Scharphedin2 wrote:
I looked through the Milestone website, and was impressed with the amount of titles that they have out. Tons of silent films and documentaries. Many of them I have never heard of, but others are films I would really like to see. Can anyone comment on any of Milestone's releases?
Some of the films I personally am specifically interested in are: The Mystery of Picasso/Guernica (Henri-Georges Clouzot/Alain Resnais), the Early Russian Cinema Collection (series of 10 discs!), Grass (Cooper & Schoedsack), Tabu (Murnau). But, really any comments on any of their titles are welcome.
I just noticed your post, Scharphedin. I tend to be a major apologist for Milestone around here, so you might want to take what I say with a grain of salt. They're a small operation, and you have to watch out for a few bad PAL->NTSC transfers (like their infamous release of
Phantom of the Opera). But in general, I find that they're PAL-sourced ports are among the best you're likely to come across. The
Mad Love disc mentioned above is very pleasing, as is
The Chess Player. (I've also been impressed with the Doroses in my dealings with them over the phone and via e-mail -- very friendly, honest, and knowledgeable.)
Of the specific titles you mention above, I highly recommend
Grass and
The Mystery of Picasso.
Grass is, of course, one of the great pioneering documentaries, and I think it betters all of Cooper and Schoedsack's later films, with the exception of
King Kong. It comes with an interview between Cooper and Rudy Behlmer, who also provides a commentary for Milestone's release of Cooper and Schoedsack's follow-up
Chang. The
Picasso documentary is extraordinary, if you like the central conceit: the film records Picasso's work as he paints by placing a camera on the other side of a transparent canvas. As I recall, the finale isn't anamorphic, which means you lose the effect Clouzot intended when Picasso switches to a larger canvas. But some of the extras make up for that loss. I wish that, in addition to the two commentaries, Milestone had offered just a little info about the short
Guernica, which just sort of comes out of the blue at you.
Over time, I've come to agree with other posters here that
Tabu is a slightly problematic DVD. There seems to be a lot of cropping or overscan going on, which hurts Murnau's compositions. And perhaps with all the extras, it should have been a two-disc set. Until we hear word that some R2 company (MoC or BFI?) is going to take this title on, however, it's the best version available.