfully played by Ivana Baquero, who was only eleven when the film was made. Pan’s Labyrinth premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, where it received a 20-minute standing ovation, and has won numerous international awards, including three Academy Awards. Optimum has now released this magical film in two new high definition formats, Blu Ray and HD DVD, each providing a crisp picture and authentic sound. The host of extras includes a director’s commentary and prologue, The Power of the Myth featurette on DVD comics, El Fauno Y Las Hadas featurette, The Colour & The Shape featurette, director’s notebook, storyboard video prologue, notebook video prologue, Storyboard/Thumbnail Comparisons, UK theatrical trailer, picture galleries, Guardian/NFT interview with Guillermo del Toro, The Melody that Echoes the Fairy Tale featurette, Mercedes’ Lullaby featurette, DVD comic sketches: The Pale, the Fairies, the Giant Toad and Pan, VFX plate compare: Guillermo Del Toro and the Green Fairy.

DEPARTMENT S - COMPLETE SERIES SPECIAL EDITION   NETWORK 7952234

The cult espionage/science fiction adventure series Department S was first shown on British television in 1969-70 and starred Peter Wyngarde as flamboyant crime writer Jason King (who later had in his own spin-off series), Joel Fabiani as straight laced action man Stewart Sullivan and Rosemary Nicols as glamorous computer expert Annabelle Hurst. The trio were agents for a fictional special department of Interpol, headed by Sir Curtis Seretse (Dennis Alaba Peters), and attempt to unravel bizarre and inexplicable mysteries which have other police forces beaten. ‘When a case proves too baffling for the minds of Interpol, they turn to the talents of Department S.’ The series was created by the prolific writer Dennis Spooner and producer Monty Berman for ITC, which also produced other 1970s classics such as The Prisoner. Department S is typically quirky and sophisticated, with witty dialogue, unexpected plot twists and excellent performances from a talented cast. The plots are highly inventive – often enjoyably absurd – and invariably feature beautiful women, nostalgic glimpses of 1960s cars and technology such as reel-to-reel tape recorders. This splendid box set from Network includes all 28 episodes (almost 24 hours in all) of this lavishly photographed series. The stories have intriguing titles such as One Of Our Aircraft Is Empty, The Man In The Elegant Room, The Double Death Of Charlie Crippen, A Cellar Full Of Silence and The Bones Of Byrom Blaine. Extras include a new documentary on the making of  Department S, with contributions from Joel Fabiani, Rosemary Nicols, Peter Wyngarde, Cyril Frankel and others, plus an extensive image gallery (more than 1300 images, including many behind the scenes)  accompanied by a suite of incidental music from the series. Effortlessly entertaining.

THE END OF VIOLENCE – WENDERS           ARROW FCD336

Wilhelm Ernst Wenders was born in Düsseldorf in 1945. He received his first 8mm film camera at the age of twelve and soon developed an interest in American music and films, especially westerns and road movies. His first professional feature, The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick (1971), received critical attention and he became internationally known with The American Friend, starring Dennis Hopper and based on a Patricia Highsmith novel. Wenders went to the States and finished Hammett and in 1984 made his biggest success there, Paris, Texas, which won the Palme d’Or. He returned to Germany to shoot Wings of Desire and in the late 90s completed more films in the States, including The End of Violence. Made in 1997, it stars Gabriel Byrne, Bill Pullman and Andi Mcdowell, and tells the story of a Hollywood producer who has become rich and powerful thanks to brutal and bloody action films. He cuts himself off from his home life and neglected wife with banks of phones and computers that he uses to remain in contact with his business associates. Suddenly he is kidnapped by two bandits, but escapes and hides out with his Mexican gardener’s family. In order to track him down, the police call in a scientist who is forced to use an Orwellian surveillance system that enables government agents to assassinate their enemies at will. Visually stunning and with soundtrack music by Ry Cooder, this is a slow yet compelling exploration of violence and alienation – themes even more relevant in today’s post 9/11 climate. Look out too for the last acting appearance by Sam Fuller, director of the great Pickup on South Street. Special Features with this DVD include a trailer, an introduction by Luc Lagier, and an informative documentary, ‘Wenders and America’.

SILENT LIGHT - REYGADAS     TARTAN

Mexican director Carlos Reygadas Castillo is best known for three films – the sexually explicit Battle in Heaven, Japón and Silent Light (otherwise known as Stellet Licht or Luz Silenciosa). Silent Light was made in 2007 film written and filmed in Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, a city in the north of Mexico. Set in a Mennonite community with dialogue in Plautdietsch, the language of Russian Mennonites, the film tells the story of a married man who goes against the law of both God and men by falling in love with another woman. He is honest with his wife about the affair but his actions create conflict in their otherwise tranquil existence. From the long, luminous opening shot the film weaves its slow, intricate way to one of cinema’s most exquisite finales. This is the work of a visionary filmmaker who is challenging himself and trying to address genuinely deep human issues. Silent Light is beautiful and profound - an enlightening and engaging exploration of moral and spiritual crises that at times invokes Dreyer, Bergman, Tarkovsky, Malick and even Kubrick. Winner of the jury prize at Cannes, this striking film fully repays the patient viewing required. Extras on the DVD include a making of featurette, interviews with members of the cast and notes on the film by Jason Woods. ‘All the scenes shine with a visual and emotional brilliance’ – Time.

THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT - HAS       MR BONGO FILMS  MRBDVD06

Based on the book by the acclaimed Count Jan Potocki, The Saragossa Manuscript is the English title for a Polish film released in 1965, directed by Wojciech Has. Set in Spain during the Napoleonic Wars, Alphonse Van Worden (Zbigniew Cybulski) is a young army captain who discovers an old book that tells the story of his grandfather, who was a captain in the Walloon Guard. The younger van Worden reads of how his ancestor sought the shortest route through the Sierra Morena Mountains. At an apparently deserted inn, he dined with Moorish princesses, Emina (Iga Cembrzynska) and Princess Zibelda (Joanna Jedryka), who inform the captain that they are his cousins and he must marry them both to provide heirs. He will have to convert to Islam, but then delights of all sorts will await him. This appeals to the captain and he drinks with the ladies, only to wake and find himself back in a forbidding countryside, lying next to a heap of skulls under a gallows. He meets a hermit priest and a goatherd; each tells his story; he wakes again by the gallows. He is then rescued from the Spanish Inquisition, meets a cabalist and hears more stories within stories, usually of love. Described by directors Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Luis Bunuel as their favourite film, Worcieck Has’ masterpiece is a weird and wonderful experience unlike anything else. During the 1990s, Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia, together with Scorsese and Coppola, helped finance a restoration and subtitling of the film, which was re-released in 2001. It now makes its DVD debut in a lovingly restored full 180-minute version. The film creates a magical, mysterious and sometimes disturbing world of the supernatural, set among the arid landscapes of 17th Century Spain, populated with ghosts, alluring demons, debauched royalty and mystical priests. Spanning centuries and nations, the manuscript encompasses a rich slew of stories from the humorous to the horrifying, climaxing with its final chilling revelations. Stylish and unique, this amazing film is one of the few in which Zbigniew Cybulski does not appear in his customary dark glasses. ‘Simultaneously horrific, erotic and funny…this is one mother of a film’ - David Lynch.

MARGIN FOR ERROR & A ROYAL SCANDAL – PREMINGER       BFI BFIVD669

Otto Ludwig Preminger was born in the Austria-Hungarian town of Wiznitz in 1906. His father was a prosecutor and Otto also intended to be a lawyer before falling in love with the theatre and becoming a stage director instead. He directed the first of his 35 feature films in 1931 before moving to the United States in 1936 to direct on Broadway, alternating between stage and film until the success of Laura (1944) made him a sought-after director in Hollywood. There he was one of the founding fathers of film noir, with movies such as Whirlpool, Angel Face, Where the Sidewalk Ends and the Thirteenth Letter. In the 1950s and 60s, he directed high-profile adaptations of popular novels and stage works, including The Man with the Golden Arm, Anatomy of a Murder, and Advise and Consent. He also took a few acting roles, usually playing an exaggerated version of himself. Two of his earliest films, Margin for Error (1943) and A Royal Scandal (1945), are released together on this double-disc DVD set by the BFI. In Margin for Error, wisecrackin’ Jewish cop Moe Finkelstein (Milton Berle) has just been put in charge of guarding the proto-Nazi German embassy in New York. He encounters the egoistical, villainous consul (a scene-stealing performance by Preminger himself), his American wife Sophie (Joan Bennett) who is desperate for a divorce, and the Consul’s secretary, the sheltered Baron Von Alvenstor whose blind allegiance to his motherland is being severely tested by both his boss’s increasingly maddening power-hungry pursuits and his own growing affection for Sophie. A Royal Scandal is a risqué comedy produced by Ernst Lubitsch, who was going to direct until prevented by ill-health. Set at the height of the Russian dynasty, the film features a rare appearance by the outrageous Tallulah Bankhead as the equally outrageous Empress Catherine the Great. Other Hollywood stalwarts involved include Charles Coburn, Anne Baxter, William Eythe and the brilliant Sig Ruman as General Ronsky. There is also a hilarious cameo from Vincent Price as an unlikely French Ambassador, a sparkling script by Edwin Justus Mayer and stunning black and white cinematography. The DVDs are accompanied by an illustrated 14-page booklet with film essays by Philip Kemp, a director biography and cast and credit details.

IRMA VEP – ASSAYAS     SECOND SIGHT 2NDVD 3135

The award-winning Chinese actress Maggie Cheung was born in Hong Kong and grew up in England. She returned to Hong Kong in 1982 for a holiday but ended up staying to work as a model, entering the Miss Hong Kong and Miss World beauty contests before starting her film career in 1983. Since then she has made over 80 films, often in collaboration with director Wong Kar-Wai. Audiences outside Asia have become increasingly familiar with her work, including her roles in Centre Stage, In the Mood for Love, and epic martial arts films such as Hero. Irma Vep was made in 1996 in just three weeks, with the French director Olivier Assayas, who she later married and divorced. Maggie Cheung plays herself in this story about the disasters that ensue as a middle-aged French film director (played by Jean-Pierre Léaud of Francois Truffaut fame) unwisely attempts to remake Louis Feuillade’s classic silent serial Les vampires (the heroine’s name is an anagram of the word ‘vampire’). This smart, playful film sends up French arthouse pretensions with a vengeance as the director – a once big name who is sinking into obscurity – slowly but surely loses the plot. Cheung becomes the target for plenty of female attention, and, before long, has taken to putting on tight-fitting latex outfits and prowling the hotel as a cat burglar, much like her character in the film. This is a wonderful insight into the often twisted world of film-making and the weird and eccentrics to be found on both side of the camera. Jean-Pierre Léaud looks suitably disippated as the director and there are fine performances by Nathalie Richard and the beautiful Maggie Cheung. Irma Vep is an affectionate and intelligent film satire, with stylish cinematography, effective use of music and sly humour. This post-modern cult classic is now available for the first time on DVD, with special features that include ‘Man Yuk – Portrait of Maggie Cheung’, and interviews with Olivier Assayas and Maggie Cheung.

W.C. FIELDS: THE MOVIE COLLECTION     UNIVERSAL  8250881

W. C. Fields was born William Claude Dukenfield in Darby, Pennsylvania in 1880. His father came from an English-Irish family of noble origins (being descendants of Lord Dukenfield), and his mother was also of British descent. Fields started in vaudeville as an ‘eccentric juggler’, often practicing until he was in considerable pain and his fingers bled. He performed with cigar boxes, hats and a variety of other paraphernalia, becoming a world-class juggler and an international star. He found that he could get more laughs by adding dialogue to his routines and was soon performing skits in Broadway’s ‘Ziegfeld Follies’ revues before. He made a number of movie shorts but his film career only took off with the coming of sound, when he worked for Mack Sennett and Paramount Pictures in the 1930s. He created one of the great American comic personas of the first half of the 20th century - a misanthrope who teetered on the edge of buffoonery but never quite fell in, an egotist blind to his own failings, a charming drunk; and a man who hated children, dogs, and women, unless they were the wrong sort of women. A rebellious character from childhood, he gained his instantly recognisable hoarse voice and battered red nose from sleeping and fighting on the streets. Altogether, he stared in 38 films and wrote many more, adopting idiosyncratic names such as Otis Criblecoblis, Mahatma Kane Jeeves, Charles Bogle, Larson E. Whipsnade, Egbert Sousé (pronounced 'soo-ZAY'), Ambrose Wolfinger and The Great McGonigle. The splendid 10-DVD box set from Universal Pictures features 17 of his funniest films, including the zany Million Dollar Legs, My Little Chickadee (with the marvelous Mae West), If I Had A Million, Tillie and Gus, Mississippi (with Bing Crosby), The Bank Dick (arguably Fields’ best film), Follow The Boys (cameo appearances by Marlene Dietrich and Orson Welles), Six Of A Kind (with the legendary George Burns), International House (with horror legend Bela Lugosi), You Can’t Cheat An Honest Man, The Old Fashioned Way, You’re Telling Me, It’s A Gift, The Man On The Flying Trapeze, The Big Broadcast of 1938 (Bob Hope’s movie debut), Poppy (based on Fields’ highly successful 1920 Broadway show of the same name) and the surreal Never Give A Sucker An Even Break. The W.C. Fields Movie Collection is a great introduction to the work of this comedic genius and will be essential viewing for his many committed fans.

ON THE BLACK HILL – GRIEVE           FILM FIRST FF04

On the Black Hill is based on a novel of the same name by Bruce Chatwin, telling the story of 80 years of rural family life in the Welsh border countryside. The film was made in 1987 and directed by Andrew Grieve, who was brought up in mid-Wales and his understanding of the region and its people were crucial to the film’s success. The story begins in 1900 with the marriage of dour, puritanical Welsh farmer Amos Jones (Bob Peck) to his social superior, vicar’s daughter Mary Latimer (Gemma Jones). Her connections enable them to rent a vacant farm, The Vision’, a situation that is a cause for resentment in their relationship. It is against this background, along with a boundary feud with Watkins, a malicious neighbour, that the twins Lewis (Robert Gwilym) and Benjamin (Mike Gwilym) grow up. Having come through wars, romance and separation, they are still farming at ‘The Vision’ eighty years later. Bob Peck as the wild-eyed Amos Jones dominates the early scenes, though he is well matched by Gemma Jones as his wife Mary. With typical thoroughness, Peck immersed himself in the part, learning to ride, plough and pleach hedges. Although the film was made on a tight budget and time-scale, the director had time to scout out appropriate locations in the Welsh borders, notably The Black Mountains, Hay-on-Wye and Crickhowell. Locals and livestock were recruited to the film, most of the props were borrowed, and even the local Women’s Institute was enlisted to create knitting patterns of the correct period. This firmly locates the film in its region, and gives it a strong sense of reality. The stunning cinematography is by Thaddeus O’Sullivan and there are convincing performances thoughout, especially by Gemma Jones and the Gwilym brothers. This DVD edition includes an introductory booklet by writer/director Andrew Grieves and extras include Pinny Grylls’ profoundly touching short film Peter And Ben, a moving tale of friendship between the reclusive Peter and his utterly charming sheep Ben, which was filmed in the same location as On The Black Hill. ‘Ravishingly lovely’ - Time Out.

THE FAITH TRILOGY - BERGMAN       TARTAN  TVD3804

These three Ingmar Bergman films from the early 1960s were not originally intended to be a trilogy but have come to be thought of as such because of their similar themes, in particular the director’s personal struggles with spiritual belief. Together, The Faith Trilogy proved a turning point for the director, securing his collaboration with cinematographer Sven Nykvist and exhibiting his mastery for direction. In the visually stunning Through A Glass Darkly, a schizophrenic girl named Karin (Harriet Andersson) who has visions, believing that God’s presence is ever closer. However, as her descent into madness deepens, she becomes the focal point for the emotions of three men. In challenging the traditional notions of God, Bergman’s Academy Award-winning film is a devastating, harrowing portrayal of the uneasiness and creeping paranoia of contemporary life. In Winter Light, a susceptible and disillusioned fisherman is urged by his wife to seek solace from his local priest. However, the priest is struggling to regain his own belief. Bergman’s desire to define man’s relationship to God is beautifully played out in the film with stunning character performances and cinematography by Sven Nykvist. In the best-known of these films, The Silence, the intimacy of two sisters (superbly played by Ingrid Thulin and Gunnel Lindblom) threatens to destroy them both mentally and physically. Travelling through Europe by train to a foreign city on the brink of war and whose language they do not understand, the setting becomes a metaphor for the strained relationship between the women. This is a shattering vision of emotional isolation and despair in a claustrophobic spiritual void. These are demanding, imaginative, bleakly honest, sometimes harrowing, yet ultimately rewarding examples of seminal work by a great artist. The films have been newly remastered for this three DVD set and extras include video introductions to the films, original theatrical trailers, and a book of essays on Bergman by critic Philip Strick. ‘I hope I never get so old I get religious’ - Ingmar Bergman.

THE MORECAMBE AND WISE SHOW     NETWORK  7952274

Morecambe and Wise were Britain’s most famous and successful comic double act, lasting for 43 years until Eric Morecambe’s death in 1984. Morecambe (the tall one with glasses) and Ernie Wise (he of the ‘short, fat, hairy legs’) perfected their characters in the 1970s at the BBC, where their Christmas Day shows became a national institution watched by up to 28 million people, a record that will probably never be broken. Morecambe and Wise subsequently moved back to ITV under contract to Thames Television and made The Morecambe & Wise Show with scripts by themselves, Barry Cryer and John Junkin, and later Eddie Braben. Unseen for many years and available for the first time on this double DVD, The Morecambe & Wise Show - The Thames Years comprises not only their first series for Thames Television in 1980 but also the first four Thames Specials - including three Christmas Shows. Dreadful puns, botched song and dance routines, and a little bit of magic are brought together into hilarious entertainment with the help of showbiz stalwarts such as Hannah Gordon, Hugh Paddick,  Deryck Guyler, Gemma Craven, David Frost, Glenda Jackson, Donald Sinden, Judi Dench, Leonard Rossiter and Alec Guinness. Great script writing combined with the comic timing of Eric and Ernie to ensure that The Morecambe & Wise Show stands up to repeated viewing and this DVD is one for all fans of television’s golden age. In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, The Morecambe & Wise Show was placed 14th. In 2006, they were voted number two in a poll of TV’s greatest stars.

JINDABYNE – LAWRENCE           REVOLVER REVD2006

Adapted from a Raymond Carver short story - So Much Water So Close to Home - by writer Beatrix Christian and award-winning director Ray Lawrence, Jindabyne is an Australian drama film starring the excellent Gabriel Byrne, Laura Linney, Deborra-Lee Furness and John Howard. It was filmed on location in and around the town of the same name - Jindabyne, New South Wales, situated next to the beautiful Snowy Mountains. Stewart Kane, an Irishman living in Jindabyne, takes a fishing trip into isolated hill country with three other men when they discover the body of a murdered girl in the river. Rather than return to the town immediately, they continue fishing and report their gruesome find days later. Stewart’s wife Claire is the last to find out. Deeply disturbed by her husband’s action, her faith in her relationship with Stewart is shaken. She wants to understand and tries to make things right. In her determination to help the victim’s family Claire sets herself not only against her own family and friends but also those of the dead girl. Her marriage is taken to the brink and her peaceful life with Stewart and their young son hangs in the balance. The story of a murder and a marriage – this engrossing and convincingly acted film tells complex tale of doubt, anger, shame and responsibility, taking an incisive look at the sexual and racial climate of contemporary Australia. The follow up film to director Ray Lawrence’s masterpiece Lantana, Jindabyne is one of most intersting films to come from Australia in recent years. Extras include a ‘making of’ film, deleted scenes and a trailer. Raymond Carver’s short story was also adapted by Robert Altman as part of his 1993 film, Short Cuts.

ANGEL HEART SPECIAL EDITION - ALAN PARKER     MOMENTUM MP460D

Harry Angel is a hard-boiled New York private detective down on his luck, when the mysterious Louis Cyphre steps into his life, hiring him to track down a big band singer by the name of Johnny Favourite. What seems to be a routine job turns sinister when everyone connected to Johnny winds up dead.  It seems Johnny doesn’t want to be found and soon Harry follows his trail south to New Orleans in the steamy state of Louisiana, and into the depths of something Harry cannot fathom or even possibly live through. Starring Mickey Rourke as the seedy, hard-bitten private eye Harry Angel, Alan Parker’s moody, atmospheric film is part thriller and part supernatural detective story. Robert De Niro co-stars as the sinister Louis Cyphre, a cool, calculating customer whose true identity and purpose become evident only at the story’s climax. To see him crack and eat an egg with those long fingernails is to recognise true evil! Lisa Bonet from The Cosby Show makes her controversially sexy big screen debut as Voodoo priestess Epiphany Proudfoot, and Charlotte Rampling sizzles briefly as the mysterious Margaret Krusemark. This cult classic was ahead of its time when released in 1987 and now receives a special edition double DVD release with over ninety minutes of extras, including an introduction and commentary by Alan Parker, three ‘making of’ documentaries, interviews with the director and cast, personality profiles, a look behind the scenes, a photo gallery, a guided tour, and some fascinating voodoo and dance featurettes. With fabulous cinematography by Michael Seresin and music by Courtney Pine, Angel Heart is Alan Parker’s masterpiece and gives Mickey Rourke his most memorable acting role. Like The Sixth Sense, this powerful supernatural thriller makes you want to watch it again as soon as you discover the twist ending.

BREAD AND ROSES – LOACH       FILM4  F4DVD90044

Ken Loach was born born in Nuneaton in 1936 and started out as an actor in repertory before becoming a television director in the 1960s, working on early episodes of Z-Cars. In 1966, he made the drama-documentary Cathy Come Home, a moving and socially influential portrait of homelessness that was powerfully critical of the Social Services. This hugely successful film revealed the director’s naturalistic style as well as his socialist beliefs, which were also evident in subsequent cinema films such as Kes (1969) and Riff-Raff (1990). Loach always strives for genuine interplay between actors, sometimes with scenes that are unscripted, and prefers to use unknown performers who have had actual life experience of the characters they portray. For Bread and Roses, made in the USA in 2000, he chose two leading actors who had been involved union organisation and had experienced life as an immigrant. The film deals with the struggle of poorly paid janitorial workers in Los Angeles and their fight for better working conditions and the right to belong to the union. It is highly critical of inequalities in the United States, especially regarding health insurance and the pay of those in menial jobs. The film’s title derives from a poem by James Oppenheim that is associated with the 1912 textile strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts, which was largely led by women and resulted in uniting many different immigrant communities. The subject matter of Loach’s film, nominated for many awards, including the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, may sound unexciting but this is an engaging study of the struggle against poverty and economic exploitation. Bread and Roses is a humane and heartfelt film with fine performances by the mostly unfamiliar cast, especially Elpidia Carrillo, Pilar Padilla (who had to learn English in order to play the part) and the excellent Adrian Brodey. It is one of 20 classic Film4 titles recently released on DVD and available at discounted prices. They include another excellent Ken Loach film, My Name Is Joe, as well as Monsoon Wedding, the Oscar nominated thriller Sexy Beast, Heat and Dust, and My Beautiful Laundrette.

AFTER LIFE - KORE-EDA         SODA PICTURES  SODAO41

Japanese film director Hirokazu Kore-Eda was born in Tokyo in 1962. He originally planned to be a novelist, but after graduating from Waseda University he worked as an assistant director making documentaries before directing his first film, Lessons from a Calf, in 1991. His work explores themes of memory, death and coming to terms with loss, as in his 1999 film, After Life. At a half-way station between heaven and earth, guides greet the newly dead. Over the next three days, they will help the dead sift through their memories to find the one defining moment of their lives. The chosen moment will be recreated on film and re-lived for eternity. With exquisite beauty, After Life shows us that while the memories people choose may seem simple, be it a first kiss or a last cigarette, their meaning is often more complex and deciding upon them is no easy task. Using humour and compassion the guides lead, urge and cajole their clients to discover meaning and value in their past, for without a decision the dead will be stuck in limbo, forever recreating and filming the happiness of others. Beautifully photographed and acted, this compassionate and thought-provoking film deals with the mystery of mortality in an elegant, gentle way that haunts the memory.

AGATHA CHRISTIE’S  SEVEN DIALS MYSTERY     ACORN  AVNE5013

Dame Agatha Christie has been called the best-selling writer of books of all time, and the best-selling writer of any kind together with William Shakespeare. Only the Bible sold more with about 6 billion copies. An estimated four billion copies of her novels have been sold and she is the most translated individual author in the world. Altough she also wrote romance novels under the name Mary Westmacott, she is best remembered for her 80 detective novels and her successful West End theatre plays, including the perennial Mousetrap. Her works, particularly those featuring Hercule Poirot or Miss Jane Marple, earned her the title the ‘Queen of Crime’ and made her one of the most influential writers in the genre. The Seven Dials Mystery was first published in 1929 and brings back the characters from an earlier Christie novel, The Secret of Chimneys. Two mysterious deaths mar an otherwise pleasant weekend in the English countryside, unflappable flapper Lady Eileen Brent teams up with the dashing Jimmy Thesinger to solve the dastardly deeds. Their sleuthing leads them into a world of espionage and international intrigue as they discover a secret society known as The Seven Dials and the attempted theft of top-secret government documents. The typical Christie plot involves a mysterious formula, shots in the night, a sumptuous country house, vintage cars, and people called Pongo and Bundle. Following the success of their version of Why Didn’t They Ask Evans the previous year, The Seven Dials Mystery was adapted by London Weekend Television as a drama and transmitted in 1981. The large cat enjoy themselves immensely and there are splendid performances by Cheryl Campbell as the delightfully sparky Lady Eileen Brent, Harry Andrews as wily Supt. Battle, Terence Alexander, Joyce Redman (a hoot as Lady Coote), Leslie Sands, James Warwick, Brian Wilde as a wonderfully dubious butler Tredwell, and Sir John Gielgud, all too briefly, as the Marquis of Caterhan. DVD extras include filmographies of the main actors and an Agatha Christie biography.

MR UNTOUCHABLE, THE ORIGINAL GANGSTER    REVOLVER REVD2036

Leroy Antonio ‘Nicky’ Barnes is a former drug dealer who at one time, along with Frank Lucas and Guy Fisher, was one of the biggest heroin dealers in New York city. He was eventually prosecuted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole but after several years in prison he turned State’s evidence, testifying against Fisher and others in order to reduce his sentence. Barnes was released from prison in 1998 and later co-operated in the making of this incredible documentary inspired by his notorious real life escapades in 1970s Harlem. This epic tale of drugs, money, power and revenge follows Barnes, who ran one of the largest organised crime syndicates the Unite States has ever seen. The riveting documentary takes us on an unforgettable journey, using archive footage and accounts from the people who knew him best as well as interviews with Barnes himself (his face concealed). From this we learn that drugs became a part of his life at a young age and eventually led to him becoming the biggest heroin dealer in America, dubbed Mr Untouchable by the New York Times, although today he claims to be a reformed man, albeit with his giant ego intact. Director Marc Levin’s ferocious film brilliantly tracks the gangster’s rise and fall, even if it occasionally allows Barnes’s dominant personality and flashy lifestyle to obscure the harm he caused to so many people. Handing out free Thanksgiving turkeys to the poor didn’t make him a nice man.

ALFRED HITCHCOCK: THE BRITISH YEARS     NETWORK 7952741

This superb DVD box set brings together for the first time some of Alfred Hitchcock’s best feature films made for British studios in the 1920s and 1930s. The collection includes such acclaimed classics as The Man who Knew Too Much, The Thirty-Nine Steps (starring Robert Donat and Madeleine Caroll), Secret Agent, The Lady Vanishes (with the inimitable Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne) and Jamaica Inn, as well as less well-known but equally memorable pictures – Sabotage (a brilliant tour-de-force based confusingly on a Joseph Conrad novel called The Secret Agent), Young & Innocent, The Pleasure Garden (made in 1925 and the first film Hitchcock directed to completion), The Lodger (inspired by Jack the Ripper) and Downhill (with Ivor Novello). Many of the films have been digitally restored and the wide range of special features include an interview with Hitchcock about his life and career; an Aquarius programme with candid photography of Hitchcock filming Frenzy in London; featurettes in which film historian Charles Barr introduces and analyses each of the ten films; on location reports for Sabotage and The Thirty-Nine Steps, introduced by actor Robert Powell; the original theatrical trailer for The Lady Vanishes; script PDFs for The Thirty-Nine Steps, The Lady Vanishes and Jamaica Inn; and an eight-page booklet by Charles Barr on Hitchcock’s career. A treat for all fans of the man voted ‘greatest director of all time’ by Entertainment Weekly.

THE PLAYER & SHORTCUTS – ALTMAN     PARAMOUNT 

The revolutionary American film director Robert Bernard Altman was born in 1925 in Kansas City, Missouri. After serving in the US Air Force, he moved to Hollywood and tried his hand at acting (appearing in the The Secret Life of Walter Mitty in 1947), songwriting and screen-writing , with little success. Back in Kansas City, he joined a film production company and learned his craft by working on documentaries, training and educational films, and advertisements. Later, he directed for television (including Alfred Hitchcock’s show) and made his big-screen debut with The Delinquents. His Hollywood breakthrough came with MASH (1970), after more than fifteen directors had already turned it down. He went on to have major successes such as McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The Long Goodbye, Nashville and Gosford Park, becoming famous for his highly naturalistic style and trademark overlapping dialogue. The Player, released in 1992, stars Tim Robbins as a Hollywood executive who believes he is being blackmailed by a screenwriter whose script he once rejected. With an award-winning screenplay by Michael Tolkin, this affectionate satire features more than 60 cameo appearances by Hollywood producers, directors and actors such as Julia Roberts, Jeff Goldblum, Jack Lemon, Bruce Willis, Whoopi Goldberg and James Coburn, and is filled with movie references and insider jokes. The Player was a comeback film for Altman, winning him best director award at the Cannes Film Festival. The following year, he went on to make an epic adaption inspired by nine short stories and a poem by Raymond Carver, SHORT CUTS. The screenplay by Altman and Frank Barhydt substitutes Los Angeles for the Pacific Northwest setting of Carver’s stories as the film follows the actions of twenty-two characters, both in parallel and at occasional points of connection. The role of chance and luck is central to the film, and many of the stories concern death and infidelity. As usual, the director places more importance on character motivation than intricate plots and focuses on improvisation, with actors creating their own dialogue. Short Cuts also stars Tim Robbins, with Andie MacDowell, Chris Penn, Lyle Lovett, Peter Gallagher, Tom Waits and a young Julianne Moore, and is three hours of moving, compelling drama created by one of Hollywood’s most revered film-makers.

THE WAR ON DEMOCRACY - JOHN PILGER         LIONS GATE

The award-winning journalist, author and thought-provoking documentary filmmaker John Pilger began his career in his native Australia before moving to London in the 1960s. He has been a foreign correspondent and a front-line war reporter, beginning with Vietnam in 1967, and is an impassioned critic of foreign military and economic adventures by Western governments. He has won television academy awards in both Britain and America, including a BAFTA for a lifetime’s achievement in factual television. Noam Chomsky wrote: ‘John Pilger’s work has been a beacon of light in often dark times. The realities he has brought to light have been a revelation, over and over again, and his courage and insight a constant inspiration.’ The War on Democracy is John Pilger’s first feature-length film made for the cinema. He and the director, Christopher Martin, chart the extraordinary rise of a new people’s movement in Latin America against a vast historical mural of colonial intervention by the United States. Comprised of in-depth interviews and illuminating social and political examination, Pilger investigates the repercussions of American foreign policy, allowing the audience to better ‘understand the true nature of the so-called war on terror’. John Pilger’s interviews President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and speaks to US government officials who ran the CIA’s war in Latin America in the 1980s. The War on Democracy is an emotive, uplifting and ultimately hopeful film that received wide critical acclaim on its theatrical release. This powerful indictment of greed and the brutal reality of US foreign policy is now available for the first time on DVD from Lions Gate. ‘John Pilger unearths, with steely attention, the facts, the filthy truth, and tells it as it is’ - Harold Pinter.

THE COMPLETE COEN COLLECTION

Brothers Joel and Ethan Coen are arguably the most visionary, original and prodigious team in Hollywood - a formidable screenwriting, directing and producing duo. They constantly surprise and delight audiences and critics alike with their dark comedies, Westerns and noirs, and a stunning and yet hugely varied CV that takes in some of the finest films to come out of mainstream Hollywood in the past three decades. Now, for the first time ever, all 11 of their extraordinary films are available in this DVD boxed set from Spirit Entertainment. The Complete Coen Collection features all the movies alongside a whole host of extras, and a 48 page full colour companion booklet written by Eddie Robson, author of a bestselling book on the Coen Brothers. The Coen’s talent is such they have no trouble attracting great actors such as George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Goodman, Billy Bob Thornton, John Turturro and Albert Finney to their films over the years. This stunning set includes: Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Miller’s Crossing, Barton Fink, The Hudsucker Proxy, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers - an amazing collection of films from two hugely original filmmakers.

DARATT - MAHAMAT-SALEH HAROUN       SODA PICTURES

Director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s story is set in his native Chad, where the government has granted amnesty to all war criminals after the long civil war. Sixteen-year-old Atim is given a revolver by his grandfather so that he may find and kill the man who killed his father. Atim leaves his village for N’djamena and quickly locates the former war criminal Nassara, who is now married and has settled down as the owner of a small bakery. With the firm intention of killing him, Atim gets closer to Nassara under the guise of looking for work, and is hired as an apprentice baker. Intrigued by Atim’s attitude toward him, Nassara takes him under his wing and teaches him the secrets of making bread. Over the weeks, a strange relationship evolves between the two, and despite his disgust Atim seems to recognise in Nassara the father figure he has always needed. Meanwhile, Nassara sees the teenager as a potential son and even suggests adoption. This critically acclaimed tale of revenge and redemption is visually stunning and powerfully acted, especially by Youssouf Djaoro (Nassara) and Ali Barkai (Atim). Daratt (‘Dry Season’) is a subtle, intelligent and moving film that asks important questions about Africa and its future as well as about ourselves. DVD extras include a theatrical trailer, deleted scenes and Q&A with the director.

THE PAUL ROBESON COLLECTION       NETWORK 7952762

Paul LeRoy Bustill Robeson (1898 - 1976) was one of the most remarkable men of the twentieth century - a multi-lingual American actor (he was an outstanding Othello), athlete, superb bass-baritone singer, writer, civil rights activist and Stalin Peace Prize laureate. He was also tall, handsome and hugely charismatic. Born the youngest son of five children, he was the grandson of slaves and the son of a Presbyterian minister who escaped slavery. Robeson became a star student at Rutgers University, where in addition to his academic achievements he had an fine athletic career on the track and was the first Black football player at the university. After graduating in law at Columbia he took a job with a law firm, leaving when a white secretary refused to take dictation from him. Robeson decided to use his artistic talents in theatre and music to promote African and African-American history and culture, starting a brilliant career which would span nearly four decades. He considered himself a ‘world citizen’, with friends such as Jomo Kenyatta, Nehru, and writers James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway. Unfortunately, during the McCarthy Era of the 1950s, attempts were made to silence and discredit him, and illness ended his professional career in 1961. Between 1925 and 1942, Robeson appeared in eleven films - all but four of them British - after he and his wife moved to England in the late 1920s. This splendid box set features five Paul Robeson films, including his debut, Body And Soul, made in 1924 by pioneer African-American director Oscar Micheaux. The others are the anachronistic Sanders of the River, Song of Freedom (Robeson as a London docker with a great voice), Big Fella (an easy-going musical with Elizabeth Welch) and the enjoyable King Solomon’s Mines. The collection also includes an audio CD of re-mastered tracks, featuring 20 of Paul Robeson’s greatest hits, including Ol’ Man River, The Lonesome Road and Lazy Bones. This is a fitting tribute to a true polymath and Renaissance Man, who fought with dignity and forbearance against great adversity.

LEGACY – BABLUNAI   REVOLVER

Three French hipsters - Jean (Stanislas Merhar), Celine (Olga Lenegrad) and Pat (Sylvie Testud) - hire a translator (the wonderfully lugubrious Pascal Bongard) then set off on a ramshackle bus through beautiful rural Georgia countryside to claim a remote, ruined castle that one of them has inherited. They encounter many colourful locals on their journey, most notably an apparently mute rogue trader (Augustin Legrand), an old man (Leo Gaparidze) and his grandson (George Babluani) who board the coach with a coffin. The youth tells the fascinated French trio that the coffin is for his grandfather, because tomorrow he has an appointment with death. Director Gela Babluani, with his father Temur co-directing, has created a tense and absorbing psychological thriller. The naturalistic acting is subtly understated and beneath the tragic story is a sly, dark humour as the sophisticated tourists try to make sense of the superstitious, tradition-bound Georgians.  This is a quirky, subversive, enigmatic road movie from a director to watch.

BLACK SUN – GARY TARN           SECOND RUN DVD 032

The French artist and film-maker Hugues de Montalembert was walking home through Washington Square in New York City one night when he was mugged by two men. When they discovered that he had no money, they vicious and threw paint remover in his face. As de Montalembert explains in his extraordinary commentary to this art-fully constructed film, ‘It is a base, not an acid. Water will not make it go away. It continues to dig.’ A man whose life was based on seeing had lost his sight for good but rather than surrendering himself to the darkness, de Montalembert creates an internal visual world that is rich and full of beauty. He continues to travel the world - alone - documenting his experiences in a series of journals. Gary Tarn's evocative documentary Black Sun shows how de Montalembert adapted to his blindness, combining the subject’s understated narration with the director’s digital images of faces and places, often treated and distorted to suggest visual disturbance. Tarn’s footage of cities and street scenes from New York to Rajasthan reflects focuses on random moments of daily life - the face of a taxi driver, the mentally ill muttering on corners, a convention of deaf people signing excitedly, a grid of buildings seen from the air. ‘In vision, there is no reality,’ says de Montalembert. ‘What you see will be different from your neighbour.’ Despite its tragic genesis, this is an affirmative, uplifting and courageous story with many enlightening reflections on perception, time and existence itself. Highly recommended.

SANSHO DAYU / GION BAYASHI – MIZOGUCHI     EUREKA EKA 50332

Director Kenji Mizoguchi was born in 1898 in the middle class district of Hongo, in Tokyo, and together with Ozu and Kurosawa he is one of three undisputed masters from the golden age of Japanese cinema. His 1954 film Sanshō Dayū (Sansho the Bailiff) is one of the last films Mizoguchi made before his death in 1956. Based on Mori Ogai’s short story Sansho the Steward (itself based on an ancient legend), this film ranks alongside Ugetsu Monogatari and The Life of Oharu among the director’s finest achievements. Sansho Dayu is both distinctively Japanese and as deeply affecting as a Greek tragedy. Described in its opening title as ‘one of the oldest and most tragic in Japan’s history’, Mizoguchi depicts an unforgettably sad story of social injustice, family love, personal sacrifice and fateful tragedy. Set in Heian era (11th century) Japan, it follows an aristocratic woman, Tamaki (played by Tanaka Kinuyo), and her two children, Zushio (Hanayagi Yoshiaki) and Anju (Kagawa Kyoko), who are separated by feudal tyranny from Tamaki’s husband. When the children are kidnapped and sold into slavery to the eponymous ‘Sansho’ (Shindo Eitaro), the lives of each of the family members follow very different paths - each course uniquely and insufferably, tragic. Famed for its period reconstructions and powerful imagery, Sansho Dayu often features in lists of the greatest films ever made. With delicate photography by Mizoguchi regular Kazuo Miyagawa and excellent performances by the cast, this moving and beautiful film is a masterpiece from one of cinema’s true perfectionists. This Masters of Cinema Series double-DVD release also includes a lesser known Mizoguchi film, Gion Bayashi, set in the world of the geishas, produced the year before Sansho Dayu and available here for the first time on DVD. Extras include a video discussion about both Sansho Dayu and Gion Bayashi by Japanese film expert Tony Rayns, new and improved English subtitles and a splendid 80-page book featuring archival imagery, articles by Robin Wood and Mark Le Fanu, and a full reprint of a translation of Mori Ogai’s original 1915 story. ‘Quite simply one of the greatest of filmmakers’ - Jean-Luc Godard.

IF.… LINDSAY ANDERSON             PARAMOUNT PHE8082

Director Lindsay Anderson’s 1968 masterpiece is a fascinating, powerful film set in a fictitious, archaic public school. Alternately funny and bizarre, the story moves from intimate scenes of life in a boys’ world, through fantasy and farce, to a violent climax as discontent ultimately turns into armed rebellion. The film is associated with the 1960s counterculture movement, being filmed at the time of the student uprisings in Paris in May 1968, and it includes controversial statements such as ‘There’s no such thing as a wrong war. Violence and revolution are the only pure acts’. The film stars Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis (a character Anderson used in two sequels), Arthur Lowe as an ineffectual housemaster, Peter Jeffrey as the headmaster, the excellent Graham Cowden, Mona Washborne, David Wood, Christine Noonan as the Girl, and early film appearances by Robin Askwith and Simon Ward. Directed by Anderson and shot at his own school in Cheltenham, If.… explores the oppressive traditions of boarding school life as Travis and his disaffected friends embark on a series of misadventures that protract their experience of eroticism, authority and violence. ‘One man can change the world with a bullet in the right place- Mick Travis. Surreal, controversial and downright anti-establishment, this shocking, challenging and sexy film has won many accolades, including the 1969 Grand Prix at the Cannes film festival. Extras include a commentary with David Robinson and Malcolm McDowell, Lindsay Anderson’s wonderful Oscar-winning documentary Thursday’s Children and an interview with actor Graham Cowden. Essential viewing.

MACBETH – GEOFFREY WRIGHT       REVOLVER REVD 2062

Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare’s best known plays and his shortest surviving tragedy. Loosely based on the historical account of King Macbeth of Scotland by Raphael Holinshed and the Scottish philosopher Hector Boece, the play  is an archetypal tale of the dangers of the lust for power and the betrayal of friends. There have been numerous film adaptations, including versions by Orson Welles (1948), Akira Kurosawa (Throne of Blood, 1957), Roman Polanski (1971) and Trevor Nunn (1979). Australian director Geoffrey Wright’s gritty, violent film, made in 2006, updates the story and sets it against the backdrop of a violent gang war in the contemporary Melbourne underworld. Macbeth, a loyal henchman to his crime boss, Duncan, is told by three sexy teenage witches that he will one day assume great power. Driven by their prophecy, he plots with his wife to kill Duncan, and takes the leadership of the gang for himself. Maintaining his power will require more murders and violence, finally driving his surviving enemies to unite and destroy him. Starring Sam Worthington as the power-hungry Macbeth and Victoria Hill in a chilling performance as his devious wife, this is a bloody, guns-blazing ride, with a strong soundtrack and stylish cinematography. Shakespeare’s dialogue works remarkably well in this new setting and the film wisely keeps closely to his plot, with a startlingly inventive way for Birnam Wood to come to Dunsinane. ‘The Bard meets Tarantino’ - Daily Mirror.

HETTY WAINTHROPP INVESTIGATES - SERIES IV       ACORN AV9619

Gently amusing, occasionally dramatic, quirky English television series starred national treasure Patricia Routledge as the sprightly Hetty Wainthropp, a retired working-class woman who has a knack for jumping to conclusions and solving crimes of varying bafflement which are often too minor to concern the police. was First broadcast in 1996 by the BBC, the series was based on characters from the novel Missing Persons by David Cook, who co-wrote the series with John Bowen. The incidents in the book were inspired by his own mother’s real-life experiences. Hetty Wainthropp, a sprightly, intelligent pensioner looking for a new challenge, decides to become a private investigator much to the disapproval of her husband Robert. Once she has made up her mind she becomes an unstoppable force as she gads about the Lancashire countryside with local teenager Geoffrey in search of resolution and justice, armed with little more than her pocketbook and undaunted common-sense. This double DVD contains all six episodes of the fourth series, with the Wainthropp Detective Agency busier than ever as Hetty and Geoffrey help a miner’s widow search for a book her husband was working on at the time of his death and then when a friend’s husband is brutally attacked in a pub washroom, Hetty tries to deduce whether it was a random attack or whether the man provoked it. Our sleuth is reunited with her long-lost cousin, but their happy reunion is short-lived when she stumbles across a criminal plot. Patricia Routledge, best known for her work with Alan Bennett and as Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances, is in determined form as Hetty and receives sturdy support from Derek Benfield as her patient husband and Dominic Monaghan as Robert. Nigel Hess composed the music, which in 1997 was awarded the Ivor Novello Award for best television theme.

THE TWELVE CHAIRS – ALEA       NETWORK 7952710

The influential Cuban filmmaker Tomás Gutiérrez Alea wrote and directed more than twenty features, documentaries and short films. After graduating from college, he studied film directing at the Centro Sperimentale de Cinematografia in Rome and returned to Cuba in 1953, joining the radical ‘Nuestro Tiempo’ cultural society and becoming active in the film section. Soon after the Cuban Revolution in 1959, Alea co-founded the national revolutionary film institute ICAIC ‘Instituto del Arte y Industria Cinematografica’. Whilst his beginnings were in documentary, influenced by Italian neorealism, he fully came into his own as an artist during Fidel Castro’s regime. Unlike any other Cuban filmmaker, he was able to retain a sophisticated balance between his dedication to the revolution and his critical judgement of it when its ideals had been betrayed, so his films give real insight into he Cuban revolution and its consequences. The Twelve Chairs (Las Doce Sillas, 1962) was based on a satirical novel of the same name by two Soviet writers, Ilya Ilf and Eugene Petrov. Post-revolutionary Cuba presented the perfect setting for this contemporary piece contrasting the disadvantages of greed and the rewards of socialism through a humorous tale. A wealthy lady confesses on her death-bed that she has hidden a fortune in jewels in one of her twelve imported English chairs. Her son-in-law Hipólito Garrigó (Enrique Saniesteban), stripped of his wealth in the new spirit of socialism, is desperate to find them. Unfortunately all his possessions have been ‘nationalised’ and the government will soon be auctioning them off. Completely out of place in Socialist Cuba, Hipolito is forced to join forces with the quick-witted Oscar (Reynaldo Miravalles), a man who used to be his servant. As the two journey far field in search of the chairs, the relationship between the two men quickly alters, as both Hipólito and indeed the audience are treated to an education about the structure of this new society. This is an entertaining tale that demonstrates the developing new social order through the eyes of two very different individuals. The Twelve Chairs is one of Network’s Cuban cinema series, which also includes an exceptional documentary, Che Guevara As You Have Never Seen Him Before (7952781), and two films by the great Humberto Solás - Beloved (7952778) and A Successful Man (7952779).

DIRECTED BY JOHN FORD             UNIVERSAL

John Ford was born of Irish heritage in 1894 in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, USA. Christened John Augustine Feeney, he worked as an actor, stuntman and special effects man before becoming a film director, most notably of westerns. He started in Hollywood in the early part of the 20th century and by 1917 he had worked his way into the director’s chair, gaining a reputation as a hard worker with an eye for composition. By the 1930s, he was directing studio features and won his first Academy Award in 1935 for The Informer, later winning again for The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and How Green Was My Valley (1941). During the Second World War he made documentaries, including the Oscar winning Battle of Midway and December 7, and continued making movies after the war, mostly westerns shot in the Monument Valley in Arizona and Utah. Much praised for his artistic vision as well as for his prolific output, Ford’s style of film-making has been hugely influential on directors as varied as Kurosawa, Scorsese, Spielberg, Peckinpah, Truffaut and Godard. This new box set from Universal features four of John Ford’s best films: The Informer (set during the Irish Civil War in 1922), The Fugitive (based on Graham Greene’s novel, The Power and The Glory), Mary Of Scotland (with Katharine Hepburn and Fedric March in 16th century Scotland) and Wagon Master (a near-perfect western and one of the director’s personal favourites). Ford famously worked with a ‘stock company’ of actors, including Victor McLaglen, Harry Carey Jr, Ward Bond, Jane Darwell and Ben Johnson, all of whom appear in this collection. It’s the perfect gift for admirers of the man acclaimed by Ingmar Bergman and Orson Welles as one of the greatest directors of all time.

SPIRITS OF THE DEAD – VADIM/MALLE/FELLINI     ARROW FCD338

This intriguing 1968 film, also known as ‘Histoires Extraordinaires’, is a horror anthology featuring stories by Edgar Allan Poe, directed by three of Europe’s most interesting directors: Roger Vadim, Louis Malle and Federico Fellini. Jane Fonda, Alain Delon, Peter Fonda, Brigitte Bardot and Terence Stamp are among the stars in these disturbing stories of souls tormented by their own phantasmal visions of guilt, lust and greed. The first segment, Metzengerstein, was directed by Vadim and features Jane Fonda as Countess Federica, who lives a life of promiscuity and debauchery but meets her match in her neighbour Baron Wilhelm, played by Peter Fonda. The middle segment, William Wilson, directed by Malle, tells the story of a cruel man who is haunted by his double and plays a memorable game of cards with a beautiful woman (Brigitte Bardot) that leads to his comeuppance. The final segment, Fellini’s brilliant Toby Dammit, is based on Poe’s ‘Never Bet the Devil Your Head’. Terence Stamp is entirely convincing as an English actor losing his career in a self-destructive fog of drugs and alcohol. This little-known gem has a haunting score by Nino Rota, superb cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno, gloriously surreal Felliniesque imagery and a memorably creepy finale. Unforgettable.

DIARY OF A LOST GIRL – G W PABST             EUREKA EKA40075

Born in Bohemia in 1885 to Viennese parents, the great director Georg Wilhelm Pabst made only one American but was acclaimed by US film critics and historians for his brilliant silent works. Some of his most famous films concerned the plight of women in German society, including Joyless Street (1925) with Greta Garbo and Asta Nielsen, The Loves of Jeanne Ney (1927) with Brigitte Helm, Pandora’s Box (1928), and Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), the last two starring the American actress Louise Brooks, who he helped become a cinematic icon. A masterwork of the German silent cinema, Diary of a Lost Girl (Tagebuch einer Verlorenen) traces the journey of a young woman from the pit of despair to the moment of personal awakening. Directed with virtuoso flair by Pabst, this was his second pairing with Louise Brooks, made just months after their collaboration in the legendary Pandora’s Box (Die Büchse der Pandora). Brooks plays Thymiane Henning, an innocent and naive young woman seduced by an unscrupulous and mercenary character employed at her father’s pharmacy (played with villainous relish by Fritz Rasp). After Thymiane gives birth to the child and then rejects her family’s expectations for marriage, the baby is taken from her care and Thymiane is relegated to a strict reform school for wayward girls, which functions less as an educational institution and more like a conduit for fulfilling the headmistress’s sadistic libidinal fantasies. Rebelling against the school’s rigid discipline, Thymiane and her friend Erika (Edith Meinhard) escape, but Thymiane’s relief is short-lived as she discovers that her baby is dead. After despondently wandering the streets, she re-unites with Erika, who is working in a brothel, and Thymiane also becomes a prostitute until her father’s death, when her life changes. Diary of A Lost Girl is a story about loss, redemption, forgiveness, sacrifice and hope, explored by a great director with superb black and white cinematography and the luminous presence of Louise Brooks, who is even better here than in the more famous Pandora’s Box. This new release has German intertitles, English subtitles and an excellent, unintrusive piano score. Extras include a 16-page booklet with an essay by R. Dixon Smith and vintage photographs. Highly recommended.

THE BLACK CAT - ULMER     SECOND SIGHT 2NDVD3129

The Black Cat was the first of eight films to feature Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. Directed and written by Edgar G. Ulmer, this dark and subversive film became Universal Pictures’ biggest box office hit of 1934. Although Edgar Allan Poe is credited, the story has little to do with his 1843 tale. Two young American honeymooners, Joan (Julie Bishop) and Peter Allison (David Manners) share their train compartment with the splendidly named psychiatrist Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Bela Lugosi), a courtly but tragic man who is returning to the remains of the town he defended before becoming a prisoner of war for fifteen years. When their hotel-bound bus crashes in a mountain storm, Joan is injured and the travellers seek refuge in the fortress-like home of cat-phobic Werdegast’s old friend, Hjalmar Poelzig (Boris Karloff), an Austrian architect. The futuristic house is built on the ruins of Fort Marmorisch, which Poelzig commanded during the war. After Werdegast treats Joan’s injury, he accuses Poelzig of betraying the fort to the Russians, resulting in the death of thousands of Hungarians. He also accuses Poelzig of stealing his wife while he was in prison. In its brief 63 minutes this horror film features wonderful art deco sets, women’s corpses on display, devil worship, an unforgettable torture scene and a classical music soundtrack. Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi are in top form and performances by the rest of the cast, including a the beautiful Lucille Lund as Werdegast’s long-lost daughter, are excellent. Despite its somewhat preposterous plot – ‘Things you never saw before, or ever dreamed of!’ - The Black Cat is a chilling masterpiece. Second Sight has also just released another Universal Pictures’ classic, THE RAVEN (2NDVD3130), directed by Lew Landers in 1935 and inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem. Starring Bela Lugosi as a Poe-obsessed surgeon with a torture chamber in his basement and Boris Karloff as a murderer on the run from the police, The Raven is another treat for all horror fans.

LOULOU - MAURICE PIALAT         ARTIFICIAL EYE ART019 DVD

One of award-winning French director Maurice Pialat’s most sexually charged films, Loulou is a masterpiece of unrestrained eroticism. When a passionate middle-class married woman called Nelly (played by the beautiful Isabelle Huppert) meets charming leather-jacketed ruffian Loulou (Gerard Depardieu at his youthful and magnetic best) she is unable to resist his lustful style and returns home with him. Loulou turns out to be as passionate in bed - even causing it to collapse - as on the dance floor and the film explores their free-wheeling relationship. As the womanising petty criminal Loulou, Gerard Depardieu exudes an eroticism that proves irresistible, causing Nelly to leave her advertising agency boss (and lover) Andre for a socially-marginal existence with him. When Huppert and Depardieu are on the screen together, they radiate a dangerously anarchic sexuality and Guy Marchand is superb as the jealous Andre. The scene in which he brawls with Loulou in a courtyard before joining him for a civilised drink sets the quintessentially French tone for a film that captures the atmosphere of low-life Paris perfectly. DVD extras include interviews with Isabelle Huppert and Maurice Pialat, the theatrical trailer, and director and cast filmographies.

DARK KNIGHT, 1               BLUE DOLPHIN BDVD2005

Sir Walter Scott’s historical novel Ivanhoe, written in 1819 and set in 12th century England, tells the story of Wilfred of Ivanhoe, son of a Saxon family. He falls out of favour with his father due to his unsuitable courting of a Saxon Princess named Rowena and his allegiance to the Norman king Richard I of England. There have been many subsequent adaptations of the Ivanhoe legend and Dark Knight is a radical re-imagining that adds fantastical, supernatural elements to an already captivating story. Ancient evil is about to be unleashed on the land and the only hope is the sharp sword, the pure heart and the mysterious force that protects the ‘Chosen One’, Ivanhoe. Set in the dark ages, a time of fear, magic and mystery, Dark Knight shows its hero battling tyranny, oppression and a legion of terrifying, magical and hellish creatures as he attempts to restore King Richard to the throne and bring peace to England. This spectacular sword and sorcery television adventure series of was made in New Zealand, using extensive CGI to create a magical world filled with elves and goblins, as well as monsters from the underworld. Ben Pullen stars as Sir Ivanhoe of Rotherwood, with the beautiful Charlotte Comer as Rebecca, Peter O’Farrell as the ex-sorcerer’s comical apprentice Odo, Cameron Rhodes as the despicable Prince John and Jeffrey Thomas as evil necromancer Mordour. With brisk storytelling, exotic locations, stunning costumes and fine action sequences, Dark Knight has become cult viewing and this three-DVD set brings all twelve episodes of the first series together for the first time. Brilliantly filmed, this is a highly enjoyable romp through the dark ages will delight fans of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and Xena: Warrior Princess.

THE GOOD SHEPHERD           MOMENTUM PICTURES  MP447DPD

Christian Slater stars as Daniel Clemens, a worldly and urbane priest who is forced to challenge his comfortable existence as an ecclesiastical spin-doctor when he comes to believe in the innocence of a young priest accused of murder. Daniel’s only ally is the investigative TV reporter Madeline Finney (played with convincing ascerbity by Molly Parker), who also happens to be a former girlfriend. His job is to deflect scandal but his belief in the accused’s innocence is confirmed when Andrews is found dead in prison, presumably having taken his own life. Despite the relief of his superiors that the case appears have been closed, Daniel cannot believe that such a devout man would commit suicide. Against the advice of his friend and mentor Henry McCaran (Stephen Rea), he takes over the dead priest’s parish and becomes involved in a world that is very different from his usual comfortable living. With the help of  Madeline, he heads down a path which will lead to further deaths but which might just take him back to his own true course, although the truth will test his faith and vocation to the limit. Directed by Lewin Webb, this is a tightly written, beautifully shot and well-acted  whodunit that keeps you guessing right to the last minute.

THE LONG NIGHT - ANATOLE LITVAK           ORBIT MEDIA

The film writer, director and producer Anatole Litvak was born Mikhail Anatol Litwak into a Jewish family in Kiev in 1902. After working in avant-garde theatre in St. Petersburg he moved to Germany but left there in the 1930s with the rise if Nazism. He made several successful films in England (Sleeping Car) and France (Mayerling) before moving to Hollywood. He served with the US Army during during the Second World War and was head of the photography division responsible for documenting the D Day landing on Normandy. The Long Night, released in 1947, is an underrated remake of the Marcel Carnè classic Le jour se lève (1939). It opens with a bang as a shot fired in an upstairs bedroom of a lodging house and a dying man stumbles out of the door to fall down two flights of stairs. A series of flashbacks (and flashbacks-within-flashbacks) tells the story of a disillusioned war veteran, Joe Adams, who falls in love with a girl who lies about her relationship with a smarmy and sadistic stage magician, creepily played by Vincent Price. Although not as good as Carnè’s poetic masterpiece on which it was based, there is much to enjoy in this noirish melodrama, including the gritty cinematography of Sol Polito, claustrophobic sets by Eugene Lourie and the music of Dimitri Tiomkin, who incorporates part of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony to create an ominous sense of foreboding. Barbara Bel Geddes, making her debut, is inadequate as the mixed-up girl but Henry Fonda is excellent as the doomed ordinary Joe, Vincent Price is entertainingly hammy as the magician, Elisha Cook Jnr appears as a blind witness, and Ann Dvorak gives an unselfish and sexy performance as the magician’s worldly former assistant.

SARABAND - INGMAR BERGMAN             TARTAN  TVD 3594

The Swedish stage and film director Ingmar Bergman is one of the great film auteurs of the second half of the twentieth century, whose work usually deals with existential questions about mortality, loneliness and faith. He developed a ‘repertory company‘ of Swedish actors, including Max von Sydow, Bibi Andersson, Harriet Andersson, Gunnar Björnstrand, Erland Josephson, and the late Ingrid Thulin. Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann was the last to join this group and ultimately became most closely associated with Bergman, both artistically and personally. In 1982, he made Fanny and Alexander, declaring that it would be his last film, but in 2003, at the age of 84, he directed Saraband. In true Bergman tradition, Saraband deals with human relationships, using a slow pace, pointed dialogue, and heavy use of symbolism to explore the psychological states of the characters. The film is a sequel to 1973’s Scenes From A Marriage, as Bergman follows up the relationship between Marianne (Liv Ullmann) and Johan (Erland Josephson) twenty years later. Now divorced, she comes to visit her ex-husband for the weekend only to be caught up in the emotional battle between him, his son from a later marriage, and his grand-daughter. Originally made for Swedish TV, Saraband shows that Bergman’s dramatic power is undiminished and his technical mastery is evident throughout. Outstanding performances by Ullmann with Josephson help create complex characters and Saraband is a gripping and compelling experience that we can assume will be the last motion picture directed by Ingmar Bergman - his parting gift to the medium that made him world-famous. Extras include a ‘making of’ featurette, stills gallery and Philip Strick notes. Also released on DVD this month is AFTER THE REHEARSAL (TARTAN TVD 3594). Starring Erland Josephson, Ingrid Thulin, Liv Ullmann and Lena Olin, this 1984 film brings the worlds of cinema and theatre together when a stage director takes on his new actress and former mistress in a duel of wits as they rehearse a new play. Extras include filmographies and trailers.

LOVE IS THE DEVIL - JOHN MAYBURY       ARTIFICIAL EYE ART164DVD

Francis Bacon was an enigmatic and brilliant artist but a waspish and unlovable man, with a bleak, uncompromising view of life and little regard for the feelings of others. Director John Maybury’s dazzling and brave film examines unflinchingly the painter’s turbulent and tragic relationship with his lover and model George Dyer, a former boxer and small time thief who competes for Bacon’s affections so passionately that he is eventually destroyed. The film opens in 1971 at the Grand Palais in Paris, where Bacon is welcomed as ‘the greatest living painter’. Dyer recalls the fateful day in 1964 when he met the artist whilst attempting to burgle his house and is invited to stay the night. The film successfully captures the louche bohemian life of 1960’s Soho, an underworld of artist’s models, East End thugs and the infamous drinking den, the Colony Room - a ‘concentration of camp’ presided over by the hilariously foul-mouthed Muriel Belcher (Tilda Swinton). Maybury’s study of Bacon and his tumultuous relationship with Dyer is a powerful testament to one of the twentieth century’s most controversial artists. The director has worked with the artist Derek Jarman and collaborated with the Michael Clarke dance company, and has made some of the most innovative music videos of recent years. In Love Is the Devil he uses his remarkable talent for visual imagery to illuminate Francis Bacon’s brilliant yet often seedy world. Derek Jacobi gives an uncannily accurate performance as the tortured artist and Daniel Craig (soon to be the new James Bond) is superb as George Dyer, a petty criminal out of his depth and gradually falling apart. Extras on the DVD include filmographies of the stars and the theatrical trailer. ‘Tough, tender, wholly compelling’ - Time Out.

UNION CITY - MARCUS REICHERT             TARTAN TVD 3635

Set in 1953 in a gritty New Jersey industrial town, Union City tells the strange story of an accountant who becomes so obsessed with finding whoever is stealing his morning milk that he fails to notice his beautiful wife is having an affair with the superintendent of their dingy apartment building. Dennis Lipscomb  is excellent as the repressed, paranoid accountant who panics then rapidly falls apart after committing an act of irrational violence. His feckless, frustrated wife is played by Debbie ‘Deborah’ Harry, making her film debut and cleverly underplaying her dislocated dialogue. This is in marked contrast to Irina Maleeva, who gives a seductive performance as  the glamorous and batty Contessa who lives across the hall. Good support also comes from Charles Rydell as a cynical cab driver, Everett McGill as the predatory superintendent, and there are brief appearances by CCH Pounder and Pat Benatar. Based on a 1940s short story ‘The Corpse Next Door’ by Cornell Woolrich, Union City uses its low budget brilliantly to draw you in to an unnerving world of transience and foreboding that might have been created by David Lynch. Marcus Reichert was an artist before becoming a film director and he uses primary colours here to great effect, especially in the strikingly painted interiors. From its lurid opening credits to a satisfyingly tragic twist at the end, this quirky neo film noir is an enjoyabe existential romp. The suitably evocative music is by Debbie Harry’s Blondie bandmate, Chris Stein.

TIME OF FAVOR - JOSEPH CEDAR         BLUE DOLPHIN BDVD 2004

Writer/director Joseph Cedar’s Time of Favor is a gripping psychological thriller that is also a love story and an anti-hate polemic. Set largely within an Orthodox Jewish settlement on the West Bank, this claustrophobic film takes a cautionary look at the dangers of fundamentalism with the story of a man whose whole life comes into question when a plan to bomb the sacred mosque on the Temple Mount is discovered. The film stars Aki Avni, Tinkerbell, Edan Alterman and veteran Israeli actor-filmmaker Asi Dayan, and the film won six Israeli Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Editing and Best Cinematography. Made in Hebrew with English subtitles, Time of Favor was Israel’s official entry for the Oscar of Best Foreign Film 2001. Joseph Cedar’s thought-provoking debut feature is based on his own experiences as a paratrooper and student at a yeshiva (a traditional school dedicated to religious study) as well as on a real-life news story about an army officer who was falsely accused of being a member of a Jewish terrorist group. The first part of the film is a little slow and wordy but this romance/thriller gives a fascinating insight into religious fundamentalism and the Israeli experience in modern-day Palestine. Although made on a tight budget, the film features spectacular scenery (it was shot on location halfway between Jericho and Jerusalem.), an effective storyline and impressive acting, particularly from Aki Avni and the delightfully named Tinkerbell.

MIX-UP OU MELI-MELO - FRANCOISE ROMAND             LOWAVE  EDV 1394

This unique and critically acclaimed documentary, Mix-Up ou Meli-Melo, follows the true story of two English women who as babies were accidentally switched in the hospital in 1936 and 20 years later discovered that they had been raised by the wrong sets of parents. French director Francoise Romand enlists all the surviving family members (including the delightfully eccentric Charles) in her haunting and bizarre investigation, which involves not only a recounting but a reenactment of all the significant events in the two daughters’ emotional histories. The seriousness and thoroughness with which she pursues her approach create a formal beauty and a witty precision in framing, pacing, editing, use of music and mise en scene that is inseparable from the film’s ethical and philosophical project. It’s a story that encompasses courage, humour, love and a six-year correspondence with George Bernard Shaw. The mix-up of the title refers not only to the putative subject but to many stylistic and formal collisions: fiction versus fact, French versus English, memory versus imagination. What might have been a plodding documentary in other hands is transformed into an intriguing and inventive film in which even the final credits are memorable. The film is in English with optional subtitled in French, German and English. Extras include interviews with Francoise Romand and the American film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum as well as biographies, filmographies and a slide show. Lowave is an independent DVD label with the objective of discovering and promoting contemporary film and video art. Its ambition is to create a new marketplace for the work of cutting-edge artists and filmmakers, under recognized by the traditional distribution channels, by making them accessible via the DVD format. ‘A deliciously oddball movie’ - New York Times.

SLOW MOTION - LEAN-LUC GODARD           ARTIFICIAL EYE  053 DVD

Jean-Luc Godard was born in Paris to Franco-Swiss parents in 1930 and studied at the Lycée Rohmer and the Sorbonne, where he became involved with the young group of filmmakers and theorists that gave birth to the Nouvelle Vague, or ‘French New Wave’. Known for stylistic implementations that challenged, the conventions of Hollywood cinema, this ‘enfant terrible’ became one of the most audacious and radical filmmakers in the world. His work reflected a deep knowledge of film history as well as an understanding of existential and Marxist philosophy. His reputation was established in the 1960s with films such as À bout de souffle (Breathless), Alphaville and Weekend, but after the Paris student rebellion in May 1968, Godard’s involvement with the political left became all-consuming. He returned to ‘commercial’ film-making in 1980 with Sauve Qui Peut, which loosely translates as ‘every man for himself’. Released in the UK as ‘Slow Motion’, the film is about the lives of three people coping with their place in the world. Paul Godard (Jacques Dutronc) is a desperate television producer and Nathalie Baye plays his ex-girlfriend Denise, who wants to give up her city job to pursue an idyllic life in the country. Isabelle (brilliantly played by Isabelle Huppert) is a country girl who moves to the city to become a prostitute. Their stories intersect when Paul brings Denise to the country cottage he is trying to rent and Isabelle comes to see it without knowing that the landlord has been her client. This complex, pessimistic film is beautifully acted and visually stunning, reaffirming  the director’s position as one of the world’s most adventurous and provocative filmmakers. ‘All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun’ - Jean-Luc Godard.

THE SAVAGE INNOCENTS - NICHOLAS RAY       EUREKA EKA40207

In the late sixties, Bob Dylan wrote the song The Mighty Quinn (or Quinn the Eskimo) in tribute of Anthony Quinn’s remarkable performance in The Savage Innocents. In this visually stunning film, Quinn plays a native Eskimo who has to deal with conflicts between the traditional ways and the encroachments of civilisation. Quinn’s character, Inuk, accidentally kills a missionary and finds himself pursued by two Mounties, including Peter O’Toole in his feature film debut, although the latter asked for his name be removed from the credits after his voice was dubbed by another actor. The beautiful Japanese actress Yoko Tani plays Inuk’s wife. The screenplay, mainly written by its director Nicholas Ray, is based on Hans Ruesch’s best selling novel, Top of the World. Ray shot his epic 1959 film - a British, Italian and French co-production - in the Canadian Arctic, with interiors shot in Britain’s Pinewood Studios and at Rome’s Cinecittà studios. The Savage Innocents continued the director’s fascination with alternative lifestyles and represents his first attempt to break free from Hollywood. Unfortunately, the film was unfairly treated on its release, being censored in the UK and unjustly neglected for decades. With a score by the Italian composer Angelo Francesco Lavagnino and stunning colour photography by Aldo Tonti, who had worked with Fellini and Rossellini, The Savage Innocents is one of Nicholas Ray’s most ambitious films. Anthony Quinn gives a masterful performance and there are stunning shots of  Arctic scenery and wildlife, including an almost surreal vision of walruses gathered on a rock. Quinn once said that of the many films he had made he was only truly proud of Zorba, La Strada and The Savage Innocents. The film is released here in Eureka’s Masters of Cinema Series in high definition transfer to DVD, with extras that include an informed audio commentary by critics David Ehrenstein and Bill Krohn, optional English subtitles and a 32-page booklet containing original promotional materials. This exciting and unique film fully deserves to be rediscovered.

WHISKY - REBELLA & STOLL       ARTIFICIAL EYE  306 DVD

Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll’s internationally acclaimed film is a ironic and touching comedy reminiscent of Aki Kaurismaki and Jim Jarmusch. The title - ‘Whisky’ - is what people in Uruguay say when posing for family snapshots. Dull, middle-aged Jacobo Koller (Andres Pazos) has a joyless life running the family’s antiquated sock factory in Montevideo, relying on his quietly submissive assistant Marta (Mirella Pascual) for almost everything, from office paperwork to arranging his late mother’s headstone ceremony. When his long-absent brother Herman (Jorge Bolani) comes to visit from Brazil, Jacobo asks Marta to pretend to be his wife. Herman then invites Marta and Jacobo to Piriapolis, a seaside resort the brothers used to visit as children. Jacobo continues to maintain his lugubrious ways but Herman’s warm and affable personality brings out a side to Marta that Jacobo had never imagined. Co-writers and directors Rebella and Stoll transform their farcical premise into a wonderfully funny and charming story about two brothers who are virtual strangers, at the same time suggesting Marta’s quiet desperation as well as her unexpected ability to change. The film, superbly photographed by Barbara Alvarez, moves at an unhurried pace but has an ending that is well worth the wait. The acting is subtle and underplayed, with an extraordinarily poignant performance by Mirella Pascual as the downtrodden Marta. Dialogue is in Spanish, with English subtitles, and extras include the trailer and a feature showing the making of the film, with auditions and rehearsals.

NIGHTMARE ALLEY - EDMUND GOULDING         EUREKA  EKA40116

This little-known movie from Hollywood’s classic period is a sophisticated film noir starring the strikingly handsome Tyrone Power, cast against type as a circus apprentice who becomes a con-artist and pseudo-religious guru. One of the great swashbuckling stars of twentieth century cinema, Power was the third of four in an acting dynasty going back to the eighteenth century. He struggled to find work in Hollywood before landing a contract at 20th Century Fox, where he became one of the studio’s leading stars. Most of his roles were undemanding but the strange and intriguing Nightmare Alley gave him a chance to show what a fine actor he could be. The film’s cult reputation is partly due to a long dispute between the film’s producer (comedian George Jessel) and Fox, which prevented it from being screened or released on video. With the conflict resolved, Nightmare Alley can now be rediscovered in this new release in Eureka’s Masters of Cinema Series. As well as Tyrone Power, the film stars the splendid Joan Blondell (as Mademoiselle Zeena), Coleen Grey, the excellent Ian Keith and Helen Walker (as a femme fatale psychoanalyst). Based on William Lindsay Gresham’s book and scripted by Jules Furthman (who worked on To Have and Have Not and The Big Sleep), Nightmare Alley reflects the preoccupations of its drug and alcohol-abusing, orgy-frequenting director Edmund Goulding. Both Goulding and Gresham later committed suicide and this unsettling film is underscored by a sense of tragedy - the circus becoming a metaphor of B-system Hollywood in the 1940s. Extras include an introduction by the noir historian Woody Haut, audio commentary by Alain Silver and James Ursini, the original theatrical trailer, and a 32-page booklet with rare production stills. Tyrone Power’s performance is a revelation in a part that he fought hard for and Lee Garmes’ cinematography captures all the sinister strangeness of carny life in this beautifully restored transfer to DVD.

SECRET THINGS (CHOSE SECRETES)         TARTAN TVD3406

Two young women - a street-wise stripper called Nathalie and the naïve barmaid Sandrine - find themselves struggling to survive in Paris. Together, they discover that sex can be used to their advantage and pleasure when they find positions in the office of a large bank. After making their way though several layers of executives, they approach Christophe, son and heir to the powerful owner of the bank. He turns out to be a manipulative voyeur with his own secret agenda but both women fall hopelessly for him. In Christophe, the girls find an opponent who understands all their wiles, and will sadistically challenge their friendship by provoking feelings of jealousy and ecstasy. This is office politics played for high stakes, with shamelessly amoral characters and a suitably melodramatic climax. Sabrina Seyvecou is spellbinding as Sandrine and Coralie Revel very sexy as Nathalie. Director Jean-Claude Brisseau has made a beautifully shot film that  Les Cahiers du cinéma chose as one of the ten best pictures of 2002. Features include the original trailer and film notes by Tony McKibben. The dialogue is in French, with English subtitles. Entertaining but not for the prudish.

TEN MINUTES OLDER: THE TRUMPET & THE CELLO   BLUE DOLPHIN DVD2007

This double-DVD set includes two feature length compilations of ten-minute films by some of the world’s most gifted directors. Each film explores an individual director’s personal vision of the always fascinating subject of time and is connected by a musical theme. The first feature was Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet showcases the work of Spike Lee (We Wuz Robbed, a documentary about George W. Bush’s controversial win in the Presidential election), Jim Jarmusch, Chen Kaige, Werner Herzog, Victor Erice (Lifeline, shot a brilliant black and white, and a telling reflection on the rise of Nazism in Spain), Aki Kaurismaki and Wim Wenders. Hugh Masekela plays the jazz trumpet theme. Ten Minutes Older: The Cello features films by Bernardo Bertolucci, István Szabó, Claire Denis, Volker Schlöndorff, Mike Figgis, Michael Radford (with Daniel Craig as a spaceman who returns to Earth after 80 years), a poignant and lyrical piece by Jiri Menzel and Jean Luc Godard, who contributes a typically brilliant yet enigmatic film called Dans le Noir du Temps. The cello music linking the films is played by Claudio Bohorquez. Each of the directors had complete creative freedom to bring their own interpretation of ‘time’ to the screen, using the technology of film in innovative, provocative ways to explore all human experience: birth, death, love, the drama of the moment, history and ancient myth; and a great variety of locations all over the world. Tricksiness and inconsequentiality do sometimes intrude (Mike Figgis, Claire Denis) but many of the films are outstanding in their own right (especially those by Victor Erice and Jiri Menzel) and seen together they gain additional meaning, providing fascinating insights into the thoughts and preoccupations of their directors.

WHO KILLED BAMBI? -  GILLES MARCHAND           TARTAN TVD 3431

This sexy and provocative French thriller is Gilles Marchand’s directorial debut (he co-wrote the excellent With a Friend Like Harry). Who Killed Bambi? tells the story of a beautiful and rather naive student nurse, Isabelle (Sophie Quinton) and the mysterious Dr Philip, played with cool menace  by Laurent Lucas. Isabelle suffers a strange fainting fit in the presence of the doctor, who nicknames her Bambi: because her legs can’t support her. As patients start to dissappear from their rooms and operations go dangerously wrong, Bambi begins to suspect that Dr Philip may be a killer. A cat and mouse game develops between the two of them as tension mounts and we come share in her confusion. Sophie Quinton is suitably doe-eyed and deer-like and the acting is excellent throughout. Marchand’s minimalist style of filmmaking is perfect for depicting the sterile atmosphere of an unusually quiet and underpopulated hospital, and although some might find the film too long his restrained approach manages to create a wonderful sense of unease. Specail features include the original trailer and Tony McKibben film notes. Who Killed Bambi? is part of Tartan’s Ciné Lumière collection of innovative contemporary films from France. Others in the series include Bruno Dumont’s provocative horror film Twentynine Palms (TVD 3488) and Bertrand Bonello’s ambitious retelling of a classic Greek myth in Tiresia (TVD 3424).

ONIBABA - KANETO SHINDO           EUREKA EKA40103

The Japanese filmmaker Kaneto Shindo was born in Hiroshima and began his film career as an art director during the late 1930s. He then started writing screenplays and worked with directors such as Kenji Mizoguchi and Kon Ichikawa before making his own directorial debut in 1951 with The Story of a Beloved Wife. Onibaba uses black and white photography to stunning effect in its portrayal of murder, jealousy and the darkness of the human soul during a brutal period of Japan’s history when the country was ravaged by civil war. Weary from combat, samurai are drawn towards the seven-foot high susuki grass fields to hide and rest themselves, whereupon they are ambushed and murdered by a ruthless mother (Nobuko Otowa) and daughter-in-law (Jitsuko Yoshimura). The women throw the samurai bodies into a pit, and barter their armour and weapons for food. When Hachi (Kei Sato), a neighbour returning from the wars, brings bad news, he threatens the women’s partnership. Erotically charged and steeped in the symbolism and superstition of its Buddhist and Shinto roots, Onibaba is in part a modern parable on consumerism, a study of the destructiveness of sexual desire and - filmed amid a mesmerising and claustrophobic sea of grass - one of the most striking films ever made.Kiyomi Kuroda won the Blue Ribbon Award for his cinematography and the memorably frenetic drumming soundtrack was scored by Hikaru Hayashi. This newly restored high-definition transfer to DVD is accompanied by a full-length audio commentary by the director and the stars of the film, Kei Sato and Jitsuko Yoshimura, as well as an introduction by Alex Cox. Other extras include footage shot on location by Kei Sato, the original trailer and a booklet containing an English translation of the Buddhist fable that inspired the film. Onibaba is part of the Masters of Cinema Series that also includes Shindo’s haunting 1968 horror story, KURONEKO (Eureka EKA40104).

FLESH/HEAT/TRASH - PAUL MORRISSEY       TARTAN TVD 3547

Born in New York City in 1938, Paul Morrissey began directing short independent films in the 1960s. He soon became one of the most talented and influential members of Andy Warhol’s ‘Factory’, working on early Warhol films as well as discovering the Velvet Underground and Nico. Morrissey wrote and directed the sex and drug-fuelled cult classics Flesh (1968), Trash (1970) and Heat (1972), produced by Andy Warhol and starring the beautiful Joe Dallesandro. All three films are included in this three disc box set on which Morrissey worked closely with Tartan, making introductions for each film as well as supervising the transfer to DVD. Among the many extra features are audio commentaries by film-makers Penny Woolcock and Don Boyd, and the Kleineian psychoanalyst Nicola Abel-Hirsch. Flesh tells the story a teenage hustler’s attempts to raise money for an abortion for his wife’s lesbian girlfriend. Trash features a sexually impotent heroin user and his ambiguously gendered girlfriend (wonderfully played by Holly Woodlawn) as they try to start a family by faking a pregnancy to get on welfare. In Heat, a forgotten TV child star (the splendid Sylvia Miles) tries to make a comeback by getting involved with the family of a former B movie star - now a gameshow panellist - her lesbian daughter and her bisexual ex-husband. These groundbreaking films are by turns clever, dazzling, slow, hilarious, touching and weird, giving a unique insight into a revolutionary period for both art and society.

SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE - KURT VONNEGUT         UNIVERSAL 8234428

Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty Dance With Death, written in 1969 is Kurt Vonnegut’s most popular novel, combining science fiction with an analysis of the human condition, time travel and the bombing of Dresden in World War II, which the author witnessed. In 1972  director George Roy Hill  released a screen adaptation  that Vonnegut called a ‘flawless translation’ of  his novel. At the time of the book's release, the Dresden bombing was not a widely known historical event and rarely discussed by veterans and historians, despite claims that the bombing resulted in roughly the same number of deaths as the detonation of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima, Japan. Kurt Vonnegut’s masterpiece of twentieth century writing is included in this box set together with a DVD of the stylish film adaptation. The film features fine performances by Michael Sacks and Valerie Perrine as well as powerful re-creations of doomed Dresden and the suburban tedium of post-war America to which World War II survivors returned. Slaughterhouse-Five was awarded the prestigious Jury Prize at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival.and Michael Sacks received a Golden Globe nomination for his subtle portrayal of Billy Pilgrim - the anti-hero who finds himself ‘unstuck in time’. An intelligent anti-war film without piousness and a witty sci-fi adventure rooted in tragic realism, like Vonnegut’s cult book, the movie is a unique and affecting experience. Essential viewing.

THE LADY EVE - PRESTON STURGES         UNIVERSAL 8232878

Barbara Stanwyck was a great actress who unaccountably never won an Acadamy Award, although during her peak in the 1940s she was one of Hollywood’s highest paid stars. She was outstanding as the deadly femme fatale Phyllis Dietrichson in Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity and in Preston Sturges’ scintillating comedy The Lady Eve she plays a sexy card sharp vamp who passes for an English lady. Her victim is a rich but unsophisticated herpetologist named Charles ‘Hopsy’ Pike (Henry Fonda), who intriguingly remarks: ‘You’re certainly a funny girl for anyone to meet who’s been up the Amazon for a year’. The New York Times declared The Lady Eve best picture of 1941 (an outstanding year that also saw the release of Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane and Sturges’s own Sullivan's Travels). With its physical humour and razor-sharp dialogue, as well as some very touching moments, The Lady Eve was an immediate box office success and its charm remains irresistible. Stanwyck and Fonda have great chemistry and admirable support comes from such Sturges regulars as the wonderfully suspicious William Demarest, Robert Greig, Charles Coburn, and Eric Blore. This classy film is one of the finest screwball comedies to emerge from the ‘golden’ Hollywood era and has deservedly been voted one of the hundred best movies of all time.

SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS - PRESTON STURGES               UNIVERSAL 8232877

Preston Sturges was a pioneer of the screwball comedy and one of Hollywood’s greatest screenwriters. Born into a weathy family in Chicago in 1898, he dropped out of school to manage a cosmetics company his mother had started in Paris, where he invented the first kiss-proof lipstick. After the first world war he returned to Chicago and wrote plays for Broadway before trying his luck in Hollywood. His brand of witty dialogue was an immediate success and by the 1930s he had become one of the most prolific and best paid writers. His first film as director, The Great McGinty, earned him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and he went on to write and direct other classic comedies such as Christmas in July,  Lady Eve, The Palm Beach Story, I Married a Witch and The Miracle of Morgan’s  Creek. Sullivan’s Travels, made in 1941, tells the story of a director called John L. Sullivan (played with great subtlety by Joel McCrea) who wants to make a social-problems film called ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ (a title later to inspire the Coen Brothers). His producers point out that he knows nothing about trouble so he goes on the road as a hobo to look for it, joined by an aspiring actress (the delectable Veronica Lake). Sophisticated verbal wit, brilliant slapstick and biting satire make the film an urbane delight, as do contributions from Sturges regulars such as Eric Blore, Robert Greig and William Demarest. The extras include an insightful commentary by ex-Python Terry Jones. Highly recommended.

DUEL: SPECIAL EDITION - STEVEN SPIELBERG         UNIVERSAL 8224686

Duel was Steven Spielberg’s first movie and is still considered one of his best. David Mann, played with conviction by Dennis Weaver, is on his way through the desert to an important sales meeting when he overtakes a wonderfully evil-looking truck. The unseen truck driver seems to resent this and gives unrelenting chase. The eponymous duel continues as he taunts the driver, playing games, speeding up and slowing down, until the car driver confronts his demon. Originally made on a tight budget for TV in 1971, Duel proved so successful that it was later given a theatrical release in Europe with extra footage. The film can be enjoyed as a satisfying thriller in which the director effectively cranks up the tension in a truly Hitchcockian fashion. Or it can be interpreted as a psychological contest in which a man (‘Mann’) escapes his crushingly humdrum life to find freedom. Either way, it’s a treat. DVD extras include three revealing featurettes: A conversation with Spielberg on Making Duel (in which due credit is geven to Dennis Weaver and the brilliant stunt driver, Carey Loftin), Spielberg and the small screen (featuring excerpts from Columbo and an emotive Joan Crawford), and Richard Matheson - The Writing of Duel. The DVD also has a photograph gallery (including posters) and the original trailer, making this essential viewing for Spielberg afficionados and aspiring movie-makers.

TIME TEAM DIGS - A HISTORY OF BRITAIN D D  HOME ENTERTAINMENT  DD21502

In the hugely popular Time Team history programme on Channel 4, Tony Robinson and his team investigate archaeological sites around the UK. Each dig has three days to uncover to piece together as much evidence as possible in order to build a picture of the people living in Britain through the last 6000 years. Even the most mundane digs are given an entertaining slant by this accessible format and in thr right hands even a few pottery fragments can reveal a fascinating picture of a  pre-historic culture. Time Team Digs - A History of Britain shows a complete chronological history of life in the the British Isels, from the Bronze and Neolithic age up to Medieval times. Each of the eight episodes describes a different epoch and uses the finds of Time Team digs to produce an outline of life at the time. Ten hours of content ensures that most of the best bits from the series are included, along with extras that haven’t previously been seen. Anyone who enjoys Time Team on TV, as millions have done every week, will find this an entertaining release and excellent value.

LUST: 12 SEXY SHORTS             LOWAVE 004 DVD

The innovative independent film label Lowave has produced an ambitious 80-minute compilation of underground and experimental films that explore a frenetic world of desire that begins with sex for some and ends in separations for others. The DVD features 12 cutting-edge short films from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, the USA and Switzerland, together with interviews, bios, filmographies, a bonus film and sub-titles in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Esperanto. This is a world of digital technology, gritty super-8, video art, sensual discovery and innovation - an eclectic mix that overcomes linguistic and cultural barriers. By turns passionate, stylish, stark, disconcerting, funny and baffling, these 12 films are as honest life itself, especially when it comes to matters of sex. Highlights include Menotti Bucco’s Palindrome from Italy, Matto Kämpf’s Loosli and the heated Faim De Communication, directed by Caroline Tabet. This varied compilation provides new perspectives and forms a unique introduction to the world of modern underground film.

JOHN WAYNE - OUT WEST                 UNIVERSAL  DVD 8229288-11

The man born Marion Michael Morrison in Winterset, Iowa, in 1907 became the most consistently popular film star between 1949 and 1974. He started in the movies as a labourer and gradually worked his way into bit parts until in 1939 John Ford cast him as the Ringo Kid in Stagecoach, creating the archetypal Western hero. Most cinema icons are rebels like Brando, Bogart and James Dean, but Wayne achieved superstar status by representing the establishment. The six classic westerns in this excellently produced box set date from 1940 (Dark Command, set in the days before the American Civil War) to 1975 (Wayne’s penultimate film, Rooster Cogburn, in which he starred with Katharine Hepburn). Also included are Tall in the Saddle, Angel and the Badman, The Fighting Kentuckian (with Oliver Hardy in a rare dramatic role) and The War Wagon (a spectacular and enjoyable entertainment that also stars Kirk Douglas). Bonus materials include a documentary about The Duke’s early career and an eight page collectors booklet. This box set forms part of Universal’s John Wayne: The Collection, a commemorative tribute that also has John Wayne: At War, John Wayne: In Action and John Wayne: The John Ford Collection (featuring the immortal Stagecoach) as well as a Bonus Collection not available elsewhere that includes Seven Sinners, Three Faces West , Lady From Louisiana, Reap the Wild Wind and Dakota. ‘Talk low, talk slow, and don’t say too much’ - John Wayne on acting.

GREAT AUTHORS - CHARLES DICKENS              OPUS ARTE OA 0876 D

This comprehensive DVD set devotes over eight hours to an enjoyable exploration of the phenomenal life, times and work of Charles Dickens. Much about the great Victorian author’s amazing life remains unknown but what we have is a fascinating rags to riches story; complete with bankruptcy, prison, forced child labour, followed by fame and fortune, always overshadowed by guilt and secrecy. On the first disc, ‘Uncovering the Real Dickens’, Peter Ackroyd presents a mix of documentary and dramatic reconstruction, vividly recreating the author’s life. Disc two features a brilliant 1999 BBC three-hour televised version of David Copperfield. The third disc includes ‘A Christmas Carol’, where at Dickens’ house a group of his friends and relatives attend a private performance of the classic Christmas story, with an authentic dramatisation by Anton Lesser as the novelist. In ‘Songs from Grope Lane’, 12-year old Dickens escapes his miserable daily life in a brief spell of raucous tavern entertainment. The making of ‘Uncovering the Real Dickens’ is a revealing look behind the scenes of this production. ‘Anton Lesser made an emotionally charged, almost tremulous, Dickens, especially recreating the writer's inspirational public readings’ - The Times.