The Naked Prey from Criterion in January
Cornel Wilde directs and stars in this searing study of man's regression to primitivism, announced for a January release from Criterion.
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Miss Julie from Criterion in January

3 November 2007

The work of Swedish playwright and author August Strindberg has given birth to over 130 film and television adaptations, including, according to my somewhat hasty count, at least 19 screen adaptations of his 1888 play, Miss Julie (Fröken Julie). Possibly the most celebrated of these was the 1951 Swedish film version directed by Alf Sjöberg, a visually innovative and Cannes Grand Prix winning film that brings to scalding life the excoriating words of the stage's preeminent surveyor of all things rotten in the state of male-female relations.

Miss Julie vividly depicts the battle of the sexes and classes that ensues when a wealthy businessman's daughter (Anita Björk, in a fiercely emotional performance) falls for her father's bitter servant. Celebrated for its unique cinematic style (and censored upon its first release in the United States for its adult content), Sjöberg's film was an important turning point in Scandinavian cinema.

Now the film has been announced for a US DVD release in January 2008 as part of the Criterion Collection with the following confirmed features:

  • New, restored high-definition 1.33:1 digital transfer with Dolby 1.0 mono sound;
  • New video essay by film historian Peter Cowie;
  • Archival television interview with director Alf Sjöberg;
  • 2006 television documentary about the play Miss Julie and dramatist August Strindberg;
  • Theatrical trailer;
  • New and improved English subtitle translation;
  • A booklet featuring new essays by film scholars Peter Matthews and Birgitta Steene.

The DVD will be released by Criterion on 22 January 2008 at the SRP of $39.95.