Re:Voir

[swo17]

Well I'll test out the shipping costs with various combinations to make sure it's worth it to everyone before placing the order.

Anyone who doesn't already have He Stands in the Desert should pick it up at the same time as this

I feel I should clarify that all of Re:voir's other Mekas releases are worthwhile (if not always as accessible) but this one in particular is very much of a piece with the other diary films. (Perhaps they didn't include it here because it's expressly focused on his friends and therefore less "personal'?)

Another item possibly worth getting at the same time as this is the Walden Book, which includes detailed notes about every shot of the film. I say "possibly" because it's an essential companion piece...but maybe it will be included among the promised "book of texts by Mekas about the films"? I don't know--it's like 150 pages, and this set doesn't look wide enough to accommodate that on top of everything else

[hearthesilence]

Anyone who doesn't already have He Stands in the Desert should pick it up at the same time as this.

Speaking of which, does anyone else in the U.S. want to go in on a group buy to save on shipping? I plan to place a large order this weekend

I'd be down for that.

(And FWIW, it's not in stock at the moment, but Amazon.fr does list it. Do they have any shipping discounts of some kind?)

[swo17]

I'm just assuming the shipping will be a better deal with a large order, but I'll let everyone know how it breaks down before finalizing.

Incidentally, they posted some more pictures today. I think it's safe to say the writings here will be nowhere near as comprehensive as the Walden Book, but it still looks lovely:

for sizeShow

[therewillbeblus]

Anyone who doesn't already have He Stands in the Desert should pick it up at the same time as this.

Speaking of which, does anyone else in the U.S. want to go in on a group buy to save on shipping? I plan to place a large order this weekend

I'd be down for that.

(And FWIW, it's not in stock at the moment, but Amazon.fr does list it. Do they have any shipping discounts of some kind?)

It's showing up as in stock for me still, I got an alert late last night (roughly 7am France time) and nothing's changed since then. I'm getting anxious though- how fast has something like this sold out at Re:Voir? It's a pretty big release

[swo17]

I wouldn't be too worried about it selling out right away. There's no mention of this being a limited edition, and I think any of their releases that have gone OOP have generally taken years to do so.

I also did a little test on the shipping costs, and given how much I was planning to buy anyway, it's definitely more affordable the more you spend, and will be a better deal direct from Re:voir than from Amazon. If I were only buying multiple copies of the Mekas box, the cost per box including shipping would look like this (all in euros):



Re:voir's shipping cost jumps are a little uneven, so the cost per unit goes up and down a little at points, though those all still kind of stay in the same ballpark. To the extent possible, I'll try to place the order at one of those low points. But yeah, anyone interested in the group buy, feel free to include whatever else on your shopping list. There are dozens of great recommendations throughout this thread!

Other fun facts I learned while putting this together:

1. Above like €2600, Amazon starts charging some exorbitant "Acompte Frais d'Import" which actually makes the price per unit increase the more you buy!
2. Re:voir does actually have a free shipping threshold: €3500! EDIT: Actually, this is not when shipping becomes free, but when your package becomes so heavy that all the shipping options go away

[FlickeringWindow]

I went ahead and ordered directly from Re:Voir and it was $114 shipped. Felt it was worth the blind buy since it’s not just a lot of stuff, but I hadn’t expected Mekas to get a deluxe box like this.

[therewillbeblus]

Experimental cinema is very hit or miss for me, but I find Mekas to be pretty consistently accessible and moving, and would be surprised if members here who purchased the set regretted their decision. As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty is an all-timer, and depending on the day, my favorite film

[swo17]

I like Re:voir's approach of presenting these all kind of as one long film, the film of Mekas' life. It's left ambiguous whether "Diaries, Notes, and Sketches" refers merely to Walden or to everything presented here at once

[therewillbeblus]

I saw the cool booklet pics earlier in the thread, but no follow up: is Peter Gidal's Condition of Illusion worth picking up for the films themselves?

[swo17]

I'd say it's a good solid release, but if you're looking to pare down your shopping list there are more exciting things out there

[What A Disgrace]

I also picked up the two Patrick Bokanowski releases and the Joost Rekveld release, and I think it all came down to less than $220.

[swo17]

Group buy update: We've got eight participating at the moment. The total shipping cost is about half what it would be if everyone placed individual orders, and it's maxed out so that anything we add to the order now will just reduce the per-item shipping cost for everyone. In case anyone wants ideas of what others are picking up, I've listed them as follows, as well as what appears to be the remaining stock for each item, as of this writing:

Alain Mazars: Rouges silences (258)
David Perlov: Diary (27)
Dominic Angerame: Cityscapes (175)
Gunvor Nelson: 3-Pack (22)
Jackie Raynal: 2-Pack (191)
Jacques Perconte: 2-Pack (81)
Jonas Mekas: Diaries, Notes & Sketches (844)
Jonas Mekas: He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life (7)
Jonas Mekas: The Walden Book (6)
Joost Rekveld: 11 Films (191)
Larry Gottheim: Fog Line (109)
Marcel Hanoun: 4-Pack (71)
Michael Snow: Rameau's Nephew by Diderot (Thanx to Denis Young) by Wilma Schoen (222)
Patrick Bokanowski: 3-Pack (35)
Paul Clipson: Landscape Dissolves (287)
Robert Kramer: Guns (11)
Ron Rice: The Flower Thief (458)
Rose Lowder: 2-Pack (24)
Siegfried Fruhauf: Exposed [Index DVD] (1)
Siegfried Fruhauf: Nature & Abstractions (269)
Stan Brakhage: Anticipation of the Night (247)
Storm De Hirsch: Mythology for the Soul (438)
Virgil Widrich: Short Films (75)

Let's say I'm closing the group buy tonight at 9pm EDT (six hours from me posting this).

[swo17]

Side note: The Marcel Hanoun Four Seasons set is sold out from Re:voir, but there are still some copies available from DaaVeeDee. I'm going to order at least one of those for myself. They don't charge much for shipping so there's not much benefit to doing it as a group buy, but if I'm already sending you something else and you'd like the convenience of all of this being taken care of together, let me know and I can pick up a copy of that for you as well

[swo17]

I've listed all the orders I placed below (with usernames redacted). I've spread the shipping costs around so that everyone saves the same percentage. My shipping charge includes the cost of me sending your order by USPS Media Mail. The total amount due reflects the conversion rate that I was charged.

Jonas Mekas: Diaries, Notes & Sketches
Merch: €82.50
Shipping: €10.61
Total Due: $103.21

Jonas Mekas: Diaries, Notes & Sketches
Jonas Mekas: He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
Merch: €101.58
Shipping: €10.61
Total Due: $124.36

Jonas Mekas: Diaries, Notes & Sketches
Jonas Mekas: He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
Siegfried Fruhauf: Exposed
Siegfried Fruhauf: Nature & Abstractions
Stan Brakhage: Anticipation of the Night
Merch: €168.42
Shipping: €15.65
Total Due: $204.03

Jonas Mekas: Diaries, Notes & Sketches
Jonas Mekas: He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
Jonas Mekas: The Walden Book
Patrick Bokanowski: 3-Pack
Stan Brakhage: Anticipation of the Night
Merch: €199.21
Shipping: €15.91
Total Due: $238.44

Dominic Angerame: Cityscapes
Jonas Mekas: Diaries, Notes & Sketches
Jonas Mekas: He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
Marcel Hanoun: 4 Seasons
Patrick Bokanowski: 3-Pack
Rose Lowder: 2-Pack
Siegfried Fruhauf: Nature & Abstractions
Stan Brakhage: Anticipation of the Night
Virgil Widrich: Short Films
Merch: €314.81
Shipping: €28.55
Total Due: $380.59

Dominic Angerame: Cityscapes
Gunvor Nelson: 3-Pack
Jacques Perconte: 2-Pack
Jonas Mekas: Diaries, Notes & Sketches
Jonas Mekas: He Stands in a Desert Counting the Seconds of His Life
Jonas Mekas: The Walden Book
Joost Rekveld: 11 Films
Patrick Bokanowski: 3-Pack
Paul Clipson: Landscape Dissolves
Peter Tscherkassky: Exquisite Ecstasies
Rose Lowder: 2-Pack
Siegfried Fruhauf: Exposed
Siegfried Fruhauf: Nature & Abstractions
Stan Brakhage: Anticipation of the Night
Virgil Widrich: Short Films
Merch: €456.12
Shipping: €33.31
Total Due: $542.50

[therewillbeblus]

Thanks swo! How does more than one person get the last copy of Siegfried Fruhauf: Exposed, though?

[swo17]

For those numbers, I was subtracting off the ones already in my cart. So there were three copies left and I just bought two of them. That's why I didn't even bother listing the Tscherkassky DVD earlier, because the one requested was the last one left from the Re:voir shop. (These Index DVDs can be bought directly from Index though.)

[therewillbeblus]

Oh wow, score!

[therewillbeblus]

The Walden book is now out of stock as well

[swo17]

I've sent everyone PMs on how to pay. In addition, I'll just throw this out there: I have a used copy of the Peter Rose: Analogies set which I no longer need because I have the films elsewhere. If anyone would like to add this to their order, you can have it for $15

[therewillbeblus]

Nature and Abstractions - Siegfried Fruhauf
This is a DVD / BluRay combo of pure experimental eye candy that takes on centuries of imagemaking (pre-cinema photography, phantom ride films, geometrical abstraction, Arnulf Rainer, installation art), doses it up with LSD and shoots 80,000 volts through it. I don't want to go into too much detail and spoil the treasure trove of surprises in this set, but one look at the trailer should let you know if this is the disc you've been waiting for. I think it's one of the best things Re:Voir has ever released.

I only watched the first three films on the disc so far, but wow, what a treat. Thorax is hands-down one of the best experimental films I've ever seen, demanded to be viewed in a pitch black and noiseless environment, and it feels like what Dave really saw at the end of 2001 if the special effects were up to snuff. It certainly had a similar effect on me as his facial expression indicates those visuals had on him!

[zedz]

Yay! You can join our club now.

[therewillbeblus]

I'm honored! I finished the disc tonight and almost-equally loved Phantom Ride Phantom and Fuddy Duddy. In contrast with the relentlessly hypnotic Thorax, both sneak up on you in the best possible ways. They operate with a similarly mesmerizing application of patterned phantasmagoric visual stimuli, only each breaks from what it's doing and transitions into something else that evokes a different tone, before spilling its contents back into a new version of a familiar beaker. I won't spoil which, but I was caught off guard by the realization that one of these was the picture zedz used in his writeup for the set, an amusing a-ha moment considering that in retrospect the basic ingredients were all there. I just didn't anticipate the establishing shapes and colors would maneuver into that! A joyous surprise, and a valuable rec from this company

[therewillbeblus]

The Fruhauf index DVD isn't nearly as good as the more recent blu-ray disc, but there are some strong gems on it. I enjoy the creative flicker films and intricate visual patterns, so stuff like Structural Filmwaste. Dissolution 1, Palmes d'Or and Exposed are great, as is La sortie in a smaller way. Ground Control is just two minutes of wild: ants trapped in a computer matrix? And Night Sweat- a film I'd seen before (but didn't remember seeing until You-Know-When!) has an unexpected middle section that killed me in the best possible way, and then just lingered there for what felt like forever. The bookends are necessary to carry its abrasive power with ominous and alienating tranquility, but if Fruhauf remade this later on with the economic tightness he mastered over time, it'd be one of his very best.

[Matt]

[wrong thread]

I have ordered the Pierre Clementi Integrale set from Potemkine without knowing much about it, anyone else considering it? It’s Region ABC and appears to be English-friendly.

We need to start a Watch Buddy program here to help people work through these niche releases together.

[swo17]

Wasn't on my radar, I think because it's a Potemkine release that is nonetheless available on Re:voir's site. Curious to know if it's any good though!