Tender Mercies may have earned director Bruce Beresford an Oscar
nomination for Best Director in 1984, and his Driving Miss Daisy may
have won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1989, but ask cinephiles in his
native Australia what his best work is, and they’ll all tell you it is Breaker
Morant.
The 1980 film about the
1902 court martial (during the Boer War) of Lt. Harry “Breaker” Morant and two
other lieutenants — all accused of the murder of a POW and the massacre of
others — stands as a seminal work of Australian cinema. Beresford’s look at what causes regular men to
commit war atrocities helped influence other Australian New Wave war films from the country, including Gallipoli and The
Lighthorsemen.
The Sept. 22 Blu-ray release
comes with a new 4K digital restoration, supervised by Beresford, with an uncompressed
monaural soundtrack, a vintage (2004) Beresford audio commentary and newly prepared
interview sessions with Beresford, cinematographer Donald McAlpine and actor
Bryan Brown. Plus there is a 2004 interview
with actor Edward Woodward and a new featurette about the Boer War from
historian Stephen Miller.
Also streeting on Sept.
22 Beresford’s 1990 film release of Mister Johnson, a drama based on the
1939 novel of the same name by Joyce Cary. Set in 1923 British Colonial Nigeria (and
starring Pierce Brosnan), the film follows Mister Johnson, a Nigerian villager
who works for the local British magistrate. But educated or not, his schemes, ambitions
and attempts to get ahead only end up leading to his downfall.
The Blu-ray’s new 4K
digital restoration was supervised by Beresford and includes an uncompressed
stereo soundtrack, and bonus features include new video interviews with
Beresford, producer Michael Fitzgerald and actors Maynard Eziashi and Pierce Brosnan.
Another September
Criterion title of note comes from Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski. You know him from the fantastic Three
Colors trilogy (and the also highly celebrated, but slightly less
entertaining epic The Decalogue). Before
those cinematic works of art Kieślowski brought us his first offering, the
drama Blind Chance (available on Sept. 15).
Initially censored by the
Polish government (filmed in 1981, but unavailable there until 1987), Blind
Chance offers three different storylines and three different outcomes
for medical student Witek (Boguslaw Linda) as he tries to catch a train. Such a seemingly small detail in life can
result in wildly disparate paths for his life, depending on who he bumps (or
runs) into, whom he speaks with, and whether or not he actually boards that
train.
Along with the 4K digital
restoration of the film, Criterion’s Blu-ray includes a new interview with
Polish film critic Tadeusz Sobolewski, a 2003 interview with Polish film and TV
director Agnieszka Holland, nine parts of the film originally censored by Poland’s
Central Film Board, an essay by film critic Dennis Lim and a 1993 interview
with director Kieślowski.
Wes Anderson fans are
also in for a treat with the Sept. 22 release of Moonrise Kingdom, an
Oscar-nominated (best original screenplay) 2012 piece that follows two
12-year-olds who fall in love and run away, only to be dogged by local
authorities and threatened by a hurricane and flood.
The director-approved
special edition includes a restored 2K digital transfer, supervised by
Anderson, an audio commentary with Anderson, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Jason
Schwartzman and Roman Coppola, storyboard animatics, interviews with cast and
crew, an original documentary, behind-the-scenes footage, auditions and a booklet
featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien, a map of New Penzance Island and
more.
On Sept. 29, Criterion
has two more in store: the documentary-style crime film The Honeymoon Killers and
the Oscar-winning romance drama A Room with a View (starring Helena
Bonham Carter, Daniel Day-Lewis, Judi Dench and Maggie Smith).
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