Death in the Garden - DVD Review
By Cyril Pearl -- Video Business, 10/23/2009
MICROCINEMA
Street: Oct. 27
Prebook: now
> Surrealist Luis Buñuel takes a more traditional turn in this South American adventure tale.
A lesser but still substantial entry by surrealist Luis Buñuel, 1956’s La mort en ce jardin (Death in the Garden) makes its DVD debut with a rich, Technicolor-friendly transfer that was mastered in HD from a 35mm archival print. That’s important to note as there are lots to look at in this strange adventure of a group of disparate vagabonds (including Charles Vanel, Simone Signoret, Georges Marchal and Michel Piccoli) who are thrown together in the steamy Amazon rain forest as a revolution explodes around them. More traditional than the surrealist films for which he is best known (Un Chien Andalou, Belle de Jour), Death in the Garden still offers some trademark Buñuel flourishes, such as the image of a skinned snake being devoured by ants or a Bible’s pages used as bonfire kindling. The supplemental package includes a lengthy new video interview with actor Piccoli conducted by the director’s son and a commentary by film scholar Ernesto Acevedo-Munoz.
Shelf Talk: Long out of print on VHS, Death finally lives on DVD, which is bound to please Buñuel completists and fans of well-known French actors Signoret, Venel and Piccoli.
Adventure, color, NR (mature themes, violence), 100 min., DVD $29.95, UPC: 880198096890, French with English subtitles
Extras: commentary, interviews, essays
Director: Luis Buñuel
First Run: L Int’l., 1966, NA
