Sony/Columbia has just announced the DVD release of Michael Powell's Age of Consent for January 6, 2009. It will be paired with Stairway to Heaven on a double bill. Can't say for sure if it will include the original version, the cut version, or both.
shareSony Press Release
Two Classic Films from the Legendary Director on DVD for the First Time
THE FILMS OF MICHAEL POWELL
Age of Consent ~ A Matter of Life and Death (Stairway to Heaven)
Bonus Features Include a Special Introduction by Academy Award® Winning Director Martin Scorsese and an Interview with Oscar® Winning Actress Helen Mirren
The Second Release in the "Collector's Choice" DVD Series with The Film Foundation Debuts January 6
CULVER CITY, CALIF. (October 27, 2008) – On January 6, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) honors a celebrated British director with The Films of Michael Powell, the second release under the creative partnership between SPHE and Martin Scorsese's non-profit film preservation organization, The Film Foundation, which seeks to make available newly restored classic films on DVD. This collection features two of the Academy Award® nominated Powell's (Best Original Screenplay, One of Our Aircraft is Missing, 1943) most acclaimed films making their DVD debuts: the original director's cut of Age of Consent and (co-directing with Emeric Pressburger) A Matter of Life and Death (Stairway to Heaven). In addition, the bonus materials include a special introductions to both films by Academy Award® winning director Martin Scorsese (Best Director, The Departed, 2007), an interview with Academy Award® winner Helen Mirren (Best Actress, The Queen, 2007), and commentary by noted film historians Ian Christie (author of Powell, Pressburger and Others and Arrows of Desire) and Kent Jones. The two-disc set of The Films of Michael Powell will be available for $24.96 SRP.
About Michael Powell
British-born Michael Powell (1905-1990) entered the film industry in 1925 by working low level jobs for director Rex Ingram (Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse) in France. After his return to England in 1928, he learned his craft by working various jobs for filmmakers (including Alfred Hitchcock) before debuting as a director of low budget films in 1931 with Two Crowded Hours.
In 1939, Powell met Emeric Pressburger on the film The Spy in Black and formed a creative partnership that spanned 19 films (credits on their films together were always listed as "Written, Produced and Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger"). In addition to A Matter of Life and Death (Stairway to Heaven), other classics in their joint filmography include The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), Black Narcissus (1947), The Red Shoes (1948) and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951). Their last collaboration was the 1957 war film Night Ambush.
While it has since become a classic and influenced a generation of filmmakers (Scorsese has described it as the "greatest intellectual influence" on his work), the twisted horror film Peeping Tom (1960) destroyed Powell's standing with mainstream reviewers and audiences; he made only a handful of films after. His rediscovery by film critics in the early 70s through a series of retrospectives led to his the resurrection of his reputation as a great filmmaker and in 2002, Entertainment Weekly ranked Powell at #22 on their list of all-time greatest directors.
"I make films for myself. What I express I hope most people will understand. For the rest, well, that's their problem." – Michael Powell
Age of Consent (1969) stars three-time Oscar® nominee James Mason (A Star is Born, Georgy Girl, The Verdict) and, in her first starring role, Helen Mirren (National Treasure: Book of Secrets). Disillusioned with his shallow New York lifestyle, an aging artist (Mason) moves to a remote Australian island where he seeks fresh inspiration. He finds it in vivacious, young Cora Ryan (Mirren) who agrees to pose for him. So begins their most unusual relationship, punctuated by the intervention of the island's rich assortment of quirky inhabitants.
A Matter of Life and Death (Stairway to Heaven, 1946) stars Academy Award® winner Kim Hunter (Best Supporting Actress, A Streetcar Named Desire, 1952), Academy Award® winner David Niven (Best Actor, Separate Tables, 1959), Robert Coote (The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Prisoner of Zenda), and Academy Award® nominee Raymond Massey (Best Actor, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, 1941). The film was originally released as Stairway to Heaven in a censored version. This is the uncensored version with the correct title. Reality and fantasy are disarmingly commingled in this superb film about a WWII pilot who claims he was accidentally chosen to die and must now plead for his life in a heavenly court. Niven gets on the radio and shares what he believes to be his last words with an American WAC, with whom he falls hopelessly in love.
DVD Special Features**
· Age of Consent Includes:
§ Introduction by Martin Scorsese
§ Featurette: Making Age of Consent
§ Featurette: Helen Mirren: A Conversation with Cora
§ Featurette: Down Under with Ron & Valerie Taylor
§ Commentary by Author/Film Historian Ian Christie
· A Matter of Life and Death (Stairway to Heaven) Includes:
§ Introduction by Martin Scorsese
§ Commentary by Film Historian Kent Jones
** Special Features include rare behind-the-scenes photographs courtesy of the estate of Michael Powell.
Age of Consent has a running time of 98 minutes and is not rated. A Matter of Life and Death (Stairway to Heaven) has a running time of 104 minutes and is not rated. Artwork is available at www.sphepublicity.com. Visit Sony Home Entertainment on the Web at www.SonyPictures.com
DVD Catalog # 25919
UPC Code: 0-43396-259195
Order Date: 12/4/08
SLP: $24.96
ABOUT SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company. SPE is a division of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in more than 100 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com. For more info on Blu-ray Disc™, visit hollywoodinhighdef.com.
Cannot *beep* wait for this. I love this movie. I'm in the minority, but I think it's one of Powell's finest films - better than A Matter of Life and Death.
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It's a wonderful life
If you can find it
[deleted]
Speaking of the special features...I got it from Amazon, and watched Age of Consent last night. The transfer is good, and as advertised, Martin Scorcese and Helen Mirren speak about the film. The Scorcese one is rather short and not very deep. Same with Mirren, but that one was enjoyable. She speaks about it being her first film, her travel to Hawaii and then Australia (fun stories), and the whole nudity thing. So while the DVD set (with AMOLAD) is worth it, the two on-camera appearances aren't really in depth.
I haven't watched the Making of... bonus yet, or the other, Down Under... so I can't comment on them. But I do recommend the double feature. (It's two DVDs, by the way, not two films on one.)
Sometimes life is like asking strangers for directions to the Susquehanna Hat Company.
The other two extras are very good.
One is with Ron and Valerie Taylor (underwater camera), the other is with Kevin Powell (son of Michael Powell and unit production manager), editor Anthony Buckley and composer Peter Sculthorpe. Some good stories there, and check the background to Anthony Buckley
The film itself has the Sculthorpe score restored. It gives it a much lighter feel than the Stanley Myers score imposed by the studio. Powell always favoured the Sculthorpe score.
The film also has a commentary track by historian Kent Jones.
The AMOLAD DVD has another short intro by Scorsese and a commentary track by Ian Christie. Both films have subtitles in English & French
Steve