Schlock-Wire: CAMILLE 2000 Coming To Blu-Ray And DVD From Cult Epics

Big news for fans of vin­tage erot­ica: Camille 2000, acclaimed by crit­ics and fans as one of the great­est Radley Metzger films, is going to be the 100th release for Cult Epics.  They will release this title on both DVD and blu-ray and there will also be two dif­fer­ent ver­sions avail­able: the the­atri­cal cut and a length­ier ver­sion that adds 12 min­utes.  These discs will be released in June, which will also see a major ret­ro­spec­tive of Metzger’s work at UCLA.  Read on for all the artsy/sexy details on both the reis­sue and the retrospective…

CAMILLE 2000 SEDUCES THE SENSES

Cult Epics Marks 100^th Release with Gorgeous Restoration of

Radley Metzger’s 1969 Erotic Drama, Now Expanded with Extras

UCLA Film & Television Archive to Honor Metzger in June with

Film Retrospective Featuring Seven of the Director’s Finest

Blu-ray and DVD Versions of Camille 2000 Due Out June 28

LOS ANGELES (May 17, 2011) – To cel­e­brate its 100^th release, Cult Epics will unveil a newly restored, high-definition trans­fer of the erotic drama CAMILLE 2000 on June 28. Originally released in 1969, this sen­sual clas­sic was directed by inde­pen­dent film pio­neer Radley Metzger, a mas­ter of art house erot­ica who is acclaimed for his deft com­bi­na­tion of opu­lent pro­duc­tion design, exquis­ite cin­e­matog­ra­phy and edgy themes.

Set in Rome amid the height of psy­che­delic fash­ion, CAMILLE 2000 is a mod­ern adap­ta­tion of Alexandre Dumas’ novel “La Dame aux Cammelias.” The story fol­lows the tragic affair between Marguerite (Daniele Gaubert), a doomed cour­te­san, and Armand (Nino Castelnuovo), a naïve bach­e­lor who falls for her. The cou­ple drifts through a seedy world of haute cou­ture, inflat­able fur­ni­ture and fetish par­ties as their romance unrav­els to the puls­ing accom­pa­ni­ment of Piero Piccioni’s lush score.

Cult Epic’s high-definition trans­fer of CAMILLE 2000 enhances the visual beauty of the film’s rich Pop Art aes­thetic with a vibrant gloss not seen since its the­atri­cal release. Two ver­sions of this newly restored gem will be offered June 28. The first, from CAV, is an extended ver­sion of the orig­i­nal that incor­po­rates 12 min­utes of addi­tional footage com­piled by Metzger. The sec­ond, from Entertainment One, fea­tures the orig­i­nal the­atri­cal ver­sion of the film and includes those addi­tional scenes as extras. Both ver­sions of the film – each expanded with the same addi­tional bonus fea­tures – will be avail­able on Blu-ray and DVD for the sug­gested list price of $34.98 and $29.98 respectively.

Also in June, the UCLA Film & Television Archive will honor Metzger with a five-night ret­ro­spec­tive that high­lights seven of his quin­tes­sen­tial films. Scheduled to run June 2–17 at the Billy Wilder Theater, the ret­ro­spec­tive will include screen­ings of Carmen, Baby (1967); Therese And Isabelle (1968); Camille 2000 (1969); The Lickerish Quartet (1970); Little Mother (1973); Score (1974); and The Image (1975).

The ret­ro­spec­tive will begin on Thursday, June 2 at 7:30 p.m. with a screen­ing of the extended director’s cut of Metzger’s enig­matic mas­ter­piece The Lickerish Quartet. At the film’s con­clu­sion, Metzger will be on hand to answer ques­tions about his films. He will also intro­duce the film Camille 2000 (Friday, June 3) which begins at 8 p.m. Later that evening, Metzger will attend a party co-sponsored by Cult Epics, the Hammer Museum and the UCLA Film & Television Archive in the Hammer Museum court­yard to cel­e­brate the June 28 release of Camille 2000 on Blu-ray and DVD. The screen­ing and party on June 3 is free and open to the public.

While the UCLA Film & Television Archive’s ret­ro­spec­tive pays trib­ute to Metzger’s past achieve­ments, the direc­tor is at work on the script of Solarium, which will be his first new film since retir­ing from fea­ture film­mak­ing in 1984. Solarium is being pro­duced by Cult Epics founder Nico Bruinsma. The film tells the story of five beau­ti­ful women who meet at the Wanda Solarium. “In this relaxed set­ting, the women allow their prim­i­tive instincts to emerge and explore what Carl Jung refers to as the ‘shadow side,’” Metzger explains. “It’s an excit­ing story, and one that drew me back into the­atri­cal sto­ry­telling.” Casting is cur­rently under­way as Bruinsma searches for the per­fect quin­tet of Solarium seductresses.

In August, Cult Epics will present Radley Metzger’s Erotica Psychedelica, a boxed set that col­lects three of Metzger’s best – Camille 2000, The Lickerish Quartet and Score – on Blu-ray.  Each disc fea­tures a high-definition trans­fer of the orig­i­nal the­atri­cal release along with a num­ber of bonus fea­tures. The set will be avail­able in a lim­ited edi­tion of only 3500 num­bered copies and will include a book­let and an exclu­sive sound­track CD that com­piles ultra cool music from all three films.

For addi­tional infor­ma­tion regard­ing CAMILLE 2000 or the Metzger Film Retrospective, please con­tact Christoph Buerger at (323) 868‑7611 or christoph@davidlynch.com.

CAMILLE 2000 — DVD & BLU-RAY DETAILS:

EXTRAS:

-On The Set Of Camille 2000- A 30 Minute Featurette with Daniele Gaubert, Nino Castelnuovo and Radley Metzger.

–Sylviane’s Bare Striptease – Cut from Feature Before Release

-Cube Love Scene – Newly dis­cov­ered Alternate Take

-Outtakes – Includes 12 Minutes of Additional Scenes com­pleted by the Director

-Restoration of Camille 2000 – Before and After comparison

–Commentary track by Radley Metzger and film his­to­rian Michael Bowen

–Trailers

EXTRAS:

-On The Set Of Camille 2000- A 30 Minute Featurette with Daniele Gaubert, Nino Castelnuovo and Radley Metzger.

–Ulana’s Bare Striptease – Cut from Feature Before Release

-Cube Love Scene – Newly dis­cov­ered Alternate Take

-Restoration of Camille 2000 – Before and After comparison

–Commentary track by Radley Metzger and film his­to­rian Michael Bowen

–Trailers

RADLEY METZGER RETROSPECTIVE

Hosted by the UCLA Film & Television Archive

All screen­ings at the Billy Wilder Theater, 10899 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles

THURSDAY, JUNE 2

7:30 p.m. – THE LICKERISH QUARTET

FRIDAY, JUNE 3

8 p.m. – CAMILLE 2000

MONDAY, JUNE 6

7:30 p.m. – THERESE AND ISABELLE

THURSDAY, JUNE 9

7:30 p.m. – CARMEN BABY

9 p.m. – LITTLE MOTHER

FRIDAY, JUNE 17

7:30 p.m. – SCORE

9 p.m. – THE IMAGE