Avant Garde - Experimental Cinema of the 1920s & 1930s
Starring: Avant-Garde-Experimental Cinema of the 1920s & 193Studio: Kino Video
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Format: Subtitled, NTSC
Running Time: 360 minutes
DVD Release: August 2nd 2005
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User Reviews
A cinematic historical potpourri...a rare treat! - Rating: 5/5
This collection is a unique addition for any film/history buff. A must have and well worth the purchase.
A unique pearl!!! - Rating: 5/5
This is one of the best film collection ever put together. All the films are extremely interesting and most of them excellent. Ménilmontant alone justifies buying this collection, one of the best films ever made.
The New scores are great and the notes on the films are fairly good. The picture quality varies (from bad to good) and it would have been nice to have a little more extra material. But still, this collection is a must have for anyone interested in film. One of my favorite DVDs.
Something to discuss over coffee... - Rating: 5/5
If no adjective appropriately suit this vivid collection of avant-garde films from the 20s and 30s, one reviewer came close in his chosen nomenclature: this one-of-a-kind-combilation, indeed, is "indespensable"!
For anyone interested in or in some way connected to film and film studies this box set is a true gem as well as an overwhelming visceral experience. One dare even call it "edenic".
Packed with cinematic treats - ranging from early classics as Joris Ivens' "Regen", through film historical curiosities as Marcel Duchamps' "Cinema Anémic" and Richter's "Rhytmus 21" to absolute rarities such as Kirsanoff's "Ménilmontant" - this impressive collection of short experimental films guides you through all main avant-garde genres of the 1920s and 1930s. From impressionist masterpieces ("Ménilmontant", "La glace a trois faces" [Epstein]), through dadaist art-films (Duchamps), French and German cinéma pur/Absolut Film ("Symphonie Diagonale" [Eggeling], "Rhytmus 21" [Richter]), futuristic statements ("Ballét mecanique" [Leger]), dazzling city symphonies ("Regen") to such seminal early sound experiments as "Romance Sentimentale" (Eisenstein & Alexandrov) and "Le tempestaire" (Epstein).
While some films may, indeed, only be labled "curiosities" others are sheer strokes of genius - my personal favorites being Kirsanoff's rare impressionistic gem "Ménilmontant" (with its impressive - in every sense of the word - use of constant P.O.V.-shots, concealing the first person) and Jean Epsteins masterpiece "Le tempestaire" whose use of suspense-generating musique concrète (or "Slow-Motion Sound", as it were) and vividly, picturesque imagery make for a unique cinematic experience. - As visceral as it is beautiful to behold.
If only for its lack of a few early classics (notably, René Clair's "Entr'act" [1924] and Luis Buñuel's "Un chien andalou" [1929] and "L'Âge d'or" [1930]) this combilation of early experimental films may not be labeled "perfect".
However, I am still to experience any other collection of its kind. For anyone studying film (whether by themselves or in University,) this box set may, indeed, only be ascribed the adjective "indespensible", as done also by a previous reviewer.
An indispensable set with a special place in my collection - Rating: 5/5
Let it be said that if your interests somehow brought you to seek out more information about this release, this release is for you. Things happen for a reason, and your instincts have led you to the right place. Other reviewers are correct in saying there is something in this collection to suit just about anyone's tastes, but that said, some films will inevitably be of less interest to some. To my taste, most of the American films (excluding one by Orson Welles) seem far less innovative and interesting, as it was probably avant garde just to be shooting films in America at the time. Personal favourites are films by artists not entirely devoted to the filmic medium: Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp come to mind, as well as the excellent German expressionist films reminiscent of the Bauhaus aesthetic (Ghosts before breakfast comes to mind). To me, it is refreshing to see films which don't rely on predictable plots and linear storylines, and which are often photographically stunning and emotively striking. It's also nice to have a collection that allows you to watch three films in fifteen minutes, or an hour and a half. This is a set I keep coming back to.
Great - Rating: 3/5
A great package of films !!! great great great
but i just cant understand the music they add to, its just tooooooooo bad !!!! chaep and with out any knoladge... they sound so bad !!!!
But if you turn down the volume its fantastic
Mauricio Valdes San Emeterio
