Cool, Classic and Collectible: Bernardo Bertolucci's Epic '1900'

"Being John Malkovich" (Criterion), the brilliant feature debut from director Spike Jonze and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, is as timely and topical as ever, and just as inventive, surprising, devastating, and compassionate, more than ten years after its release. Videodrone's review is here.

"1900" (Olive) - Gerard Depardieu and Robert De Niro play childhood friends -- a peasant and the scion of a vast country estate, respectively -- who become bitter enemies on opposite side of the political battle in Bernardo Bertolucci’s sprawling epic. A film of earthy passion and raw violence, it charts the volatile struggle between the socialist dream and the Fascist nightmare of Italy’s agrarian past in the years between the World Wars, within a framework that opens on the turn of the century and the promise of the new century. The international cast includes Dominique Sanda, Burt Lancaster, Sterling Hayden, Donald Sutherland, Alida Valli, Romolo Valli, Anna-Maria Gherardi, and Laura Betti.

Originally cut by over an hour for American release, this release features the complete 315-minute director's cut released on Europe with three separate audio options: English, Italian, and French language soundtracks. Previously released on DVD by Paramount, Olive offers a DVD upgrade and the Blu-ray debut of the film. The film is spread across two discs and a third DVD offers the accompanying 51-minute documentary "Bernardo Bertolucci: Reflections on Cinema" from 2002.

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For more releases, see Hot Tips and Top Picks: DVDs, Blu-rays and streaming video for May 15