British label Eureka Entertainment has announced that it will add two new titles to its Blu-ray catalog: Naomi Kawase's
The Mourning Forest (2007) and Josef von Sternberg's
The Saga of Anatahan (1953). The label will also reissue
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928).
The Mourning Forest
Synopsis: Ten years after becoming the youngest winner of the Caméra d'Or, Naomi Kawase returned to Cannes and claimed the prestigious Grand Prix for
The Mourning Forest [Mogari no mori], a beautiful and contemplative portrait of grief.
Machiko (Machiko Ono) is a young nurse who still carries the burden of her young son's death. Shigeki (Shigeki Uda) is an elderly widower and a resident at the nursing home where Machiko works. After celebrating Shigeki's birthday, Machiko takes him for a drive in the countryside, but their car breaks down and Shigeki absconds into the nearby forest. Machiko has no choice but to follow, and they become lost in the dense woodlands, before their fates eventually become entwined.
Drawing comparisons to Shohei Imamura (particularly his Palme d'Or winning The Ballad of Narayama) and Terence Malick, Naomi Kawase's THE MOURNING FOREST is a hauntingly beautiful, symbolically rich masterpiece, and The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present the film for the first time ever on Blu-ray, in a special Dual Format edition.
DUAL FORMAT SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
- Stunning 1080p presentation on the Blu-ray
- Uncompressed PCM audio on the Blu-ray
- High Definition Stills Gallery
- PLUS: A booklet featuring a statement from Kawase made at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, alongside stills from the films production
STREET DATE: AUGUST 21.
The Saga of Anatahan
Synopsis: Set during the dying stages of World War II, THE SAGA OF ANATAHAN tells the story of twelve Japanese seaman stranded on a forgotten island for seven years. Accompanied only by Keiko (Akemi Negishi), a young Japanese woman, all rationality and discipline are soon overcome by a struggle for power and control over Keiko's affections.
Narrated by Sternberg himself, the director positions himself as the story's unconscious viewpoint amidst his other trademark qualities: lush mise-en-scene, theatrical lighting and bleak yet poignant storytelling. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present the film on Blu-Ray for the first time in the UK in a special Dual Format edition.
DUAL FORMAT SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
- 1080p presentation from a new 2K restoration of the uncensored 1958 version of the film
- Uncompressed PCM soundtrack (on the Blu-ray)
- Optional English subtitles
- The complete 1953 version of the film (Blu-ray only)
- A new interview with Asian film expert Tony Rayns
- Whose Saga? - A visual essay by critic Tag Gallagher
- Saga: The Making of Anatahan – An interview with Nicolas von Sternberg
- U.S. Navy footage of the actual survivors of Anatahan, immediately after their surrender
- Unused footage originally filmed specially for the 1958 version of the film
- Original theatrical trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by Philip Kemp, alongside rare archival imagery
STREET DATE: AUGUST 14.
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Synopsis: One of the most emotional film experiences of any era, Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1928 The Passion of Joan of Arc [La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc / Jeanne d'Arc's lidelse og dod.] is a miracle of the cinema, an enigmatic and profoundly moving work that merges the worlds of the viewer and of saintly Joan herself into one shared experience of hushed delirium.
Dreyer's film charts the final days of Joan of Arc as she undergoes the debasement that accompanies her trial for charges of heresy – through her imprisonment and execution at the stake.
The portrayal of Joan by Renée Maria Falconetti is frequently heralded as the all-time finest performance in the history of film, and Dreyer's unusual and virtuosic method, in seeming to render the very soul of his actress, vaulted the director decisively into the ranks of the art form's supreme geniuses. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present The Passion of Joan of Arc in an exclusively restored version, presented in both 20fps and 24fps playback speeds, and featuring Dreyer's own original Danish-language intertitles.
DUAL FORMAT SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
- Special edition O-card (First pressing only) featuring artwork from our original release
- Exclusively restored high-definition master presented in the film's original aspect ratio, in 1080p on the Blu-ray
- Presented in both 20fps and 24fps playback speeds
- Optional audio tracks: a piano score performed by Japanese silent film composer Mie Yanashita (for the 20fps option), and a radical new accompaniment by esteemed American avant-garde musician Loren Connors (for the 24fps version)
- Newly translated optional English subtitles for Dreyer's original Danish intertitles
- The complete "Lo Duca" version of the film – the version (featuring an alternate edit and soundtrack) that circulated in France and around the world for decades before the rediscovery of Dreyer's "director's cut"
- Video demonstration of the restoration
- A collector's booklet featuring writing on the film, alongside rare archival production imagery
STREET DATE: AUGUST 21.