Luis Bunuel + Andre Techine (Lionsgate DVD Film Sets)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C     Extras: B     Films:

 

 

Luis Buñuel: 2-Film Set

 

Gran Casino B-

La Joven B+

 

André Téchiné: 4-Film Set

 

Wild Reeds B

I Don’t Kiss B-

Hotel America B-

My Favorite Season B

 

 

Lionsgate has recently issued two terrific DVD sets from directors Luis Buñuel and contemporary French filmmaker André Téchiné.  Both sets contain some wonderful films from the Foreign market and make great introductions to each filmmakers catalog of films, although most who are familiar with the father of cinematic surrealism (Buñuel) will probably want to see some of his other films like The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, That Obscure Object of Desire, Belle du Jour, The Phantom of Liberty, Diary of a Chambermaid (one of my favorites), and Un Chien Andalou. 

 

It’s great that a company besides Criterion are claiming the market with some of these more obscure films and getting some exposure to some terrific pieces of filmmaking.  The Téchiné set was a surprise with 4 films that are all quite good, although Wild Reeds and My Favorite Season are the slightly better of the two.  My Favorite Season was a huge success at the Cannes film festival in 1993.  Wild Reeds is considered his best work, perhaps even a masterpiece, and was released in 1994.  These are 4 great films to gain exposure to his entire body of work and shows a great range, the earliest film is 1981’s Hotel America.  It’s easy to see the connection between his work and perhaps the likes of other filmmakers such as John Cassavetes or Ingmar Bergman, although I think that he seems to walk a closer line to Bergman overall. 

 

Luis Buñuel on the other hand has a wide range of films in his catalog and these are two films that I have had no prior experience with, although I have heard of them, they never were available until now on DVD and probably hard to find on other formats as well for home viewing.  La Joven is one of the few films of his that is in English and Gran Casino is a more mainstream piece of film, so in many respects these two films are not necessarily typical Buñuelian, but do help to expand the horizons of certain perceptions about the directors abilities and overall work. 

 

The technical specs are nearly even across the board with all of the films, although the four Téchiné films are all in 16 X 9 anamorphic widescreen, while Gran Casino (shot in 1947) is in full-frame 1.33 X 1, and La Joven is also presented 16 X 9 anamorphically enhanced.  The newer films of the bunch do not look nearly as dated, while the Buñuel films seem slightly restored, but need more work and show their age in more obvious ways.  All of the Téchiné films are in Dolby Digital Mono and demonstrate the limitations of 1.0 mono mixes, which again is not a huge issue considering they are highly dialogue-driven and most people will be reading the subtitles, especially for those living in Region 1.  The Buñuel films are interestingly enough remixed in 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo and are a bit better for it. 

 

Extras on the Buñuel set include a terrific commentary track by Peter Evans and Isabel Santaollala, who specialized in Spanish and Latin films and is a great addition for La Joven, Philip Kemp accompanies the Gran Casino audio track and provides great insights as well.  Overall, it’s great to see these sets arrive and are worth picking up even for those with even a slight interest.

 

 

-   Nate Goss