Hard to Be a God (Aleksei German, 2014)

[domino harvey]

I love the way that Pete Walker's opus I Like Birds can be more or less precisely dated to 1968 from just the title.

Not forgetting The Smashing Bird I Used To Know from 1969.

That one's about one of those poor animals in the Windex commercials

[PfR73]

[MichaelB]

Well, these aren't going to hurt:

Financial Times: "Maybe the greatest film since the millennium began."
Guardian: "It really is authentically and awe-inspiringly insane."
Telegraph: "A fevered and exhausting masterpiece: one of the greatest movies to be released this year and perhaps any other."

[Stefan Andersson]

Khroustaliov, My Car! to be included on an upcoming French DVD of Hard to be a God:
http://www.dvdfr.com/dvd/f73634-il-est- ... ture-.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

French subs only. 309 mins. total running time.

I find DVDFr.com a good site for tracking upcoming French releases, along with the "Planning sorties" (release plans) threads on the DVDClassik forums. Though it is advisable to always check info about running times, subs and extras before buying. Apart from reviews on blu-ray.com, not sure which is most reliable, Amazon or DVDFr.

[Yakushima]

This is a stunning news about inclusion of "Khrustalev". An absolute masterpiece and my favorite of Germans's works. Perhaps, an indication that a decent transfer of the film does exist? I can't figure out why they don't release these (or at the least HTBG) on Blu. A good news, nevertheless.

[Lemmy Caution]

Some stunning visuals here. The set design, costumes, odd faces, and sweeping camera movements are really a tour de force. The plot and characters somewhat take a back seat to all that. After I watched the film, I took a break and then watched some random scenes for another 45 minutes, just seeing how the frame was filled and the camera drifts across all the anarchy. The action is rather heavy on mud and muck and greys and rain, random violence, rough horseplay, disemboweling, etc.

Not sure if it's the intent, but I took the warring between Greys and Blacks as black humor -- the monochromatic fight of all against culture. At times this seemed like a Felliniesque version of the Middle Ages, with odd and grotesque faces popping up in front of the camera-- occasionally staring or talking to the camera. I laughed when, in one late scene, some maniac keeps waving a pair of chicken legs in front of the camera as I'm trying to see the action going on behind that. I felt like this could have made for a great cable TV series. And been more appealing a half hour/hour at a time. With more plot fleshed (pun) out.
There's something rather perverse of combining such artistry and beauty of the direction with such ugliness of bestial human survival.

[MichaelB]

Beaver.

And Caps-a-holic compares the Russian (Lizard Cinema), US (Kino Lorber) and UK (Arrow) releases.

[Yakushima]

Looks like a big improvement comparing to the US and Russian Blu-rays. Impressive texture and detail level. Not to mention some very cool extras. Bravo, Arrow!!! Please, bring us more films by Alexei German!

[feckless boy]

Arrow's encode is gorgeous! Smoke and fog has never looked this good on home video.

[rapta]

Contrast looks much better on the Arrow disc. A must-buy, though as I watched it recently I'll wait a little bit. Looking forward to checking out the new UK subtitling too...and the extras (to try and make a bit more sense of this mysterious picture).

[peerpee]

I think the Arrow Blu of HARD TO BE A GOD is my favourite Blu-ray of 2015 so far. Great extras.

[Tommaso]

I think the Arrow Blu of HARD TO BE A GOD is my favourite Blu-ray of 2015 so far. Great extras.

I absolutely agree. However, the new German release on the Bildstörung label even seems to top the Arrow extras, or at least provides highly interesting alternatives:

Interview mit Aleksei German Jr., dem Sohn des Regisseurs (10 min.)
- Interview mit Drehbuchautorin und Aleksei Germans Witwe Svetlana Karmalita (37 min.)
- "Aleskei German" - Ron Holloways Langinterview mit Aleksei German (45 min.)
- "Jenseits der Kamera" - Dokumentarfilm von Aleksandr Pozdnjakov (52 min.)
- "Germans Blutdruck ist heute 122/85" - Dokumentarfilm von Peter Shepotinnik (43 min.)
- "Die Geschichte des Arkanar-Massakers" - eine Würdigung von Daniel Bird (27 min.)

These are all found on a bonus dvd that comes both with the blu and the dvd version of the release. Of course, only German subs (argh... this really sounds like a stupid pun), which probably makes it uninteresting for most people here. But if you understand the language, this is a very tempting edition, especially as the Bildstörung label is known for its excellent picture and edition quality, and reviews at amazon.de seem to confirm that this is the case here, too.

[domino harvey]

Has the initial pressing of this with the limited booklet already sold out?

[DeprongMori]

I just received confirmation from Arrow today that they are still shipping Hard to Be a God with the booklet. I've added it to my "Arrow sale" order (though it is not on sale itself.)

[domino harvey]

Great, thanks for the info!

[swo17]

More generally, I'm curious whether they'll be giving a heads-up when any exclusive booklet titles are running low.

[jindianajonz]

I somehow missed the news of this limited booklet, and a quick CTRL-F through the thread isn't finding anything. Am I correct in assuming that the booklet that came in my copy a few weeks ago is the limited one?

[domino harvey]

If it's 44 pages then yes

[swo17]

If it's any pages then yes

[MichaelB]

Indeed - there's only one booklet. Or rather, there's a 44-page booklet or no booklet.

But I trust Arrow will alert people when stocks are running low.

[TMDaines]

I watched this today and the plot completely passed me by. Reading a synopsis now, I barely recognise it! Not sure whether it's me or the film at fault, but people seem to be raving about it. I need to confess that I either didn't appreciate who the initial scientist was or completely forgot once the film got going.

[knives]

Everything is breezed through in the opening narration, but it frankly holds so little effect on the narrative that forgetting about it or not noticing is probably going to be the most common reaction.

[AMalickLensFlare]

Arguably the most filthy film ever made. I wanted to take a shower after I watched it. But it was a worthwhile experience. I should give it a second viewing.

I'd argue the opening narration and understanding the context are pretty vital. I'll try to remember to write a proper response explaining why when I'm not bound to Tapatalk.

[Roscoe]

In what I've been able to watch of HARD TO BE A GOD, I'm always reminded of the line from MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL when Arthur passes two men, one of whom says to the other that Arthur must be a king because he hasn't got shit all over him.

[Emak-Bakia]

In case anyone's curious: last week I received my copy of Hard to Be a God that I ordered in the most recent Arrow sale, and I'm happy to confirm that the booklet was included.

What an incredible vision this film is! Absolutely astonishing. And I spent a few hours last night watching all of the special features and reading the booklet - something which I seldom do all in one sitting. This is such a great package. My compliments to MichaelB for helping to put this together, and thanks for introducing me to the work of Aleksei German. You've certainly piqued my interest in seeing his other films, so I truly hope Arrow (or any other English-friendly label) can find a way to make his work available.