dvds of note: michael nyman / dziga vertov – man with a movie camera and jean cocteau / philip glass la belle et la bàö√ßte
this may be old news (as said, i’m catching up), but here’s one dvd i’m looking forward to: la belle et la bàö√ßte will be released on the criterion collection in the spring of 2003. i already got the nyman dvd a while back, neatly packaged in a light steel encasing, cd-size, published by the bfi.
there’s two reasons to buy that nyman/vertov dvd: one is for the nyman music that you’ll otherwise miss out on, and the other one is the classic montage pioneer film by vertov. the music is’n really grafted on the motion in the film, and i’m not sure that’s such a bad thing. either way, nyman managed very adequately to avoid breaking up the continuity of the film.
» more info: amazon uk | bfi | imdb
as for la belle et la bâçte, it says on the criterion website:
renowned composer philip glass has created a new 5.1 surround mix of his beauty and the beast opera for inclusion on criterion’s upcoming dvd re-release of jean cocteau’s classic film. glass’ opera will be one of four audio tracks available on the newly-restored beauty and the beast, along with audio commentary by film historian arthur knight, a second commentary by writer and cultural historian sir christopher frayling, and the film’s original soundtrack. look for criterion’s beauty and the beast re-release in early 2003.
» more info: criterion release page | imdb