Second Run

“Buñuel’s gleefully perverse mock melodrama… unfolds, in images akin to Freudian X-rays, the repressed desires that respectable society both embodies and conceals. […] the art of murder and the art of movies appear to be closely aligned” Richard Brody at The New Yorker dissects Buñuel’s THE CRIMINAL LIFE OF ARCHIBALDO DE LA CRUZ /goings-on-about-town/movies/the-criminal-life-of-archibaldo-de-la-cruz

"Filmed in monochrome CinemaScope, it still looks extraordinary [...] [with] surely one of the greatest ever screen performances by a child actor... [a] visually beautiful, emotionally rich epic" 5-star review of Kachyňa’s LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC! @the_arts_desk /film/blu-ray-long-live-republic

"Remains one of Buñuel's most enjoyably macabre oddities. [...] The typically cool and yet piquant flavour resides throughout in this rich mixture of real and abstract, real and imagined, with a perfect balance maintained between morbid wit and blood-stained drama [...] in fact, this film provides yet another reminder that Buñuel's is one of the few truly individual visions in the cinema" An archival, spot-on review from the December 1960 issue of Monthly Film Bulletin by Robert Vas when Buñuel's THE CRIMINAL LIFE OR ARCHIBALDO DE LA CRUZ was first released in the UK - five years after its Mexican debut. 66 years later, it makes it's UK home video debut. Our Blu-ray is out on 8 June.

Gabriel Mascaro's excellent new film THE BLUE TRAIL (O Último Azul) is in UK cinemas now. Two of Mascaro's earlier sensual and provocative works, DIVINE LOVE (Divino amor, 2019) and NEON BULL (Boi neon, 2015) are available on Second Run. /release_divine.html /release_neon.html /distribution/the-blue-trail

"Remains in a category of its own: deeply personal, unethical, and something you cannot look away from" Matthew Tilt's 'What's In a Scene' looks at Hara's EXTREME PRIVATE EROS: LOVE SONG 1974 /p/non-canonical-extreme-private-eros

"[Kazuo Hara's] ethical-boundary-traversing brilliance is on display in this queasily private diary film from 1974... Hara’s self-exposing strategies are unlike much else in the documentary canon, making this a vital release from the ever-adventurous Second Run label" The lovely new Sight and Sound weekly 'Watchlist: 7 films for 7 days' chooses our EXTREME PRIVATE EROS in this week's selection

OUT TODAY! Kazuo Hara's raw and uncompromising EXTREME PRIVATE EROS: LOVE SONG 1974 From the director of The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On, EXTREME PRIVATE EROS: LOVE SONG 1974 explodes the boundaries of documentary filmmaking. Blu-ray Special Features: • Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974 (Gokushiteki Erosu: Renka 1974) presented complete and uncut from a new HD transfer of original materials, approved by director Kazuo Hara. • A new filmed introduction to the film by writer and critic Chris Fujiwara. • Interview with Kazuo Hara: The director in conversation at the 2018 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. • Trailer. • Booklet with new writing by author and critic Tony Rayns, and an essay by film writer Ela Bittencourt. • New and improved English subtitle translation. • Region Free (A/B/C) Blu-ray. • World premiere on Blu-ray. Order at our website: /release_extreme.html Amazon UK: /mrx8ajju HMV UK: /4v93e6sc Rarewaves: /bddea9ma Zavvi: /4ejkr6cn Orbit: /hrufzrtt Diabolik: /yvuzdwjx

"FUGITIVE IMAGES won’t be for everyone, but it is something that everyone should see... the vision and themes within are vital and provoking, prompting us to think about community and sociality... it’s one that insists I ask myself questions about the world and my place and role in it" Musique Machine offer an in-depth review of our Andrea Luka Zimmerman collection FUGITIVE IMAGES /reviews/fugitive-images-fugitive-images-selected-works-by-andrea-luka-zimmerman-1776497379192

"For anyone serious about personal documentary, Japanese independent cinema, or the ethics of nonfiction filmmaking, this disc is indispensable - raw, unflinching, and long overdue." DVD Beaver rave for our new Blu-ray release of Kazuo Hara's uncompromising EXTREME PRIVATE EROS: LOVE SONG 1974 /subsite/film1/extreme_private_eros_love_song_1974_blu-ray.htm

"A staggering, uncomfortable, and deeply human collision between the filmmaker and his subject that transforms a messy breakup into a radical manifesto of personal liberation. [...] It is voyeurism elevated to the level of self-exorcism. [...] a work of profound, uncomfortable beauty." An excellent new review of EXTREME PRIVATE EROS: LOVE SONG 1974 by Dave Lancaster at Cinemas Online /reviews/69e0eba208f55ec290ca9eec

NEW RELEASE NEWS!! On Blu-ray May 25th... Luis Buñuel's THE CRIMINAL LIFE OF ARCHIBALDO DE LA CRUZ In Luis Buñuel’s darkly comic psychodrama, a reawakened childhood memory convinces rich, cultured Archibaldo that he is able to cause the death of others. But his murderous impulses are frustrated at every turn, driving him to find ever more inventive ways to fulfil his desires. A key work of his Mexican period, Buñuel’s gloriously twisted film anticipates his later works with an ambiguous tale of bourgeois hysteria, transgression and erotic obsession. Full of pitch-black humour and Surrealist flourishes, The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz is an unjustly neglected gem from one of cinema’s greatest artists. Blu-ray Special Edition features: • The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (Ensayo de un crimen, 1955) presented from Cineteca Nacional México’s 4K restoration. • Surreal Frames: A three-part video series by writer and filmmaker Cristina Álvarez López investigating the development and key phases of Buñuel’s filmography. • Film historian David Wilt’s visual essay on The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz. • Luis Buñuel’s annotated personal script of the film. (BD-Rom content) • 24-page booklet featuring writing by film scholar and Buñuel expert Jordi Xifra and also Cristina Álvarez López. • New and improved English subtitle translation. • UK Premiere on Blu-ray. • Region free Blu-ray (A/B/C). Pre-order at our webstore: /3fj77hdp Amazon UK /nmu4scmw HMV /5n7hwa2r Rarewaves / Diabolik /3edasbra Orbit /y7hk9v6a

"Arguably the most super of the superprodukcja [...] rousing action, memorable characters and spectacular visuals, all of which it excels at." Graham Williamson reviews Aleksander Ford's epic KNIGHTS OF THE TEUTONIC ORDER at The Geek Show /knights-of-the-teutonic-order-1960/