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Kino expands collection of Kieslowski's works
By Joshua Klein
Special to the Tribune
Published August 10, 2004
It took such early '90s breakthroughs as "The Double Life of Veronique" and the "Three Colors" trilogy to make Krzysztof Kieslowski a household name in world cinema, but by then the Polish director had been making great films for decades. It just took a while for distribution to catch up.
Although the DVD boom has made many once-obscure or hard-to-find films available to the average consumer, the sad truth is even world cinema classics still sell far fewer copies than the shoddiest Hollywood product, making their production and distribution on DVD somewhat a labor of love, even when it comes to a director as revered as Kieslowski.
Fortunately, the globetrotting and catalog-coursing Kino seems up to the task. Following the company's debut of Kieslowski's "A Short Film About Love" and "A Short Film About Killing," two expanded installments of his masterful "Dekalog" mini-series, Kino will release four more of Kieslowski's early works. Each arrives Aug. 17 with a few well-chosen supplements, including some of the director's formative short films and documentaries.
"The Scar" (Kino, 1976, 102 minutes, NR, $29.95), Kieslowski's first feature finds the director applying his documentary skills to fiction, depicting the plight of a Polish official as he tries to navigate community opposition and government interference to build a fertilizer plant. The disc includes interviews with the film's cinematographer and sound engineer, as well as fellow filmmaker Agnieszka Holland, though Kieslowski fanatics will relish the inclusion of his 1967 15-minute feature, "Concert of Requests."
The clever "Camera Buff" (Kino, 1979, 103 minutes, NR, $29.95) comes closer to the more complex philosophical themes -- and wry humor -- of later Kieslowski, challenging the notion of objectivity in telling the story of a would-be documentary filmmaker. Filmmakers Krzysztof Zanussi and Holland are interviewed, as is Kieslowski's friend and chronicler Annette Insdorf. The short included on this disc is 1980's "Talking Heads."
"Blind Chance" (Kino, 1981, 114 minutes, NR, $29.95) begins Kieslowski's relationship with metaphysics and fate, showing three different outcomes of a medical student making or missing a train to Warsaw. Holland and Insdorf are interviewed on the disc, as is confidant and communist-era censor Irena Strzakowska (made in 1981, "Blind Chance" was suppressed until 1987). 1986's short "Workshop Exercise," directed by Kieslowski colleague Marcel Lozinski, rounds out the disc.
Last but not least is "No End" (Kino, 1985, 103 minutes, NR, $29.95), Kieslowski's bleak but provocative response to Polish martial law, which showcases several collaborators who would be staples of the director's films until his unexpected death in 1996. Actress Grazyna Szapolowska and cinematographer Jacek Petrycki are interviewed, while Kieslowski completists get to see his 1966 short documentary, "The Office."
With these four films, the majority of Kieslowski's features will at last be available on DVD, with one ironic exception: 1991's "The Double Life of Veronique," so important to Kieslowski's international renown, is reportedly stuck in legal limbo.
New and notable
"The Harold Lloyd Collection" (Kino, 1918-1922, 207 minutes, NR, $29.95); "The Stan Laurel Collection" (Kino, 1923-1925, 357 minutes, NR, $39.95); "The Charley Chase Collection" (Kino, 1924-1926, 121 minutes, NR, $29.95); "The Flying Deuces" (Kino, 1939, 65 minutes, NR, $24.95): Dubbing them the "Slapstick Symposium," Kino has released a trio of comedy collections for those willing to dig just slightly deeper than genius standbys Buster Keaton and Charles Chaplin. "The Harold Lloyd Collection" includes eight of the comedian's silent greats, while "The Charley Chase Collection" includes a half dozen of the titular funny man's one- and two-reel shorts. Something slightly different, however, is "The Stan Laurel Collection," two discs of the comedian's classic works made before he teamed up with Oliver Hardy.
While it's not branded as part of the "Slapstick Symposium" series, Kino now offers a restored version of Laurel and Hardy's "The Flying Deuces," along with an assortment of shorts such as 1931's made-for-charity "The Stolen Jools" and 1943's little-seen, conservation-minded "The Tree in a Test Tube," the duo's only color film.
"Good Bye, Lenin!" (Columbia TriStar, 2004, 121 minutes, R, $29.95): Touching and funny, this story of a young East German man's attempts to fool his frail mother into believing the Berlin wall never fell gets a surprisingly first-rate treatment on DVD, particularly for a foreign film. Director Wolfgang Becker gets his own (subtitled) commentary track, while stars Daniel Bruhl, Katrin Sass and Alexander Beyer share a second, where they swap stories of a pre-unified Germany. There are also 10 deleted scenes, with the option of still more commentary from Becker. In fact, his observations run twice as long as the deleted scenes.
"Freaks" (Warner Bros., 1932, 62 minutes, NR, $19.97): Spooky but sad, Tod Browning's memorable horror film shocked many with its cast of real circus geeks, gimps and freaks, yet the revenge tale rarely feels exploitative. The single disc gets oodles of extras, not least of which is the fascinating hour-long doc "Freaks: Sideshow Cinema," which features plenty of face time with author David J. Skal, who also contributes a commentary track. But the real finds here are multiple alternate endings, each subtly tweaking the tenor of the film's conclusion to placate audiences and censors.
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Kimber Kable

Topic - New on DVD - rico 11:17:11 08/10/04 (1)

Re: New on DVD - Buckeye 11:27:59 08/10/04 (0)

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