The New York Times called Marco Ferreri “arguably the greatest Italian satirist to ever step behind the camera.” And upon his death in 1997, Gilles Jacob, artistic director of the Cannes International Film Festival, said “The Italian cinema has lost one of its most original artists, one of its most personal authors…No one was more demanding nor more allegorical than he in showing the state of crisis of contemporary man”. On July 14, KOCH Lorber celebrates one of world cinema’s most daring and confrontational auteurs with DVD releases of two acclaimed films from Ferreri: BYE BYE MONKEY (1978), starring Gérard Depardieu (La Vie en Rose, Changing Times), Marcello Mastroianni (La Dolce Vita, Federico Fellini’s 8 ½) and Geraldine Fitzgerald (Arthur, Wuthering Heights) and DON’T TOUCH THE WHITE WOMAN (1974), a satire of the highest order starring Catherine Deneuve (8 Women, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg), Mastroianni and Michel Piccoli (Atlantic City, Strange Affair).
IN THE CANNES GRAND PRIZE OF THE JURY AWARD WINNER~
Port Washington, NY -- The New York Times called Marco Ferreri “arguably the greatest Italian satirist to ever step behind the camera.” And upon his death in 1997, Gilles Jacob, artistic director of the Cannes International Film Festival, said “The Italian cinema has lost one of its most original artists, one of its most personal authors…No one was more demanding nor more allegorical than he in showing the state of crisis of contemporary man”. On July 14, KOCH Lorber celebrates one of world cinema’s most daring and confrontational auteurs with DVD releases of two acclaimed films from Ferreri: BYE BYE MONKEY (1978), starring Gérard Depardieu (La Vie en Rose, Changing Times), Marcello Mastroianni (La Dolce Vita, Federico Fellini’s 8 ½) and Geraldine Fitzgerald (Arthur, Wuthering Heights) and DON’T TOUCH THE WHITE WOMAN (1974), a satire of the highest order starring Catherine Deneuve (8 Women, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg), Mastroianni and Michel Piccoli (Atlantic City, Strange Affair).
Both digitally-re-mastered films are presented with a 16x9 aspect ratio, feature an excerpt from the documentary “Marco Ferreri: The Director Who Came from the Future” and will be available to world cinema aficionados for $19.98SRP each.
BYE BYE MONKEY – The first English-language film from Ferreri is a typically off-the-wall satire and finds Lafayette (Depardieu), a young Frenchman and Nocello (Mastroianni), an older Italian, as a pair of misfit friends living in a run-down section of New York City. While walking along the beach, Nocello discovers the corpse of King Kong – and his still alive infant son! – and brings him to Lafayette who decides to raise baby Kong as his own. Capitalism, sexual politics and modern society – all typical Ferreri themes – are present in this Cannes Grand Prix Jury Award Winner.
DON’T TOUCH THE WHITE WOMAN – The stars of Ferreri’s controversial
La Grande Bouffe (The Big Feast) reunite in this satirical comedy, which finds the director transplanting the Battle of Little Big Horn to the site of a demolished Parisian Mall. Called “hilariously and deliberately erroneous” (Time Magazine), this surreal film finds the director presenting his own skewed take on the classic American Western, sympathizing with the Native Americans instead of the cowboys. 3x Academy Award Nominee Marcello Mastroianni plays a preening, primping General Custer, Cannes Best Actor Winner Michel Piccoli is an effeminate Buffalo Bill, who performs at Parisian nightclub, and Catherine Deneuve is the seemingly demure frontier gal who literally picks up Custer and throws him into bed where she ravishes him before the Indians do. Aside from being a slapstick farce, Ferreri used the film to take a wry look at many of the political and social issues that shaped America. Presented in French with English subtitles.
About KOCH Lorber Films
Dedicated to providing the best in award-winning, classic and contemporary international cinema, documentary features and cultural programming, KOCH Lorber Films is a market leader for high quality releases to both wide and specialized audiences through theatrical, television and home video distribution. KOCH Lorber Films DVD releases include: the classic films La Dolce Vita, The Decline of the American Empire, Teorema and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and recent festival hits such as Intimacy, The Girl From Paris, Children of the Century, The Five Obstructions and Save the Green Planet. Visit KOCH Lorber Films online at www.kochlorberfilms.com.
