WHISPERING PAGES, STONE and SAVE AND PROTECT


DESCRIPTION
A deluxe collector’s set featuring three early masterworks by visionary Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov in newly translated and restored director’s cuts: WHISPERING PAGES, a brooding, beautiful film inspired by nineteenth-century Russian literature, primarily Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment; STONE, a mysterious fable about a young night watchman’s encounter with the ghost of Chekhov; and SAVE AND PROTECT, a visually sumptuous adaptation of Flaubert’s Madame Bovary.

SPECIAL FEATURES

DISC ONE – WHISPERING PAGES (Blu-ray)
· Soviet Elegy (1989, 37 minutes)
· An Example of Intonation (1991, 48 minutes)
· Questions About Cinema, a documentary on Alexander Sokurov (2008, 60 minutes)

DISC TWO – STONE (DVD)
· Audio Commentary by film critic and curator James Quandt
· Diary of St. Petersburg: Kozintsev's Flat (1998, 48 minutes)
· "The House That Chekhov Built," a BBC audio program on Anton Chekhov's house in Yalta, the setting for STONE (30 minutes)
· Sonata For Hitler (1979-1989, 10 minutes)

DISC THREE – SAVE AND PROTECT (DVD)
· SD copy of WHISPERING PAGES (1994, 70 minutes)

REVIEWS

"A three-disc wonder from Cinema Guild. This lovely package doesn’t so much set out to “explain” or “explicate” Sokurov’s obscurities (although a great deal of useful supplementary information is offered by Quandt, Sokurov and others) as contribute to, enhance, and even expand those mysteries."
- Jonathan Rosenbaum, Cinema Scope

“Highly recommended. Sokurov: Early Masterworks is a triptych of unburied treasures, each more extraordinary and inspiring than the last, that should stand as a landmark home video release and a cause for celebration among all North American cinephiles worth their salt.” - DVD Talk

“An indispensable box set.” - Film Comment

“Easily the hardcore cineaste’s DVD release of 2012… Comes with the best kind of supplements.” - SundanceNow

“This is Cinema Guild’s first foray into larger film sets, and with it, they have put together a staggering collection.” - Inoncinema.com

“An invaluable three-disc set.” - Cineaste

“Along with an impressive array of documentaries, shorts, and an invaluable audio commentary, this is essential viewing…. This presentation of Whispering Pages is one of the more revelatory home-viewing experiences I can remember.” - Slant

2012 Gift Guide selection “A must-have.” - Indiewire

“Highly recommended. An impressive box set. Cinema Guild have done an outstanding job.” - Criterion Forum

SET INFO
Whispering Pages (BD)
1994 / Russia / 70 min / 1.33:1 / NR / 1080p
Russian Dolby Digital 2.0 / English subtitles

Stone
1992 / Russia / 79 min / 1.33:1 / NR
Russian Dolby Digital 2.0 / English subtitles

Save and Protect
1990 / Russia / 133 min / 1.33:1 / NR
Russian Dolby Digital 2.0 / English subtitles