Twelve great film novels–and an omission:
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`Fanny and Alexander’ (Swedish; Ingmar Bergman, 1983). Theater and religion, the two dominant influences in Ingmar Bergman’s life, clash magically in this lovingly wrought turn-of-the-century tale of two children trapped between their mother’s boisterous theatrical family and their stern pastor father. The greatest of Bergman’s “film-novels,” the long version of “Fanny and Alexander” (five hours), made for Swedish TV, is the cut he prefers to the shortened theatrical feature (3 hours, 17 minutes) that won the 1983 foreign language film Oscar. Criterion’s DVD has both versions of “Fanny,” plus interviews, commentary and a marvelous documentary (directed by Bergman himself) on the shooting of the film. Every movie lover should own it. Runtime: 188 min. (U.S. theatrical release); 312 min. (director’s cut) (Criterion)
`The Godfather’ Trilogy (U.S.; 1972-74-90; Francis Ford Coppola). Though part three disappoints, this is very nearly the great American novel on film: the saga of the Corleone family, a Mafia masterpiece, with one of the supreme American movie casts, topped by Al Pacino, Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall. Runtime: 583 min. (Paramount)
`War and Peace’ (U.S.S.R.; Sergei Bondarchuk, 1966-68). The mammoth 8 1/2-hour version of Leo Tolstoy’s epic novel of the Napoleonic wars in Russia is a marked improvement over the dubbed, Oscar-winning 6-hour cut most U.S. audiences have seen. It’s a model historical epic in all respects, with amazing production design and camera work throughout, an incredible hour-long recreation of the Battle of Borodino and powerful performances by Ludmila Savelyeva as Natasha and by Bondarchuk–who also wrote and directed–as Pierre. Runtime: 373 min. (U.S. t.r.); 507 min. (complete version). (Kultur)
`Greed’ (U.S.; Erich Von Stroheim, 1925). Von Stroheim’s brilliant film of Frank Norris’s brawny novel of social injustice and murder in San Francisco, slashed from seven hours to two, has been reconstructed to four hours with a creative use of stills and narration from the original script. We can only hope that, some day, the lost footage for this towering but mutilated classic will turn up. Runtime: 140 min. (theatrical release); 239 min. (1999 restored version). (Turner-MGM)
`The Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy (U.S.-New Zealand; Peter Jackson, 2001-2002-2003). J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic of British fantasy, spectacularly realized. The longest DVD version of this trio of movies (more than 11 hours) is the best. “The Fellowship of the Ring” runtime: 178 min. (t.r.); 208 min. (special extended edition). “The Two Towers” runtime: 179 min. (t. r.); 223 min. (special extended edition). “The Return of the King” runtime: 201 min. (t.r.), 251 min. (extended edition). Complete Trilogy: 558 min. (t.r.), 682 min. (extended edition). (New Line).
The Decalogue (Poland; Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1988). Kieslowski’s 10-part modern spiritual odyssey, with each episode illustrating one of the Ten Commandments. The two best episodes–Decalogue 5: “Thou Shalt Not Kill,” a ferocious tract against capital punishment and Decalogue 6: “Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery,” a mesmerizing tale of romantic obsession–were both released in longer feature versions as “A Short Film About Killing” and “A Short Film About Love.” Runtime: 404 min. (Facets)
`Heimat’ (Germany; Edgar Reitz, 1984)
`Heimat 2′ (Germany; Edgar Reitz, 1994). An extraordinary national epic, following a village through much of 20th Century German history and then through ’50s student life in the city, Reitz’ saga covers 41 hours in both versions and is one of the landmarks of European cinema. Heimat runtime: 924 min. Heimat 2 runtime: 1,416 min. (U.S.), 1,532 min. (German): (Facets)
`Apocalypse Now Redux’ (U.S.; Francis Ford Coppola, 2001). The longer and better version of Coppola’s and John Milius’ surreal Vietnam epic, released as “Apocalypse Now” (at 150 minutes) in 1979. 197 min. (Paramount).
`Scenes from a Marriage’ (Swedish; Ingmar Bergman, 1973). Bergman’s second great film-novel, also more familiar in its shortened U. S. theatrical release, offers six hours in the shattering emotional journey of a wife and husband (Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson) whose marriage violently disintegrates. Unimprovable acting by the leads. Runtime: 167 min. (t.r.); 299 min. (Complete TV version). (Criterion)
`Les Vampires’ (France; Louis Feuillade, 1916). Feuillade’s great crime thriller-serial “Les Vampires,” about a fierce band of Parisian thieves pursued by intrepid detectives, with star Musidora as evil Irma Vep, is a classic of imagination and atmosphere, running seven hours. (Feuillade’s four-hour 1916 serial, “Judex,” remade in 1963 by Georges Franju, is also available from Flicker Alley on DVD) Les Vampires runtime: 420 min. (Image)
`Lonesome Dove’ (U.S.; Simon Wincer, 1990). From Larry McMurtry’s epic western novel–which started life as a script for director Peter Bogdanovich and prospective stars John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda–came this great seven-hour cattle-drive western starring Tommy Lee Jones, Robert Duvall and Robert Urich. The two McMurtry sequels, “Streets of Laredo” and “Dead Man’s Walk,” which the author co-scripted, are lesser works, but fine, robust gunfighter sagas as well. Runtime: 384 min. (Artisan Entertainment).
`Pride and Prejudice’ (British; Simon Langton, 1995). Best of all Jane Austen adaptations is the BBC’s six-hour version of her best-loved novel, with Jennifer Ehle as sparkling, perceptive Elizabeth Bennet and Colin Firth as enigmatic suitor Darcy. Runtime: 300 min. (New Video Group)
The most egregious DVD omission:
`Berlin Alexanderplatz’ (Germany; Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1980). Unavailable on video or DVD is this 15-hour masterpiece by the late German writer-director Rainer Werner Fassbinder: a faithful, infernally creative film of Alfred Doblin’s stunning novel of ’30s Berlin low-life, with a perfect all-star German cast memorably headed by Gunter Lamprecht as lumpen anti-hero Franz Biberkopf. Runtime (U.S.): 931 min.
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