Khrustalyov, My Car!

Discuss releases from Arrow and the films on them.

Moderator: yoloswegmaster

Post Reply
Message
Author
Calvin
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:12 am

Khrustalyov, My Car!

#1 Post by Calvin » Fri Jan 11, 2019 11:12 am

Image

Named after the apocryphal exclamation of Soviet security chief Lavrentiy Beria as he rushed to Stalin's deathbed, this blackly funny, deliriously immersive satire distils the anticipation and anxiety in the Moscow air, as the Soviet despot lay dying.

Late winter 1953. The lives of nearly half the planet are in Stalin’s hands. A military surgeon, General Yuri Georgievich Klensky (Yuri Tsurilo), finds himself a target of the "Doctors' Plot": the anti-Semitic conspiracy accusing Jewish doctors in Moscow of planning to assassinate the Soviet elite. Pursued, abused, and marked for the gulags, Yuri is chased and dragged through a Stalinist Soviet nightmare. His desperate, jolting journey encapsulates the madness of the era.

Directed by Aleksei German (Hard to Be a God), Khrustalyov, My Car! proved wildly provocative when it was screened at the 1998 Cannes film festival, despite being championed as the best film of the festival by the president of the Cannes jury that year, Martin Scorsese. A one-of-a-kind collision of nightmare and realism, German’s film is presented here in a new restoration with a wealth of illuminating extras.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
• New 2K restoration from the original camera negative by Arrow Films
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original uncompressed 2.0 stereo Russian audio soundtrack
• Newly translated English subtitles
• Audio commentary by producer Daniel Bird
• Between Realism and Nightmare, a new video essay on Khrustalyov, My Car! and the films of Aleksei German by historian and film critic Eugénie Zvonkine
• Diagnosis Murder: Jonathan Brent on The Doctors' Plot, the academic talks about Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign which provides the backdrop for Khrustalyov, My Car!
• Aleksei German, the veteran film historian and critic Ron Holloway interviews the Russian director
• German... At Last, an interview with Aleksei German by producer Guy Séligmann
Re-release trailer
• Double-sided fold-out poster
• Limited edition 60-page booklet featuring new writing by Gianna D'Emilio, an archival essay by Joël Chaperon and original reviews
Last edited by Calvin on Fri Jan 11, 2019 12:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Roscoe
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2014 3:40 pm
Location: NYC

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#2 Post by Roscoe » Fri Jan 11, 2019 11:39 am

Hoping there's a Region A/1 release. I'll be keeping an eye on this!

User avatar
MichaelB
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
Location: Worthing
Contact:

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#3 Post by MichaelB » Fri Jan 11, 2019 11:58 am

It’s coming out in the US, UK and Canada.

User avatar
Roscoe
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2014 3:40 pm
Location: NYC

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#4 Post by Roscoe » Fri Jan 11, 2019 12:03 pm

MichaelB wrote:
Fri Jan 11, 2019 11:58 am
It’s coming out in the US, UK and Canada.
Many thanks -- looking forward to this.

User avatar
swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
Location: SLC, UT

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#5 Post by swo17 » Fri Jan 11, 2019 12:06 pm

Yeah, when Arrow make announcements on Facebook they always clearly indicate the countries of release with little flags below the covers
SpoilerShow
Image

Calvin
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:12 am

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#6 Post by Calvin » Fri Jan 11, 2019 12:12 pm

Here is the re-release trailer.

"The original 35mm fine grain positive was scanned in 2K resolution on an Arriscan at Eclair, Paris. The film was graded and restored at Dragon DI, Wales. Restoration supervised by James White, Arrow Films; restoration produced by Daniel Bird."

Hopefully Arrow will continue to work through German's films; I'm actually surprised that they haven't released My Friend Ivan Lapshin prior to this, as it was the only German film (to my knowledge) already restored.

alacal2
not waving but frowning
Joined: Tue Dec 09, 2008 1:18 pm

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#7 Post by alacal2 » Fri Jan 11, 2019 12:19 pm

That's an impressive and well-focussed lot of extras. Art work's growing on me too.

User avatar
FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
Location: Greenwich Village

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#8 Post by FrauBlucher » Tue Jan 15, 2019 8:44 am

Wow. The US pre-order is listed at $49.95 on Amazon. If you're region free it's worth it to get the UK release.

I haven't seen this. Watching the trailer I get a feeling this has a Fellini quality to it.

Glowingwabbit
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 1:27 pm

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#9 Post by Glowingwabbit » Tue Jan 15, 2019 9:02 am

FrauBlucher wrote:
Tue Jan 15, 2019 8:44 am
Wow. The US pre-order is listed at $49.95 on Amazon. If you're region free it's worth it to get the UK release.

I haven't seen this. Watching the trailer I get a feeling this has a Fellini quality to it.
The price will probably go down. Also usually both the US/UK discs are region free regardless of what letter they put on the back cover.

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#10 Post by tenia » Tue Jan 15, 2019 9:35 am

$49.95 is the MRSP, il will go down at least to $35, maybe even to $28.

User avatar
Roscoe
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2014 3:40 pm
Location: NYC

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#11 Post by Roscoe » Tue Jan 15, 2019 10:02 am

Yeah, as I recall the prices usually drop pretty drastically as the release date approaches, but maybe not as much as usual for this one. I'll be keeping an eye on it.

EDIT -- and DeepDiscount has it already discounted to a mere $37.14. Last year they sold ORCHESTRA REHEARSAL for less than $20.

Glowingwabbit
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 1:27 pm

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#12 Post by Glowingwabbit » Tue Jan 15, 2019 1:17 pm

For reference Melo is listed at 39.95 right now. Basically you can almost always ignore those prices on Amazon as they won't be sold at the price come release date.

User avatar
dda1996a
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 6:14 am

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#13 Post by dda1996a » Tue Jan 15, 2019 1:47 pm

Aside from Hard to be a God (which I didn't very like) I haven't seen any German. Anyone can vouch for this? Is it similar to Tarr, Tarkovsky, Antonioni etc.?

ozufils
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2017 11:30 am

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#14 Post by ozufils » Tue Jan 15, 2019 4:47 pm

It is really hard to categorize German's films in terms of other directors.

If you didnt like Hard to be A god, it might be a tough film to like. I thoroughly love both films, but if there is one thing that works better for khrustalyov, then its the presence of atleast a semblance of poltical/historical background , against which the euphoria of the central character and the events that unfold in his life can be contrasted against.

ozufils
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2017 11:30 am

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#15 Post by ozufils » Tue Jan 15, 2019 4:49 pm

In terms of aesthetic and mise-en-scene the only director that comes to mind is Berlanga (or maybe a Sternberg), for the absolute indiscriminate clutter that they fill the image with. There are also some lovely tracking shots if I remember well.

User avatar
dda1996a
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 6:14 am

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#16 Post by dda1996a » Tue Jan 15, 2019 5:01 pm

ozufils wrote:
Tue Jan 15, 2019 4:47 pm
It is really hard to categorize German's films in terms of other directors.

If you didnt like Hard to be A god, it might be a tough film to like. I thoroughly love both films, but if there is one thing that works better for khrustalyov, then its the presence of atleast a semblance of poltical/historical background , against which the euphoria of the central character and the events that unfold in his life can be contrasted against.
Granted I saw it right after a second viewing of Stalker, but I loved it's aesthetic but it lost me after a while. It was mostly the repetitiveness of the whole thing that lost me, as I'm a big fan of "slow movies".

User avatar
bunuelian
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 11:49 am
Location: San Diego

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#17 Post by bunuelian » Wed Jan 16, 2019 2:46 am

I'm excited by this news. I have the rather bad Russian DVD of this and have been hoping something better would come along.

This film has a lot in common with Hard to be a God, but as ozufils stated so well, because it's a reflection on real life by people who actually remember what it was like in those times, it hits harder. I would think anyone who enjoys films that explore the "issues" of communism in Eastern Europe (broadly) will find something interesting here. German plainly took great pains with sets and costuming. And some argue that this film captures the "feeling" of the times in a way that's unique and important.

I'm looking forward to watching the supplements to flesh out the context a bit better for me. There is no exposition at all, so either you grasp what's happening or you simply have to sit back and wonder at the sheer energy of what's happening on the screen. It's a difficult film to access because it really is something like a dream/nightmare, especially without a better grasp of the context. The dialogue is constant and fractured, which I'm sure gives the people in charge of subtitles heartburn. Part of me suspects that watching it with context will still be a head-swirling experience, but that's part of why I enjoy it so much.

Some of Zulawski's films come close to the feeling (manic energy, initial or total confusion), if not necessarily the technique, of German's last two films.

German's earlier work is superb and much more restrained, though it has stunning moments of what I think of as German's "living screen" approach, with extras swarming and objects passing in front of the camera, and so on. I think many who find Hard to be a God to be a drawn out mess of "shit thrust at the camera" will find his approach much more interesting and effective in his earlier work. I hope his other films are coming eventually. Fans of Second Run's output should devour his earlier films, whereas I'm not sure there's any way to predict who will love Khrustalyov...

There are mediocre to bad Russian DVDs available on Amazon of most of his work. I understand that "My Friend Ivan Lapshin" is very highly rated in Russia, and for good reason. I think it's worth enduring the crappy discs to see these films, but that's me.

Kris
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2012 3:55 pm

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#18 Post by Kris » Wed Jan 16, 2019 4:23 am

Marvellous package, day one for me. Certainly not an easy film to watch, wears me out every time emotionally and visually.

Thank you Arrow, even if it is only one German every few years...

User avatar
FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
Location: Greenwich Village

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#19 Post by FrauBlucher » Wed Jan 16, 2019 3:32 pm

I just preordered the UK edition. Minus the Vat tax my total is less than the listed price. Not sure how much lower the US release will get but will have to drop under $28 for it to be comparable.
ozufils wrote:
Tue Jan 15, 2019 4:47 pm
It is really hard to categorize German's films in terms of other directors.

If you didnt like Hard to be A god, it might be a tough film to like. I thoroughly love both films, but if there is one thing that works better for khrustalyov, then its the presence of atleast a semblance of poltical/historical background , against which the euphoria of the central character and the events that unfold in his life can be contrasted against.
Anyway, I've never seen this and very much look forward to it. From what I've read it has peaked my interest tenfold. Plus, the trailer is beautiful.

User avatar
FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
Location: Greenwich Village

Khrustalyov, My Car!

#20 Post by FrauBlucher » Wed Apr 24, 2019 8:44 am

Slant Mag review

They rave...
“Arrow has outdone itself with one of its finest releases to date, preserving the beguiling, vulgar beauty of Aleksei German’s demented satire and offering a wealth of deeply researched, thorough features that delve into the riches of the director’s work.”

I can’t wait to get this..

User avatar
Apperson
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2016 3:47 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#21 Post by Apperson » Wed May 01, 2019 6:42 pm


User avatar
FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
Location: Greenwich Village

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#22 Post by FrauBlucher » Wed May 01, 2019 6:55 pm

This looks beautiful. Looking forward to experiencing this

User avatar
Aunt Peg
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2012 5:30 am

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#23 Post by Aunt Peg » Thu May 02, 2019 3:31 am

Beaver states that it is region-free - they appear to be reviewing the British disc. Would the American disc also be region free?

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#24 Post by tenia » Thu May 02, 2019 4:31 am

Very likely.
Arrow' Dual Territory releases are almost systematically Region Free so that the disc contents are shared between the territories, including the Region Code.

User avatar
MichaelB
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
Location: Worthing
Contact:

Re: Khrustalyov, My Car!

#25 Post by MichaelB » Thu May 02, 2019 9:27 am

If the UK disc is region-free, it's wildly unlikely that the US disc will be any different (it's much more likely to be literally the same disc in terms of the non-label side) - and I'd be surprised if a title like this had been forcibly region-locked, especially given the licensing of multiple territories.

But, that said, I don't know for certain.

Post Reply