Eureka Entertainment has announced that it will add two more titles to its catalog in August. They are: Martial Law: Lo Wei's Wuxia World (1968-1971) and Finis Terrae (1929). Previously, the label had revealed that it will bring to 4K Blu-ray Trouble Every Day (2001).
One of the most important filmmakers France has ever produced, Jean Epstein was a film theorist, critic and a leading figure in the French Impressionist movement. Perhaps best known today for directing the first adaptation of The Fall of the House of Usher from a screenplay co-written with Luis Buñuel, Epstein produced several masterpieces during the silent period, including Faithful Heart (Coeur fidèle), The Three-Sided Mirror (La glace à trois faces) and Finis Terrae, the story of a group of fishermen stranded off the cost of Brittany.
Four fisherman set out on a three month expedition to the islet Bannec. They intend to harvest seaweed, which will fetch high prices if burned and processed properly – but cabin fever soon sets in. After two of the men brawl over a broken bottle of wine, one of them cuts his thumb on a piece of glass, while the other comes to suspect that his knife has been stolen with malicious intent. As the situation escalates, conditions at sea make it impossible for the men to leave Bannec or for help from the mainland to reach them.
An atmospheric maritime tale and a forerunner to such films as Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse and Mark Jenkin's Bait, Finis Terrae is one of Jean Epstein's finest achievements and an aesthetic triumph, particularly in its early and deeply effective use of slow motion cinematography. The Masters of Cinema series is honoured to present Finis Terrae on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK and North America, sourced from an astounding 4K restoration by Gaumont Film Company.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
4K RESTORATION BY GAUMONT
Impressions on Jean Epstein – new interview with film historian and critic Pamela Hutchinson on the life and work of the director
Stranded – new video essay on Finis Terrae
The Bottom of the Wave – an archival appreciation of Finis Terrae by Joel Daire
Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by John Dunn
Limited edition collector's booklet featuring a new essay on Finis Terrae by Jean Epstein expert Christophe Wall-Romana and archival writing by the director
U.S. AND CANADA STREET DATE: AUGUST 12.
UK STREET DATE: AUGUST 11.
A prolific writer and director, Lo Wei found fame in the 1970s following the enormous international success of The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, his collaborations with the inimitable Bruce Lee. In the years before he kickstarted a kung fu revolution, though, he had been working on an accomplished series of wuxia pian for Shaw Brothers. Presented here are three standout films drawn from Lo Wei's wuxia world: The Black Butterfly, Death Valley and Vengeance of a Snow Girl.
In The Black Butterfly, a good-hearted thief acts as the Robin Hood of the martial world, robbing from the rich to give to the poor – and they begin by stealing a fortune in gold from a group of five ruthless bandits holed up at Five Devils Rock. Then, in Death Valley, the Lord of Chao Manor (Lo Wei) is murdered by his niece (Angela Yu Chien), leading to a bitter fight to claim his land and a clash between a hired swordsman (Chen Hung-lieh) and the Lord's heir apparent (Yueh Hua). Finally, in Vengeance of a Snow Girl, a young woman (Li Ching) takes revenge for her murdered parents, who were killed in a dispute over the legendary Tsui Feng sword – leading to a final showdown on frozen ground.
Lo Wei's The Black Butterfly, Death Valley and Vengeance of a Snow Girl are three of the finest wuxia films produced in the years before Bruce Lee's meteoric rise to fame would cause a tectonic shift in the Hong Kong film industry, as the era of kung fu loomed on the horizon. Eureka Classics is proud to present all three films on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
High-definition transfers
Optional English subtitles, newly revised for this release
New audio commentaries on all three features by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
Hong Kong Hustle – new interview with Hong Kong cinema scholar Wayne Wong on the life and work of Lo Wei
Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju)
Limited edition collector's booklet featuring new writing on all three films in this set by Hong Kong cinema expert Camille Zaurin
U.S. AND CANADA STREET DATE: AUGUST 19.
UK STREET DATE: AUGUST 18.
Description: The first excursion into genre cinema by the celebrated French auteur Claire Denis, who had made her name with her previous features Chocolat and Beau Travail, Trouble Every Day is an erotically charged exploration of our darkest human desires and a key film in the development of what later came to be known as the New French Extremity movement.
Dr Shane Brown (Vincent Gallo, Buffalo '66) and his new wife June (Tricia Vessey, On the Edge) are honeymooning in Paris, though Shane has other plans for their trip. He is hoping to track down his former medical colleague Léo Semenau (Alex Descas, Bastards) and discuss a past study into the human libido. But Léo doesn't want to be found – he is living in obscurity to hide his own wife, Coré (Béatrice Dalle, Inside), who has developed an insatiable, cannibalistic lust as a result of Léo's outlandish experiments. A lust that Shane is beginning to feel, too…
A dark and lyrical rumination on the pleasures of the flesh, Trouble Every Day is a remarkable work of extreme cinema that challenged critics and audiences upon its release before it came to be lauded as a modern classic. The Masters of Cinema series is honoured to present the film on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK from a brand new restoration.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
4K BLU-RAY/BLU-RAY COMBO PACK
NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
Original French soundtrack presented in DTS-HD MA 5.1 and LPCM 2.0
Optional English subtitles, newly revised for this release
New audio commentary with horror scholar Lindsay Hallam
Pleasures of the Flesh – new interview with New French Extremity expert Alice Haylett Bryan
I Could Eat You – new video essay by film writer and journalist Virginie Sélavy on Trouble Every Day as a vampire film
Trailer
Limited edition hardbound slipcase featuring new art by Ash Weaver-Williams
Limited edition 60-page collector's book featuring new writing on Trouble Every Day by Anna Bogutskaya, Amy C. Chambers and Laura Mee with an introduction by Peter Sloane, editor of ReFocus: The Films of Claire Denis