Essential Art House, Volume III (Ashes and Diamonds / Forbidden Games / The Hidden Fortress / Last Holiday / Richard III / Variety Lights)

If this were a car it would be labeled "Loaded". The package comes chock full of first rate films, with the sleeper Federico Fellini's first feature film Variety Lights. It's one of the few that do not star his wife Gulietta Masina, who has not yet developed her Chaplinesque mannerisms. She is in the film to be sure, although in a supporting role. Fellini had been getting cinema experience as a screenwriter for the renowned Roberto Rosellini, but in Variety Lights, he sets aside the neorealist concepts of those films. All the hallmarks of style that we have come to associate with Fellini are here; the bawdy along with the grotesque, the burlesque and the screen closeups linked to the absurd. It's a tremendous if underrated debut.Alec Guiness relishes the subtle humor of Last Holiday with its not so subtle irony in his role as a normal guy trying to endure through difficult circumstances. It's a masterpiece of stiff upper lipped comedy and class consciousness the British are famous for.Richard III is Lawrence Oliver's adaptation of Shakespeare's play about England's villain king; the embodiment of evil incarnate. Viewers may get bogged down in the ornate Shakespearean delivery, but don't mention that to the English. The film could benefit from multiple viewings to determine the plot line, and I prefer some of the more recent film versions of this tale, one of which was made in the 1990's and placed Richard in a World War II setting.Ashes and Diamonds is set in Poland as World War II is ending and the Cold War just beginning. Captures the mores of post war Poland on the verge of Communist takeover. Great acting has combined with directorial genius to make a classic that still reverberates.Hidden Fortress is a tale of war's grand absurdity directed by the legendary Akira Kurosawa. Once again, it stars Toshiro Mifune, the star and his director forming one of film's most enduring collaborations.Preceeding Night of the Hunter by three years, Forbidden Games is the same kind of macabre probe of childhood fantasy and fears, this time set in the mileau of war's aftermath. A critical failure in France, the film was awarded an Oscar in the U.S. as best foreign language film.

The media could not be loaded.  If you enjoy classic cinema, then this set is for you. If you are not familiar with these films, I suggest you look them up individually and determine whether or not you might like them. Some are foreign films, and therefore not in the English language (they are subtitled). Many of the films were shot in Black & White, and are presented in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio (what is now called "Full Screen").Like all Criterion releases, the video and audio quality is top-notch (for a DVD, anyway). The difference between these movies and most criterion collection titles is that these do not have bonus material - they are movie only releases.The packaging is very nice. Each movie comes in it's own clear DVD case, with beautiful cover art. Each movie also comes with an insert that features a 2-page summary of the movie, cast and credits, and a list of the DVD chapters/scene selection. It all comes packaged inside a sturdy outer box.I highly recommend these movies - they are presented in high quality video/audio and accurately represent the vision of the filmmakers.I also purchased Volume 1 of this collection, and highly recommend it:  Essential Art House, Vol. 1 NOTE: If you are not interested in the complete set but want one or two movies, these titles have also been released individually. Even if you want all six, in some cases it may be cheaper to buy them individually than as a set (Amazon's prices are always changing).

the set is very good and Richard III is a bonus...just convenient to have this version.....but, Forbidden Games was, for me, a revelation....clever concept, but sympathetic to all the elements in "play"....not maudlin, not depressing, not pitying...just strikes the right balance dealing with a potentially pathetic topic....

I bought a new Toshiba Blu-ray/DVD player specifically to play this set of DVD. Despite being listed as "Region 1", the DVDs would not play. I got an error message "Prohibited" when I tried to play it. I had to return the set to Amazon.

If you love classic art movies this is a must own.