OLIVE FILMS RELEASES HIGHLY ANTICIPATED CLASSICS BY SAMUEL FULLER AND CYRIL ENDFIELD
AS WELL AS CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED RUSSIAN FILMS
CHICAGO, IL – Olive Films, a boutique theatrical and home entertainment distribution label dedicated to bringing independent, foreign, and classic films to DVD and Blu-ray, is excited to announce that April 19th will be the first DVD or Blu-ray releases of anticipated classics such as Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street and Try and Get Me (a.k.a. The Sound of Fury) as well as The Major and The Fool, two films from the rising Russian director Yury Bykov that received near-unanimous acclaim during their limited theatrical runs.
“It's a special month when we have the privilege of drawing your eyes to two hard-to-see classics and the critically acclaimed work of a rising star of the international screen,” said Alex Kopecky of Olive Films. “With Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street, Try and Get Me, The Fool, and The Major, we hope to continue bringing film fans everywhere surprises and keep them wanting more.”
DEAD PIGEON ON BEETHOVEN STREET
With Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street (1972), Samuel Fuller had the opportunity to bring his inspired and bizarre cinematic vision to the German crime scene television series Tatort. Taking risks such as shooting one of the series’ running characters in the opening scene, Fuller’s already oddball directorial style stood out even more distinctly against the backdrop of a typically regimented crime procedural.
The feature length film gained steam amongst intellectuals and films critics after its television airing as it played at Cannes Film Festival. It added to its reputation with a limited theatrical run in the US, where critics praised it for its unconventional take on the crime genre.
As idiosyncratic as this film was, it couldn’t compare to the outlandishness of Samuel Fuller’s director’s cut. Before this release, only a few audiences had seen this audacious cut. For years it remained an impossible film to see, even for the most diehard Fuller fans, and it took on a sort of holy grail status.
As such, this DVD and Blu-ray have been widely anticipated. The Olive Films Blu-ray and DVD will come packaged with a booklet featuring essays by Samuel B. Prime and Lisa Dombrowski, author of The Films of Samuel Fuller. To place the film in additional context, the disc will also contain Return to Beethoven Street: Sam Fuller in Germany, a feature-length documentary by Robert Fischer featuring interviews with Christa Lang-Fuller, Eric P. Caspar, Wim Wenders, Dominik Graf, Janet Bergstrom, and more.
TRY AND GET ME (a.k.a. The Sound of Fury)
On April 19th, Olive Films will release yet another hard-to-find gem, Try and Get Me (a.k.a. The Sound of Fury) (1950). With its only earlier home media release being a 1990 VHS, this DVD and Blu-ray release is highly anticipated. Even by genre standards, this top-notch noir stands apart from others in its frightening ability to dive deep into the realm of psychological horror.
Director Cyril Endfield’s brutal methods of tackling socially conscious themes also elevate it above many other films. Based on the true events surrounding the Brooke Hart kidnapping and murder case, Try and Get Me takes an unforgettable stand against mob mentality while criticizing American society’s apathy towards the working class.
THE FOOL (DURAK) & THE MAJOR (МАЙОР)
The Fool (2014) and The Major (2013), recent films from rising Russian auteur Yury Bykov, will also both make their DVD, Blu-ray, and iTunes debut on April 19th.
Credited (along with Leviathan) as one of the films that made the Russian Ministry of Culture threaten to pull funding from Russian miserablist films, The Fool paints a bleak picture indeed. The film masterfully constructs a city’s crumbling apartment building and its morally bankrupt government as a microcosm for Russia. Dima (Artyom Bystrov) is a young man eking out a living in modern day Russia as a plumber’s assistant while working to finish college.
Called out late one night to inspect a leak at a derelict housing community, he discovers a major structural problem and a building on the verge of collapse. In his attempt to save the lives of the eight hundred residents, Dima will find himself drawn into a world of dark secrets and cancerous corruption, where politicians and power players live by their own code and where tragic consequences are but a grim afterthought.
Bykov’s earlier project The Major tackles similar themes of a corrupt Russia in an equally effective manner. Set against Russia’s bleak, bitter winter landscape, Sergey Sobolev (Denis Shvedov) a police major driving recklessly across an icy stretch of highway, hits and kills a young boy. The boy’s mother Irina (Irina Nizina) finds her already unbearable pain and anguish compounded when a cover-up is set in motion to protect Sergey.
Events soon spin out of control with double-crosses, betrayals and duplicity at every turn. The Major is not for the faint of heart. It’s a thrilling, edge-of-your- seat drama that draws the viewer deeper and deeper into the action, leading to an unexpected and heart-pounding climax.
About Olive Films
Olive Films is a Chicago-based boutique theatrical and home entertainment distribution label dedicated to bringing independent, foreign, documentary, and classic films to life. Its catalog boasts over 500 titles ranging from Hollywood classics to contemporary titles. More information about Olive Films may be found at olivefilms.com.
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