As a dedicated film buff (and feminist), I always appreciate films about women by women. Doing a little bit of research and thinking about the incredibly unnecessary invasion of Ukraine by Russia, I feel that I should talk a little about one of its filmmakers, the late Kira Muratova, who was not just a filmmaker, but also a screenwriter and actress of Romanian/Jewish descent.
Buy Brief Encounters / The Long Farewell: Two Films by Kira Muratova Blu-rayCriterion is paying tribute by releasing two of her most well-known films: Brief Encounters (1967) & The Long Farewell (1971) in a new two-film set. Although I haven’t seen either film, they both sound like resonant and truthful works about women at crossroads.
Brief Encounters tells the story of a complex romantic triangle involving a tough city planner (Muratova), her independent geologist husband (Vladimir Vysotskiy), and a young woman from the country (Nina Ruslanova) whom she hires as her new maid.
The Long Farewell centers on the increasing rift that develops between an emotionally impulsive single mother (Zinaida Sharko) and her bleakly resentful teenage son (Oleg Vladimirsky), who destroys her world when he announces that he wishes to live with his absent father.
Yes, they may sound simple, but they seem to transcend explanation and cliche to deliver women’s melodrama like no other.
The rather limited but still seemingly worthy supplements include interviews with scholars Elena Gorfinkel and Isabel Jacobs and an archival interview with Muratova. It also includes a new essay by film critic Jessica Kiang.
Other releases:
The Last Emperor 4K UHD (Criterion): Bernardo Bertolucci’s Oscar-winning epic about the life of Emperor Pu Yi, who took the throne at age three in 1908 before witnessing decades of cultural and political upheaval.
Game Night 4K UHD: A very funny dark comedy starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, as a group of friends who meet regularly for game nights find themselves trying to solve a murder mystery.
Bob Le Flambeur 4K UHD + Blu-ray (Kino): Jean-Pierre Melville’s classic 1956 film noir where an aging gambler navigates the treacherous world of pimps, money men, and naive associates while plotting one last score, the heist of the Deauville casino.
Le Doulos 4K UHD + Blu-ray (Kino): Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1963 smooth film noir starring the great Jean-Paul Belmondo as poker-faced crook who may or may not have squealed on a newly sprung gangster (Serge Reggiani).
