February may be short, but the Blu-ray slate from The Criterion Collection certainly is not – the independent label has just announced six very notable movies for that month. On February 1, it will release
The Double Life of Veronique (
La double vie de Véronique; Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1991). On February 8,
Amarcord (Federico Fellini, 1973) and
Still Walking (
Aruitemo aruitemo; Hirokazu Kore-eda, 2008) are coming out. Finally, on February 22 Criterion will release three movies:
Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold, 2009),
Senso (Luchino Visconti, 1954) and
Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick, 1957).
The transfer of
Fish Tank has been approved by director Andrea Arnold, director of photography Robbie Ryan, and editor Nicolas Chaudeurge.
Senso features a new, restored high-definition digital transfer, created in collaboration with the Cineteca di Bologna and Martin Scorsese's Film Foundation, supervised by director of photography Giuseppe Rotunno. The transfer of
Still Walking was approved by director Hirokazu Kore-eda and director of photography Yutaka Yamazaki.
Special features include:
Amarcord
- Audio commentary by film scholars Peter Brunette and Frank Burke
- American release trailer
- Deleted scene
- Fellini's Homecoming: new 45-minute documentary on the complicated relationship between the celebrated director, his hometown, and his past
- Video interview with star Magali Noël
- Fellini's drawings of characters in the film
- "Felliniana," a presentation of ephemera devoted to Amarcord from the collection of Don Young
- Audio interviews with Fellini, his friends, and family by Gideon Bachmann
- New restoration demonstration
- A book featuring a new essay by scholar Sam Rohdie, author of Fellini Lexicon, and the full text of Fellini's 1967 essay, "My Rimini"
The Double Life of Véronique
- Audio commentary by Annette Insdorf, author of Double Lives, Second Chances: The Cinema of Krzysztof Kieślowski
- Three short documentary films by Kieślowski:
- Factory (1970)
- Hospital (1976)
- Railway Station (1980)
- The Musicians (1958): a short film by Kieślowski's teacher Kazimierz Karabasz
- Kieślowski's Dialogue (1991): a documentary featuring a candid interview with Kieślowski and rare behind-the-scenes footage from the set of The Double Life of Véronique
- 1966-1988: Kieślowski, Polish Filmmaker: a 2005 documentary tracing the filmmaker's work in Poland, from his days as a student through The Double Life of Véronique
- A 2005 interview with actress Irène Jacob
- New video interviews with cinematographer Slawomir Idziak and composer Zbigniew Preisner
- A booklet featuring an essay by Jonathan Romney, and a selection from Kieślowski on Kieślowski
Fish Tank
- All three of Arnold's short films:
- Milk (1998)
- Dog (2001)
- Wasp (2003) (Oscar-winning short)
- New video interview with actor Kierston Wareing
- Interview with actor Michael Fassbender from 2009
- Audition footage
- Stills gallery by on-set photographer Holly Horner
- Original theatrical trailer
- A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Ian Christie
Senso
- The Making of Senso: a new documentary featuring Rotunno, assistant director Francesco Rosi, costume designer Piero Tosi, and Caterina D'Amico, daughter of screenwriter Suso Cecchi D'Amico and author of Life and Work of Luchino Visconti
- Viva VERDI: a new documentary on Visconti, Senso, and opera featuring Italian film scholar Peter Brunette, Italian historian Stefano Albertini, and author Wayne Koestenbaum
- The Wanton Countess: the rarely seen English-language version of the film
- Visual essay by film scholar Peter Cowie
- Man of Three Worlds: Luchino Visconti: a 1966 BBC special exploring Visconti's parallel masteries of cinema, theater, and opera direction
- A booklet featuring an essay by filmmaker and author Mark Rappaport and an excerpt from actor Farley Granger's autobiography, Include Me Out
Still Walking
- Making Still Walking
- Trailer
- A booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Dennis Lim and recipes for the food prepared in the film
Sweet Smell of Success
- New audio commentary by film scholar James Naremore
- Mackendrick: The Man Who Walked Away: a 1986 documentary featuring interviews with director Alexander Mackendrick, actor Burt Lancaster, producer James Hill, and more
- James Wong Howe: Cinematographer: a 1973 documentary about the Oscar-winning director of photography, featuring lighting tutorials with Howe
- New video interview with film critic and historian Neil Gabler (Winchell: Gossip, Power and the Culture of Celebrity) about legendary columnist Walter Winchell, inspiration for the character J. J. Hunsecker
- New video interview with filmmaker James Mangold about Mackendrick, his instructor and mentor
- Original theatrical trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Gary Giddins, two short stories by Ernest Lehman featuring the characters from the film, notes about the film by Lehman, and an excerpt from Mackendrick's book On Film-making