Criterion Blu-ray in September: De Sica, Carné, Fincher, Bartel

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Criterion Blu-ray in September: De Sica, Carné, Fincher, Bartel

Posted June 15, 2012 03:54 PM by Josh Katz

After much speculation, the Criterion Collection has posted their full roster of Blu-ray releases for September 2012.

Titles include Vittorio De Sica's Umberto D., Marcel Carné's Les visiteurs du soir & Children of Paradise, David Fincher's The Game, and Paul Bartel's Eating Raoul.

Of those five films, Umberto D. and Children of Paradise are the only previously available Criterion entries receiving Blu-ray upgrades; the rest are new to the Criterion Collection.

Furthermore, Les visiteurs du soir, The Game, and Eating Raoul are making their respective debuts onto the North American Blu-ray format, while the Children of Paradise reissue utilizes the new digital restoration created for the film.

Quoted below are Criterion's release date and disc specifications for each film.

Umberto D. (September 4th, 2012) —
  • New high-definition digital transfer
  • Uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • That's Life: Vittorio De Sica, a fifty-five-minute documentary made for Italian television in 2001
  • Video interview with actress Maria Pia Casilio from 2003
  • Trailer
  • A booklet featuring an essay by critic Stuart Klawans and reprinted recollections by De Sica and Carlo Battisti, who plays Umberto D.
Les visiteurs du soir (September 18th, 2012) —
  • New high-definition digital restoration
  • Uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • L'aventure des Visiteurs du soir, a documentary on the making of the film
  • Trailer
  • New English subtitle translation
  • A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Michael Atkinson
Children of Paradise (September 18th, 2012) —
  • New high-definition digital transfer from Pathé's 2011 restoration
  • Uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • Audio commentaries by film scholars Brian Stonehill and Charles Affron
  • Video introduction by director Terry Gilliam
  • Once Upon a Time: Children of Paradise, a 2010 documentary on the making of the film
  • New visual essay on the design of Children of Paradise by film writer Paul Ryan
  • The Birth of Children of Paradise, a 1967 German documentary that visits Nice, where the film was partially shot, and features interviews with cast members Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur; production designer Alexandre Trauner; and others
  • Restoration demonstration
  • U.S. trailer
  • New English subtitle translation
  • A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Dudley Andrew and excerpts from a 1990 interview with director Marcel Carné
The Game (September 25th, 2012) —
  • New, restored digital transfer, supervised by director David Fincher and director of photography Harris Savides
  • Two 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio tracks:
    • Original theatrical 5.1 surround theatrical soundtrack
    • Alternate 5.1 surround mix optimized for home theater viewing, supervised by sound designer Ren Klyce and Fincher
  • Audio commentary by Fincher, Savides, actor Michael Douglas, screenwriters John Brancato and Michael Ferris, digital animation supervisor Richard "Dr." Baily, production designer Jeffrey Beecroft, visual effects supervisor Kevin Haug, and visual effects producer Robyn D'Arcy
  • An hour's worth of exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and film-to-storyboard comparisons for four of the film's major set pieces, with commentary
  • Alternate ending
  • Trailer and teaser trailer, with commentary
  • A booklet featuring an essay by film critic David Sterritt
Eating Raoul (September 25th, 2012) —
  • New, restored digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Gary Thieltges
  • Uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • Audio commentary featuring screenwriter Richard Blackburn, art director Robert Schulenberg, and editor Alan Toomayan
  • The Secret Cinema (1968) and Naughty Nurse (1969), two short films by director Paul Bartel
  • Cooking Up Raoul, a new documentary about the making of the film, featuring interviews with stars Mary Woronov, Robert Beltran, and Edie McClurg
  • Gag reel of outtakes from the film
  • Archival interview with Bartel and Woronov
  • Trailer
  • A booklet featuring an essay by film critic David Ehrenstein
These Blu-rays will be available for pre-order on Amazon shortly.