The Criterion Collection has officially announced their November line-up, which includes an exceptional assortment of titles from some of cinema’s most revered filmmakers. Criterion has announced The Three Colors Trilogy, a Sidney Lumet classic, some long awaited Blu-ray upgrades, and Sabu!
Fanny and Alexander, 1982 (November 8th, 2011)
- High-definition digital restorations of the television and theatrical versions of Fanny and Alexander
- High-definition digital restoration of Ingmar Bergman’s feature-length documentary The Making of Fanny and Alexander
- Ingmar Bergman Bids Farewell to Film: A sixty-minute conversation between Bergman and film critic Nils Petter Sundgren recorded for Swedish television in 1984
- Audio commentary on the theatrical version by film scholar Peter Cowie
- A Bergman Tapestry: A documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew
- Costume sketches and footage of the models for the film’s sets
- Stills gallery
- Theatrical trailer
- Optional English-dubbed soundtrack for the theatrical version
- Booklet featuring essays by documentarian and film historian Stig Björkman, novelist Rick Moody, and film scholar Paul Arthur
Three Colors Trilogy, 1993-1994 (November 15th, 2011)
- Three cinema lessons with director Krzysztof Kieślowski
- New interviews with composer Zbigniew Preisner, writer Krzysztof Piesiewicz and actors Julie Delpy, Zbigniew Zamachowski and Irène Jacob
- Selected-scene commentary for Blue with actress Juliette Binoche
- Three new video essays, by film writers Annette Insdorf, Tony Rayns and Dennis Lim
- Kieślowski’s student short The Tram (1966) and his fellow student’s short from the same year The Face, which features Kieślowski in a solo performance
- Two short documentaries by Kieślowski: Seven Women of Different Ages (1978) and Talking Heads (1980)
- Krzysztof Kieślowski: I’m So-So . . . (1995), a feature-length documentary in which the filmmaker discusses his life and work
- Two multi-interview programs, Reflections on Blue and Kieślowski: The Early Years, with film critic Geoff Andrew, Binoche, filmmaker Agnieszka Holland, cinematographer Sławomir Idziak, Insdorf, Jacob and editor Jacques Witta
- Interviews with producer Marin Karmitz and Witta
- Behind-the-scenes programs for White and Red, and Kieślowski Cannes 1994, a short documentary on Red‘s world premiere
- Original theatrical trailers
- New and improved English subtitle translations
- Booklet featuring essays by critics Colin MacCabe, Nick James, Stuart Klawans and Georgina Evans, an excerpt from Kieślowski on Kieślowski and reprinted interviews with cinematographers Sławomir Idziak, Edward Klosinski and Piotr Sobocinski
The Rules of the Game, 1939 (November 15th, 2011)
- Introduction to the film by Jean Renoir
- Audio commentary written by film scholar Alexander Sesonske and read by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich
- Version comparison: side-by-side analysis of the film’s two endings, and an illustrated study of Renoir’s shooting script
- Selected-scene analysis by Renoir historian Christopher Faulkner
- Excerpts from Jean Renoir, le patron: La Règle et l’exception (1966), a French television program directed by Jacques Rivette
- Part one of Jean Renoir, a two-part 1993 BBC documentary by David Thompson
- Video essay about the film’s production, release, and later reconstruction
- Jean Gaborit and Jacques Durand discuss their reconstruction and re-release of the film
- Interviews with Renoir’s son and assistant cameraman Alain Renoir, set designer Max Douy, and actress Mila Parély
- Written tributes to the film and Renoir by J. Hoberman, Kent Jones,Paul Schrader, Wim Wenders and others
- Improved English subtitle translation
- Booklet featuring writings by Sesonske, Renoir, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bertrand Tavernier, and François Truffaut
Rushmore, 1998 (November 22nd, 2011)
- New high-definition digital transfer of the director’s cut supervised by director Wes Anderson
- Audio commentary by Anderson, co-writer Owen Wilson and actor Jason Schwartzman
- The Making of Rushmore: An exclusive behind-the-scenes documentary by Eric Chase Anderson
- Max Fischer Players Present: Theatrical “adaptations” of Armageddon, Out of Sight and The Truman Show, staged for the 1999 MTV Movie Awards
- Episode of The Charlie Rose Show featuring Anderson and actor Bill Murray
- Cast audition footage
- Wes Anderson’s hand-drawn storyboards, plus a film-to-storyboard comparison
- Props, posters, behind-the-scenes photos and other graphic ephemera
- Original theatrical trailer
- Collectible poster
- Booklet featuring an essay by film critic Dave Kehr
12 Angry Men, 1957 (November 22nd, 2011)
- Twelve Angry Men: From Television to the Big Screen: A video essay by film scholar Vance Kapley comparing the Sidney Lumet and Schaffner versions
- Frank Schaffner’s 1955 television version, with an introduction by Ron Simon, director of the Paley Center for Media Studies
- Archival interviews with Lumet
- New interview about the director with writer Walter Bernstein
- New interview with Ron Simon about television writer Reginald Rose
- New interview with cinematographer John Bailey in which he discusses cinematographer Boris Kaufman
- Tragedy in a Temporary Town (1956), a teleplay directed by Lumet and written by Rose
- Original theatrical trailer
- Booklet featuring an essay by writer and law professor Thane Rosenbaum
Eclipse Series 30: Sabu! (November 29, 2011)
- Elephant Boy, 1937
- The Drum, 1938
- Jungle Book, 1942