"Actor: Miriam Cooper"

• BIRTH OF A NATION, THE (Masters of Cinema) (BLU-RAY) | Blu Ray | (29/07/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  One of the most artistically significant and controversial motion pictures ever made D. W. Griffith's silent epic The Birth of a Nation was a massive commercial success at the time of its release owing to its dynamic storytelling and its breakthrough developments in cinema language that have become common traits of practically every film that has since followed. However the picture's legacy is one that continues to elicit outrage over its vulgar depictions of African-Americans and its deceptive historiography of the United States in the second half of the nineteenth century. The Birth of a Nation begins depicting the amiable relationship between two families Northern and Southern and the way in which the impending Civil War intensifies the conflict of their worldviews. Following the end of the war and the assassination of President Lincoln a lawless chaos courses throughout the Reconstruction South and the Ku Klux Klan is formed to take on a rising black militia and impose a vengeful vigilante justice across their land and birthright. It's a film that's deeply divisive even to the senses of a single viewer: images of painterly beauty in composition and tonal quality often exhibit a contemptuous inflammatory coarseness with regard to subject matter; just as frequently long tracts evince an innocent terrifically lyrical grandeur. Griffith would attempt to make amends for the moral schism of this schizophrenic epic in his next film Intolerance but The Birth of a Nation cannot - and should not - remain unseen or undiscussed: it is a great and terrible masterpiece. The Masters of Cinema Series releases Griffith's three-hour epic including a series of the director's Civil War shorts for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK. Special Features: New 1080p presentation (on the Blu-ray) of the film from archival 35mm elements in its original aspect ratio Music by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra in 2.0 stereo and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Short archival introductions to the film by D. W. Griffith and Walter Huston Newly rediscovered original intermission sequence and 1930 re-release title sequence Seven Civil War shorts directed by Griffith: In the Border States (1910); The House with Closed Shutters (1910); The Fugitive (1910); His Trust (1910); His Trust Fulfilled (1910); Swords and Hearts (1911); and The Battle (1911). A lengthy booklet with writing about the film rare archival imagery and more.

• BIRTH OF A NATION, THE (Masters of Cinema) (DVD) | DVD | (29/07/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  One of the most artistically significant and controversial motion pictures ever made D. W. Griffith's silent epic The Birth of a Nation was a massive commercial success at the time of its release owing to its dynamic storytelling and its breakthrough developments in cinema language that have become common traits of practically every film that has since followed. However the picture's legacy is one that continues to elicit outrage over its vulgar depictions of African-Americans and its deceptive historiography of the United States in the second half of the nineteenth century. The Birth of a Nation begins depicting the amiable relationship between two families Northern and Southern and the way in which the impending Civil War intensifies the conflict of their worldviews. Following the end of the war and the assassination of President Lincoln a lawless chaos courses throughout the Reconstruction South and the Ku Klux Klan is formed to take on a rising black militia and impose a vengeful vigilante justice across their land and birthright. It's a film that's deeply divisive even to the senses of a single viewer: images of painterly beauty in composition and tonal quality often exhibit a contemptuous inflammatory coarseness with regard to subject matter; just as frequently long tracts evince an innocent terrifically lyrical grandeur. Griffith would attempt to make amends for the moral schism of this schizophrenic epic in his next film Intolerance but The Birth of a Nation cannot - and should not - remain unseen or undiscussed: it is a great and terrible masterpiece. The Masters of Cinema Series releases Griffith's three-hour epic including a series of the director's Civil War shorts for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK.

• The Birth Of A Nation | DVD | (02/10/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Based on a play called 'The Clansman' this film was billed as 'the first feature film' and caused riots on its release because of its racist overtones. The film follows a family through the American Civil war. Includes 'The Making Of...' Silent. Tinted Version.

• Intolerance | DVD | (27/12/2000) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-0.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Intolerance is considered the greatest film of the silent era and may well be the greatest film ever made. It has gained this reputation due to its influence on other filmmakers an influence that has become film grammar itself. The man behind the film D.W. Griffith is the acknowledged master of cinematic storytelling the first American director to elevate the movies to the level of serious art. More than 50 years after Griffith's death there is little question of the brillian

• Bedways | DVD | (31/10/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Set in Berlin, film director Nina Bader wants to shoot a movie about love and sex and invites her actor-friends Hans and Marie for screen tests for a couple of days. For Nina love is not necessarily a matter of emotion - she is rather looking for an authentic depiction of sex. The intimate collaboration turns into experiments with film, love and bodies and finally has an impact on the private relationships between the three of them. It seems that the boundaries between acting and reality begin to disappear.At times shocking and explicit, Bedways is without doubt an unforgettable viewing experience.

• D.W. Griffith - Monumental Epics | DVD | (24/06/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  There’s little doubt that much of what we now take for granted about cinema owes much to the vision of director D W Griffith. Monumental Epics collects five of his most influential silent masterpieces. The Birth of a Nation (1915) is also the birth of the epic film. Made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War this provocative film unflinchingly shows the humiliation of Southern culture, the "heroism" of the Ku Klux Klan, and links the Union and Confederacy by a common Aryan birthright. All of which has to be viewed in its period context if it is to be viewed at all. Intolerance (1916) is film-making of epic complexity. Human intolerance is related through a modern tale of wrongful conviction, intercut by three stories from Babylonian, Judean, and French history to point up the issue through the ages. The intricacy of the intercutting is breathtaking even now, but those as confused as the first audiences evidently were can opt to see each story separately. Sensitively tinted, this is Griffith's finest three hours. Broken Blossoms (1919) has Griffith venturing into domestic melodrama. Although there's a clear moral to be drawn from this tale of compassion in the face of ignorance and brutality, neither the over-acting of Lillian Gish and Donald Crisp, nor the vein of sentimentality that creeps into their characters' relationship allow the viewer to forget the period-piece nature of the film. Here an appropriately expressive musical score helps keep viewing at an attentive level. Way Down East (1920) shows Griffith moving from the epic to the personal, though still on a large scale. The combining of old-style melodrama with latter-day female emancipation is tellingly brought off, and Lillian Gish excels as the country girl used and abused by male society, until "rescued" by a farmer of true moral scruples. Unconvinced? Then go straight to the climactic snowstorm and ice floe sequences--Eisenstein et al are inconceivable without this as trailblazer. Abraham Lincoln (1930) marked Griffith's entry into the talkie era. Tautly directed, it offers a historically accurate account of the 16th US President's rise to power and his visionary outlook on American society. Civil War scenes are implied rather than enacted, and its Walter Huston's robust yet understated acting that carries the day, with sterling support from Una Merkel as Ann Rutledge and Hobart Bosworth as General Lee. On the DVD: Stylishly packaged, restoration and digital remastering has been carried out to Eureka's usual high standard, and the 4:3 aspect ratio has commendable clarity. Birth of a Nation has Joseph Carl Breil's original orchestral score and a pithy "making of" film by Russell Merritt. Intolerance contains a useful rolling commentary and a great wurlitzer soundtrack too. Way Down East includes a commentary. Abraham Lincoln also has a commentary, though Hugo Riesenfeld's score often verges on the mawkish. Overall this set is a must for anyone remotely interested in film as a living medium.--Richard Whitehouse

• Bedways | DVD | (21/03/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Set in Berlin film director Nina Bader wants to shoot a movie about love and sex and invites her actor-friends Hans and Marie for screen tests for a couple of days. For Nina love is not necessarily a matter of emotion - she is rather looking for an authentic depiction of sex. The intimate collaboration turns into experiments with film love and bodies and finally has an impact on the private relationships between the three of them. It seems that the boundaries between acting and reality begin to disappear. At times shocking and explicit Bedways is without doubt an unforgettable viewing experience.