The Masters of Cinema Series: Eureka! | Recent Updates

Bruno Dumont’s debut film – out now!

Wed, 23 Jul 2008, 11:42:41 GMT

The latest film to be released in the Masters of Cinema Series is Bruno Dumont’s riveting debut feature film <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/la-vie-de-jesus/“>La vie de Jésus</a>. Deserving winner of the prestigious BFI Sutherland Trophy, Camera D’or at Cannes, Prix Jean Vigo, and European Discovery of the Year at the European Film Awards in 1997.

It’s in the shops now (release date was Monday 21st July) and this special edition features a great new anamorphic (2.35:1 ‘scope) transfer, the original French trailer, freshly translated optional English subtitles, and a full-colour 40-page booklet featuring contributions from Bruno Dumont himself.

Although the film is over ten years old, this is the first UK release on home video (VHS or DVD) — and it is long overdue. If you’re a fan of Kubrick, Bresson, Bergman, Pasolini, Rossellini and lament their passing age of great filmmaking, discover Bruno Dumont — one of their heirs!

This week we have a new theatrical release at the ICA in London, and then branching out around the country, it’s Johnnie To and Wai Ka Fai’s latest — <a href=“http://www.maddetective.com”>Mad Detective</a>. It will find its way into the MoC Series in October on both DVD and Blu-ray (it will be our first Blu-ray release, and it’s looking absolutely glorious in 1080p). Copious extras to be announced shortly… meanwhile, here’s our <a href=“http://www.maddetective.com”>special microsite</a> with trailer, photos, and more…

Carl Th. Dreyer’s VAMPYR to be released in August

Sun, 15 Jun 2008, 21:27:26 GMT

We’ve released more than ten films in the Masters of Cinema Series since our last news update on this page back in January. Our apologies for not updating it sooner but we’ve been busier than ever working on a slate of over 40 titles for future release.

Coming shortly, July sees the release of our most recently made film in the Series — Bruno Dumont’s powerful 1997 debut feature <a href=“http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/la-vie-de-jesus/“>La vie de Jésus</a>. August sees two big releases, the long-awaited special edition of <a href=“http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/vampyr”>Vampyr</a> featuring an exclusive audio commentary by Guillermo del Toro, in addition to a separate commentary by Tony Rayns, along with a host of other extras, and a sumptuous 80-page book.

Also in the same month we’re extremely excited to welcome Georges Franju into the Series with two films Judex (1963) and Nuits Rouges (1973) together in the same set.

In early July we’ll be releasing details right here of our September releases, so please check back every month for the latest releases two months before they’re actually out. Please check out our new releases which we have neglected to mention on this news page in the last few months, including our last three Mizoguchi twinpacks, Visconti’s <a href=“http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/rocco-and-his-brothers/“>Rocco and his Brothers</a>, and Antonioni’s <a href=“http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/la-notte/“>La notte</a>. We’ve got lots of surprises up our sleeve, have a lovely Summer… and see you in July!

A flurry of new releases for winter

Mon, 14 Jan 2008, 21:18:26 GMT

Just before Christmas we released a trio of splendid new titles that many may have missed in the Christmas rush. With a few months of long, dark winter evenings still remaining, we recommend indulging in two marvelous new F. W. Murnau restorations <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/nosferatu/“>Nosferatu</a> and <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/tabu/“>Tabu</a>; as well as two major works of art by Mizoguchi available as a twinpack – <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/sansho-dayu/“>Sansho Dayu & Gion Bayashi</a>. All three releases come with lavish, specially-made 80-page books containing rare archival articles, new essays, and production stills.

On January 21st 2008 we release two silent films from the 1920s, Fritz Lang’s mindblowing <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/frau-im-mond/“>Frau im Mond</a> and F. W. Murnau’s groundbreaking <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/der-letzte-mann/“>Der letzte Mann</a> — both titles contain specially made documentaries and 36-page booklets.

Our February 25th 2008 titles — <a href=“http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/rocco-and-his-brothers/“>Rocco and His Brothers</a> and the twinpack <a href=“http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/chikamatsu-monogatari/“>Chikamatsu Monogatari / Uwasa no Onna</a> — are now available for pre-order at your favourite e-tailer.

Luchino Visconti and Anna Magnani

Fri, 12 Oct 2007, 06:17:25 GMT

We released two titles in September. First up was Luchino Visconti’s memorable 1951 film <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/bellissima/“>Bellissima</a> starring the volcanic Anna Magnani. This gorgeous new high-definition restoration is gobsmacking and comes with A PROPOSITO DI BELLISSIMA (a 32-minute Italian documentary about the film); a video interview with co-screenwriter and assistant director Francesco Rosi; original theatrical trailer, and a 32-page illustrated booklet containing writing by Geoffrey Nowell-Smith and interviews with Luchino Visconti.

The second September title was Masahiro Shinoda’s 1971 film <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/silence/“>Silence</a> which is adapted from the renowned novel by Shusaku Endo, and explores the violent cultural conflict amid the arrival of Jesuit missionaries in seventeenth-century Japan.

A new October update will be here shortly, but in the meantime you can peruse our October and November releases here: Peter Watkins’ <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/edvard-munch/“>Edvard Munch</a>; the two René Laloux films: <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/les-maitres-du-temps/“>Les Maitres du temps</a>, and <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/gandahar/“>Gandahar</a>; F. W. Murnau’s <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/nosferatu/“>Nosferatu</a> and <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/tabu/“>Tabu</a>. The Sansho Dayu / Gion Bayashi page will go live later this month.

Jean-Pierre Melville and G. W. Pabst

Wed, 25 Jul 2007, 16:04:51 GMT

Rainy June (here in England) welcomed two new directors to the Masters of Cinema Series for the first time — firstly, our long-awaited release of G. W. Pabst’s <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/diary-of-a-lost-girl/“>Diary of A Lost Girl</a> starring Louise Brooks and, late last month, Jean-Pierre Melville’s magnificent debut <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/le-silence-de-la-mer/“>Le Silence de la mer</a>. Both titles contain sumptuous booklets providing plenty of reading material for this rainy summer we’re having.

Our next releases will be in September with another new master director added to the Series — Luchino Visconti’s <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/bellissima/“>Bellissima</a> featuring a blistering performance by Anna Magnani. Also in September, Masahiro Shinoda’s rivetting <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/silence/“>Silence</a>. As always, click the links for much more info.

October sees three new releases, two more strange and wonderful animated features from René Laloux (Gandahar and Les Maitres du temps), and Peter Watkins’ majestic Edvard Munch — famously described by Ingmar Bergman as “a work of genius”. The individual pages for these titles will go live later this month.

Two documentaries by the Maysles

Tue, 08 May 2007, 17:25:54 GMT

This month we’re very proud to release two definitive editions of classic documentaries by the brothers David and Albert Maysles. Possessing a novelistic density of character, <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/salesman”>Salesman</a> is the non-fiction portrait of a band of door-to-door Bible peddlers whose personal existences have become, over time, entangled in the difficulties of the soft and hard sell. <a href=“http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/grey-gardens”>Grey Gardens</a> — the film that engendered a worldwide cult following and inspired the current smash-hit Broadway production — features Edith and “Little Edie” Beale, the bohemian black-sheep of the aristocratic Bouvier clan, as they go about their daily routines on a decrepit Long Island estate — accumulating piles of empty ice-cream cartons, feeding the family of raccoons that lives in the attic, and executing dazzling variations on personal wardrobe — making a kind of poetry out of life in the process.

Included with these editions are gorgeously illustrated 36 and 40-page booklets, the original trailers for both films, and a plethora of never-released video features: a new two-part interview with Albert Maysles filmed by Mark Rance; a 2005 Q&A with Albert Maysles and original “salesman” Kennie Turner; and two unreleased 2005 documentary shorts by Albert Maysles revisiting “the Marble Faun” and the Grey Gardens estate.

More Maysles films can be seen in London throughout May 2007 at the BFI Southbank’s Maysles season (our DVDs are available from the BFI shop in the same complex).

It can happen anywhere, at any time

Wed, 04 Apr 2007, 08:30:43 GMT

Last month’s release of the director-approved Masters of Cinema Series 4 x DVD box set of Claude Lanzmann’s epic 9.5 hour <a href=“http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/shoah/“>Shoah</a> was a moving experience for all of us. Working with the director to bring his monumental documentary to the DVD format in a manner befitting the film was something none of us will ever forget. Featuring a new progressive transfer from the best available elements; the most accurate English subtitles yet to appear with the film (together with a fuller SDH subtitle track for the deaf and hard of hearing); and an accompanying 184-page perfectly-bound book, all packaged in a sturdy hard box — this is the definitive edition of a film we were shocked to discover is not on the national curriculum.

To view our specially-made trailer, read Simone de Beauvoir’s thoughts on the film, and examine full details of the release <a href=“http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/shoah/“>click here</a>. Coming later this month… <a href=“http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/salesman/“>Salesman</a> and <a href=“http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/grey-gardens/“>Grey Gardens</a>.

F FOR FAKE is out now…

Tue, 27 Feb 2007, 13:39:20 GMT

We’re very proud to have an Orson Welles film in the Masters of Cinema Series, especially one so great as <a href=“http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/f-for-fake/“>F For Fake</a>, and as of today finished product is on shopshelves. Replete with a 40-page colour booklet, a 30-minute video interview with Jonathan Rosenbaum, and full-length commentary by Bill Krohn and the late Gary Graver, this edition utilises a fantastic high-definition restoration of the film. To view the trailer, read one of the accompanying essays, and full details of the release <a href=“http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/f-for-fake/“>click here</a>. Coming later this week… <a href=“http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/shoah/“>Shoah</a>.

NARUSE: VOLUME ONE out now

Tue, 12 Dec 2006, 14:25:19 GMT

Just in time for Christmas, our second box set in as many months, NARUSE: VOLUME ONE (containing Repast (1951), Sound of the Mountain (1954), and Flowing (1956)) is out now. It features lovely new progressive transfers, commentaries by Kent Jones and Phillip Lopate, and a meaty 184-page book with the writing of Audie Bock, Phillip Lopate, and Catherine Russell.

This box set represents the first DVD release of any films by Mikio Naruse in the English-speaking world and prefigures more Naruse releases by the British Film Institute (UK) and the Criterion Collection (USA) throughout 2007. We hope to return to Naruse soon for our NARUSE: VOLUME 2 box set towards the end of 2007. This is our last release before Christmas, so warm season’s greetings to everyone reading this, and may your unwatched pile shrink over the holiday!

Keaton set – OUT NOW!

Fri, 20 Oct 2006, 19:18:12 GMT

The Complete Buster Keaton Short Films 1917-1923 is finished and now available. This four-disc set with 184-page book is our biggest project yet. The Mikio NARUSE box set will be released on December 4, 2006.

In August, we released Toshio Matsumoto’s Funeral Parade of Roses (1969) and René Laloux’s Fantastic Planet (1973). September 25th saw the release of Vittorio De Sica’s Shoeshine (1946) with some wonderful extra features including a full-length commentary by De Sica scholar Bert Cardullo and new interviews with the child stars of the film.

On November 27 we release the Mikio Naruse box set containing Repast [Meshi] (1951), Sound of the Mountain [Yama no oto] (1954), and Flowing [Nagareru] (1956) which will also contain an exclusive 180-page book. Please check back here for more information on forthcoming releases very soon.