NEW 'OBSESSION' DVD COMING THIS YEAR
DE PALMA FILM PLAYS ON TCM LATE NIGHT TONIGHTWe talked about the 35th anniversary of
Carrie last week, but
Brian De Palma released two films in 1976, and the other one,
Obsession, is going to receive a lot of attention this year, as well. To start with, the film will be shown at 4am eastern Thursday morning on
Turner Classic Movies. Later this year, British company
Arrow Video will release
Obsession on DVD and Blu-Ray. According to a forum post at
Cult Labs, a newly released Arrow catalogue promises some enticing extras, including: the full original script by
Paul Schrader, including a final act taking place years after the scene that concludes the final film (De Palma decided the film did not need this act, and it was never filmed, much to Schrader's chagrin); early short films from Brian De Palma; and a booklet by author and critic
Brad Stevens. The catalogue description also promised more extras to come.
An Arrow Video representative involved in collecting materials for the upcoming package declined to unveil which of De Palma's short films might be included, but said they hope to have the whole thing ready for release by July of this year. De Palma's short films
Wotan's Wake and
The Responsive Eye were released a few years ago on a French DVD of
Dionysus In '69. Significant shorts made by De Palma that have yet to surface include
Icarus (a story about the god Pan arriving in New York that pokes fun at the very programmed dimension of modern life),
660214, The Story Of An IBM Card (influenced by
Ingmar Bergman and starring
Jared Martin as a painter who lets himself go to ruin),
Jennifer (a sort of video diary of
Jennifer Salt with a screenplay by
Bruce Rubin), the NAACP documentary
Bridge That Gap (filmed in New Orleans, it would make a nice supplement to
Obsession), and
Show Me A Strong Town And I'll Show You A Strong Bank, a documentary commissioned by the U.S. Treasury Department, the filming of which also served as a partial kick-off point for a script De Palma wrote years later with
Jay Cocks called
Nazi Gold.
Brad Stevens compared Al Pacino's roles in De Palma's Carlito's Way and Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Part III at Senses Of Cinema's Carlito's Way appreciation compilation.