Independent British distributors Curzon Artificial Eye have informed us that they are planning to add a number of new titles to their Blu-ray catalog. Amongst them are classic films from Russian master Andrei Tarkovsky, acclaimed French director Jacques Audiard, and Hungarian director László Nemes.
The Beat That My Heart Skipped
French thriller starring Romain Duris as Tom, an aspiring musician playing seedy bars in the backstreets of Paris. Torn between his music and the example of his sleazy father's life of crime, Tom seems set to follow in his footsteps. But when he meets by chance a friend of his concert pianist mother's, Tom's musical ambitions are awoken and he strives to make a better life for himself. Winner of BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language (Pascal Caucheteux/Jacques Audiard).
Ivan's Childhood
Andrei Tarkovsky's debut feature is an extraordinarily moving and powerful story of war and revenge. Determined to avenge his family's death at the hands of the Nazis, 12 year-old Ivan joins a Russian partisan regiment as a scout, where he becomes indispensable for his ability to slip unnoticed behind enemy lines. But, as his missions become increasingly dangerous, it is decided that he must be removed from the front line. Ivan resists and convinces his commanding officers to allow him to carry out one last expedition.
Andrei Rublev
Andrei Tarkovsky's acclaimed epic about the life of 15th century icon painter Andrei Rublev. Rublev (Anatoli Solonitsyn) lives in a world consumed by feudal violence and human degradation, and the turmoil he sees all about him makes him lose the will to speak. After many years of silent travelling around medieval Russia, he meets a young boy who has taken charge of the construction of a large silver bell, and in him discovers the inspiration to speak again.
The Mirror
Mirror is the celebrated Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky's most autobiographical work in which he reflects upon his own childhood and the destiny of the Russian people. The film's many layers intertwine real life and family relationships - Tarkovsky's father, the poet Arseny Tarkovsky, reads his own poems on the soundtrack and Tarkovsky's mother appears as herself - with memories of childhood, dreams and nightmares. From the opening sequence of a boy being cured of a stammer by hypnotism, to scene in a printing works which encapsulates the Stalinist era,
Mirror has an extraordinary resonance and repays countless viewings.
Solaris
Released in 1972, Solaris is Andrei Tarkovsky's third feature and his most far-reaching examination of human perceptions and failings. It's often compared to Kubrick's 2001, but although both bring a metaphysical dimension to bear on space exploration, Solaris has a claustrophobic intensity which grips the attention over spans of typically Tarkovskian stasis. Donatas Banionis is sympathetic as the cosmonaut sent to investigate disappearances on the space station orbiting the planet Solaris, only to be confronted by his past in the guise of his dead wife, magnetically portrayed by Natalya Bondarchuk. The ending is either a revelation or a conceit, depending on your viewpoint.
Victoria
A movie shot in a single take about Victoria, a runaway party girl, who's asked by three friendly men to join them as they hit the town. Their wild night of partying turns into a bank robbery. Winner of Silver Berlin Bear Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution (Sturla Brandth Grøvlen).
Stalker
Deep within the Zone, a bleak and devastated forbidden landscape, lies a mysterious room with the power to grant the deepest wishes of those strong enough to make the hazardous journey there. Desperate to reach it, a scientist and a writer approach the Stalker, one of the few able to navigate the Zone's menacing terrain, and begin a dangerous trek into the unknown. Tarkovsky's second foray into science fiction after 'Solaris' is a surreal and disturbing vision of the future. Hauntingly exploring man's dreams and desires, and the consequences of realising them,
Stalker, adapted from Arkady & Boris Sturgatsky's novel 'Roadside Picnic', has been described as one of the greatest science fiction films of all time.
Son of Saul
In the horror of 1944 Auschwitz, a prisoner forced to burn the corpses of his own people finds moral survival upon trying to salvage from the flames the body of a boy he takes for his son. Winner of Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language and Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival.
Nostalghia
At a spa in the Tuscan Hills, a Russian poet and musicologist, researching the life of an 18th century composer, meets a mysterious man who is convinced that the end of the world is nigh. The Russian, Andrei Gorchakov (Oleg Yankovsky), is asked to cross an ancient sulphur pool carrying a lighted candle as an act of faith. Tarkovsky's first film outside the USSR is full of personal and Christian symbols and works as a study of such themes as memory, melancholia and disenchantment with the material world.
The Sacrifice
In a typical visionary style, Tarkovsky's depiction of the dawn of WWII and its effects on an isolated family group is awash with breathtaking cinematography and resounds with a deep, mythical profundity. BAFTA Winner (Best Foreign Language Film 1988). Winner of 4 awards at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival.
COMPLETE LIST OF UPCOMING BLU-RAY AND DVD RELEASES:
March 14
THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED - Blu-ray
April 11
CHRONIC - DVD
IVAN'S CHILDHOOD - Blu-ray & DVD
April 25
ANDREI RUBLEV - Blu-ray & DVD
May 9
MIRROR - Blu-ray & DVD
May 23
SOLARIS - Blu-ray & DVD
VICTORIA - Blu-ray & DVD
June 13
STALKER - Blu-ray & DVD
OUR LITTLE SISTER - DVD
June 27
SON OF SAUL - Blu-ray & DVD
NOSTALGIA - Blu-ray & DVD
July 11
THE SACRIFICE - Blu-ray & DVD
Note: A Tarkovsky box set will be available later in the year.