Roberto Rossellini Tagged Articles at Cinematical

What goes around comes around. Back when the wonderful laserdisc was just beginning to find its stride, and the serious movie buff could actually find most of the titles he or she was longing to see, the DVD came along and all but wiped out this entire format, this entire subculture. Now, at the dawn of 2008, it looks as if the war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD may be coming to a close. Will one or the other format catch on? Will the regular DVD become extinct? No one can say. But when it comes to movies I'd like to see, none of this matters. 2007 brought us some amazing DVDs and DVD box sets, and the following is my wish list for titles I'd like to see produced in 2008.

(Note: I deliberately left off titles that are already available on import DVDs, such as Satantango, Celine and Julie Go Boating, Man of the West, Johnny Guitar, Lost Highway, Napoleon, The Dead, the Jean Vigo collection, and many more.)

1. Othello: 3-Disc Special Edition
In 1992, Orson Welles' daughter Beatrice authorized a "restored" version of the film that played in theaters. But purists claimed that her film deviated from what her father originally intended, and so the Criterion Collection released a laserdisc edition of Welles' original cut, the one that played at Cannes in 1952. Beatrice apparently blocked this earlier version, and so now only the 1992 cut is on DVD (and out of print besides). My fantasy DVD would be a three-disc box set (from Criterion, of course), collecting both the 1952 and 1992 cuts, as well as Orson's impossible-to-find documentary Filming Othello (1978), which is the last of his completed films I have yet to see. (There are clips of it on the Criterion Othello laserdisc.) On a side note, of Welles' thirteen completed films, seven are available on U.S. DVDs and four others are available overseas. That leaves only Othello and Filming Othello. Let's get on it!

Movie tourism is nothing new; there have been tours of studios for years, and recently tours have sprung up in New Zealand for Lord of The Rings and Harrow, England for Harry Potter aficionados. The Folklore Society of Stode Sweden is on the hunt for an Ingrid Bergman look-alike to re-enact the actresses' first marriage to Petter Aron Lindstrom 70 years ago. The Society intends to officially marry a couple in name and deed, providing the dress and a reception for free to the lucky winner. In a somewhat humiliating side note, the event organizers aren't bothered about finding a look-alike for Lindstrom for the event. Bergman's most famous romance was with Italian Neo-realist director Roberto Rossellini, not Lindstrom -- who was from Stode and the inspiration for the event. Bergman's daughter, Pia Lindstrom, will be in attendance and guests will get to dine on the original wedding china at the reception. Stode's event sounds a little obscure even for a die-hard fan, and with Bergman's daughter in attendance, it all sounds just the slightest bit creepy.

Nostalgia is one thing, but this is taking it a little far don't you think? Although, if you happen to have a relative in Sweden that bears an uncanny resemblance to Ingrid Bergman with a mounting wedding bill, this might be her lucky day.

[via topix.net]

In case you need to start your personal preparations now, May 8 is Roberto Rossellini's birthday (or it would be, had he not died almost 30 years ago). What's that? You're not having a party? Yeah, me either. We're all philistines. It's alright, though, because Italy appears to be throwing a hell of a blowout - it is, after all, the 100th anniversary of his birth. (And if you only know the man's name because he's Isabella's dad, do yourself a favor and go rent Open City.)

According to Variety, in recognition of the centennial, Cinecitta is going to be restoring and issuing new prints of ten of his films. Using master prints (to which they just recently managed to acquire the rights), the studio will be reissuing such masterpieces as Open City, Germany: Year Zero, Stromboli, and Journey to Italy. Though Variety's report only mentions home video and television distribution, one assumes that the prints will be offered to theaters, as well - maybe it's not totally unreasonable to dream that, next year, a Rossellini retrospective will tour the US, completely with gorgeous new prints.