The week’s DVDs begin in Germany:
DVDs and streaming for June 9 by Boo Allen
This week we begin in Germany:
The Bridge (***1/2)
The Criterion Collection releases this Blu-ray edition of director Bernhard Wicki’s 1959 Best Foreign Language Film nominee, now with a new digital transfer. The film takes place in the waning days of World War II, as Wicki, called a “clear-eyed poet of defeat” by Terrence Rafferty in an accompanying essay, chronicles seven sixteen year-old boys thrust into the fighting as little more than cannon fodder. Wicki begins by documenting the boys and their home lives, as they almost all appear eager to fight in the war, even though their noticeable immaturity includes their short pants and their hovering mommies. Soon, the boys receive draft notices and immediately go through a single day’s training before being assigned to guard a bridge in their home town. It’s a place where they used to play “cowboys and Indians” but now must protect even if it is scheduled to be demolished soon after. Obviously, not everyone makes it out alive. Wicki subtly draws on war’s irony, taking much from Gergor Dorfmeister’s semi-autobiographical novel that laid further shame on some of his country’s war-time practices.
Not rated, 103 minutes.
Extras: a 23 minute March interview with novelist Gregor Dorfmeister, fifteen minutes of a 1989 German TV interview with Wicki, ten minutes with German director Volker Schlondorff (The Tin Drum) on the influence on him of “The Bridge,” and a nine minute 2007 “behind-the-scenes” featurette from Wicki’s widow Elisabeth Wicki-Endriss “Against the Grain: The Film Legend of Bernhard Wicki.” Plus, a six page essay from Terrence Rafferty.
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles (***1/2)
As tributes and reminiscences pour in for Orson Welles on the centennial of his birth, it’s good to be reminded of his unparalleled achievements and his exalted cinematic position. Chuck Workman wrote and directed this documentary that uses a variety of sources to document Welles’ life and chronicle his still stunning body of work. Workman pieces together a wide range of clips from Welles’ eventful private and public life, always filled with beautiful women and failed film projects, all of which receive screen time here. Workman has ferreted out footage from virtually everything available from Welles’ output, from his childhood projects to his later day forays into documentaries and obtuse Shakespearean productions. And, of course, Workman includes multiple interviews along with ample footage from Welles’ Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons. Every clip leaves the viewer wanting more.
Rated PG-13, 94 minutes.
Extras: a nine minute interview with Workman.
Healing (***)
The title says it all in this well-received Australian drama that works on two obvious levels. Convict Viktor Khadem (Don Hany) transfers to a minimum security prison after almost two decades of incarceration for manslaughter. There, prison officer Matt Perry (Hugo Weaving) establishes a program to rehabilitate raptors of all sorts. Khadem fights against his natural hot temper to work with other convicts and, eventually, with one majestic eagle he helps return to flight. During it all, various other dramas play out, from family intrigues to prison violence. Director Craig Monahan earned an Australian Directors’ Guild Award for his deft handling of otherwise familiar material, and Andrew Lesnie’s cinematography brings out the visual attractiveness of Australia’s variegated terrain, as well as the soaring sights of owls, hawks, eagles, falcons and other flying wonders.
Rated R, 112 minutes.
Extras: eight minutes of deleted scenes, a 20 minute “making of” featurette, and a photo gallery featuring shots of the impressive raptors.
Guilty By Suspicion (**1/2)
Veteran producer Irwin Winkler (Goodfellas, Rocky, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Right Stuff) made his writing and directing debut with this sincere effort, now available on demand from Warner Archive, to document a subject obviously important to him. Unfortunately, his often reverential approach drains much of the energy out of a handsomely mounted production set in 1951 about a Hollywood director, David Merrill (Robert DeNiro), who returns to the U.S. after spending time in France only to find himself unwittingly implicated in a congressional investigation into communism. Merrill confers with his ex-wife Ruth (Annette Bening) and even his son Paulie (Luke Edwards) before proceeding. Eventually, he finds himself black-listed and struggling to find work. In the end, he may or may not find his hoped-for exoneration and redemption. Michael Ballhaus’ crisp cinematography ably captures the glitz and gloss of the proceedings as well as the era. With George Wendt, Chris Cooper, Patricia Wettig, Martin Scorsese, and blacklist victim Sam Wanamaker.
Rated PG-13, 105 minutes.
Let Us Prey (*1/2)
Most of this silly horror flick takes place inside a police station where rookie cop Rachel (Pollyanna McIntosh) finds more than she expected. She sees a man, called only Six (Liam Cunningham, Davos Seaworth on “Game of Thrones”), hit by a car. But he rapidly disappears. When she brings in the driver, an irresponsible local lad, Rachel encounters obstruction from her fellow officers and supervisor. Then, Six shows up looking fine but acting silent, weird, and sullen. Before long, expected supernatural phenomena unfold, taking director Brian O’Malley’s debut film from crime to drama into unrewarding absurdity.
Not rated, 92 minutes.
Extras: an 11 minute “making of” featurette.
Also on DVD and streaming: The Duff, Red Army, Rich Hill, Serena, The Squeeze.