Reviews
WAR. DRAMA ROMANCE BALLAD OF A SOLDIER
(PG) 89min
(Nouveaux Pictures DVD retaili .000
This long overdue DVD release of Grigori Chukhrai's 1959 anti-war film arrives thankfully clear of the hideous dubbing that so marred previOus incarnations of the film. It is not difficult to see why Chukhrai's film picked up the Palme CI'Or at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival, and Bafta Award for Best Film in 1961 . This deceptively simple tale of one heroic young Russian soldier's journey home during WWII, (luring v-ihich he Witnesses the genuine hardships brought about by the war on ordinary Russians. is as subtle as it is moving. Love also enters the frame for 19- year-old Alyosha (Vladimir lvashovl when he meets beautiful young girl Shura (Zhana Prokhorenkol. Wliil whom he falls in love.
This little-seen gem of a film boasts a powerful and emotive script and superbly stark black and white photography which often seems to control the excellent performances of all concerned. Extras include an interviev-i With director Chukhrai. a photo gallery. filmographies. the original trailer and, for masochists. a dubbed version of the film.
(Paul Dale)
COMEDY HISTORY DRAMA
RIDICULE
(15) 98min
(Second Sight Films DVD retaili O...
Wit is indeed the ultimate weapon and there was
ALL DVDS WERE REVIEWED ON A SYSTEM SUPPLIED AND INSTALLED BY LOUD 8: CLEAR
no place more dangerous than the doomed opulent COurt of Louis XVI in 181h century Versailles. Into this world comes an impoverished French nobleman Gregoire Ponceludon de Malavoy (Charles Berling). whose aim is to raise funds and royal backing for a drainage project in his area of rural France. He soon realises that he wrll achieve nothing if he does not quickly learn the penwrgged games of Wit and badinage of the COurt.
Rll )I( II 'I .I'.
Patrice Leconte's (Monsieur Hire. The Hairdresser 's Husband) 1996 historical romp is arguably his most seamless and successful film to date. Emboldened by comparisons to the then burgeoning obsession With celebrity in the European press (Princess Diana died in the streets of Paris a year after this film was released and shifted the focus of the French press almost irreversibly), Ridicule is a hilarious and raucous satire. It's also chock full of fantastic performances (look out for the wonderful Fanny Ardant as the buxom and W180 Madam de Blayac and Urbain Cancelier as the mildly retarded kingi. If you missed this sCintillating essay on moral decay the first time arOLind yOu are in for a treat. Minimal extras. (Paul Dale)
THRILLER SOUTHERN COMFORT
(15) 106mm
(Optimum Classic DVD retail) 0...
These days the great American filmmaker Walter Hill mostly concerns himself With exemplary teleVision
shows like Deadwood and the soon to be screened mini series Broken Trail. We should not forget. however. that this is the man who brought us some of the most singular and lean joys of 70s and 80s US Cinema With The Driver. The Warriors, 48 Hours and. of course. this redneck undergrowth slasher from 1981.
Nine part time National Guardsman (think TA) are sent on a weekend training exerCise in the LOuisiana bayou. When a simple trip to the local whorehouse goes pear- shaped they manage to anger local Cajuns by stealing their canoes and the grunt hunt begins. This superlative thriller is often overshadowed by John Boorman's similar Deliverence. but Hill's mowe has a dynamism all of its own — One drawn from anxiety and class and cultural diVide. The powerhouse cast includes Keith Carradine (Nashville). Powers Boothe (Sin City) and Fred Ward (Short Cuts) and Ry Cooder's excellent score adds to the Hills vrce like grip of the nightmarish scenario. Don't go down to the woods today. Minimal extras. (Paul Dalel
DRAMA
THE CRANES ARE FLYING
(PG) 96min
(Nouveaux Pictures DVD retail) I...
Mikheil KalatO/ishvili's multi award Winning masterwork was one of the first post-war SoViet films to receive exposure ()uISIde the USSR, and was at least partly responsible for reintroducing SoViet cinema into the more ambitious cinemas of the western capitalist hordes.
DVD ROUND-UP g
‘January, sick and tired, you’ve been hanging on me.’ Yes, it’s that cruelest of months where our bank accounts are empty and the sofa becomes our best friend. Good thing really because it turns out there are actually some superb DVD releases and re-releases in the second half of the month.
Despite pretentious gestures towards highbrow cinema there’s nothing I love more than a good Carry On film. As luck would have it, Williams, Windsor, Hawtrey, James and co go standalone DVD crazy this month. The best of this broad batch (which includes the delightful Carry Ons Spying, Cabby, Cowboy and Nurse) are the wonderfully hair-raising horror spoof Carry On Screaming (Optimum 0000 ) and the impeccably timeless Carry On Cleo (Optimum 000. ) — ‘lnfamy! Infamy! They’ve all got it in for me!’ No sight yet of the comedy team’s one true masterpiece, Carry on Up the Khyber, but time will tell. Despite all being good digital transfers the extras on these discs are pretty slender so rental may be the way to go. Look out later in the year or early next for The Comic Strip stalwart Peter Richardson’s all new Carry On feature Carry On London starring (gulp) Vinnie Jones and Shane Ritchie.
There are also leads and loads of fantastic box sets out this fortnight. Billy Wilder Collection Vols 1&2 (Fox 0000 ) includes many of the oddities, delights and conundrums from across this great filmmaker’s illustrious career from Some Like It Hot to Avanti! A new Blacksploitation‘ box set (Fox 000 ) offers up a more female perspective on what is often perceived as a misogynist film movement with sassy chick flicks Foxy Brown, Coffy and Black Mama White Mama. Sean Penn gets his second box set (Fox 000 ) in as many years, a curious selection which includes 21 Grams, TAPS and Colors. Kubrick’s first three features Killer’s Kiss, The Killing and Paths of Glory get cleaned up and repackaged for the Stanley Kubrick Collection (Fox 0000 ). Best box set by quite some margin however is the phenomenal, long overdue Luis Bur'ruel Collection (Optimum moo) featuring eight of the Andalucian dog’s finest films, among them The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Diary of a Chambermaid and the seminal arthouse porno Belle De Jour.
More singular treats include a sumptuoust upholstered release of Derek Jarman’s finest film Caravaggio (BFI 0.00 ) which includes superb interviews with the main cast and crews and Jarman’s gallery of storyboards, production sketches and notebooks. Allison Gas, Food, Lodging Anders’ troubling, underrated 2001 rape drama Things Behind the Sun (Cinema Club 000 ) also finally comes up for air this fortnight. Next issue we will be talking Frankie Howard, Leslie Phillips and Robert Mitchum. What a curious mélange, ooh er, missus. (Paul Dale) '
Like Chukhrai’s Ballad of a Soldier, this is set during WWII and deals with the burgeoning romance of young lovers Boris (Alexei Batalov) and Veronica (Tatiana Samojlova). War. however. conspires against the pair when Boris receives his orders to report for duty. The rest is all bad timing and tragedy.
film. which is unusually devoid of many of the propagandistic touches of the Stalin era, was a huge influence on many filmmakers either side of the Iron Curtain.
Special features include an interview with star Batalov. featurette on actress Samoilava. an atrocious dubbed version and the original mono version of the film. (Paul Dale)
This striking. tender and incredibly poignant
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