Coming Soon on Criterion: THE LAST WALTZ Swirls, ADOPT Stuns, LOVE JONES Slams
In November 1976, director Martin Scorsese captured the final performance by The Band, an influential U.S. group of musicians.
They brought along a few friends to share in the live concert, presented in person before 5,000 or so devoted fans. Scorsese brought along a few friends, too, including the great Michael Chapman and László Kovács. The Last Walt, released in 1978, is the best rock documentary ever made and stands up to repeated viewings.
The Criterion Collection will release the film in a new edition in March 2022, featuring a "new 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by musician Robbie Robertson," per their official verbiage, "with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features." A new interview with Scorse will also be included, along with various archival features.
From Hungary and released around the same period of time, Márta Mészáros' Adoption became the first film directed by a woman to win the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. "Through intimate camera work, Adoption immerses the viewer in the worlds of two women, each searching for fulfillment," according to Criterion. The special edition features a new 4K digital restoration, a new video essay by scholar Catherine Portuges, and other special features.
Moving forward a couple of decades, love jones, written and directed by Theodore Witcher, is described by Criterion as "an intoxicating, seductively moody romance that engages both the heart and the mind." A new 4K digital restoration and new extras are included.
Directed by the great Jean-Pierre Melville, Le cercle rouge (1970) stars Alain Delon, Gian Maria Volontè and Yves Montand. Do you need to know more than that to place an order? This edition also features a new 4K digital restoration.
In 1965, Robert Aldrich directed James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Ernest Borgnine, Ian Bannen, Dan Duryea, Peter Finch, and George Kennedy in a rowdy tale of a plane that crashes in the Sahara. Again, 'nuff said. Criterion's edition features a "2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack, new conversation between filmmaker Walter Hill and film scholar Alain Silver, [and a] new interview with biographer Donald Dewey on actor James Stewart and his service as a bomber pilot."
Learn more about each title at the official Criterion site.
