Last Year At Marienbad (Criterion Collection)

This is a film I remembered well but hadn't been widely available on DVD until the excellent Criterion edition that was recently released. The VHS release was of horrendous quality, with illegible subtitling. A DVD release did occur, but it was withdrawn almost immediately and was way too expensive for proles such as myself. This affordable release is of the quality one would expect from the Criterion folks. The print is excellent and now one can read the subtitles. Not that it will help solve the puzzle of the film itself. I just read the memoirs of Bob Dylan's early 60s girlfriend, Suze Rotolo. In the book she tells of seeing the film with Dylan, who remarked that a shot was missing from the end of the film- that the camera should pull back to reveal a sign that says "Marienbad Insane Asylum"!

Raumpautroille Orion

I've been watching Raumpautroille Orion, the excellent 1965 West German television programme. I had earlier found this gem, but only recently discovered a subtitled set of the seven episodes. Filmed in black and white, the series is an enjoyable mix of serious science fiction and subtle humor. It's easily the equal of productions then offered in the US and Britain. If anything, the production design is impressive. The sets and spaceship configurations are elegant and aesthetically adventurous. The special effects are a mixed bag. Some are primitive, but taken in context they seem fine, and often ambitious.

We're not too far here from the sort of future imagined by Gene Roddenberry in the original Star Trek. There's a mysterious threat in the form of "frogs". A silly name, but the visualization of the aliens is quite spooky. The quasi-military Raumpautroulle (Space Patrol) is cautious and no more barbaric than Starfleet. The central character, Major Maclane (not too teutonic a name, that), is a rebellious hero. His crew is a nice collection of characters that are not too broadly drawn and nicely played by capable actors. There's plenty of goofy elements derived from the era in which this was produced. The crew spends most of its time in Starlight Casino- a sort of nightclub where drinking mixes with strange dancing beneath huge sealife (people live on the ocean floor in the future). One of the best elements is the fab musical score by Peter Thomas. Highly recommended on all counts.