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CRITERION

posted 8 years ago by crduffy97
5 replies | jump to latest

The Criterion Collection will be releasing "The Emigrants" and "The New Land" in a boxset on February 9th, 2016 on Blu-ray and DVD.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED EDITION:

New high-definition digital restorations of both films, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks on the Blu-rays
New introduction by critic and Swedish-film expert John Simon
New conversation between film scholar Peter Cowie and director Jan Troell
New interview with actor Liv Ullmann
To Paint with Pictures, a 2005 documentary on the making of the films, featuring archival footage as well as interviews with Troell, Ullmann, producer and coscreenwriter Bengt Forslund, and actor Eddie Axberg
Trailers
New English subtitle translations
PLUS: An essay by critic Terrence Rafferty

[–] Last Tango 8 years ago

Super!

[–] metatron1970 8 years ago

I'm ecstatic about Criterion's release and had actually written an impassioned request to them a couple of years ago about restoring and releasing it. I know that John Simon can sometimes be an insufferable, politically conservative critic, but he's a great writer and often elucidates interesting facets of the films he reviews. It was John Simon's wildly enthusiastic reviews of these films (though truncated in their original release) that lead me to them in the first place, so I'm also thrilled he is also participating in the project. As the best movie ever made about European migration to North America, it should be required viewing for every American.

[–] SamoanJoes 8 years ago

I have not seen The New Land so I will be looking for the Criterion version. Thanks.

[–] metatron1970 8 years ago

I just received Criterion's edition and it looks amazing. I knew the original American edits of Emigrants/New Land in the 70's (and eventual VHS versions put out by Warner Bros.) had been pared down, but I had no idea how much: The Emigrants is roughly 40 minutes longer in its complete form. The New Land is bound to be a completely different experience since my last viewing in the 90's: the full Swedish version is roughly twice as long as its American counterpart. I'm very grateful Criterion has at last recognized the lasting artistic legacy of Jan Troell's beautiful films.

[–] LCShackley 8 years ago

I have been reading Moberg's books and was delighted to see that the Blu-ray had just been released. I'm watching the first part now.