Curzon Arificial Eye will generally not be in that shortlist, though that's not a slur on their ability as a distributor. Not unlike the British Film Institute, they have a very impressive catalogue with plenty of certified classics in it, and their releases are often perfectly decent, if not very flashy. That goes for their boxsets too.
But even they clearly felt inspired when designing a boxset for Andrei Tarkovsky's films. Called "The Deluxe Collection", the limited (and numbered) set is meant as a companion piece to the "Sculpting Time" retrospective, a touring programme which had all seven of Andrei Tarkovsky's films being shown in British and Irish cinemas last year.
It may not be the most pimped item in my collection, but it certainly is pretty, and the style matches Tarkovsky's love for austerity and almost tactile sense of quiet images.
Here is a gallery of shots. Click on the edge of the pictures to scroll through them, or at the center of each to see a bigger version!
And here it is: a big bluish-grayish-purplish cardboard box.
The BBFC rating and (brief) content information are thankfully placed on a separate wrap-around banner, which can easily be removed.
The box may look sober, but letting some light dance on it reveals subtle embossing, ghostly plants growing on all sides.
A harsh light on the front reveals another trick: Andrei Tarkovsky's name shows up in Cyrillic script.
In the box: eight amarays (containing the seven films and one full of extras) and a 178-page booklet.
The contents taken out of the box. The films included are:
-Ivan's Childhood
-Andrei Rublev
-Solaris
-Mirror
-Stalker
-Nostalgia
-The Sacrifice
All contents opened. Nothing special in the amarays.
The amarays match up to make a single image on the spines.
I love the artwork on the inside of the box.
Finally there is the booklet. It's a softcover one, but quite hefty at 178 pages.
In it there are essays on Tarkovsky, and detailed descriptions of all seven films. There are plenty of color images but the focus is on the text, and I really like it.
The end.
Or rather, the underside. This set is limited to 1000 pieces and numbered (so if you want one, keep that in mind).