Criterion DVDs that include source material
- essrog
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 7:24 pm
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Criterion DVDs that include source material
Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, but is Mr. Arkadin the third Criterion to have the complete source literature included as a separate book, after Short Cuts and The Man Who Fell to Earth? I know Rashomon and Ugetsu, among others probably, include the original short stories in the standard accompanying booklet with the essay(s), credits, etc.
- zedz
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- tryavna
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I guess you could throw in the fat (phat?) booklet that comes with the boxset Adventures of Antoine Doinel, which includes all of Truffaut's treatments for the films as well as the original short story that grew into The 400 Blows and some interviews, memos, and retrospective essays by Truffaut and others.
- zedz
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- Rufus T. Firefly
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- LightBulbFilm
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Actual proper shooting scripts, rather than mere transcripts of the finished film, are terrific.
Some more: Beauty and the Beast has the original fairytale in the booklet.
The Killers, The Devil & Daniel Webster and Le Notti Bianche all have the original short stories as audio readings. Naked Lunch has about an hour of audio excerpts from Burroughs' novel.
Some more: Beauty and the Beast has the original fairytale in the booklet.
The Killers, The Devil & Daniel Webster and Le Notti Bianche all have the original short stories as audio readings. Naked Lunch has about an hour of audio excerpts from Burroughs' novel.
- justeleblanc
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- tryavna
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I'm with you on this one -- especially when it comes to films that have been messed around with by the studios in postproduction. And this goes for all DVD companies, not just Criterion. For instance, I think that Sony's release of Major Dundee, which is already an impressive package in many ways, would have been well served by the inclusion of the original script as PDF file. Or at least those segments that don't appear in the final cut. That certainly would have helped fill in the gaps.LightBulbFilm wrote:The booklets are great with the DVDs, but sometimes I wish they would give you the screenplay with it as well... I love reading the screenplays to movies then looking at the movie's dialogue with a whole new view.
- Tribe
- The Bastard Spawn of Hank Williams
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Which would be particularly nice in the case of the upcoming Shoot the Piano Player since it is based on David Goodis' Down There which in turn is published by Random House under its Vintage Crime/Black Lizard imprint.matt wrote:Yes, I kind of figured that. I noticed that the books they have included so far are both published by divisions of Random House.Narshty wrote:It seems like a special deal they have going with Vintage Books though.
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- denti alligator
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- justeleblanc
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- oldsheperd
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- Gordon
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Why is it deemed desirable for a DVD of a film to contain the original novel/source material? If one is so interested in the original literature, then why not simply purchase the book? Or lend it from the library? It's a nice gesture from Criterion when they include these books, but it is needlessly bulking out the packaging. I already had Tevis', The Man Who Fell to Earth and I have most of Carver's works.
Most Americans don't appreciate artistic literature anyway, so why bother.
Most Americans don't appreciate artistic literature anyway, so why bother.
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I am probably going to be in a minority on this subject, but I do not like DVDs with books inserted in the same box. For me, DVDs belong to DVD shelves, and books belong to book shelves. I have limited shelf-space for DVDs, and I do not want to see it taken up by paperbacks. However, I can understand the interest in having the source material. My thought would be that Criterion should develop a packaging format that gives the DVD a stand-alone packaging, so the book may be separately stored.
- solaris72
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They already have. The Man Who Fell To Earth had the DVDs in an alpha double case, which was inside a cardboard slipcase that also held the book. Anyone concerned about books contaminating their DVD shelf can simply keep the alpha double on their shelf without the slipcase.kekid wrote:My thought would be that Criterion should develop a packaging format that gives the DVD a stand-alone packaging, so the book may be separately stored.
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- cdnchris
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I hate to quibble about the as-yet-unreleased Criterion disc that begat this thread, but the "source material" for Arkadin was "The Man of Mystery" episode of Welles's The Lives of Harry Lime radio series, not the book. The book was just a means to promote the film, and wasn't written by Welles (unless, of course, you liked it, then he might coyly change his tune).
From This Is Orson Welles:
Peter Bogdanovich: When you wrote the novel of Mr. Arkadin --
Orson Welles: Peter, I didn't write one word of that novel. Nor have I ever read it.
PB: How could they publish it with your name on it?
OW: Somebody [Maurice Bessy] wrote it in French to be published in serial form in the newspapers. You know -- to promote the picture. I don't know how it got under hardcovers, or who got paid for that.
PB: In a couple of books about you, they talk about the "beautiful" style of your writing in that novel.
OW: Maybe I did write it, at that.
From This Is Orson Welles:
Peter Bogdanovich: When you wrote the novel of Mr. Arkadin --
Orson Welles: Peter, I didn't write one word of that novel. Nor have I ever read it.
PB: How could they publish it with your name on it?
OW: Somebody [Maurice Bessy] wrote it in French to be published in serial form in the newspapers. You know -- to promote the picture. I don't know how it got under hardcovers, or who got paid for that.
PB: In a couple of books about you, they talk about the "beautiful" style of your writing in that novel.
OW: Maybe I did write it, at that.
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And, of course, since the Arkadin set is rumored to include "The Man of Mystery," then it will actually include the source material... just not in print form. But, just thought I'd set the record straight in case it hadn't been done on another thread I'd missed.
[quote]As a result, many versions exist, none of them definitive. The Criterion Collection is proud to collect the many faces of Mr. Arkadin into one box for the first time—from the story's beginnings in radio to the novel published under Welles's name to an all-new "comprehensive version"
[quote]As a result, many versions exist, none of them definitive. The Criterion Collection is proud to collect the many faces of Mr. Arkadin into one box for the first time—from the story's beginnings in radio to the novel published under Welles's name to an all-new "comprehensive version"