Recomend quality films

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Ive just bought a portable dvd player(hoorah!!)

I have bought a few dvd's that were on offer but I really want to build up a collection of top quality films.
I like the idea of silent movies so Im starting off with Nosferatu and Metropolis(which I have yet to get)and there is a Melies dvd available(original B+W man in the moon films).

Im thinking of maybe getting classic Japanese films, Akira Kirasowa or more recent Japanese horror films.

Any other films youd recomend?

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Oh, Merchant Ivory films too, which are the best of those?

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As for black and white films one suggestion would be Les Enfants du Paradis/The Children of Paradise (Marcel Carné, 1945), shot in France during the Second World War this is a gripping and tragic love story against the background of a Paris in the early 19th century. It is considered one of the best French films ever.

The best Swedish silent film is considered to be Herr Arnes Pengar/Sir Arne's Treasure (Mauritz Stiller, 1919) a spooky tale of murder and revenge, with a young girl as the protagonist. Another work by the same director, featuring a young Greta Garbo, is Gösta Berling's saga/The Story of Gösta Berling (1924, 183 minutes, the shorter editions are to be avoided) about a priest who wrestles with his all-too-worldly love for a woman.

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Thanks, Il have a look.

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Re: Recomend quality films

material girl wrote:

I have bought a few dvd's that were on offer but I really want to build up a collection of top quality films.

Good for you! Life's too short to be spent drinking bad beer or watching bad films. Here's my not-so-humble list of 100 films I'd like to own on dvd; many of those films I'd consider to be "classics."

material girl wrote:

I like the idea of silent movies so Im starting off with Nosferatu and Metropolis(which I have yet to get)and there is a Melies dvd available(original B+W man in the moon films).

I have said it elsewhere and I'll repeat it here: be very careful about buying silent films on dvd. Many silent films have fallen into the public domain, which means that anyone with a dvd recorder can produce low-quality dvd's of these films. Often the print quality is atrocious and the music is abysmal. I can heartily recommend three companies that do a terrific job with silent films: Kino, Criterion, and Image.

As for building a solid collection of silent films, "Metropolis" and "Nosferatu" are a good start. Make sure you get the restored version of "Metropolis" from Kino, which also has a good version of "Nosferatu." If you're into German expressionism, you must get "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" as well. Other classics of silent film that are on dvd:
Battleship Potemkin - Sergei Eisenstein
The General - Buster Keaton
Seven Chances - Buster Keaton
The Gold Rush - Charlie Chaplin
The Circus - Charlie Chaplin
The Phantom of the Opera - with Lon Chaney
Sunrise - F.W. Murnau
Faust - F.W. Murnau

Some others that have yet to appear on dvd:
Greed - Erich von Stroheim
Napoleon - Abel Gance
Wings - William Wellman
The Big Parade - King Vidor
Safety Last - with Harold Lloyd

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Paaskynen wrote:

The best Swedish silent film is considered to be Herr Arnes Pengar/Sir Arne's Treasure (Mauritz Stiller, 1919) a spooky tale of murder and revenge, with a young girl as the protagonist. Another work by the same director, featuring a young Greta Garbo, is Gösta Berling's saga/The Story of Gösta Berling (1924, 183 minutes, the shorter editions are to be avoided) about a priest who wrestles with his all-too-worldly love for a woman.

If you know of anyone who is putting out these classic Swedish silents on dvd, I'd be very happy to hear about it.

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Jofromchicago.
Thanks for the warning.
There are some copies of Nosferatu that have a gothic inspired soundtrack to it in a modern style.I dont think Il like that so Im being careful.

Im sure Ive heard of The cabiniet of Dr Caligari, and recently heard of Sunrise/Faust.
Faust in mentioned in the same breath as a film called 'M' which intrigues me.

Im also looking for Theda Bara films.

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Just looked at your list-
Airplane!!An absolute comedy classic.'What a p*sser!'
A League of there Own is a fabulous family film.Very positive and heart renchingly sad in places.Id happily call it a classic.

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material girl wrote:

Jofromchicago.
Thanks for the warning.
There are some copies of Nosferatu that have a gothic inspired soundtrack to it in a modern style.I dont think Il like that so Im being careful.

I think I have the version that you are refering to. It's included in the Kino box set of "German Horror Classics". The dvd has two soundtracks, one in a more traditional style and the other more "modern" (read: synthesizers). Actually, both soundtracks are good; I object more to the sound effects than to the music. Kino will occasionally include more than one soundtrack to accompany a silent film: it's a great treat -- like getting two films for the price of one.

material girl wrote:

Im sure Ive heard of The cabiniet of Dr Caligari, and recently heard of Sunrise/Faust.
Faust in mentioned in the same breath as a film called 'M' which intrigues me.

"M" is a great film, but it isn't silent.

material girl wrote:

Im also looking for Theda Bara films.

There is at least one Theda Bara film on dvd: "A Fool There Was". I haven't seen it so I can't comment on it. Unfortunately, Bara's career really lasted only about four years, from 1915 to 1919, and many films from that time period have been lost forever (like, for example, the 1917 "Cleopatra").

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As far as Merchant/Ivory, I just saw "Howards End" again last night (in a hi-def transmission) and it's without a doubt the best of their efforts. Also would recommend "Maurice," and "A Room With a View."

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joefromchicago wrote:

Paaskynen wrote:
The best Swedish silent film is considered to be Herr Arnes Pengar/Sir Arne's Treasure (Mauritz Stiller, 1919) a spooky tale of murder and revenge, with a young girl as the protagonist. Another work by the same director, featuring a young Greta Garbo, is Gösta Berling's saga/The Story of Gösta Berling (1924, 183 minutes, the shorter editions are to be avoided) about a priest who wrestles with his all-too-worldly love for a woman.

If you know of anyone who is putting out these classic Swedish silents on dvd, I'd be very happy to hear about it.

Unfortunately, not yet as far as I know. Waiting for the Swedish Film Institute to extend their classics series. I saw them on TV/VHS.

If you know any good classics with aviation theme, I would appreciate the titles.

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"Wings" The first Oscar went to this film.
"Hell's Angels" The Howard Hughes classic which is
just as exciting for it's extraordinary dog fights
as the recreations in "The Aviator."
"The Blue Max" As much for it's soaring flying
music on the soundtrack, it has George Peppard's
best performance and also some very exciting
flying scenes that should raise the hairs on the
back of one's neck.
"Breaking the Sound Barrier" A British film as a docu-drama in the ilk of
"Sink the Bismark" (one of my favorites and I forgot to mention it on the war film category).

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(I'd also include in that "Breaking the Sound Barrier," "Sink the Bismark" genre, "The Dambusters")

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There are more highly regarded Kurosawa films, but I absolutely loved "High and Low". It will likely be the only B/W and pink film in your collection.

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Thanks LW,

As another suggestion for a black and white film (which as a curiosity has certain details hand painted in colour) I would name the comedy "Jour de Fête" (1949) by Jaques Tati, which I find very funny myself. It is not a silent fim, but there is not much dialogue, most of the humour is visual.

Incidentally, there is a colour version available too, it was an experimental copy and was later restored by Tati's daughter.

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joefromchicago wrote:

If you know of anyone who is putting out these classic Swedish silents on dvd, I'd be very happy to hear about it.

Hi Joe,

I contacted the Swedish Film Institute which has the rights to these films. They intend to release Her Arnes Pengar, Körkarlen and Gösta Berlings Saga,on DVD together with some other silent films, but they won't give a timetable for when.

Her Arnes Pengar (Stiller, 1919) and Körkarlen (Sjöström, 1921) are available on VHS at http://www.filmbutiken.sfi.se

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Thanks, Paaskynen. I hope the SFI releases those films on dvd some time in the near future.

A six-part documentary, Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood, devoted an entire episode to Swedish silent films. Fascinating stuff -- I highly recommend the entire series.

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I did manage to see all of Cinema Europe, I believe on TCM. A great series and I'm sure rentable on NetFlix. I did especially get engrossed with the section on Swedish silent movies.

Other than the Merchant/Ivory I recommended, so many have probably seen my list of must sees for the film buffs maybe too many times on this forum:

"Woman in the Dunes" A metaphysical, erotic and suspenseful thriller, but very definitely not in the sense of an American-made thriller. I felt as trapped in the house below the dunes as the protagonist. There's pleny of symbolism that only each viewer can interpret.

"L'Aventura" Some of the most brilliant black-and-white cinematography ever committed to film again approaching a metaphysical philosophy, this time about hedonistic romancing amongst the rich. A rich heiress dissapears on a deserted island during a boat trip. What follows in the search for the missing woman is chilling in a much different way than the typical mystery.

"The 400 Blows" Arguably Truffaut's best film, a very bitter-sweet coming of age story. The final scene is indelibly engraved in my mind.

"The Gardens of the Finzi-Continis." Just what happened to the Italian Jews during WWII? This film answers that question in a heart wrenching story of unrequited love. Dominique Sanda has to be one of the most beautiful faces ever put on film.

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Paaskynen wrote:

joefromchicago wrote:
If you know of anyone who is putting out these classic Swedish silents on dvd, I'd be very happy to hear about it.

Hi Joe,

I contacted the Swedish Film Institute which has the rights to these films. They intend to release Her Arnes Pengar, Körkarlen and Gösta Berlings Saga,on DVD together with some other silent films, but they won't give a timetable for when.

Her Arnes Pengar (Stiller, 1919) and Körkarlen (Sjöström, 1921) are available on VHS at http://www.filmbutiken.sfi.se

I had the pleasure of seeing Körkarlen (The Phantom Carriage) at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago over the weekend. The film was scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday, which coincided with the kickoff of the Bears-Saints NFC championship game, so I was shocked to see about 75 people in the audience (that's not a bad turnout for a silent film at any time). The film was part of a Janus Films retrospective, in conjunction with the release of the Janus fiftieth anniversary DVD compilation.

The movie can be briefly summarized: a malevolent drunkard (Viktor Sjöström, who was also the director) dies at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, and, according to legend, must take over as the ghostly driver of the phantom carriage for the next year, picking up (literally) those who, like him, die "before their souls have matured." The movie follows, in a series of flashbacks, how Sjöström's character gets into his predicament. In the end, he is given one last chance at redemption.

It's a simple story, and not entirely original (it bears some resemblance to Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" and is sort of a mirror image of It's a Wonderful Life -- sort of a Swedish It's a Miserable Life). But Sjöström's performance is astonishing -- even as a complete lout he is mesmerizing. It is truly a great piece of art, and it shows how advanced Swedish cinema was in 1921. And seeing a silent film in the theater with a live organ accompaniment is always a special treat.

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Hi Joe,

Now that you reminded me of it, Herr Arnes Pengar (Sir Arnes Treasure) has been released on DVD, but it says Region 1. I don't know if that means it can't be played on both sides of the pond (bloody nuisance). It is a restored copy and it costs 329 Swedish crowns, about 40 USD.

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