Anthology of Surreal Cinema, Vol. 1

"This collection of classic experimental films from the silent era gets a slightly disappointing presentation on DVD. The four short films included on Anthology of Surreal Cinema, Vol. One -- Entr'acte by Ren? Clair, Ballet M?canique by Fernand L?ger, La Coquille et le Clergyman by Germaine Dulac, and An?mic Cin?ma by Marcel Duchamp -- are all presented in their original full-frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and each features an accompanying musical score (which are sonically appropriate and non-intrusive) presented in PCM Stereo. No multilingual subtitles are included, which is a minor annoyance for non-French readers (though not a major problem for these films). The disc's most significant drawback, however, is the poor quality of the source materials -- the prints are scratchy and suffer from the deep, murky contrast common to duped negatives, and while it's likely these titles no longer exist in pristine condition, a certain amount of cleanup on these materials would have been appreciated. Still, this is well-intentioned collection of truly important films, and cineastes who can look past the flaws in the prints will find this a worthwhile addition to their library."