* indicates that this title is also available to stream, rent, or purchase on various platforms. Please note that streaming options may differ from these home video presentations.
“Sisters with Transistors” * (2020, Metrograph Pictures) Laurie Anderson narrates this doc about the pioneering women of electronic music whose full due still remains frustratingly out of reach. The most well-known of the ten artists profiled are Wendy Carlos and Suzanne Ciani (whose ear-splitting appearance on “The David Letterman Show” is included), though crate diggers will recognize BBC composers Daphne Oram and Delia Derbyshire (“Doctor Who”), as well as Bebe Barron (who scored “Forbidden Planet” with ex-husband Louis), theremin virtuoso Clara Rockmore, and experimental forerunner Pauline Oliveros. The film’s central thesis – that these composers helped usher electronic music from curiosity to mainstream art form without receiving the same recognition as their male peers – is underscored through modern and vintage interviews and clips (Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore being aurally assaulted by Maryanne Amacher’s performance), as well as director Lisa Rovner’s visual flourishes (sly stock footage of happy teens appearing to dance to the composers’ work). Attention to these composers’ works has grown exponentially in the last two decades; one hopes that “Sisters” pushes them further into the spotlight that has so long alluded them. Metrograph’s DVD includes two excellent panel/Zoom discussions – one with Ciani and newer electronic artists (including Moor Mother and Modular Princess), and another featuring Alissa DeRubeis and Suzi Analogue, among others – and a Q&A with Rovner.
“Red Sun” * (1970, Radiance Films) Aimless Marquand Bohm initially believes he’s stumbled into a sort of “Penthouse” Letters/freeloader’s paradise when he encounters an ex-girlfriend (German model and counterculture touchstone Uschi Obermaier) and her living arrangement with three other free-thinking ladies, but soon discovers that the trio has a very unusual arrangement regarding male visitors. Curious but compelling entry in the German New Wave scene of the 1970s, which also gave rise to Wim Wenders, Werner Herzog, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder; “Red Sun” director Rudolf Thorne didn’t achieve their level of global fame, but Radiance Films rightly notes that “Red Sun” deserves a second look due to its complicated political and moral palette (Marquand doesn’t quite meet the criteria for the women’s plan, but then again…) and Pop Art visual compositions, which fuel interest when the plot shrinks away from adhering to one genre or another (not a complaint, though your mileage may vary). Radiance’s Limited Edition all-region Blu-ray features commentary by Thorne and Rainer Langhans, Obermaier’s SO and fellow member of Germany’s Komunne 1 collective, whose extreme living conditions inspired the film; visual essays discuss the film’s unique elements and its place in the German New Wave, while liner notes include observations by Samm Deighan and archival letters by Wenders.
“Outrage” * (1950, Kino Lorber) A small town bookkeeper (Mala Powers) cannot shake the lingering trauma of a sexual assault and flees the perceived judgement of her neighbors and fiance (Robert Clarke) for the anonymity of a small northern California town (played in part by Marysville); a local preacher (Tod Andrews) there tries to lend support. Indie drama by actress Ida Lupino, who rarely shied from sensitive topics in her six turns as feature director/producer (the predatory nature of the sports industry in “Hard, Fast and Beautiful”; social perception of infidelity in “The Bigamist”); despite the Production Code’s edict against the script’s use of the word “rape,” Lupino lays out in sensitive but direct terms the rocky road that all women – sexual assault survivors or not – must navigate in a society that seems determined to question their veracity and quash their emotions. Modern audiences may wish that the finale offered to Powers gave her more independence, but the film itself remains potent (and sadly, prescient) after more than a half-century. Kino’s Blu-ray is a 4K restoration from a 35mm source and features commentary by noir historian Imogen Sara Smith.
“My Young Auntie” * (1981, Arrow Video) Appealing action-comedy showcase from Hong Kong’s Shaw Brothers and director Lau Kar-Leung for actress Kara Hui, whose ’70s/’80s-era martial arts stardom deserves as much attention as her more recent, celebrated dramatic turns in Chinese films and TV. In typical Shaw Brothers fashion, the confectionery story is overstuffed with characters and subplots, but the action essentially boils down to Hui marrying her elderly employer to protect his estate from his greedy brother (career villain Wang Lung Wei) while also enduring cultural mansplaining from Westernized nephew Hsaio Ho. Hui’s award-winning turn has nuclear-strength star vibes in both the comedy and martial arts departments (and in true Ginger Rogers fashion, she also has to execute the latter in a form-fitting dress), which makes Lau’s decision to shuttle her off-screen for the finale’s non-stop brawl disappointing (Lau himself takes center stage). Despite this, “Auntie” excels as both an introduction to (or reaffirmation of) Hui’s talents and a martial arts movie that can be enjoyed by devotees and casual viewers alike. Arrow’s Blu-ray, part of its sprawling and spectacular “ShawScope Volume 2” features a high-def digital remaster with Mandarin, Cantonese, and English audio options, as well as interview with Hui and scene specific commentary by Tony Rayns (who makes a case for the film as a quasi-musical). A longer, dubbed VHS version with snippets not seen in the feature version and a doc on Shaw Brothers’ early female stars are also included.
“Far From the Apple Tree” * (2018, Redemption Films/Kino Lorber) Art student Sorcha Groundsell lands what seems to be her dream job – cataloging the work of visual artist Victoria Liddelle – but discovers, far too late, the truth behind the old adage of meeting one’s heroes, especially one with a sinister secret and an even more alarming plan for her new employee. Scottish independent thriller by Grant McPhee, a camera operator and digital imaging tech on “Under the Skin” and “Game of Thrones,” among other titles, does well at casting heavy witchy vibes through an ever-changing array of visual formats (everything from 35mm to Pixelvision). allusions to folk horror (as well as to the ’70s-era UK TV productions like “Robin Redbreast” and “Fenda” that serve as foundational text for the subgenre) in Liddelle’s art and mysterious machinations and the unsettling score by Rose McDowall (Strawberry Switchblade) and Shawn Pinchbeck. Plot and character identity haziness is part and parcel of McPhee’s disorienting aesthetic, which may put off straight-ahead horror/suspenseful fans and (frankly) enchant others. The Redemption/Kino DVD includes several making-of featurettes, short films, a music video, and trailers.
