2010 hatte das britische Label Masters of Cinema den Versuch gestartet, bestimmte Filme exklusiv nur auf Blu-ray und nicht zusätzlich noch auf DVD zu veröffentlichen. Diese Veröffentlichungspolitik scheint nun Geschichte zu sein. Nicht nur, dass fünf der sechs vorher BD-exklusiven Filme demnächst doch auf DVD erscheinen, auch die beiden für den 21. März angekündigten Filme von Michelangelo Antonioni werden als “Dual Format Editionen” inklusive Blu-ray und DVD in den Handel gelangen.

Bei Movie-Mail sind Details zu den beiden Sets aufgetaucht:

21. März 2011
Dual Format Edition #17: “Die Dame ohne Kamelien / La signora senza camelie” [I / F 1953, Michelangelo Antonioni]

The second feature film by Antonioni, La Signora senza Camelie (The Lady Without Camelias), expanded the expressive palette of contemporary Italian movies, demonstrating that a personal vision could take an explicitly poetic tack.

It’s the story of a shopclerk named Clara (played by the captivating Lucia Bosé, also of Antonioni’s brilliant debut feature, Cronaca di un Amore) who finds a chance casting in a small movie role develop into a full-blown career as screen-siren. Tension erupts when her husband can no longer tolerate watching her frivolous cinema escapades, and pushes her into a ‘serious, artistic’ production of the life of Joan of Arc … whereupon she is castigated by the critical establishment.

A riveting ‘behind-the-scenes’ show-business drama, La Signora senza Camelie explores themes that would haunt its director from L’Avventura through La Notte and The Passenger – the tenuous hold of an individual on her identity, and the dangers inherent to performance, in life and on-screen.

• 2 discs
• Beautiful new transfer of the film in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio, presented in a 1080p AVC encode on the Blu-ray
• A new and exclusive video introduction to the film with critic and teacher Gabe Klinger
• A new and exclusive video featuring Gabe Klinger discussing Antonioni in the context of the Italian production system of the 1950s
• Optional English subtitles
• A lengthy booklet containing newly translated critical pieces about the film, excerpts of interviews with Antonioni, and a lengthy debate between Antonioni and critic Luigi Chiarini on the subject of the film

 
21. März 2011
Dual Format Edition #18: “Die Freundinnen / Le amiche” [I 1955, Michelangelo Antonioni]

A key film of Antonioni’s middle-period, Le amiche (The Girlfriends) finds the Italian master expanding his palette in the realm of traditional narrative cinema by way of his powerhouse direction of an ensemble cast, while entrenching his devotion to expressing the emotional makeup of the modern woman.

Clelia (Eleonora Rossi-Drago) embarks from Rome to set up a fashion-salon in Torino. Shortly after arrival, she finds herself caught up in the dramas of a bourgeoise circle of acquaintances (including the iconic Valentina Cortese), and their attendant attempts at suicide, their class prejudices, and the romantic alliances that threaten to transform the social clique into an emotional tar-pit.

Le Amiche represents the epitome of Antonioni’s 1950s period, and although it lays the groundwork for such later breakthroughs as L’Avventura and La Notte, it proves itself no less brilliant.

• 2 discs
• Beautiful new transfer of the film in its recent restoration by Cineteca di Bologna, L’Immagine Ritrovata, and Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation, in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio, and presented in a 1080p AVC encode on the Blu-ray
• A new and exclusive video introduction to the film with critic and teacher Gabe Klinger
• A new and exclusive video featuring Gabe Klinger discussing the arc of Antonioni’s entire career
• Optional English subtitles
• A lengthy booklet containing newly translated critical pieces about the film, excerpts of interviews with Antonioni, and more!