In 1967 Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were at the height of their shared fame following the success of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) and The Taming of the Shrew (1967). Both films were well received by critics and audiences loved seeing the two actors on screen together in fictional marriages that many assumed resembled their real-life marriage. There’s no doubt that the two actors brought some of their real-world experience to their roles but it became increasingly hard for the public to separate fact from fiction. Elizabeth Taylor had also become a target for critics and gossip columnists who insisted on labeling her a wanton woman and wicked home-wrecker, who had destroyed Richard Burton’s previous marriage and was damning the critically acclaimed stage actor to a decadent Hollywood life spent making movies and drinking too much.
Of course this was only half the story but unfortunately many people still think of Elizabeth Taylor as the woman who brought about Richard Burton’s downfall. And it’s not uncommon for critics to blame her for the couple’s many problems. The truth is that Richard Burton was a notorious drinker and womanizer long before he ever met Elizabeth Taylor on the set of Cleopatra (1963) and even if he hadn’t fallen in love with her, there’s a high probability that his previous marriage wouldn’t have lasted much longer. Burton had also been making films long before he met Taylor and the talented actor had expressed his desire to move away from stage acting and focus more on film acting. His high profile relationship with an award-winning star like Elizabeth Taylor gave Burton the opportunity to appear in better films and be more selective about the roles he took. Far from being the wretched shrew that so many critics and gossip columnists saw her as, Taylor was actually supportive of Burton’s stage work and used her Hollywood clout to help Burton gain more creative control over his acting career. Burton also encouraged Taylor’s stage acting because he thought she had the makings of a great actress who was capable of handling the classic plays that Burton had appeared in and had a deep affection for.
One of Richard Burton’s favorite classic plays was Christopher Marlowe’s The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, which tells the cautionary tale of a magician who sells his soul to the devil for more knowledge and power. For years Burton had longed to play Doctor Faustus and in 1966 he got the opportunity to in a Nevill Coghill directed production of the play that took place at the Oxford Playhouse in England. It also featured Elizabeth Taylor in the role of Helen of Troy. Taylor had previously appeared on stage in 1964 with Burton during a poetry reading where both actor’s read the work of various poets such as Robert Frost and Elizabeth Barrett Browning but Taylor’s non-speaking role as Helen of Troy in The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus would mark the first time that the actress would actually be acting on stage in front of a live audience.
Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton in the Oxford stage production of
The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus(1966)
Taylor was one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood at the time and she averaged one million dollars a picture. Burton was making about $500,000 per film himself but both actors didn’t take any money for starring in the Oxford University stage production of The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. Instead, the couple gave up their high salaries and all the money earned from ticket sales went to Oxford University for a studio-theatre extension, now known as the Burton-Taylor Rooms.
After the success of the Oxford production which played to a crammed full-house every night, Burton expressed interest in starring in a film version of Marlowe’s play and together with Taylor, the couple decided to finance a movie based on The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus called Doctor Faustus (1967). Burton would make his directorial debut with Doctor Faustus in association with Nevill Coghill, who had directed Burton and Taylor on the Oxford stage and Burton and Taylor would once again play the roles of Faustus and Helen. Co-director Nevill Coghill also wrote the film’s script.
Doctor Faustus (1967) was shot in three months in Rome and besides Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton; the entire cast consisted of undergraduates from the Oxford University Dramatic Society. The couple employed many of the talented people who they had met and worked with on the set of Cleopatra and The Taming of the Shrew to make Doctor Faustus, such as producer Richard McWhorter, art director Boris Juraga, set director Dario Simoni, set designer Italo Tomassi, special effects artist Augie Lohman and stylists such as Alexandre de Paris who had helped create Taylor’s dramatic look for Cleopatra. Together with the skilled international crew that included cinematographer Gábor Pogány, this group of creative people helped give Doctor Faustus an impressive look and stunning visual style even though most of the film was seemingly shot on rather small sets. Horror fans who enjoy Roger Corman’s Poe films, Hammer studio productions and Mario Bava’s Italian thrillers might be surprised by how much Burton’s Doctor Faustus seems to resemble horror films from the same period.
Although the script differs from the original play it still manages to follow Christopher Marlowe’s story somewhat faithfully. Nevill Coghill also smartly worked passages from some of Marlowe’s other plays such as The Jew of Malta and Tamburlaine into his script, which spices up the proceedings and gives the film a little more creative depth in my opinion.
Elizabeth Taylor’s performance as Helen of Troy is wordless but she still manages to make a big impact on screen. Burton’s love and affection for his wife comes through in every scene she appears in. Taylor floats through the film like a beautiful siren luring Faustus to his final doom. Through countless costume and makeup changes that would make Cleopatra envious, Taylor manages to give her silent role a quiet resonance that allows Burton’s Faustus to truly shine and take center stage. Elizabeth Taylor has expressed many times how in awe she was of Burton’s acting talents and she’s still deeply hurt that Hollywood never fully embraced or rewarded Burton during his lifetime. While watching Doctor Faustus again I was impressed with the way Taylor acted as a sort of lovely ornament in the film that was clearly made in an effort to let her much admired husband showcase his impressive acting abilities and creative skills as a co-director and producer.
Critics have naturally referred to Doctor Faustus as a “vanity project” for both Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. And there’s no getting around the fact that Burton’s dream of bringing Marlowe’s play to the screen was motivated by his personal desires and hopes, which Taylor completely supported. But I also think that a lot of care and thought went into the production and it’s clear that Burton had a sincere appreciation of Christopher Marlowe’s work, which should be obvious to anyone who’s seen the film. Burton clearly enjoyed playing Faustus and his magnificent booming voice gives a lot of weight to Marlowe’s classic play. As a matter of fact, in the book Constructing Christopher Marlowe author, performance critic and Professor Lois Potter mentions that the stage and film adaptation’s of The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor did more for Marlowe’s fame than any other event during the last century.
Unfortunately film critics (who undoubtedly had very little experience with Marlowe’s original work) were not kind to the film. As a matter of fact, they were rather brutal in their harsh dismissal of Doctor Faustus. New York Times critic Renata Adler said of the film in 1968 after it debuted in America that it, “is of an awfulness that bends the mind” and, “one has the feeling that “Faustus” was shot mainly as a home movie for them (Burton and Taylor) to enjoy at home.” In the New Yorker Pauline Kael said that, “By the time Richard Burton was in a position to star in a movie of Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, further dealing with the Devil probably had become anticlimactic” and claimed that it was, “the dullest episode in the Burton and Taylor great-lovers-of-history series that started with Cleopatra” while adding, “Burton gives a dead, muffled reading.” And last but not least, Judith Crist said, “It turns out to be the story of a man who sold his soul for Elizabeth Taylor.”
It’s easy to dismiss some of the negative criticism of the film as pure opinion without much substance, but it’s impossible to overlook some of the more pointed personal attacks that were aimed directly at Elizabeth Taylor. Both Kael and Crist were clearly comparing Taylor to the Devil and their cruelty is completely tasteless, catty and unprofessional, as well as utterly weightless when one considers the facts. Instead of making Doctor Faustus with Burton, Taylor could have spent her time earning a million dollar paycheck in Hollywood. Taylor clearly supported her husband’s creative desire to make the film and she lent her ample financial clout to the production. Unfortunately the criticism that would follow the rest of the film’s Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton made together would often take a similar direction.
Doctor Faustus is not a perfect film and I personally find it a bit too stagy at times for my own liking and occasionally slow-moving, which can be blamed on Marlowe’s original play as well as the script. But there’s also a lot to enjoy in the film and it’s a shame that the critical reception was so negative on its release. The special effects are very imaginative for the time and the film even employees stylish touches such as a split-screen to convey Faustus’ thoughts and highlight simultaneous actions by various characters. I would have liked to have seen Richard Burton go on to direct other films or at the very least co-direct. Doctor Faustus proves that he had some other talents besides acting and I think he could have successfully adapted other classic Elizabethan plays for film if he had been given the opportunity. I feel confident in saying that the negative criticism and lack of respect from Hollywood, which resulted in Burton never receiving an Oscar even though he was nominated seven times, deeply troubled him and did more harm to Richard Burton’s personal life and career than Elizabeth Taylor ever did.
The personal attacks on Elizabeth Taylor found in the criticisms of Doctor Faustus continue to haunt the film, even though the 2004 DVD release of the movie seemed to generate mostly positive reviews. In the following clip I came across on Youtube you can witness Elizabeth Taylor take on a group of journalists as they question Richard Burton about his career choices in relation to Doctor Faustus. Taylor had grown-up in the public eye and she had clearly grown weary of thoughtless attacking critics. Burton on the other hand is rather new to this kind of extreme critical attention and he remains calm and collected in the clip. He also seems to get a mild kick out of seeing his wife lash back at the reporters. To add insult to injury, the clip ends with blood-sucking gossip columnist Liz Smith rephrasing the personal attacks made above by critics like Kael and Crist when it’s merely hearsay, rumor and pure opinion based on very few actual facts.
Also worth a look is this brief hard-to-see clip shot in 1966 featuring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton leaving the Oxford Playhouse after the first stage production of Doctor Faustus while they’re being questioned by journalists about their performances.
If you enjoy classic Elizabethan drama or classic gothic horror from the sixties, I recommend giving the 1967 film version of Doctor Faustus a look. The film should also hold a lot of interest for fans of Cleopatra and The Taming of the Shrew since both films could be considered siblings to Doctor Faustus due to the fact that so many crew members worked with Taylor and Burton on all three productions.
I’m currently busy writing about some of my favorite Post-1966 Elizabeth Taylor films, but I wanted to share some fantastic news I stumbled across while I was roaming around online.
Two of my favorite television shows from the ‘60s and ‘70s are Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone (1959-64) and Night Gallery (1970-73). CBS and NBC recently launched two new sub-sites called CBS Classics and NBC’s Way Back Wednesdays where you can view episodes of these classic horror/science fiction shows free online at anytime. CBS has made many episodes of The Twilight Zone available, as well as episodes of the original Star Trek (1966-69) and Hawaii Five-O (1968-80) and every Wednesday NBC is making an episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery available, along with episodes of other popular shows such as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962-65), the original Battlestar Galactica (1978-79) and Emergency (1972-79).
If you’re somehow unfamiliar with Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery this is a great opportunity to see episodes of these classic television programs. Both shows featured gifted actors often giving some of their best performances and they were written and directed by some of television’s greatest talents, including Rod Serling himself. Many episodes of The Twilight Zone and Night Gallery still give me the creeps and they’re guaranteed to give new viewers a nightmare or two. If you’re already familiar with these critically acclaimed shows you can now become reacquainted with them free of charge. For more information please check out the links I’ve posted below:
She’s been married eight times to seven different men. She was condemned by the Vatican for her “erotic vagrancy.” She’s received two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes and one Razzie. She saved Montgomery Clift’s life in 1956. She’s given countless millions to charity. Andy Warhol turned her likeness into art and Mattel turned her likeness into a doll. Elizabeth Taylor is a true “Movie Star” and today the legendary actress is celebrating her 76th birthday.
Throughout the following week I’m going to be writing about a few of my favorite Elizabeth Taylor films made during the late sixties and early seventies. Taylor is undoubtedly one of cinema’s great beauties and her early work is often praised by critics who claim that Elizabeth Taylor’s acting talents peaked in 1966 when she made the award winning film Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with her husband Richard Burton and director Mike Nichols. Contrary to popular critical opinion, I think some of Taylor’s most interesting roles can be found in the films she made between 1967-1975. During this period Elizabeth Taylor really matured as an actress and with Burton by her side, she was willing to take on risky roles in unusual films that were often financial failures and typically misunderstood and attacked by critics.
In the next week I hope to shine a little light on some of the lesser-known movies that Elizabeth Taylor made during this later period in her career when she seemed to use her age, experience, faults, quirks, addictions, inner turmoil and the passionate relationship she shared with fellow actor Richard Burton to inject her roles with an edgy over-the-top candor that I personally find fascinating to watch on screen.
I’ve been trying to write out my thoughts about Jean-Luc Godard’s Pierrot le fou (1965) for days, but even after watching the film twice and enjoying all the wonderful extras included with the fantastic new Criterion DVD, I’m finding words inadequate to describe how much I’ve fallen in love with this wonderful movie in so short a time. My love for Pierrot le fou is so fresh, so passionate, so alive and so completely unabashed that I feel a little like a silly schoolgirl with a terrible crush on the cute new boy in class.
I’ve been curious about seeing Pierrot le fou for about 15 years after I came across still shots from the film featuring Jean-Paul Belmondo with his face painted bright blue. I also saw brief clips of the party scene from Pierrot le fou a few years ago in the fascinating Samuel Fuller documentary The Typewriter, the Rifle & the Movie Camera (Adam Simon; 1996) and became even more intrigued, but for one reason or another I never got around to watching it. I had hoped to attend the theatrical revival of the film last year, but sadly I wasn’t able to. As far as I know Pierrot le fou was never shown in the San Francisco Bay Area last year and the official Janus site seems to confirm this.
Thanks to Criterion’s recent DVD release of Pierrot le fou I was finally able to experience this amazing film for the first time and now I deeply regret not seeing it sooner. Pierrot le fou manages to combine everything I love about my two favorite Godard films (Contempt, 1963 and Weekend, 1967) into one brilliant piece of work, while referencing every film the director had made before and predicting many of the more radical films he would make afterward. The basic plot of Pierrot le fou involves an unhappily married man named Ferdinand (Jean-Paul Belmondo) who meets up with an old flame named Marianne (Anna Karina) and the two abandon their old lives and begin a life of violent crime together. Unfortunately their combustible relationship begins to unravel under the stress of life on the run, but between their verbal sparing and love-making the audience is treated to a smart political and social satire with slapstick style comedy and an occasional musical number.
Pierrot le fou borrows elements from classic crime films such as Nicholas Ray’s They Live by Night (1948) and Joseph H. Lewis’ Gun Crazy (1950), but the film also takes a lot of inspiration from Jean-Luc Godard’s own Breathless (1960). It’s also worth noting that Pierrot le fou pre-dates Arthur Penn and Warren Beatty’s less interesting and more conventional Bonnie and Clyde (1967) by two years. For my money, none of the previously mentioned films come close to matching the offbeat magic conjured up in Pierrot Le fou by Godard and his two incredibly charming stars, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina.
Pierrot le fou combines some of Jean-Luc Godard’s best writing and directing with stunning color photography by Godard’s longtime collaborator Raoul Coutard. The film manages to effortlessly mix comic-book style aesthetics with a painterly eye and the outcome is so wonderfully modern that Pierrot le fou still feels fresh and alive some 45 years after it was made.
Criterion’s magnificent two-disc restored widescreen DVD presentation of Pierrot le fou looks absolutely stunning and it’s loaded with fantastic extras, including a new video interview with actress Anna Karina who’s now 68 years old, and she offers some wonderful insights into the making of the film. The DVD also includes a new video program with audio commentary by filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin called A Pierrot Primer, a fascinating fifty-minute French documentary about director Jean-Luc Godard and his personal & working relationship with Anna Karina called Godard, L’Amour, La Poesie, a wonderful archival interview with the young and extremely adorable Jean-Paul Belmondo conducted while he was shooting Pierrot le fou and a brief archival piece about the Venice Film festival in 1965 that features interviews with Godard and Anna Karina. The DVD also contains the original theatrical trailer and a nice booklet with a new essay by critic Richard Brody, a 1969 review by Andrew Sarris and a 1965 interview with Godard. Pierrot le fou retails for $39.95 and it’s currently available from Amazon for $29.95. Criterion has really kicked-started 2008 by releasing some truly wonderful films on NTSC Region 1 DVD in recent weeks and I applaud them for it.
If you would like to see more screen shots from the film please see my Pierrot le fou Flickr gallery. I’ve also uploaded the wonderful song Ma ligne de chance that was sung by Anna Karina and Jean-Paul Belmondo in Pierrot le fou for anyone who would like to hear it.
I’ve only had the opportunity to see a few of the films nominated for Academy Awards this year and besides David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises, I haven’t been all that impressed with what I’ve seen. Since I don’t write about modern film that often I wasn’t going to mention the Oscars this year, but I will be watching the award show tonight and I hope to catch a glimpse of two of my favorite modern actors; Viggo Mortensen and Tadanobu Asano.
I’ve been following Viggo Mortensen’s acting career closely since I first saw him the entertaining horror film Prison back in 1988. Viggo really stood out and it was clear to me back then that he had the good looks and acting abilities to become a major star. Besides acting Viggo Mortensen is an accomplished poet and artist, and he’s also recorded multiple albums. He’s a truly talented individual and an American original who’s not afraid to speak his mind and stand up for what he believes in.
After enjoying Mortensen in somewhat lackluster films like Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990) and Young Guns II (1990), he went on make some of his best films in the early 1990s such as The Reflecting Skin (1990), The Indian Runner (1991) and The Passion of Darkly Noon (1995). By the late 1990s, I had sort of lost track of him and stopped paying attention to his films until his name was suddenly everywhere following the success of the Lord of the Rings movies. I naively assumed he would continue making blockbuster action films in Hollywood after that so I was completely caught off guard by his incredible performance in David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence (2005) and I’m really happy that the director and actor seem to have forged an interesting creative bond that I hope will only evolve over time. I’d like to see Viggo Mortensen take home the Oscar for Best Actor tonight, but the odds are not in his favor.
Top: Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises
Bottom: Tadanobu Asano in Mongol
Much like Viggo Mortensen, Tadanobu Asano is a true “Renaissance Man” and besides being one of Japan’s most accomplished modern actors, he’s also a talented artist and musician.
I first discovered Asano’s talent back in 1998 (exactly 10 years after I came across Viggo Mortensen in Prison) when he starred in the excellent Japanese crime thriller and satire Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl (Samehada otoko to momojiri onna) followed by his impressive role in the samurai drama Taboo (Gohatto, 1999). I lost track of Asano for a few years until I caught him starring in Takashi Miike’s Ichi the Killer (Koroshiya 1, 2001), but he was hard to recognize at first. His hair was bleached bright blond and it took me awhile to figure out that he was the same handsome actor that I had been impressed with in earlier films. From that moment on I was determined to know more about Asano and I’ve made an effort to see many of his early films as well as his newest efforts whenever I can. Some of his best films in recent years include Bright Future (Akarui mirai, 2003), Last Life in the Universe (Ruang rak noi nid mahasan, 2003), Zatoichi (2003), Vital (2004), Survive Style 5+ (2004) and Rampo Noir (2005).
Unfortunately I haven’t had the opportunity to see Tadanobu Asano’s new Oscar nominated film Mongol (Sergei Bodrov; 2007) yet but it’s up for Best Picture in the much-contested Foreign Film category. I hope Asano will be able to attend the award show tonight on the off chance that the film he starred in might win.
Countless Oscars have been handed out as consolatory prizes for overlooked work and Viggo Mortensen and Tadanobu Asano’s ongoing and impressive acting careers have been overlooked by Hollywood and American film audiences for much too long. The odds might be stacked against them both tonight, but I’ll be rooting for them!
Update (2.25.08)
- Unfortunately my guys didn’t win anything and I thought the Award show was dull as dishwater this year (my favorite moment was when the Coen brothers won best director and Joel’s wife Frances McDormand couldn’t contain her happiness!). Oh well, there’s always next year. In the meantime, here are some pics of the most interesting actors who attended last nights red carpet affair. For my money, Asano was the best looking and best dressed man there. Even Viggo looked terrific with his bushy beard.
Viggo Mortensen and Tadanobu Asano at the 80th Academy Awards
There is sad news today of the death of Alain Robbe-Grillet who has left this world at the ripe old age of 85. GreenCine Daily has collected some links to news stories and various articles about this talented writer and director. I also recommend Robert Monell’s brief piece The Films of Alain Robbe-Grillet and the Alain Robbe-Grillet Bibliography.
Marisa Mell and Elsa Martinelli in Perversion Story (1969)
Perversion Story (Severin)
Please see my review of Lucio Fulci’s Perversion Story (1969) at Cinedelica HERE.
Rika Aoki in Rica (1972)
Rica 1-3 (Exploitation Digital / Media Blasters)
I hope to write a more detailed review of the Rica (1972-73) series in the future, but in the meantime please see my overview of pinky violence cinema that makes reference to the first film HERE.
Tattooed Flower Vase (1976)
Tattooed Flower Vase (KINO)
Please see my review of Masaru Konuma’s Tattooed Flower Vase (1976) HERE.
Pamela Franklin in The Third Secret (1964)
The Third Secret (Starz / Anchor Bay)
Please see my review of Charles Critchon’s The Third Secret (1964) at Cinedelica HERE.
The Face of Another (1966)
Three Films By Hiroshi Teshigahara: Pitfall / Woman In The Dunes / The Face Of Another (Criterion)
These brilliant Hiroshi Teshigahara’s films had previously been available individually on PAL Region 2 DVD from Eureka Entertainment in Britain, but Criterion released all three films on Region 1 DVD last year for the first time along with some of Teshigahara’s shorts as part of their impressive 4-disc Three Films By Hiroshi Teshigahara collection. Hiroshi Teshigahara is truly one of Japan’s greatest filmmakers and if you only purchase one DVD collection on my list, make it this one! The director seamlessly weaves thoughtful social commentary into his stylish avant-garde films and manages to mask their origins in science fiction and horror cinema with evocative surrealist imagery. I had previously seen Woman In The Dunes and The Face of Another, but Teshigahara ’s short films and his masterful existential ghost story Pitfall were new to me. Seeing Pitfall for the first time last year was undoubtedly the highlight of my DVD viewing in 2007 and I hope to write about the film a bit more in the future. In the meantime, please see my lengthy review of Hiroshi Teshigahara’s The Face Of Another and my write-up about one of the film’s minor stars (Bibari Maeda) linked below:
- The Face of Another
- The Face of Bibari Maeda
Ken Ogata in Vengeance Is Mine (1979)
Vengeance Is Mine (Criterion)
Please see my review of Shohei Imamura’s Vengeance Is Mine (1979) at Cinedelica HERE.
Vincent Price in Witchfinder General (1968)
Witchfinder General (MGM)
Please my brief write-up about Witchfinder General (1968) and the Vincent Price MGM Scream Legends CollectionHERE. You’ll also find links to many different reviews there.
Who Can Kill a Child? (1976)
Who Can Kill a Child? (Dark Sky Films)
Over the years I’ve read a lot about Narciso Ibáñez Serrador’s Spanish thriller Who Can Kill a Child? (¿Quién puede matar un Niño?, 1976), but I finally got the opportunity to see the film when it was released on Region 1 DVD for the first time last year by Dark Sky Films. Who Can Kill a Child? did not disappoint, and I was frankly rather surprised by the film’s overt political themes, creative direction and interesting script based on a novel by the Spanish horror author Juan José Plans. Most of the film takes place on a small remote island in Spain where a British couple has decided to vacation. When they arrive at the scenic seaside village they discover that the adults have vanished and all that remains are some children whose erratic behavior hides a deeper and more sinister motive. Narciso Ibáñez Serrador’s direction is really impressive at times and I liked the way he weaved political and social commentary into his script. The film opens with a disturbing montage featuring news footage gathered from all over the world of dead, starving and wounded children that is still startling some 30 years after the film was first made. The director also does a terrific job of capturing the beauty of the the Spanish coastal towns in the film, which stands out in stark contrast to the horrific themes found in Who Can Kill a Child? This unusual horror film is definitely not for everyone and I’m sure some viewers will be immediately put off by some of the violent acts in the film that feature children portraying victims as well as villains. The Dark Sky Films DVD contains a great looking uncut widescreen print of the film with two optional audio tracks (English and Spanish with subtitles) and extras include a still gallery as well as in two interesting interviews with cinematographer José Luis Alcaine and director Narciso Ibáñez Serrador.
Links to the first, second and third part of my Favorite DVD Releases of 2007 list can be found below:
And that’s it folks! I hope I’ve encouraged a few people to seek out some of these terrific films. Most of them were released on DVD for the first time last year and many of them were never theatriclly released in the U.S. These important DVD releases often give western audiences the first opportunity to see these neglected films and I’m really grateful for that myself.
Naturally my list is limited by the films I’ve had the opportunity to see and some of the DVD titles that might have made my list if I had seen them include The Blood Rose (Mondo Macabro), La Jetee / Sans Soleil (Criterion), When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (Criterion), Cria Cuervos (Criterion), Sweet Movie (Criterion), Killer of Sheep: The Charles Burnett Collection (New Yorker Video), etc.
It’s also worth noting that my list only contains films, but there were also some terrific TV shows released on DVD in 2007 including Land of the Giants (20th Century Fox), Jason King (Image Entertainment), The Mod Squad (Paramount) and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Time Life).
Last but not least, there were also many noteworthy films re-released on DVD last year often in deluxe editions or as part of a collection such as The Mario Bava Collection Volume 1 and 2 (Starz/Anchor Bay), Stanley Kubrick - Directors Series (Warner Home Video), A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin (Media Blasters/Shriek Show), Help! (Apple Corps Ltd.), Chinatown (Paramount) and Taxi Driver (Sony). I’ve haven’t had the chance to pick up any of these myself or view them, but they are well worth a look if you don’t own any of these films yet or just want to replace your previous DVDs with these superior new releases.
Legends of the Poisonous Seductress #1: Female Demon Ohyaku (1969)
Legends of the Poisonous Seductress #1: Female Demon Ohyaku (Synapse Films / Ryko) Legends of the Poisonous Seductress #1: Female Demon Ohyaku (Yoen Dokufuden Hannya no Ohyaku, 1968) is the first film in a trilogy of pinky violence films released by Synapse / Ryko. I haven’t had the opportunity to see the other two films in this series yet, but Female Demon Ohyaku is an incredibly effective revenge tale featuring some bold black and white cinematography by Nagaki Yamagishi and impressive direction by Yoshihiro Ishikawa. The film stars the lovely Junko Miyazono as Ohyaku Dayu and she’s very good here as a young tightrope walker who falls in love with a handsome thief (Kunio Murai). After the two are involved in a failed plan to steal money from the local government, Ohyaku Dayu is tortured and her lover is brutally killed, so she vows revenge on his murderers. Legends of the Poisonous Seductress #1: Female Demon Ohyaku is one of the earliest examples of the pinky violence genre and the film is surprisingly erotic and brutal at times. The adult nature of the movie’s themes and its period setting give Yoshihiro Ishikawa’s movie an air of gravitas that is often missing from typical pinky violence productions. The Legends of the Poisonous Seductress series was never theatrically released outside of Japan but thanks to Synapse, western viewers now have the opportunity to see these fascinating films. The DVD includes a nice looking widescreen presentation of the film with English subtitles, commentary by Chris Desjardins (aka Chris D.), trailers for all three of the Legends of the Poisonous Seductress films and liner notes written by Chris Desjardins as well.
Julia Foster and Tom Courtney in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Warner Home Video)
In some ways Tony Richardson’s The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) could be viewed as a sort of older sibling of Lindsay Anderson’s If…., but Richardson’s film is a quieter movie in many ways and its power comes from the almost documentary-style direction Richardson uses while employing popular New Wave techniques such as montage and jump cuts to tell his tale. The film centers on an angry and self-destructive youth named Colin, who’s played wonderfully by the British actor Tom Courtney. Courtney may have been a few years too old for his role, but his world-weary looks only add to the effectiveness of his performance in my opinion. The film is based on a novel by Alan Sillitoe who also wrote the screenplay. Sillitoe had previously written Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, which was made into a film by Karel Reisz, and although both of Sillitoe’s novels helped give voice to Britain’s “angry young men” in the late fifties and early sixties, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is a very different work that has a much stronger anti-establishment message than Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. Besides Lindsay Anderson’s If…., The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner also shares a sportsmanship theme that is somewhat comparable to Anderson’s This Sporting Life, but neither of these films should be viewed as simple “sports” films. This Sporting Life and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner use football and long distance running as mere background elements to round out their complex narratives dealing with masculine pride and male identity in Postwar Britain. I hope to write more about this wonderful film in the future, but I will add that the new Warner DVD includes a terrific looking transfer of the film that has been enhanced for widescreen displays and the original theatrical trailer. I wish Warner had included more extras with this important release as well as a commentary track, but since this is the first time the film has officially been made available on Region 1 DVD, I can’t complain too much.
Helga Line and Tony Kendall in The Loreley’s Grasp (1974)
The Loreley’s Grasp (Deimos Entertainment / BCI Eclipse)
After being disappointed by Amando de Ossorio’s The Night of the Sorcerers (1973), which was also released on DVD last year by Deimos / BCI Eclipse, my expectations were extremely low for the director’s The Loreley’s Grasp (1974) (1974). Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised by this terrific film, which is undoubtedly one of the Amando de Ossorio’s most entertaining efforts. The Loreley’s Grasp is basically a monster movie with an attractive European cast, but Amando de Ossorio’s creative direction and writing combined with the beautiful locations, groovy fashions and the unusual folktale elements in his sctory really elevated the material in my opinion. The Loreley’s Grasp is stylish and occasionally trashy fun that is well worth a look if you enjoy European horror movies as much as I do. I’m grateful that Deimos / BCI Eclipse is making an effort to release so many previously hard to see Spanish films on DVD and The Loreley’s Grasp is definitely one of their strongest releases. The newly restored widescreen transfer looks terrific and the DVD comes with some nice extras including a theatrical trailer, two audio tracks (English subtitled and dubbed), the Spanish credit sequence, still gallery, and informative liner notes by author Mirik Lipinski.
Malpertuis (1971)
Malpertuis (Barrel Entertainment)
I’ve admired Harry Kümel’s marvelous vampire film Daughters of Darkness (1971) for many years but I’ve never had the opportunity to see any of the directors other movies. Thankfully that changed this year after Barrel Entertainment released Kümel’s fascinating Malpertuis (1971) on DVD in 2007. Malpertuis is an unusual and surreal film that mixes fantasy and horror elements with Greek mythology. The cast includes the talented British actress Susan Hampshire who starred in Neither the Sea Nor the Sand (another film on my list of favorite DVDs of 2007) and the enigmatic Orson Welles, who manages to make a big impression here even though his role is rather limited. Harry Kümel’s direction might seem a little muddled at times, but I was totally enchanted by this beautiful film and it was easily one of the most interesting movies I was introduced to in 2007. The film was definitely helped by Gerry Fisher’s color photography and a wonderful Georges Delerue score. While watching Malpertuis I was reminded of Guy Green’s underrated film The Magus (1968) that appeared on my list of Favorite DVDs last year. Both films share a similar sensibility and they would make for an interesting double feature. This two-disc DVD set is loaded with noteworthy extras including two versions of the film (the director’s cut and a copy of the English language version that debuted at Cannes in 1972), a trailer, multiple featurettes including Susan Hampshire: One Actress, Three Parts and Orson Welles Uncut, which collects rare outtakes of Welles on the set of Malpertuis while the cast and crew discuss what it was like to work with him. The DVD also features Audio commentary from Harry Kümel and a lengthy interview, but unfortunately the director comes across as a rather ungrateful and bitter man with a limited sense of humor. I was more impressed by the 7-minute featurette about the surreal novelist Jean Ray that was included on the DVD and it made me eager to seek out his work. Overall this is a really remarkable release!
Jean-Baptiste Thierree in Muriel (1963)
Muriel (Koch Lorber Films)
The more I’m exposed to Alain Resnais, the more I fall in love with his work so I was thrilled that Koch Lorber decided to release the director’s award-wining film Muriel (Muriel ou Le temps d’un Retour, 1963) on DVD last year. I had never seen Muriel before but I was utterly transfixed by the film. Like Resnais’ previous films, Muriel explores complex themes about memory and the passing of time as it’s experienced by people who have been deeply traumatized by events that are often beyond their control. Muriel stars the lovely and talented Delphine Seyrig in one of her least glamorous roles as a widowed woman in France trying to make sense of the past, while her family and friends struggle with the after-effects of the Algerian War. I loved the way Resnais creatively played with montage and color in Muriel, but the film occasionally appears a bit static when compared to his earlier efforts such as the magnificent Hiroshima mon amour (1959) and Last Year at Marienbad (1961). This is probably due to the lack of dolly shots in Muriel, which are often one of the director’s most notable trademarks. Critics love to use words like “impenetrable” when discussing Resnais’ films and I personally find his work complex but very accessible. As much as I love the visual poetry Alain Resnais is able to manifest in his work, I’m really drawn in by the language at times that has a lucidity and pure magic that I find utterly compelling. No matter what writer Resnais is collaborating with, the director is able to bring his own rhythm to the screenplay, which easily distinguishes the work of one of France’s greatest auteurs. The Koch Lorber DVD contains a nice widescreen presentation of the film with English subtitles, the original theatrical trailer and an interview with author Francois Thomas.
Sally Smith in Naked You Die (1968)
Naked You Die (Dark Sky Films)
Please see my review of Naked You Die at Cinedelica, which you can find HERE
Favorite DVD Releases of 2007: Part II. - Top 30 DVDs #1-10.
Black Test Car (1962)
Black Test Car (Fantoma)
Yasuzo Masumura is one of my favorite Japanese directors, but unfortunately many of his films are unavailable on DVD and have never been seen outside of Japan. Thankfully Fantoma has been making an effort to release many of Masumura’s films and in 2007 they released his brilliant and extremely dark satire Black Test Car (Kuro no tesuto kaa, 1962). The film takes a rather unflattering look at the corruption and greed behind the burgeoning car industry in Japan and anyone who’s familiar with the director’s earlier film Giants and Toys (Kyojin to gangu, 1958) will immediately spot similarities between the two movies. Masumura was a director who was clearly interested in critiquing Japan’s economic boom and exploring the ways in which American capitalism was affecting Japanese society after WW2. As much as I enjoyed the director’s colorful satire Giants and Toys (1958), I personally think Black Test Car is a more effective film dealing with similar themes and I’m grateful that Fantoma has made it available on DVD. Black Test Car features some stunning black and white photography, and Masumura’s direction is top-notch here. All the actors involved with the production del
In 1967 Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were at the height of their shared fame following the success of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) and The Taming of the Shrew (1967). Both films were well received by critics and audiences loved seeing the two actors on screen together in fictional marriages that many assumed resembled their real-life marriage. There’s no doubt that the two actors brought some of their real-world experience to their roles but it became increasingly hard for the public to separate fact from fiction. Elizabeth Taylor had also become a target for critics and gossip columnists who insisted on labeling her a wanton woman and wicked home-wrecker, who had destroyed Richard Burton’s previous marriage and was damning the critically acclaimed stage actor to a decadent Hollywood life spent making movies and drinking too much.
I’ve been trying to write out my thoughts about Jean-Luc Godard’s Pierrot le fou (1965) for days, but even after watching the film twice and enjoying all the wonderful extras included with the fantastic new Criterion DVD, I’m finding words inadequate to describe how much I’ve fallen in love with this wonderful movie in so short a time. My love for Pierrot le fou is so fresh, so passionate, so alive and so completely unabashed that I feel a little like a silly schoolgirl with a terrible crush on the cute new boy in class.
. Criterion has really kicked-started 2008 by releasing some truly wonderful films on NTSC Region 1 DVD in recent weeks and I applaud them for it.
(Criterion)
(Warner Home Video)
(Severin)
(Exploitation Digital / Media Blasters)
(KINO)
(Starz / Anchor Bay)
(Criterion)
(Criterion)
(MGM)
(Dark Sky Films)
(Dark Sky Films)
(Media Blasters)
(Synapse Films / Ryko)
(Warner Home Video)
(Deimos Entertainment / BCI Eclipse)
(Barrel Entertainment)
(Koch Lorber Films) 
(Dark Sky Films)
(Image Entertainment)
(Warner Home Video)
(Fantoma)