Grasshopper Film

[GrasshopperFilm]

Great news! It was very likely a transfer issue.... Will order this for sure. Did you do your own transfer of Kangwon too?

Great! And yes. We did our own transfer for KANGWON as well.

[Finch]

Grasshopper restored Keane in 4k. Wow. Theatrical tour starting next month:

A critically acclaimed but seldom-screened thriller is returning to the big screen next month when a new 4K restoration of “Keane” opens at Film at Lincoln Center. Lodge Kerrigan’s intimate 2005 kidnapping drama, from executive producer Steven Soderbergh, has long been heralded as a taught, no-frills thriller that boasts a phenomenal early-career performance from Damian Lewis. In the past, cinephiles were only able to watch the original DVD release of the film, but the new 4K restoration from Grasshopper Film promises to show the film to new audiences while looking better than ever before.

The movie was a festival darling in 2004, premiering at the Telluride Film Festival and eventually screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, and the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. Critics praised the film’s intensity, particularly Lewis’ unhinged performance and Kerrigan’s measured but nevertheless suspenseful directing style.

The film’s official synopsis from Grasshopper Film is as follows: “William Keane (Damian Lewis) is barely able to cope. It has been six months since his six-year-old daughter was abducted from New York City’s Port Authority Bus Terminal while traveling with him. Repeatedly drawn to the site of the abduction, Keane wanders the bus station, compulsively replaying the events of that fateful day, as if hoping to change the outcome. One day he meets a financially strapped woman, Lynn Bedik (Amy Ryan), and her seven-year-old daughter, Kira (Abigail Breslin), at a transient hotel. Keane becomes increasingly attached to Kira and, in a harrowing climax, uses her in an attempt to fill the void left by his daughter’s disappearance.”

When the film was first released, Kerrigan famously explained that the idea for “Keane” came from his own fears about his daughter being kidnapped.

“I realized, how in just four minutes — four minutes! — your child could be abducted,” he said. “Your life could be changed forever and there would be no way to recover from it. I knew that kind of visceral feeling would be a good starting point.”

The new 4K restoration of “Keane” opens at Film at Lincoln Center on August 19.

[pistolwink]

I wonder if they have "restored" the Soderbergh re-edit included on the DVD set as well....

[Finch]

good Slant interview with Kerrigan about Keane

[Quote Perf Unquote]

What about his first two films?

[What A Disgrace]

Grashopper Films will be theatrically distributing the new 4K restoration of Pedro Costa's O Sangue.

[ryannichols7]

Grashopper Films will be theatrically distributing the new 4K restoration of Pedro Costa's O Sangue.

fantastic. I had just badgered them about it not too long ago when it was announced there was a new restoration. very happy Grasshopper got it since you know there will be a nice Bluray of it, barring something unusual.

now if I can somehow see it theatrically without living in a major market ..

[knives]

Is there any particular reason more of the Straub/ Huillet films aren’t streaming? I get that video releases are hard, but it seems like they have decent digitized reels for a large chunk of films and yet only two seem to be streaming at all.

[WmS]

I see twelve Straub/Huillet films streaming here, six not on blu:

https://projectr.tv/films/category/the- ... 000171ed17

Maybe its not the same worldwide?

(I watched Too Early/Too Late there a while back and longed for a bluray. Streaming compression kills the landscape shots.)

[knives]

Didn’t know that was a site. I’m not even sure if it’s listed on letterboxd. Usually I go to kanopy for Grasshopper films, but I guess they spread themselves. (Also, selfishly, Black Sin which I was looking for is not listed)

[GrasshopperFilm]

Is there any particular reason more of the Straub/ Huillet films aren’t streaming? I get that video releases are hard, but it seems like they have decent digitized reels for a large chunk of films and yet only two seem to be streaming at all.

We'll have some exciting news about this soon!

[Omensetter]

Grasshopper is releasing Radu Muntean's Întregalde on DVD on the eighth of November.

https://grasshopperfilm.myshopify.com/c ... egalde-dvd

It's a great film, and I suppose Muntean maintains something of an underdog status given its lack of a blu-ray, but it's the rare DVD I'll order all the same. (I'll happily purchase a blu if another region releases it.)

[hearthesilence]

Grasshopper is releasing Radu Muntean's Întregalde on DVD on the eighth of November.

https://grasshopperfilm.myshopify.com/c ... egalde-dvd

It's a great film, and I suppose Muntean maintains something of an underdog status given its lack of a blu-ray, but it's the rare DVD I'll order all the same. (I'll happily purchase a blu if another region releases it.)

I saw this at the NYFF last year in Alice Tully Hall (I think the only one it had there - I recall a second screening at one of Lincoln Center's smaller venues) and it was quite a surprise - highly recommended to everyone. I think the screening was maybe half full, which was a shame, but I get the feeling Romanian films simply haven't had an enormous audience even though their filmmakers have produced quite a few gems over the past 15 years. I almost want to chalk that up to a lack of big stars, comparatively speaking - big in their own country perhaps, but I don't think there's any actor who's particularly well-known globally, and in a way that's a credit to the strong ensemble performances that have graced most of the Romanian films that have made it here.

EDIT: Found my post for that NYFF screening:

I saw Întregalde last night at the New York Film Festival in Alice Tully Hall, and it's back again tonight (albeit in one of the smaller theaters). The writer/director (Radu Muntean), one of his co-writers Alexandru Baciu, and two of the main cast members Maria Popistașu and Alex Bogdan will all be back for another Q&A, so definitely go if you can - it's standby only but standby has been easy to get in for this festival.

It's been awhile since I've seen a Romanian film, but I did catch Muntean (and I think Popistașu too) at their last NYFF appearance when they screened Tuesday, After Christmas. As always the acting's impeccable, but this was quite a surprise. The film never develops as predicted...

SpoilerShow

...as it's been mentioned elsewhere, with the way it initially unfolds, one expects a horror film. Then it seemingly becomes a dark comedy, one that was so irritating for one particular character that I thought I was going to hate this. But the film wouldn't be nearly as effective if it didn't test your resolve in this way - it's actually essential, and it surprisingly becomes a beautifully poignant work as a result. I was actually reminded of someone I knew who passed away some years ago, and it really brought back memories of their final year or two, which was enormously sad.

I was also highly impressed that one of the key cast members was a local in a remote, rural town who never acted before - without giving away too much, the elderly woman doing the washing is actually his real life wife. (She plays his neighbor in the film.)

A wonderful film that deserves more attention, no U.S. distributor is currently listed on its NYFF page, but it has already played theatrically overseas.

[senseabove]

Grashopper Films will be theatrically distributing the new 4K restoration of Pedro Costa's O Sangue.

Costa's O Sangue and Grémillon's L'étrange Monsieur Victor are the first two titles from a new Classics line coming from Grasshopper.

[swo17]

Nice!

[soundchaser]

Wow - that's a knockout double bill.

[Peacock]

Damn… one of the few Grémillon's with an excellent English friendly blu-ray already in France… but maybe if it sells well it’ll lead to some rarer ones? Very grateful for Grasshopper to be dipping their toe in his work though! Willing to double dip if the extras are good…

Excited about the Costa though, haven’t watched it since the UK DVD came out many moons ago and look forward to revisiting it! That’ll leave Ossos as the final Costa that would visually benefit from a Blu-ray upgrade I think (unless Ne Change Rien was shot in HD?)

[Calvin]

Damn… one of the few Grémillon's with an excellent English friendly blu-ray already in France… but maybe if it sells well it’ll lead to some rarer ones? Very grateful for Grasshopper to be dipping their toe in his work though! Willing to double dip if the extras are good…

Maybe if we ask Grasshopper nicely they'll look into including one of the rarer ones as an extra? I believe that L'étrange Monsieur Victor is owned by Pathe, who should also own the wonderful La petite Lise that's crying out for a release... Or maybe Maldone or Gardiens de phare would be possibilities?

[Finch]

Keane BD dated for Dec 27

[brundlefly]

Frammartino's Il buco, DVD only December 6th. (Out on blu in the UK from New Wave.)

[Peacock]

Damn… one of the few Grémillon's with an excellent English friendly blu-ray already in France… but maybe if it sells well it’ll lead to some rarer ones? Very grateful for Grasshopper to be dipping their toe in his work though! Willing to double dip if the extras are good…

Maybe if we ask Grasshopper nicely they'll look into including one of the rarer ones as an extra? I believe that L'étrange Monsieur Victor is owned by Pathe, who should also own the wonderful La petite Lise that's crying out for a release... Or maybe Maldone or Gardiens de phare would be possibilities?

I’m sure many of us here would be grateful for any of those! I think it’s maybe with Gaumont but Dainah La Maitesse is such a weird and interesting film, but it is a helpfully short length for appearing as an extra feature on a disk!

[Calvin]

I’m sure many of us here would be grateful for any of those! I think it’s maybe with Gaumont but Dainah La Maitesse is such a weird and interesting film, but it is a helpfully short length for appearing as an extra feature on a disk!

The reason I didn't mention that one is that Gaumont have already release a nice Blu-Ray with English subtitles

[Peacock]

Thanks how did I miss that!!

[swo17]

Of course, that's also precisely why it has a decent chance of reappearing stateside (same as Victor), because presumably it's already good to go

[lastrade]

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/n ... b-obituary

Obituary for Jean-Marie Straub in the Guardian yesterday.