Sono's LOVE EXPOSURE, Fassbinder's DESPAIR, and Goddard's HISTOIRE(S) DU CINEMA From Olive Films Fall/Winter 2011

We are really excited to announce a few titles coming from Olive Films on home video this fall/winter.  First up is 2008 ScreenAnarchy favorite, Sion Sono's Love Exposure.  The film took its sweet time getting a US release, but let's not make Olive regret picking this one up!  Details are below:

DIRECT FROM ITS 2011 THEATRICAL RELEASE
"Perverts Prowl and Women's Panties Tremble in LOVE EXPOSURE, A Tangled, Tumultuous Love Story."
The New York Times

LOVE EXPOSURE (2008)
A Film by SION SONO

UPC# 887090031509 CAT# OF315 $29.95srp
PREBOOK 11/22/11 STREET 12/20/11

Having grown in a devout Christian family and desperate to please his sin-obsessed Catholic priest father, young Yu (Takahiro Nishijima) a fairly normal kid who has no legitimate sins to confess decides to take on sinning big time and becomes a master of up-skirt photography while perfecting his ninja moves required to get just the right angle on his subjects. Things become complicated when our drag-clad hero meets the woman of his dreams; the man-hating Yoko (Hikari Mitsushima), who?s involved in all-out street brawl and beating up a gang of men. This four-hour epic was a New York Times Critics' Pick and winner of the prestigious CALIGARI and FIPRESCI Prize Awards at the 2009 Berlin Film Festival. Directed by the great Sion Sono (Suicide Club).

2008 / Japan / 237 minutes / Color / 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio / Not Rated / In Japanese with English Subtitles

Olive Films presents / a film by Sion Sono "LOVE EXPOSURE" Takahiro Nishijima | Hikari Mitsushima | Sakura Andô | Hiroyuki Onoue | Makiko Watanabe | Atsurô Watabe / CINEMATOGRAPHY Sôhei Tanikawa / PRODUCTION DESIGN Takashi Matsuzuka / FILM EDITING Junichi Itô / ORIGINAL MUSIC Tomohide Harada / ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS Yutaka Morohashi | Shin'ya Kawai / EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Toyoyuki Yokohama | Munehiro Umemura / PRODUCER Haruo Umekawa / WRITER Sion Sono / DIRECTOR Sion Sono

Also on the schedule is the first US DVD release of Jean Luc Godard's landmark series, Histoire(S) du cinema.  A television series that is widely regarded as one of the finest exploration of cinematic history available.  This series was recently made available on DVD in the UK through Artificial Eye, but now we can look forward to seeing it here.

"A magical mystery tour through the medium of cinema." - The Independent

JEAN-LUC GODARD'S HISTOIRE(S) DU CINEMA (1988-1998) (2 Disc Set)
A FILM BY JEAN-LUC GODARD

PREBOOK 11/08/11 STREET 12/06/11
UPC# 887090030205 CAT# OF302 $49.95srp

Jean-Luc Godard transformed the face of cinema with his prolific, influential and revolutionary body of work which includes such classics as "Breathless", "Weekend" and "Contempt" just to name a few. His video series HISTOIRE(S) DU CINEMA, consisting of eight episodes made over a period of ten years is an extraordinary look at the medium through the eyes of this unique filmmaker. Hugely ambitious in scope, the series covers a wide range of topics from the birth of cinema to Italian neo-realism to Hollywood and beyond. A dazzling montage of sight and sound, HISTOIRE(S) DU CINEMA features a diverse array of film extracts, the voices of - among others - Juliette Binoche and Alfred Hitchcock, and an eclectic music soundtrack ranging from Beethoven to Leonard Cohen.

Disc 1:
Part 1 (Chapter 1A) - Toutes les histoires//All the (Hi)stories (1988)
Part 2 (Chapter 1B) - Une histoire seule//A Single (Hi)story (1989)
Part 3 (Chapter 2A) - Seul le cinéma//Only Cinema (1997)
Part 4 (Chapter 2B) - Fatale beauté//Deadly Beauty (1997)

Disc 2:
Part 5 (Chapter 3A) - La monnaie de l?absolu//The Coin of the Absolute (1998)
Part 6 (Chapter 3B) - Une vague nouvelle//A New Wave (1998)
Part 7 (Chapter 4A) - Le contrôle de l?univers//The Control of the Universe (1998)
Part 8 (Chapter 4B) - Les signes parmi nous//The Signs Among Us (1998)

1988-1998 | FRANCE/SWITZERLAND | 266 MINUTES [DISC 1: 148 MIN//DISC 2: 118 MIN] | COLOR | NOT RATED
In French with English Subtitles

an OLIVE FILMS release   HISTOIRE(S) DU CINEMA   narrated, edited, written, directed by JEAN-LUC GODARD   cinematography by PIERRE BINGGELI, HARVE DUHAMEL   produced by GAUMONT, CANAL+, CENTRE, NATIONAL DE LA CINEMATOGRAPHIE, FRANCE 3, LA SEPT, TELEVISION SUISSE ROMANDE, VEGA FILMS

Finally, the first American Blu-ray release for German master Rainer Werner Fassbinder comes in the form of Despair.  This is a film I've not seen, but have heard good things about.  I'm definitely looking forward to it.

FULLY RESTORED IN HD FROM THE ORIGINAL NEGATIVE

TOM STOPPARD¹S ADAPTATION OF A VLADIMIR NABOKOV NOVEL

DIRK BOGARDE IN
DESPAIR (1978)
A FILM BY RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER

PREBOOK 10/4/11 STREET 11/1/11
UPC# 887090028806 CAT# OF288 $29.95srp

SPECIAL FEATURE:
THE CINEMA AND ITS DOUBLE (2011)
A feature-length making-of documentary directed by ROBERT FISCHER
€ NEW interviews with leading actress ANDREA FERREOL, screenwriter TOM
STOPPARD, cinematographer MICHAEL BALLHAUS and other cast & crew
€ Archival interviews with director RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER


2011 | Color | 73 minutes | Not Rated | In English, German and French with
English Subtitles

Based on the classic novel by Vladimir Nabokov with screenplay adaptation by Tom Stoppard. In early 1930s Germany, against the backdrop of the Nazis' rise to power, Hermann Hermann (Dirk Bogarde), a Russian emigrant and successful chocolate magnate, starts experiencing mental breakdowns. He soon meets Felix, an unemployed laborer, who Hermann believes to be his doppelganger. He hatches up an elaborate plot, which he believes will free him of all his worries and nightmares. Cinematography by legendary DP, Michael Ballhaus (Goodfellas, The Departed). Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Berlin Alexanderplatz).

1978 € 121 minutes € Color € 1.66:1 Aspect Ratio € Not Rated

AN OLIVE FILMS RELEASE  BAVARIA FILM INTERNATIONAL PRESENTS DIRK BOGARDE IN A FILM BY RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER ³DESPAIR² SCREENPLAY TOM STOPPARD  BASED ON THE NOVEL BY VLADIMIR NABOKOV  WITH ANDREA FERREOL  KLAUS LOWITSCH VOLKER SPENGLER  PETER KERN  ALEXANDER ALLERSON  HARK BOHM  GOTTFRIED JOHN AND BERNARD WICKI  DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY MICHAEL BALLHAUS  MUSIC PEER RABEN  PRODUCTION DESIGN ROLF ZEHETBAUER  COSTUMES DAGMAR SCHAUBERGER EDITORS JULIANE LORENZ AND FRANZ WALSCH  PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR DIETER MINX PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE LUTZ HENGST  PRODUCER PETER MARTESHEIMER  DIRECTOR RAINER WERNER FASSBINDER  RESTORED BY BAVARIA MEDIA IN CO-OPERATION WITH CINEPOSTPRODUCTION

We hope to get reviews of all of these titles as they become available. Happy shopping!