Description

Eighty-six year old Italian master Michelangelo Antonioni is considered one of the greatest living directors, his prolific career spanning a fifty year period. He recently received an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement and the American Film Institute's highest honor. Image Entertainment is proud to present the DVD of Antonioni's latest work, the European success "Beyond the Clouds." Told from the dreamlike perspective of a wandering film director, the movie weaves four stories of love and lust, inspired by Antonioni's writings about enigmatic, unrequited or unresolved relationships. Set in several beautiful European locales such as Portofino and Paris, the film uses striking compositions, sensuous shots of lovely nudes and a moving musical score (featuring Van Morrison, U2 and Brian Eno) to create a radiant meditation on love and desire. The film is co-directed by Wim Wenders (Buena Vista Social Club, Wings of Desire) and boasts an eclectic international cast including John Malkovich, Sophie Marceau, Irene Jacob, Jean Reno and Vincent Perez. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Cloudscapes form a Great Director
The great Italian director, Michelangelo Antonioni spins four dreamy tales into an uneven confection concerning passion and connectivity. Though not as bitter as La Notte or L'Avventura (two of his masterpieces), in this film Antonioni seems more pensive and nostalgic for the tragedy of passing time and lost love. A great cast fills the landscape of lovers trying to connect and passions boiling beneath the surface, some fulfilled, others disappointingly engaged. John Malcovich wanders through the film as a narrator connecting the threads of the four stories (the direction assisted by Wim Wenders due to Antonioni's age and the after effects of a stroke), and the international cast of Peter Weller, Irene Jacob, Vincent Perez, Sophie Marceau and Jean Reno are perfectly tuned in to the director's icy, haunting style. A brief cameo by Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau (stars of La Notte) is touching and sad. This film is a must for Antonioni's fans, his scene composition and camerawork are still among the best of any living director.

Whole Lotta Brooding Goin' On
I think a more apt title for this film would be "Who is John Malkovich and why is he following me?" Leaving that mystery aside, BYC has obvious merits. It's visually evocative and pleasing, as all Antonioni is (though not on the richly symbolic order of L'Avventura or the other films in the "tetralogy"); and from the standpoint of a heterosexual male, you can't beat the triple whammy of Sastre, Marceau and Jacob. Beyond that, however, I found it to be pretentious and overly-ponderous, as if it were a parody of all things bad in foreign films, in the same way that a parody of an American movie would be overproduced with scant character development and an excess of car chases, gunplay, and explosions.

Tschuess to Philadelphia
I believe elmoderno saw some forein films, but it was obviously useless for him. He didn't understand a word in the film. This is the reason why most of Russians laughing at Americans adolescence maximalism and inability to think about and understand really deep and serious European films. They can't even hide their narrow-mindedness, as we can see. Every person can read the texts (it can be texts in the books and in the films and anywhere else as well - all our world is the text for reading and understanding) using some interpretative codes, which he has by force of his education and his environment. So this is not the question of Wim Wenders absolute Genius - this is the problem of personal ability for reading and understanding the meanings which contain the text (the film in this case)!

A Short Guide to Beauty vs. Meaning
There are those who appear to have difficulty understanding or appreciating this film.

BEYOND THE CLOUDS obscures meaning with its beauty for many viewers. However, perhaps the director wishes us to exercise our imaginations and understandings beyond the perception of surface beauty.

It is difficult in spots. The scene where the young male lover can barely get himself to touch his girlfriend, then leaving in disgust, is disturbing. It is reminiscent of the painful moments in Antonioni's 1964 color film, 'Red Desert.'

Yet all of Antonioni's films, as other viewers have here and elsewhere indicated, are throbbing with meaning underneath their often quiet surfaces.

Some of the cafe style speech of some of the characters in these four strung-together tales is considered a little too 'New Age,' and superficial in tone. True, that which sounds like pseudo-philosophy can be irritating...

However, such stretches do appear in Antonioni's other films. The director ventures to depict such ramblings in order to reveal their social and psychological style, 'music,' and their possible real meaning. Perhaps they take a little thought for the viewer. An Antonioni film is a real experience. Watching BEYOND THE CLOUDS more than once may be necessary, in order to come around to the director's point-of-view.

Perhaps approaching this film as a lengthy contemplation or meditation, rather than just a clever stretch of footage, is the best approach. It is difficult to appreciate right away, like most of Antonioni's films, because it is deeper than it seems on first viewing.

Some have been annoyed with the apparent lack of unity of these four tales. Yet look again. Perhaps an underlying unity in this film eluded you on first viewing. Perhaps perceiving needs a chance to gestate, and grow.

Others have been annoyed with the choices of 'pop' music the director chose to line his film with. Yet we have come to lose sight of the issue of 'layers of meaning' in a film or other works of art. We no longer wonder why a director chooses his music: we simply condemn him for his choices outright, and at first hearing, without thinking.

Still others condemn the film for what they perceive as gratuitous soft-core nude scenes. Perhaps they are. Yet, perhaps they mean to say something else within the context of BEYOND THE CLOUDS.

I think this thoughtful, demanding, and beautiful film is one of the best bargains on the 'art' film market today (or any other day.) It is definitely worth owning and watching more than once...

I hope this helps.

BEYOND THE CLODS . . .
...some of us, I bet, are getting a little tired of the childish Antonioni bashing that seems to go on. Antonioni bashing not just here, but all over the place...

... I resonate completely with the Amazon.com reviewer who asserted about one other Antonioni film, that it's no surprise that in the age of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), there is little appreciation for the subtleties, delicacies, and
savoir faire of the patient, conscientious, understanding, intuitive, unpretentious, careful, and wise efforts of Michelangelo Antonioni. . .

... the truth is Antonioni's subtle work is TOO good. By some sort of all-too-common common flip-flop neanderthal logic, jewels like BEYOND THE CLOUDS run afoul of lesser minds who are be predisposed to insist it isn't good ENOUGH ...

. . .I think people are afraid of being thought of as thoughtful, and therefore "dangerous," in this day and age. Hence they bash quiet films like BEYOND THE CLOUDS.

...well, I've seen BEYOND THE CLOUDS six times before I bought my copy the other day. It is fit to stand beside Antonioni's RED DESERT as one of the most beautiful color films ever made. Without a Monica Vitti to "guide" us through the film, perhaps the four subtle tales of love, loss, trauma, and reflection that make up BEYOND THE CLOUDS take a few viewings to truly appreciate. But that's what many serious critics say of ALL Antonioni's films...

...sip like a fine wine. Smile at the adult children who look down on BEYOND THE CLOUDS. Rest in the hope they all come across the experiences they need to come around to an appreciation of Antonioni, via intelligence and a newfound understanding...

... I've watched my recently acquired VHS copy of BEYOND THE CLOUDS six times already in the past few days. It is divinely worth it, and my love for it grows with each viewing...

...get your own copy, and do the same...

... the flower, unmolested, blooms and shows all its colors. ... Read more

Amazon.com

If Wim Wenders falls prey to overambition in this sprawling story of identity, conscience, and voyeurism in modern Los Angeles, it pays off in a richness absent from so many of Hollywood's safe, sterile films. Bill Pullman is the ostensible hero, a Roger Corman-like producer abruptly kidnapped by a pair of dim thugs who prepare to kill him in the shadow of the L.A. freeway. Gabriel Byrne watches, powerless, from on high, a meek Big Brother wired up through surveillance cameras hidden throughout the city. When Pullman disappears into the faceless population of L.A., adopted by a family of Hispanic gardeners, he begins his own covert investigation in parallel with the official inquiry conducted by movie-buff cop Loren Dean. Ostensibly a thriller, the film has little onscreen violence, but shadowy threats prowl around the edges, and echoes of unseen murders permeate the picture. The narrative is a tangle, neglecting characters and leaving the vast conspiracy more a suggestion than a fully conceived plot, possibly the victim of last-minute reworking after a disastrous showing at Cannes. But Wenders's unerring eye for image and color creates a stunning, often startlingly beautiful film of unsettling menace and haunting mystery, and his generosity of character fills this world with vivid personalities. Cult director Sam Fuller and character actor Henry Silva have small roles, and Traci Lind costars as a young stuntwoman with ambitions of an acting career. As always, Ry Cooder'sscore is superb. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (12)

A Thoughtful Film
While I certainly recommend The End of Violence, I do so with some mixed feelings. One the one hand, it is full of *obvious* commentaries on the negative impact of violence in Hollywood and society; the dangers of government activities being kept secret; and how fast-paced lives lead to empty relationships. On the other hand, this is all true and the movie holds the entertainment industry acccountable for promoting much of that, rather than just saying that entertainment is a reflection of society. And people do need to be more connected with, or present in, their own lives, as the film underscores.

I enjoyed the cutting away to the different yet related scenes, though I agree with the others here who wrote that the subject matter would have been better served by a longer film. Most of the actors and actresses did a fine job, from the small but moving role of the elderly father to Bill Pullman playing the lead of Mike Max the film producer. But Andie MacDowell was inconsistent in the role of his neglected wife wanting more from life. In her biggest scene, in the living room at night, she might as well have phoned-in her badly recited lines. It was also annoyingly clear that she wasn't borthering to listen to her fellow actor, Bill Pullman, who, in striking contrast, is always fully present in his roles.

I just wish that what I saw was a work-in-progress, as this film could have been better.

Almost really great
It's refreshing to watch movies which don't spoonfeed you all the information. Although this is not Wenders's best work (I recommend "Until the End of the World" or "Paris and Texas"), it's still worlds better than most of what's being made today. You won't lose any IQ points watching this movie, which is more than I can say for most of the popular movies out this year. Bravo to Ry Cooder's soundtrack.

The End of Freedom
In George Orwell's masterpiece "1984", Oceania is one of three new-world-order totalitarian governments that are in a perpetually mutual state of war. Oceania's propaganda motto is, "War is Peace", "Freedom is Slavery", "Ignorance is Strength". The Ministry of Truth, where the protagonist works, controls the dissemination of all information, and constantly rewrites the historical record. "Newspeak" is the re-formulated and politically correct language used in this process, designed to obliterate all original thought and any past or present events perceived as adverse to the health of the State. Government surveillance is everywhere, even in the "private" rooming houses for example, where all residents are forced into morning calisthenics under two-way television monitoring by BB - Big Brother.

This reviewer can't know where Wenders got his inspiration for this way under-recognized film, but one must conclude that he was deeply aware of Orwell's and other such work. After seeing this film in 1998, this collector prematurely dismissed it, perhaps having little appreciation of how prescient it would shortly become; and having considerable disenchantment with Wenders' previous artsy, unrealistic and truly awful "Wings of Desire". Yet despite this reviewer's negative view of "Wings", the themes and method of depiction in "The End of Violence" became, in retrospect, increasingly haunting. One could consider this film as being a more nuanced and updated "1984," or a more constrained and intellectualized "Enemy of the State" (another great movie). The pacing is just the opposite of Enemy's frantic activities, rather being (almost maddeningly) leisurely and surrealistic.

The basic plot is this: A computer development expert (Gabriel Byrne) is deeply involved in the test development of a highly classified FBI prototype in Los Angeles, a system involving city-wide surveillance webcams and spy satellites to constantly monitor all citizen activities. Developing major ethical concerns about the use of this system to commit political murders, and knowing he personally is being monitored, he tries clandestinely to email the secret details of the system to an acquaintance, a casual though (in desperation) trusted film producer who probably has the public connections that could facilitate action as a whistle-blower. In the parallel and converging plot lines, the film producer (Bill Pullman) realizes he is in mortal peril when he survives a bungled (and attempted disguised) assassination attempt. Confused as to why, but knowing his life is in danger, he flees to anonymous refuge with a mom-and-pop Mexican gardener troupe, from whence, with the occasional help of troupe members, he conducts his own pathetically limited fact finding. He discovers that the perception (by whomever) that he has come into possession of a highly classified FBI report via his email has motivated the assassination attempt, thereby forcing him to go into hiding indefinitely.

This is not science fiction! And this film doesn't go far enough! The technology for this sort of stuff exists today. All that's lacking is access of and coordination between the information pools and data bases which already exist or are coming into existence. There is feverish pursuit for such programs through enabling legislation like the "Patriot Act". One hears terms like ECHELON, CARNIVORE, Total Information Awareness, and "facial recognition technology." There are spy satellites too; as one character says: "Watching the skies from the earth is easy. Watching the earth from the skies is more difficult." There are spycams everywhere on major highways, at traffic-lights, gas stations, shopping malls, and ATM machines. Using current or developing computer technology, such programs propose to expand and integrate these data sources to support an ever-widening surveillance network. In Wenders' parlance, the result is an "end of violence" - by whatever means necessary! The film's leisurely, surrealistic quality makes it all the more chilling. Wenders makes one feel that if an "Oceania" is not already here, we are heading pell-mell in that direction: His ending prognosis for freedom as we have known it is not very upbeat.

Some viewers may be put off by Wenders' artsy techniques. For example, he likes to keep viewers off balance by cutting abruptly away in the middle of an important event to one of the other several interconnected threads, then revisiting that event after the fact to examine the consequences. But Wenders assumes viewers of his films have some measure of intelligence (a dangerous presumption perhaps?) and can follow these multiply inter-connected threads. To those who must have every detail spelled out in sequence by the numbers, with spectacular (frequently impossible?) action sequences like car chases, gun battles or explosions, this film is emphatically not for you! Perhaps your viewing habits should be limited to flicks written by 13-year-olds for 13-year-olds.

This dual-sided disc has the theatrical release widescreen (2.35 to 1.00) presentation on one side, a standard pan-and-scan on the other. The widescreen's day and night color, detail, and composition cinematography is breathtakingly beautiful, a work of the highest cinematic artistic merit! Stereo sound is excellent and at times startling. The intellectually-challenged or those with their heads in the sand can skip this thoughtful, highly entertaining and challenging film.

Political toast with no beef to back it
Empty space, this movie has no coherent story. In the end, we are told that the government is watching everybody, but somehow, our hero gummed up the works before he disappeared into the night.

Awful, preposterous, garbage. If I did not know any better, I might think it is a video game, it barely resembles a movie.

Eh...
Too self-consciously artsy-fartsy for my taste. This is the sort of movie pretentious people love since it allows them to make a big show of pretending to appreciate something "challenging" that a general audience would not "get". If you don't have that sort of agenda when watching a movie, however, you might want to stay away from this one. It's deliberately obscure in many places, to the point of self-indulgence and beyond. There was enough in it for me to care vaguely about the Pullman and Byrne characters, but I still felt like I had just wasted 2 hours by the end. It seemed much longer. ... Read more

Amazon.com

It may have been underrated when first broadcast on PBS on consecutive nights in the fall of '03, but executive producer Martin Scorsese's homage to the blues is a truly significant, if imperfect, achievement. "Musical journey" is an apt description, as Scorsese and the six other directors responsible for the seven approximately 90-minute films follow the blues--the foundation of jazz, soul, R&B, and rock & roll--from its African roots to its Mississippi Delta origins, up the river to Memphis and Chicago, then to New York, the United Kingdom, and beyond. Red, White & Blues is Mike Figgis's entry in the series. --Sam Graham ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Deeply Moving Documentary
Wow. Watching Nick Ray die of cancer is not an easy thing to watch. Still, he had the desire to make a final film and even had an idea to make a movie about the painter from Wenders' "American Friend" sail to China in search of a cure for cancer. Given Ray's state of health, such a film was unrealistic, but Wim Wenders did rise to the occassion and help Ray complete this movie which ends up being about his own death.

Parts of it started out as being scripted, so the result is a part fiction/part documentary look at Ray's final days. One cannot help but be moved by such an intimate look at Ray and those who love him surrounding him.

The film transfer on this DVD is far supperior to the old Pacific Arts videotape and laserdisc. Those older releases were not even made up of the proper cut of the film, so people now have a chance to see the definitive version of the movie (in it's correct aspect ratio) likely for the first time.

Ronnee Blakley's songs shine on the soundtrack and Wenders' commentary track (done in the Fall of 2002) is very insightful.

This movie can hardly be described as a happy film, but it is rare to see death addressed so honestly and with such care as it is in this movie. This is a great DVD. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Down from the Mountain
If you love the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus, and Nick Doob's exhilarating concert film Down from the Mountain will be sheer heaven. And if you're new to bluegrass and "old-time mountain-style" music, the performances will be a revelation. John Hartford, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch, the Cox family, the venerable Ralph Stanley, and other traditional and alt-country artists who contributed the music to the Coen brothers' spaced odyssey gathered onstage in May 2000 at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium to benefit the Country Music Hall of Fame. Interviews and rehearsal footage set the stage for this stupendous concert, highlights of which include "(Didn't Leave) Nobody but the Baby" by the sirens Harris, Welch, and Krauss; the Coxes' "(Will There Be) Any Stars in My Crown"; and Stanley's haunting "O Death." As one performer recommends, "Just ease in, sit down, and listen." It could be your salvation. --Donald Liebenson

Buena Vista Social Club
In 1996, composer, producer, and guitar legend Ry Cooder entered Egrem Studios in Havana with the forgotten greats of Cuban music, many of them in their 60s and 70s, some of them long since retired. The resulting album, Buena Vista Social Club, became a Grammy-winning international bestseller. When Cooder returned to Havana in 1998 to record a solo album by 72-year-old vocalist Ibrahim Ferrer, filmmaker Wim Wenders was on hand to document the occasion. Wenders splits the film between portraits of the performers, who tell their stories directly to the camera as they wander the streets and neighborhoods of Havana, and a celebration of the music heard in performance scenes in the studio, in their first concert in Amsterdam, and in their second and final concert at Carnegie Hall. The songs are too often cut short in this fashion, but Buena Vista Social Club is not a concert film. Wenders weaves the artist biographies with a glimpse of modern Cuba remembering its past, capturing a lost culture in music that is suddenly, unexpectedly revived for audiences in Havana and around the world. It's a loving portrait of a master class in Cuban music, with a vital cast of aging performers whose energy and passion belie their years. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (3)

I wish I was a Carnegie in '98 to See them
I wish was could have been a Carnegie Hall in '98 to see this group. I watched this DVD with tears in my eyes because I knew this was era and a set of legends that will fade into time. I will try to teach my children of their contribution to the spirit of music in my life time and a culmination Afro-Cuban but most of all the spirit of the Americas!!!

Poor Camera and Audio work Diminishes Documentary
Unfortunately, the filmmakers failed to follow a few cardinal rules: #1- Don't move the camera incessantly unless absolutely necessary. #2- Don't zoom in and out on a subject. #3- Audio is what often keeps people watching a film; therefore, audio quality is very very important.

I love the CD, I am a big fan of the music and even play it, yet the over-use of the StediCam (a camera mounting device that allows for smooth, steady camera operation of a hand-held camera) is at times dizzying.

Lastly, at times they pay little attention to the music. Some of the scenes (such as the piano player with the ballet class) are contrived. One can only imagine what it was like to be interviewed as the camera person circled you endlessly.

I am so disappointed by this DVD that all I can say is buy the CD and forget this film was ever made. The only reason I don't give it a "1" is because that's unfair. My criticisms are stylistic; however, they do render the film difficult to near impossible to watch.

lo mejor de lo mejor
es una fina muestra de la incomparable musica cubana, a la que la mayoria de nosotros no tenemos acceso. este es una obra maetra de la musica universal, contemporaneadelicada y deliciosa. musicalmente tiene ritmo, cadencia, cuerpo y melodia. si te gusta la buena musica, este dvd es un deber. ... Read more

Reviews (70)

Where is the DVD?
I have found this movie more difficult to describe than any other I have seen. This isn't because of plot complexity or character development. It's because with Until the End of the World, you are getting what essentially becomes three films. This movie's massive story arc (and mind you, I have only seen the VHS version which is something like two hours shorter than the laser disc) can be broken down into three seperate stories. They are not even acts when you dislocate them from the larger "end of the world" plot. I've never seen such a sprawling narrative work so well in a film. The characters are unpolished and even the good guys are shady. This film violates every modern Hollywood sceenplay rule and does it perfectly. One of the reasons I bought a DVD player was in the hopes that this movie would be released in that format at some point. I've only ever seen the VHS version of this film and have seen that more times than I can count. DVD! DVD! Where's my DVD?

music rights must be the problem...
That has to be the reason this wonderful wonderful film has not been released on DVD. The soundtrack is mesmerizing, haunting, and still one of my favorite albums of all time. But it must be almost impossible to get the rights to use all that music...U2, Talking Heads, Depeche Mode, Elvis Costello etc.

As for the film itself, I am in love with it. Sweeping, cinematic, epic, unconventional, dead romantic, chilling. It's a long long film, but I wish it were longer. Even Solveig's stiff acting style grew on me by the middle of the movie, and by the end of it I *was* Clare. This is the LAST VHS TAPE I am still holding onto, since all my other favorites have come out on DVD...and its starting to look a little worn :( PLEEEEASE RELEASE THIS TITLE ON DVD!!!!!!!

This Just In...
It now appears that there's a DVD version of Until the End of the World! Here's the scoop from a fellow named Brent Alverti, dated March 6, 2004:

"The cut features two sets of Italian subtitles (not sure currently what the difference is). There are no English subs (burned-in or not) for the few non-English scenes in the movie. The extras consist of:

* 10 minute monologue (in English) by Wim Wenders as he is driven around in Australia
* 40-minute interview (in English) on the making of the Director's Cut
* 30-minute montage of cut scenes and out-takes
* photo gallery

This is a PAL format DVD, so you will need a multi-format player to view it in non-Europe locales. It likely runs slightly shorter than the film version due to typical PAL transfer speed-up (motion picture film, shot at 24fps, is played back at 25fps to match PAL video standard). Also, no commentary track in included, although initial details suggested there would be one.

I have no definitive word on when the US version might be released. There is a rumor that Anchor Bay is transitioning ownership, and that may impact the US release date which was rumored for mid-2004."

The Travesty Is...
...Wim has yet to release a DVD version of this Wenderfully-sensitive sci-fi film. He's been threatening to press it to disk for years. Still, we are left with just the VHS version. It's a pity that the filmmaker is taking so long on his much-anticipated "director's cut." Wim, drown yourself in coffee and get on the stick, we're waiting!

finally available on dvd
Go to Wim Wenders' official website, there is a link there to an Italian site that sells the full movie as a 4 dvd set. I only mention this because I checked all of the Amazon stores [US/UK/CA/France/Germany/Japan] and I couldn't find it at any of them. Also, Wender's is apparently endorsing it by hyperlinking the Italian website that is selling it. I received mine in about ten days from ordering and it is the real deal; 1 of each of the three chapters to the 4 hr. 40 minute opus is on each of the first three disks and the fourth is all bonus features. I was able to watch it without Italian subtitles, although I have found no English subs for the few parts of the movie that are not in English. The picture is fantastic and it is all-around a deal at any price. Thank you Wim for finally releasing this! ... Read more