Chantal Akerman on DVD

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Don Lope de Aguirre
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2006 5:39 pm
Location: London

#1 Post by Don Lope de Aguirre » Wed Feb 21, 2007 8:23 pm

Apologies if this is all ready public knowledge but it seems as if 2007 will be the year for Mme Akerman on DVD. According to Amazon.fr and alapage.com there will be a 6 DVD boxset of her 70s work which includes:

Hôtel Monterey / Je, tu, il, elle / Jeanne Dielman (also available seperately), / News from home / Les Rendez-vous d'Anna

This should be released by Carlotta films on April 18 2007.

(Additionally, 'Jeanne Dielman...' will be screened at the NFT (London) on Sat March 17th and Wed 21 March 2007.)

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pianocrash
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#2 Post by pianocrash » Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:15 am

I think I am going to cry (even if they're unsubbed).

Okay, I'll cry anyway.

Anonymous

#3 Post by Anonymous » Thu Feb 22, 2007 6:18 am

FINALLY! About fucking time that Jeanne Dielman gets released! Absolutely essential stuff, Akerman is one of modern cinema's true visionaries.

Zillertal
Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:48 am

#4 Post by Zillertal » Thu Feb 22, 2007 6:40 am

according to this website, there will be no subtitles, i'm afraid.

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Don Lope de Aguirre
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2006 5:39 pm
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#5 Post by Don Lope de Aguirre » Thu Feb 22, 2007 11:06 am

Just to confirm: I have called Carlotta and, no, there will not be any subtitles...

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Barmy
Joined: Mon May 16, 2005 3:59 pm

#6 Post by Barmy » Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:20 pm

A ludicrously overrated filmmaker. Jeane Dielman and The Captive, fine. Golden Eighties ::shudder::.

fred
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2005 10:28 pm

#7 Post by fred » Thu Feb 22, 2007 1:18 pm

Gosh, it's been a while, but I recall Golden Eighties being a charming, if not entirely successful, minor work. I'm not sure who's going around ludicrously overrating Akerman. Abject ignorance/indifference seems the more common reaction.

I'm sure it's been said before, but you seem to spend most of your time watching movies you don't like.

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Barmy
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#8 Post by Barmy » Thu Feb 22, 2007 1:20 pm

so true

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backstreetsbackalright
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2004 6:49 pm
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#9 Post by backstreetsbackalright » Thu Feb 22, 2007 3:23 pm

In the cases of News From Home and Hotel Monterey, the lack of subs shouldn't be an issue. And considering my very high opinion of News, that's enough to warrant a purchase for me. This is like a dream collection for me, but it's a damn dirty shame that there's no subs on the rest of the set.

Anonymous

#10 Post by Anonymous » Thu Feb 22, 2007 5:42 pm

Overrated? In think Akerman is still criminally underrated! Jeanne Dielman is one of the most important and visionary films ever made, a work of extraordinary intensity and at the same time subtlety. Yvone Margulies, J. Hoberman and Amy Taubin have all written very intelligently about Akerman. I recommend their stuff for a deeper understanding of her work.

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John Cope
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#11 Post by John Cope » Thu Feb 22, 2007 7:43 pm

I haven't had the opportunity to see much of her work and, I get the impression, what I have seen is considered pretty minor. Having said that, A Couch in New York is actually very pleasant if you like that kind of thing (I certainly didn't see any attempt at deconstruction in it; I assume it was a for hire job) but, yes, Barmy's right, Golden Eighties is thoroughly insufferable.

It's always nice to hear about movement of this kind on the video scene for more obscure directors who don't get a lot of representation. But other than Dielman, of course, the only film of hers I have any real driving interest in seeing is D'Est and that does not appear to be on the horizon.

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backstreetsbackalright
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#12 Post by backstreetsbackalright » Thu Feb 22, 2007 8:20 pm

John Cope wrote:But other than Dielman, of course, the only film of hers I have any real driving interest in seeing is D'Est and that does not appear to be on the horizon.
If you haven't already, you should check out From The Other Side, which is cut from the same cloth as D'Est. It isn't available in any retail edition, but it is easy to find in university library systems.

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Barmy
Joined: Mon May 16, 2005 3:59 pm

#13 Post by Barmy » Thu Feb 22, 2007 8:41 pm

Her episode in "Tous les garçons et les filles de leur âge..." is sublime. Is that on DVD?

I guess I've never forgiven her for "Je tu...", which just reeked of self pity. I still haven't recovered from the sugar eating scene. The other stuff I've seen for the most part hasn't left much of an impression.

She is constantly cited in lists of woman directors, which is a bit sad. That's what I mean by ludicrously overrated.

paa400
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 10:22 pm

#14 Post by paa400 » Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:15 pm

Did anyone ever find out if these have english subs? I went to the carlotta home page, but I'm just a dumb American and cannot read French.

paa400
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 10:22 pm

#15 Post by paa400 » Fri Apr 06, 2007 3:59 pm

I translated the page and it doesn't say if it has english subs-guess I'll have to wait for beaver.

paa400
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#16 Post by paa400 » Tue May 01, 2007 4:46 pm

Did anyone pick this up?

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backstreetsbackalright
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#17 Post by backstreetsbackalright » Tue May 01, 2007 5:32 pm

paa400 wrote:Did anyone pick this up?
I'm moving to Germany in a little over a month, so I'm holding off until then to pick it up.

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franco
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 7:32 pm
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#18 Post by franco » Tue May 01, 2007 6:25 pm

I just ordered Jeanne Dielman. Nevertheless, I am quite certain that it contains no subtitle of any kind:
Sous-titres disponibles
Aucun.

Sous-titres malentendants disponibles
Aucun.

paa400
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 10:22 pm

#19 Post by paa400 » Wed May 02, 2007 12:20 am

I've actually seen Jeanne Dielman on the big screen twice so Im tempted just to pick that one up even without subs.

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Oedipax
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:48 am
Location: Atlanta

#20 Post by Oedipax » Thu May 03, 2007 8:09 pm

Potential big news by way of Gary from DVD Beaver: apparently there is a Belgian port of the French Akerman box set with all five films with English subtitles.

The info can be found here, and I found one site already selling it here (does anyone know if the site is reliable? do they ship to the U.S.?)

I'm really anxious to find out if this is the real deal or not. Exciting times!

Wittsdream
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Chicago

#21 Post by Wittsdream » Fri May 04, 2007 12:33 am

A Chantal Akerman box set with those great 1970's films of hers WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES is easily one of the key DVD releases of the year, IMO.

Sensational news, if true!

paa400
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 10:22 pm

#22 Post by paa400 » Fri May 04, 2007 3:45 pm

I can't wait to find out!

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backstreetsbackalright
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#23 Post by backstreetsbackalright » Fri May 04, 2007 3:47 pm

Nor can I. Is it possible to wear out my browser's Refresh button?

Hashi
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2006 2:39 am

#24 Post by Hashi » Fri May 04, 2007 6:27 pm

Oedipax wrote:here (does anyone know if the site is reliable? do they ship to the U.S.?)
I've ordered from Azur a couple of times and so far I can only give my high recommendations. Very fast and reliable, but unfortunately I have no idea about shipping to US.

Jeff LeVine
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2004 1:27 am
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#25 Post by Jeff LeVine » Sat May 05, 2007 1:34 pm

I haven't checked the whole Carlotta set (which just arrived here yesterday), but it isn't accurate to say there are no subtitles, as Jeanne Dielmann 23 actually has Dutch subtitles. Don't know if that helps anybody here...

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