Criterion DVDs that include source material

News on Criterion and Janus Films.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
essrog
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 7:24 pm
Location: Minneapolis, Minn.

Criterion DVDs that include source material

#1 Post by essrog » Sun Oct 30, 2005 10:10 pm

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.

User avatar
zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

#2 Post by zedz » Sun Oct 30, 2005 10:48 pm

Yes, but others of significance include the extensive short story in the In the Mood for Love book (which is almost big enough to be a separate book), and the reprint of Blank and Gosling's fantastic journals alongside Burden of Dreams - definitely on the shortlist for best extra of the year.

User avatar
tryavna
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:38 pm
Location: North Carolina

#3 Post by tryavna » Mon Oct 31, 2005 12:13 am

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.

Narshty
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:27 pm
Location: London, UK

#4 Post by Narshty » Tue Nov 01, 2005 5:57 pm

It seems like a special deal they have going with Vintage Books though. The Ugetsu stories all seem to be out of copyright.

User avatar
zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

#5 Post by zedz » Tue Nov 01, 2005 7:18 pm

Now that this discussion has been given a slightly more expansive title and relocated, I should also note the three chapters from Janet Frame's autobiography (one apiece) included in the Angel at My Table book. With luck, this will inspire a few people to read the whole thing in all its glory.

User avatar
Rufus T. Firefly
Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2004 4:24 am
Location: Sydney, Australia

#6 Post by Rufus T. Firefly » Tue Nov 01, 2005 8:27 pm

Narshty wrote:It seems like a special deal they have going with Vintage Books though. The Ugetsu stories all seem to be out of copyright.
Considering the author of the original stories has been dead for 196 years, it seems likely they would be.

Narshty
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:27 pm
Location: London, UK

#7 Post by Narshty » Thu Nov 10, 2005 9:49 pm

Notorious has the relevant excerpts from the short story that inspired the screenplay on disc. In The Mood for Love has the short story "Intersection" reprinted in the booklet.

User avatar
LightBulbFilm
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2005 5:11 pm
Location: Florida
Contact:

#8 Post by LightBulbFilm » Wed Nov 16, 2005 5:37 pm

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.

Narshty
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:27 pm
Location: London, UK

#9 Post by Narshty » Wed Nov 16, 2005 6:03 pm

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.

User avatar
justeleblanc
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:05 pm
Location: Connecticut

#10 Post by justeleblanc » Wed Nov 16, 2005 6:30 pm

I would have liked them to have included the original Dr. Mabuse novel with TESTAMENT's release as well.

User avatar
tryavna
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:38 pm
Location: North Carolina

#11 Post by tryavna » Wed Nov 16, 2005 6:41 pm

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.
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.

User avatar
Tribe
The Bastard Spawn of Hank Williams
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 7:59 pm
Location: Toledo, Ohio
Contact:

#12 Post by Tribe » Wed Nov 16, 2005 7:44 pm

matt wrote:
Narshty wrote:It seems like a special deal they have going with Vintage Books though.
Yes, I kind of figured that. I noticed that the books they have included so far are both published by divisions of Random House.
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.

Dr. Mabuse
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 3:37 pm

#13 Post by Dr. Mabuse » Thu Nov 17, 2005 5:31 am

JusteLeblanc wrote:I would have liked them to have included the original Dr. Mabuse novel with TESTAMENT's release as well.
That will happen when Criterion releases Dr. Mabuse - The Gambler...

User avatar
denti alligator
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:36 pm
Location: "born in heaven, raised in hell"

#14 Post by denti alligator » Thu Nov 17, 2005 10:32 am

It would be nice (this should go in random speculation, i guess), if Criterion put Döblin's entire and long-out-print (in English) Berlin Alexanderplatz when they issue the Fassbinder version, we hope along with the Piel Jutzi version, too.

User avatar
justeleblanc
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:05 pm
Location: Connecticut

#15 Post by justeleblanc » Thu Nov 17, 2005 10:35 am

Dr. Mabuse wrote:
JusteLeblanc wrote:I would have liked them to have included the original Dr. Mabuse novel with TESTAMENT's release as well.
That will happen when Criterion releases Dr. Mabuse - The Gambler...
And hopefully they will.

User avatar
oldsheperd
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2004 5:18 pm
Location: Rio Rancho/Albuquerque

#16 Post by oldsheperd » Thu Nov 17, 2005 1:16 pm

Il Gattopardo would have been a nice addition with the Leopard

User avatar
Gordon
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2004 8:03 am

#17 Post by Gordon » Thu Nov 17, 2005 2:42 pm

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. :wink:

kekid
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:55 pm

#18 Post by kekid » Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:50 am

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.

User avatar
solaris72
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:03 pm
Location: Baltimore, MD

#19 Post by solaris72 » Fri Nov 18, 2005 1:04 am

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.
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.

richast2
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:49 am

#20 Post by richast2 » Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:07 pm

Narshty wrote:Naked Lunch has about an hour of audio excerpts from Burroughs' novel.
the same goes for Fear and Loathing

Narshty
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:27 pm
Location: London, UK

#21 Post by Narshty » Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:08 pm

No it doesn't.

Incidentally, Fox's new DVD of The Fly has George Langelaan's short story from Playboy, Charles Edward Pogue's original screenplay and Cronenberg's rewrite of that into his final shooting script, all presented in their entirety. Now THAT'S what I'm talking about.

richast2
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:49 am

#22 Post by richast2 » Fri Nov 18, 2005 2:02 pm

well, it doesn't have readings from Naked Lunch, but it does have readings from Fear and Loathing.

User avatar
cdnchris
Site Admin
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:45 pm
Location: Washington
Contact:

#23 Post by cdnchris » Sat Nov 19, 2005 4:55 pm

Narshty wrote:No it doesn't.
Actually, if I recall correctly, the Fear and Loathing DVD has an audio excerpt from that CD Jarmusch and Maury Chaykin did, if that counts.

thewind
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2005 9:44 am
Location: Bloomington, IN

#24 Post by thewind » Tue Nov 29, 2005 1:20 am

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.

thewind
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2005 9:44 am
Location: Bloomington, IN

#25 Post by thewind » Tue Nov 29, 2005 1:26 am

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"

Post Reply