Deaf Crocodile

[What A Disgrace]

If Mystery of the Third Planet, The Pass, and Snow Queen are just the tip of the Russian animation iceberg, that boxed set could easily be their biggest and best release to date.

[beamish14]

I hope their Soviet Animation collections include some Armenian and Estonian gems

[TechnicolorAcid]

On the Disc Connected podcast yesterday they also confirmed

THE DEVIL'S BRIDE (1974) by Arunas Zebriunas
- THE MYSTERY OF THE THIRD PLANET (1981) by Roman Kachanov
- THE PASS (1988) by Vladimir Tarasaov

Finch I believe these were already confirmed in a Disc Connected livestream iirc no?

[MichaelB]

CineOutsider has been kind enough to host my in-progress survey of Deaf Crocodile's entire output, which kicked off today with The Unknown Man of Shandigor.

Plenty more to come.

[ryannichols7]

CineOutsider has been kind enough to host my in-progress survey of Deaf Crocodile's entire output, which kicked off today with The Unknown Man of Shandigor.

Plenty more to come.

this rocks, Michael. I love reading CineOutsider reviews as much as you do, so it's a treat to get to read your writing on their site, and for a label I'm also pretty invested in! cannot wait for more! also gotta track down a copy of this one, too

[TechnicolorAcid]

Sharing my thoughts, I also loved this and it’s easily one of the best films that Deaf Crocodile have released, brimming with wit and effortless dramatic B&W style that effortlessly contrasts with the absurdity of the film itself. It almost reminds me of Dr. Strangelove in that way (helped that both films’ central conflict is centered around preventing the destructive power of nukes) where Roy contrasts dramatic actors and stars to deliver intentionally ridiculous lines completely seriously. Also love the review Michael, can’t wait to see what you discuss next.

[MichaelB]

I'm working through them in spine-number order, so it'll be Delta Space Mission next.

[EddieLarkin]

Does anyone know if DC are done with some of the out of stock titles?

When they left the OCN store, they were at pains on Twitter to reassure everyone that no titles were going out of print, despite VS advertising them that way. For this reason I held off on buying up everything.

But on their website, a number of titles are out of stock, with some designated MORE COMING and others SOLD OUT. I would interpret that as meaning the former are out of stock simply because they are awaiting new shipments/pressings, whilst the latter are truly gone for good. Sure enough, Sampo, Ilya Muromets and Cat City appear to be unavailable at Amazon and Diabolik.

[BBowBagnz]

Recent DC convert (and new forum user) here. Someone asked Craig a similar question about Cat City on another forum recently (as in, within the last week). Craig's response was "Yes. Anything currently out of stock will be reprinted with the scanavo cases and redesigned back covers."

The last reprints came in a batch of three (Prague Nights, Kin-Dza-Dza, Carpathians). The next batch should be the titles listed in the DC shop as "More Coming", which are currently: Arkana, Tsar Sultan, Zerograd. The following batch will likely include Cat City, another Ptushko title or two (likely at least one of the two you mentioned), possibly King Stakh.

Craigs post history there shows that he announced on October 1st that the first batch were "being worked on", and then on November 29 he announced (along with Felidae/Golden Fern pre-sale) that the first batch of re-prints were available. So figuring for a 2-3 month gap between batches, the "More Coming" titles will likely be available sometime between now and the end of February, ant the following batch maybe sometime early-April to early-May.

[MichaelB]

I'm working through them in spine-number order, so it'll be Delta Space Mission next.

...which is now up.

But rather than spam this thread with endless very similar posts, I'll use this one as a constantly updated repository.

001 - The Unknown Man of Shandigor (Jean-Louis Roy, Switzerland, 1967)
002 - Delta Space Mission (Mircea Toia/Călin Cazan, Romania, 1984)
003 - Ilya Muromets (Aleksandr Ptushko, USSR, 1956) - work in progress

[ryannichols7]

Recent DC convert (and new forum user) here. Someone asked Craig a similar question about Cat City on another forum recently (as in, within the last week). Craig's response was "Yes. Anything currently out of stock will be reprinted with the scanavo cases and redesigned back covers."

The last reprints came in a batch of three (Prague Nights, Kin-Dza-Dza, Carpathians). The next batch should be the titles listed in the DC shop as "More Coming", which are currently: Arkana, Tsar Sultan, Zerograd. The following batch will likely include Cat City, another Ptushko title or two (likely at least one of the two you mentioned), possibly King Stakh.

Craigs post history there shows that he announced on October 1st that the first batch were "being worked on", and then on November 29 he announced (along with Felidae/Golden Fern pre-sale) that the first batch of re-prints were available. So figuring for a 2-3 month gap between batches, the "More Coming" titles will likely be available sometime between now and the end of February, ant the following batch maybe sometime early-April to early-May.

fantastic news!!! great way to put the money right in Dennis and Craig's wallet instead of having to give any of it to a company I'd like to extremely minimize supporting. I'm sure I'm not the only latecomer to Deaf Crocodile, so I'm sure these will probably sell through just as much. glad I didn't put the money forth for the other Ptushkos on eBay. maybe they can do the Mokri set. wonder why they'd do King Stakh when the LE is in print, and it was a post-partner label title

[MichaelB]

I can't speak for Deaf Crocodile, but Indicator is already prepping standard editions for titles that haven't yet sold out in their limited editions - but which are selling steadily enough to make it reasonably easy to predict when they actually will sell out, by which time the first batch of SEs will be ready to go.

If something's selling reasonably rapidly, it makes perfect sense to engineer a smooth switchover to avoid any disruption and potential lost sales.

[BBowBagnz]

I can't speak for Deaf Crocodile, but Indicator is already prepping standard editions for titles that haven't yet sold out in their limited editions - but which are selling steadily enough to make it reasonably easy to predict when they actually will sell out, by which time the first batch of SEs will be ready to go.

If something's selling reasonably rapidly, it makes perfect sense to engineer a smooth switchover to avoid any disruption and potential lost sales.

That's exactly what I was thinking when I mentioned King Stakh. The SE is currently sold out (well, at least through DC / Diabolik - it can still be found in stock via Orbitdvd) and they may time the SE re-print release to coincide with the LE selling out.

[BBowBagnz]

It looks like the pre-orders are up today for this months titles. Gwen and the Book of Sands 4k and the East German Sci-Fi double feature (Signals & In the Dust of the Stars). The three cover art choices for the double feature are spectacular and it's very hard to choose. There's also a subscriber exclusive cover:



The Zerograd reprint is available as well, though I'm confused as to whether it's a pre-order (per the newsletter), or if it's available for shipping immediately as Diabolik lists it as 'In Stock' unlike the two new title pre-orders. It looks like my earlier prediction for the Arkana and Tsar Sultan reprint was off, though hopefully these two titles (or at least one of the two) will be available next month.

[TechnicolorAcid]

I’d like to take this opportunity to shoutout ZeroGrad which is a wonderfully deadpan dark comedy on the decay of societal structure told with a mix of absurd set pieces and a mind boggling world far outside of ours yet strangely similar that you begin to feel the confusion of this new society as our lead character does.

Also worth noting, Craig recently stated that there are a planned 5 volumes of the Masters of Soviet Animation series of which we know 2 are The Secret of the Third Planet/The Plan double bill and The Snow Queen (possibly going to be paired up with Soyuzmultfilm’s The Little Mermaid although it’s equally possible that it’s just TSQ). I’d imagine they’d at least go for The Wild Swans and the 2 versions of The Humpbacked Horse (I’d hardly imagine them skipping the work of Ivan Ivanov-Vano for a series like this since his work is massively influential). But I would really hope that they consider releasing the works of Fyodor Khitruk, a massively successful animator for his Winnie the Pooh series but who also definitely deserves praise for his wonderfully manic short Film, Film, Film. Either way can’t wait to see what they release.

[therewillbeblus]

I'm glad I keep going back to the well despite diminishing returns, because The Cathedral of New Emotions was a wonderful discovery - completely batshit and nonsensical at every turn, but a film that concocts and sustains a surreal flavor that just worked for me. I often admire films that deliver an audacious tone they commit to nakedly, and this is essentially -and little more than- that, so it's difficult to critique unless you're repelled by its wavelength. It feels like a deadpan Adult Swim movie aired without a shred of context

[therewillbeblus]

I’d like to take this opportunity to shoutout ZeroGrad which is a wonderfully deadpan dark comedy on the decay of societal structure told with a mix of absurd set pieces and a mind boggling world far outside of ours yet strangely similar that you begin to feel the confusion of this new society as our lead character does.

I liked this better than most of DC's releases so far, but it frontloads its best bits of absurdism and peters out in the back half, unable to sustain that rhythm. There's no characterization for our blank surrogate, which is fine to a point, but the state of ease and timing at which he accepts what's going on doesn't really gel with his persona prior to this shift, and its seamlessness bothered me - as if we're prompted to just shrug and enjoy the ride at the very point where the ride slows down and begins to drag. The first half has some great bits though, and I wish they accelerated those ideas rather than abandon or transform them into less inspired ones (i.e. the glorious chef scene morphing into a trite mistaken identity 'gag' stretched out for the entire last hour).

[TechnicolorAcid]

I’d like to take this opportunity to shoutout ZeroGrad which is a wonderfully deadpan dark comedy on the decay of societal structure told with a mix of absurd set pieces and a mind boggling world far outside of ours yet strangely similar that you begin to feel the confusion of this new society as our lead character does.

I liked this better than most of DC's releases so far, but it frontloads its best bits of absurdism and peters out in the back half, unable to sustain that rhythm. There's no characterization for our blank surrogate, which is fine to a point, but the state of ease and timing at which he accepts what's going on doesn't really gel with his persona prior to this shift, and its seamlessness bothered me - as if we're prompted to just shrug and enjoy the ride at the very point where the ride slows down and begins to drag. The first half has some great bits though, and I wish they accelerated those ideas rather than abandon or transform them into less inspired ones (i.e. the glorious chef scene morphing into a trite mistaken identity 'gag' stretched out for the entire last hour).

SpoilerShow

I actually do like how he accepts the world he’s in because it’s presented more like he has to accept it rather than him wanting to, he’s a man of traditional values and not wanting to question what’s going on is key to his whole worldview, even as the logic of the world begins to fall into complete chaos. An important thing to remember is that this was made near the end of the USSR as the traditions and customs of the system were falling apart in the wake of a cultural revolution and a lot of the older, more refined populace became tossed into a world that seemed almost otherworldly that revealed in newly found capitalistic excess which I think is best shown in this film when our lead is given a moment to allow himself emotional sincerity through a slow dance with the woman he’s told was his wife before it’s warmth is thrown away by an increasing number of side characters slowly filling up the room and serves as the true breaking point for our character to realize he doesn’t belong in this new system before hopelessly trying to return. Although overall I feel like another Leonid Filatov starring take on this concept, A Forgotten Tune for the Flute, is a much better film than this, even if I do love both, mainly because it’s a lot more character driven than ZeroGrad purposefully chooses to be.

[therewillbeblus]

Yeah the context is clearly important, as documented explicitly by prosecutor's explanation of how Russia's ideology infects its population. I guess I still wanted things to amplify rather than settle so early, especially since the ideas are there and the film was posturing in that direction

[TechnicolorAcid]

Yeah the context is clearly important, as documented explicitly by prosecutor's explanation of how Russia's ideology infects its population. I guess I still wanted things to amplify rather than settle so early, especially since the ideas are there and the film was posturing in that direction

SpoilerShow

I do agree that the film does settle down around the midway point and does get a tad bit dull but I find that more of a purposeful decision since at this point Filatov is trying to just conform to this new system along with us so the film takes a rather mild tone and even then, after the prosecutor pulls out the gun during the dance hall routine, the film goes back to a point of escalation, even if for a bit because it conflicts with the rather monotone style that was being set up in one moment of pure emotion and as I said, the bit with the slow dance with his mother also does this too and in effect, brings our main character back to the realization that he has to get of this town and that he isn’t meant for it. Although again I do agree that it’s very dry at points and that something like A Forgotten Tune for a Flute does this slow build style to its surreal moments a lot better because it builds up for the whole movie rather than slowing down the energy it built up in the middle of the film.

[therewillbeblus]

So far my experience with Deaf Crocodile's releases has revealed personal problems I have, I think, with certain regions' "eccentric" output, that's generally more tempered or languorous than I anticipate from the set-up. I'm sure that's not the case across the board, but I often find myself wanting 'more' of whatever these movies are doing, usually disappointed with the level of pitch following the promising wind-up. I don't know if that makes sense, and I'm certainly not trying to be offensive, but I don't know how else to say it. They're just not for me. But there have been a few gems so I'll keep coming

[TechnicolorAcid]

So far my experience with Deaf Crocodile's releases has revealed personal problems I have, I think, with certain regions' "eccentric" output, that's generally more tempered than I anticipate from the set-up. I'm sure that's not the case across the board, but I often find myself wanting 'more' of whatever these movies are doing. I don't know if that makes sense, and I'm certainly not trying to be offensive, but I don't know how else to say it

Oh don’t worry I understand that completely and I’ve had that happen to me several times (I couldn’t any experimental films up until recently for instance) and my enjoyment of these kinds of films ultimately comes down to a more personal experience with the dry Russian humor in them than anything else although I think you might want to check out the work of Leonid Gaidai, whose work is a lot more energetic, anarchic and openly satirical than a lot of typical Russian comedies especially during his golden period from ‘65 to ‘75, though I would recommend watching this period chronologically in order to build up to the nonstop manic energy of his Ivan Vasilievich.

[therewillbeblus]

Cool, thanks for the rec!

[TechnicolorAcid]

Dennis Bartok revealed that Deaf Crocodile has acquired 3 titles from director Teuvo Tulio with one of them being Sensuela which one Letterboxd user describes as if The Shaggs made a porno, do with that what you will.

[spectre]

Sensuela is great! It's a decidedly off-beat erotic melodrama set in a weirdly artificial, out-of-time late 1960s Helsinki. Drags a bit at times but it's still unlike any film I've ever seen.

Also inspired one of the funnier fake-subtitling jobs I've seen (long since disappeared from YouTube, but preserved here for posterity): https://tinyurl.com/2fpjjn28