Directors and DVD commentary: The specifics of intention

Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

Volumn 62, Issue 1, 2004, Pages 13-22

  Parker, Deborah ^a   Parker, Mark ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA   (United States)

^b RANDOLPH MACON COLLEGE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 20444464458     PISSN: 00218529     EISSN: 15406245     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-594X.2004.00131.x     Document Type: Review

References (19)

1. Werner Herzog, commentary, Fitzcarraldo, DVD. Directed by Werner Herzog 1982 (Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2001)
2. For recent sales figures on DVDs, see Martin Peers, "For Now, at Least, DVD Sales Are Soaring as Prices Drop," published in the Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2001, sec. B, p. 4
3. On sales figures and the decision of some Hollywood studios to resist making certain films available on DVD, see Michael Speier and Scott Hettrick, "DVD Disc Jockeying: Hollywood Hoards High-Tech Treasures," published in Variety, September 3-9, 2001, pp. 1 and 56
4. Matt Lake, "Cram Sessions: The Evolution of an Even Deeper Disc," New York Times, January 31, 2002, sec. D, p. 7
5. For example, Peter Jackson, director of The Lord of the Rings, handpicked DVD producer David Prior to shoot a featurette on the making of the film
6. Mike Mulvihill in an email communication, September 14, 2001. This presentation is pervasive: even the menu of features resembles John Doe's notebooks. This in itself constitutes an interesting reorientation of the film away from leads Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. Their relation as partners and their ultimate torment, around which the film is arguably built, give way to a focus on the world of the crazed maniac who builds his seven murders around the seven deadly sins
7. Peers, "For Now, at Least, DVD Sales are Soaring," sec. B, p. 4
8. The introduction of the DVD format has been a windfall for movie rental chains, which take advantage of the much lower price of the DVD and its durability, yet charge the same fee for DVD and video rentals. See "Disc Jockeying," the Wall Street Journal, February 5, 2002, sec. A, p. 1
9. Although this study focuses on directorial commentary, film scholars have also made commentary tracks. The Criterion Collection, a company known for the high quality of their editions, frequently invites film scholars to do commentary tracks, especially for older films. Several scholars have managed to fit their remarks exceptionally well to this demanding and novel format. Laura Mulvey provides a dense commentary for the Criterion edition of Michael Powell's Peeping Tom (The Criterion Collection, 1999). Combining her own work on the "look" or "gaze" of the camera with much historical and sociological detail, her visual essay bristles with erudition and sharp insight. While Mulvey follows her thesis through the film, noting the precision with which Powell and his writer Leo Marks examine the roles of camera and subject and ultimately providing a detailed close reading of the film, she also manages to incorporate suggestive remarks on class and on the work of Powell more generally. David Bordwell, in another Criterion edition, discusses Eisenstein's use of montage, music, and imagery in Alexander Nevsky (Commentary, Eisenstein the Sound Years [Ivan the Terrible, parts 1 & 2 and Alexander Nevsky], DVD. Directed by Serges Eisenstein [The Criterion Collection, 2001])
10. Bertrand Tavernier, commentary, Coup de Torchon, DVD. Directed by Bertrand Tavernier, 1981 (The Criterion Collection, 2001)
11. Jim Thompson, Pop. 1280 (Berkeley, CA: Creative Arts, 1984)
12. Aaron Payne, commentary, Election, DVD. Directed by Aaron Payne (Paramount, 1999)
13. Paul Verhoehen, commentary, RoboCop, restored director's cut DVD. Directed by Paul Verhoehen, 1987 (The Criterion Collection, 1998)
14. Lem Dobbs and Steven Soderbergh, commentary, The Limey, DVD. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, 1999 (Artisan Home Entertainment, 2000)
15. Conrad L. Hall and Sam Mendes, commentary, American Beauty, DVD. Directed by Sam Mendes, 1999 (DreamWorks, 2000)
16. David Cronenberg, commentary, Dead Ringers, DVD. Directed by David Cronenberg, 1988 (Anchor Bay Entertainment and The Criterion Collection, 1998)
17. T. S. Eliot, "Hamlet and His Problems," Athenaeum, September 26, 1919, as reprinted in Selected Essays (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1932, rpt. 1964)
18. Bill Condon, commentary, Gods and Monsters, DVD. Directed by Bill Condon, 1998 (Lions Gate Films, 1998)
19. Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, trans. G. E. M. Anscombe (New York: MacMillan, 1968), p. 48