The November release calendar for new DVD and Blu-ray
product offerings from the Criterion Collection is out and, as usual, there are
some real film jewels to be savored this fall.
These range from filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s Apu
Trilogy to director Richard Brooks’ In Cold Blood and a newly
restored presentation of D. A. Pennebaker’s Don’t Look Back.
In chronological order we begin with the Nov. 3 DVD release
of Julien Duvivier in the Thirties, a four-disc, four-film collection featuring
the early works of the French filmmaker — noted for Pépé le Moko, Flesh
and Fantasy, Anna Karenina and Deadlier
Than the Male.
Included in the collection are: David Golder (1931, with Harry
Baur in the title role — an adaptation of the Irène Némirovsky novel), Poil
de Carotte (1932, with Robert Lynen and Harry Baur), La
Tete d'un Homme (1933, Gaston Jacquet, Alexandre Rignault, Valéry
Inkijinoff and Harry Baur) and Un Carnet de Bal (1937, Marie Bell
teams with Harry Baur).
All four films
are in French with English subtitles.
Nov. 10 brings us a newly 2K digital transfer of director Michael
Haneke’s social commentary drama, Code Unknown. Bonus features for both the Blu-ray and DVD
(2 disc set) include a newly minted video session with filmmaker Michael Haneke,
a documentary on the making of the film and a vintage session with Haneke.
On Nov. 17, the Criterion Collection has newly restored DVD
and Blu-ray collections of Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s 1950s film trilogy
masterpiece, The Apu Trilogy — Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito
(1956) and Apur Sansar (1959).
Bonus features include vintage audio-only comments from
director Satyajit Ray (circa 1958), newly-prepared video sessions with actors
Soumitra Chatterjee, Shampa Srivastava, and Sharmila Tagore and new featurette titled
“The Apu Trilogy: A Closer Look.”
On the same date a new 4K digital restoration of director Richard
Brooks’ 1967 film adaption of Truman Capote’s serialized novel, In
Cold Blood. Nominated for four
Oscars — Best Director and Best Writing for Brooks, Best Cinematography for Conrad
L. Hall and Quincy Jones received an Oscar nomination for his score — the DVD
and Blu-ray SKUs being released by Criterion include four newly-prepared video
discussions that focus on the film’s cinematography, editing, musical score and direction.
Other
bonus nuggets are vintage interview sessions with Brooks and Capote and a 1966
documentary shot titled “With Love
from Truman.”
The month of November concludes on the 24th
with documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker’s 1967 Bob Dylan “time
capsule,” Don’t Look Back (technically “Dont” is spelled without the apostrophe
in the film’s title) and iconic Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 film
release of Ikiru.
Bonus features for Don’t Look Back include vintage
commentary featuring filmmaker Pennebaker and tour manager Bob Neuwirth, the 2006
documentary, 65 Revisited and more.
Iriru sports a new 4K restoration
and is accompanied by the feature-length documentary, A Message from Akira Kurosawa, and a vintage commentary track featuring author Stephen Prince (“The
Warrior’s Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa”).
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