DVD Release: Beyond the Clouds

DVD Release Date: Feb. 26, 2013
Price: DVD $29.95
Studio: Olive Films

Kim Rossi-Stuart (l.) and Inés Sastre enjoy each other's company in Beyond the Clouds.

Legendary filmmakers Michelangelo Antonioni (I Vinti) and Wim Wenders (Pina) teamed up to create the 1995 drama-romance film Beyond the Clouds.

Co-written by Antonioni, Wenders and Tonino Guerra and directed by Antonioni, Beyond the Clouds, told from the dreamlike perspective of a wandering film director (portrayed by Secretariat‘s John Malkovich), weaves together four stories of love and lust, inspired by Antonioni’s book about the enigmatic power of modern relationships.

Taking place in Ferrara, Portofino, Aix en Provence and Paris, each story–which always has a woman at its center–turns inwards in its examination of love. Or, as the late Antonioni put it, the stories turn “towards the true image of that absolute and mysterious reality that nobody will ever see.”  Er, okay….

Featuring music from Van Morrison, U2, and Brian Eno, Beyond the Clouds boasts an international cast that includes Sophie Marceau (Don’t Look Back), Irene Jacob (Red), Jean Reno (Armored), Peter Weller (Firstborn), Vincent Perez (Arn: The Knight Templar), Fanny Ardant (8 Women), Chiara Caselli (Father of my Children), Marcello Mastroianni (The 10th Victim) and Jeanne Moreau (The Bride Wore Black).

First issued on DVD back in 2000 but out of print for years, the unrated Beyond the Clouds is a French/German/Italian co-production and is presented, not surprisingly, in French, Italian, German and English with English subtitles.

Filled with the intimacy, intensity and temporal displacement for which Antonioni is known (not too mention a lot of nudity), Beyond the Clouds is required for fans of the filmmaker who haven’t seen this, his final feature-length work.

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