Maya Deren Collection [Blu-ray]

these transfers are OK at best, but there is no standard. some look better than others. the commentary is a small plus. however, WITCH'S CRADLE is missing, among other things. my favorite of hers. will this woman ever get the respect she deserves, and with it a COMPLETE retrospective of her genius?

Maya Deren amateurs will be happy to have those films finally collected on a Blu-ray but they’ll be disappointed by the restoration. The films look mostly like they ever looked on previous DVD : scratches, dirts, jumping and torn frames. If you don’t own any collection or just wish to have them in HD this is for you, if you don’t mind SD, you are good with your old sets.

Kino has a reputation for releasing quality products that respectfully focus on the history and art of cinema.Maya Deren, who died at the age of 44 in 1961, was a visionary whose works are still way ahead of their time.Previously, many of her films have been scattered in various, and often expensive, film collections.This new collection is not only reasonably priced, but it is available in remastered blu ray, so Deren’s films will look better than ever.UPDATE, March 2, 2020:I’ve now had a chance to watch this truly AMAZING collection. Not only will you own all seven of Maya Deren’s cutting edge experimental films, plus her posthumously compiled Haitian voodoo film “Divine Horsemen,” but you will also own an excellent collection of extras that greatly enhance this collection.I recommend that viewers start this collection by watching the 1987 documentary “Invocation: Maya Deren” directed by Jo Ann Kaplan and narrated by Helen Mirren.This documentary not only tells about Deren’s all too short life, but throughly explores her cinematic vision. We even get to see some of the actual locations from “Meshes of the Afternoon” in color.Most of Deren’s early films are silent and, amazingly, the silence adds to the beauty of these works.I can’t help but think of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sound of Silence” when I watch these short films. In a way, the silence is its own form of sound, and it’s even lyrical in these films.The informative commentators for each of these films allow for long periods of silence. They are respectful to Deren’s art, and they know that her art doesn’t require non-stop talking in the background.I did not realize how many Maya Deren films I had not seen untilI devoured this collection.Of course, most of us are familiar with Deren’s first film, her fever dream “Meshes of the Afternoon” (1943), but I had never seen the mesmerizing “At Land” (1944) or the carousel-like “Ritual In Transfigured Time” (1946). Both are excellent.This collection does have improved picture quality over past releases, but please don’t expect flawless TCM or Criterion Collection quality.Here’s why: Most of these films were made with a hand held 16mm camera that was purchased used from a pawn shop. These are not 35mm films and there are no original camera negatives.Camera negatives are ideally used when it comes to making high definition upgrades. But in this case, the best quality dupe prints had to be located and used for this collection.I believe “Meshes of the Afternoon” was made with a total budget of about $260.00. So these films are as low budget as they come.Also, Deren did her own film editing using primitive equipment that shows cuts and jumps. These so-called anomalies add to the freshness of Deren’s work.In spite of all this, Maya Deren was a brilliant filmmaker who could have made feature films on the same level as Charles Laughton’s mystical “Night of the Hunter” if the Hollywood establishment had let her through the studio gate.That said, if you love films that are totally out of the ordinary, created by a woman who could see beyond time and space, then this collection will be a welcome addition to your collection. Enjoy.

I have the dvd version of these movies and it is good as this restoration is. Honestly,they cannot do a whole lot with these older black and white movies like this(81 years old). If you can find it,buy the original in DVD and also the other DVD "In the mirror of Maya Deren".

Good material but the Order come late