Otar Iosseliani Complete Works

Message

jsteffe · #1 Post by **jsteffe** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 5:06 pm

All I can say is, WOW!

The Russian company Cinema Prestige is putting out the COMPLETE complete works of Iosseliani on DVD, apparently with optional English subtitles. Ozon has this massive 19-disc box set listed for a December release. It even includes some of his more obscure early shorts and the television documentary series "Georgia Alone."

Let's just hope that some enterprising retailers will offer it outside of Russia so that it'll be easier to purchase.

Kinsayder · #2 Post by **Kinsayder** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 6:37 pm

Does this have content that is not in the French "complete works" box? The French set is English-subbed, as far as I recall.

jsteffe · #3 Post by **jsteffe** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 6:47 pm

Kinsayder wrote:Does this have content that is not in the French "complete works" box? The French set is English-subbed, as far as I recall.

Yes, there are quite a few films not in the BlaqOut box. Also, the French set has English subtitles on some films but not on others. Not that you really need subtitles to appreciate a film such as Les Favoris de la lune.

Kirkinson · #4 Post by **Kirkinson** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 6:52 pm

This is the greatest thing I have ever heard of.

Knappen · #5 Post by **Knappen** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 6:55 pm

Fantastic news.

Two of those shorts were shown on italian tv some years ago and I thus somehow managed to get my hands on Akvarel and Sapovnela.

The documentary on Georgia is a very welcome title.

My Man Godfrey · #6 Post by **My Man Godfrey** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 3:35 pm

Kirkinson wrote:This is the greatest thing I have ever heard of.

235 bucks, though . . . ouch.

MichaelB · #7 Post by **MichaelB** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 4:56 pm

My Man Godfrey wrote:
Kirkinson wrote:This is the greatest thing I have ever heard of.
235 bucks, though . . . ouch.

113 quid in British money, which isn't bad at all for 19 DVDs.

Kinsayder · #8 Post by **Kinsayder** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 5:10 pm

MichaelB wrote:113 quid in British money, which isn't bad at all for 19 DVDs.

It'll be a lot more than that by the time HM Customs have had their share.

MichaelB · #9 Post by **MichaelB** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 5:11 pm

Kinsayder wrote:
MichaelB wrote:113 quid in British money, which isn't bad at all for 19 DVDs.
It'll be a lot more than that by the time HM Customs have had their share.

That's a very good point, especially considering I was stung for sixteen quid for three DVDs earlier this week.

(Three Facets DVDs too, just to add insult to injury...)

Knappen · #10 Post by **Knappen** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:08 am

Akvarel

Sapovnela

Giorgobistve aka La Chute de feuilles aka Falling leaves

Iko shashvi mgalobeli aka Lived Once a Song-Thrush

Pastorali

Les Favoris de la lune

Seule Georgie

Jardins en automne

foggy eyes · #11 Post by **foggy eyes** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 9:19 am

Wow, this looks amazing - although the UK customs charge is going to make it prohibitively expensive. I guess the chances of a foreign port are going to be pretty slim too.

Knappen · #12 Post by **Knappen** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 5:37 pm

The biggest surprise among the material not included in the french box turned out to be Sept pièces pour cinéma noir et blanc (1983) - a sort of early version of Les Favoris de la lune.

jsteffe · #13 Post by **jsteffe** » Thu May 01, 2008 10:07 pm

I'm posting this on the screencaps thread, too.

Brigands, Chapter VII / Brigands, chapitre VII (Otar Iosseliani, 1996)

First the Facets (Region 1 NTSC, 2003), which speaks for itself:

Then the Blaq out (Region 2 PAL, 2004, French subs only):

And finally, the Cinema Prestige (Region 5 PAL, 2007, Russian and English subs):

Looks as if the Russian disc is using an identical transfer to the French, which is good.

#14 Post by **domino harvey** » Thu May 01, 2008 10:38 pm

God, Facets sucks so much shit. Which, coincidently, is their motto.

mikebowes · #15 Post by **mikebowes** » Fri May 02, 2008 8:58 am

I'm not at all familiar with this filmmaker. If anyone could give some comparisons to other filmmakers or films it would be greatly appreciated.

jsteffe · #16 Post by **jsteffe** » Fri May 02, 2008 9:55 am

mikebowes wrote:I'm not at all familiar with this filmmaker. If anyone could give some comparisons to other filmmakers or films it would be greatly appreciated.

I know there have to be some articles out there on him, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Iosselini is from the republic of Georgia, and he started making films in the 1960s under the Soviet regime. His first Georgian films are sharp satires on contemporary society (esp. FALLING LEAVES and PASTORALE).

Here's my take--other may feel free to disagree: Among other things, his work displays a certain nostalgia for a life based on personal honor and an appreciation of the finer things. He ended up emigrating to France, but even his French films reflect traditional Georgian values, or perhaps what is Georgian in the French. When he started making films in Georgia again, they were by no means uncritical of Georgian society in its current state.

One of Iosseliani's major influences is Jacque Tati, given his fondness for visual gags. In general, he tries to tell stories with as little dialogue as necessary. I recall in one interview he said he watches his films without sound as he is making them to make sure that they are visually comprehensible.

Personally, I love his films for his droll sense of humor, his marvelous satirical juxtapositions, and for his gift for telling stories through facial expressions and especially gestures.

Maybe someone can add more to this.

The Facets DVD set of his early Georgian films is a good place to start (good transfers, thanks to Blaq Out), as are the not-bad looking DVDs of MONDAY MORNING and FAREWELL, HOME SWEET HOME from Kim Stim. The Russian 19-DVD box set is really to be cherished, but it's a big investment.

Obviously, avoid the Facets DVD of BRIGANDS, CHAPTER VII and get the Russian disc if you really want to see that film. I also really recommend LES FAVORIS DE LA LUNE, but you'd have to order that from Russia to get a subtitled version.

foggy eyes · #17 Post by **foggy eyes** » Fri May 02, 2008 10:40 am

jsteffe wrote:I know there have to be some articles out there on him, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

I don't think there's much knocking about either. Recently, there was an article by Quintin in Cinema Scope, The Man Who Loved Birds: Otar Iosseliani’s Cinema of Kindness, and a piece by Phillip Lopate in Film Comment called Georgia on my Mind (Jan 2005). I think the majority of writing appears in foreign journals.

fred · #18 Post by **fred** » Fri May 02, 2008 3:10 pm

jsteffe wrote:The Russian 19-DVD box set is really to be cherished, but it's a big investment.

Any ordering advice for those of us who are unfamiliar with Russian online retailers? Any with English language checkout? I don't think I could navigate the Ozon site you linked to earlier without explicit instructions...

jsteffe · #19 Post by **jsteffe** » Fri May 02, 2008 4:02 pm

fred wrote:Any ordering advice for those of us who are unfamiliar with Russian online retailers? Any with English language checkout? I don't think I could navigate the Ozon site you linked to earlier without explicit instructions...

Ozon is out of the question now, since they no longer ship DVDs outside of Russia. Audio and video recordings are "restricted merchandise" under a new and very stupid Russian law.

I ordered it for a library, so we used a special Russian book dealer that works only with libraries, not with individuals. They charged us a huge markup, but it was the best option I had. I thought it was really important that we acquire this.

Obviously, companies like www.russiandvd.com and www.ruskniga.com can get imported Russian DVDs. Perhaps if enough people ask them, they'll start stocking the box set. That's all I can think of for now.

Where did everyone else get it?

#20 Post by **domino harvey** » Fri May 02, 2008 4:04 pm

Maybe Xploited will stock it?

ivuernis · #21 Post by **ivuernis** » Mon May 05, 2008 7:27 am

SAPOVNELA

StevenJ0001 · #22 Post by **StevenJ0001** » Mon May 05, 2008 12:10 pm

How about this?

I have never dealt with this retailer so have no idea if they're legit and certainly do not vouch for them.

fred · #23 Post by **fred** » Tue May 06, 2008 1:49 pm

StevenJ0001 wrote:How about this?

I have never dealt with this retailer so have no idea if they're legit and certainly do not vouch for them.

Has anyone? Not a bad price.

Kirkinson · #24 Post by **Kirkinson** » Tue May 06, 2008 4:06 pm

I was extremely interested in this set the moment I heard about it, but after seeing the example above, this is the first time I can recall feeling something close to an actual physical pining for a DVD product. It makes me want to find a second job just to make the set financially viable for me.

Many thanks also to ivuernis for finding those shorts, which had hitherto eluded me. They were quite wonderful, as I would have expected. Perhaps I'll comment on them a bit more when I've watched them again.

jsteffe wrote:Here's my take--other may feel free to disagree: Among other things, his work displays a certain nostalgia for a life based on personal honor and an appreciation of the finer things. He ended up emigrating to France, but even his French films reflect traditional Georgian values, or perhaps what is Georgian in the French. When he started making films in Georgia again, they were by no means uncritical of Georgian society in its current state.

One of Iosseliani's major influences is Jacque Tati, given his fondness for visual gags. In general, he tries to tell stories with as little dialogue as necessary. I recall in one interview he said he watches his films without sound as he is making them to make sure that they are visually comprehensible.

Personally, I love his films for his droll sense of humor, his marvelous satirical juxtapositions, and for his gift for telling stories through facial expressions and especially gestures.

Maybe someone can add more to this.

That sounds good to me. The only thing I might add is that sometimes I feel the influence of Tati is overstated at the expense of equally important influences like Jean Vigo and Boris Barnet. (I've only seen Iosseliani mention the latter in an interview once, but after I saw Outskirts I was floored by how clearly it anticipated Iosseliani's style.) I also detect some Dovzehnko in his earliest films, but he seems to have had more influence on Iosseliani as a teacher rather than as a stylistic ancestor.

There's something about his films that I find almost rapturous even though he never goes for an arrestingly beautiful shot (not beyond his earlier films, anyway) and he tends to keep the emotional impact of what he's showing at a bit of a distance (figuratively and literally, as he never uses close-ups). Jsteffe describes his films' qualities very well -- Iosseliani's films are to be savored slowly and luxuriously like a fine wine or a good meal, and he has a strange sort of knack for maintaining his sense of humor in the face of the severest tragedies.

I agree that the Facets/Blaq Out set of his early films is the best place to start out. Watch them in order; the last one, Pastoral, is the most indicative of what's in store when you move on to his later work. My favorites beyond that set are Et la lumière fut and Brigands, Chapter VII but as zedz has said elsewhere on this board, his work is so consistent that any film you watch is going to give you an excellent idea of what he's all about.

#25 Post by **domino harvey** » Tue May 06, 2008 4:20 pm

Hopefully this won't be one of those sets that disappears forever after only a few months... or at least waits 'til after the Fall when I can afford it!