The Criterion Collection announced a six-strong
slate of 2K and 4K film restorations that will be ready during the month of
July for release as either DVD or Blu-ray product offering.
As always, it is a subjective call as to what the
frontrunner might be, so with that in mind we’ve picked the new 4K film
restoration of director Alan J. Pakula’s summer of 1971 thriller, Klute,
starring Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland.
It will be available as double-disc DVD and single-disc Blu-ray editions
on July 16.
Bonus features include a newly prepared video
session with Jane Fonda (she won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance
here as Bree), who is joined by actress Illeana Douglas, documentary filmmaker
Matthew Miele’s newly prepared documentary titled, Pakula:
The Whole Damn Thing, a featurette titled “The Look
of Klute,” archival interviews with filmmaker Alan J. Pakula and actress Jane Fonda
and a vintage short film about the making of Klute shot
during the film’s production in New York City.
Another film of interest in the July mix is director
Michael Radford’s 1984 remake of George Orwell’s prophetic 1949 novel, 1984. It will be available as DVD and Blu-ray
editions on July 23.
Originally adapted for the screen by director Michael
Anderson in 1956, with Edmond O'Brien as Winston Smith and Jan Sterling as
Julia, Radford’s update features John Hurt as Smith and Suzanna Hamilton as
Julia.
As to bonuses, there is behind the scenes footage
and a trio of newly-prepared video sessions featuring director Michael Radford
(Oscar-nominated for Best Director for Il Postino in 1996), cinematographer
Roger Deakins (13 Oscar nominations for his cinematography, finally winning for
Blade Runner 2049) and
author David Ryan (“George Orwell on Screen”).
On the foreign language front during the month of
July, The Criterion Collection has writer/director Agnieszka Holland’s 1990
film release of Europa Europa set
for July 9 as both DVD and Blu-ray editions; July 9 also sees the three-disc
Blu-ray presentation of director Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s BRD
Trilogy (The
Marriage of Maria Braun, Veronika Voss and Lola) and
July 16 finds both DVD and Blu-ray selections of director Marcel Pagnol’s 1938
(1940 for the domestic market) film release of The
Baker’s Wife.
And wrapping up the proceedings is a new 4K film
restoration of the boorish auteur filmmaker Spike Lee’s 1989 film, Do the
Right Thing. It will be available on July 23 and a
double-disc DVD edition and a stand-alone Blu-ray release.
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