Recently released on Blu-ray and DVD: The Invisibles, The Informer, The Prisoner and The Vault.
The Invisibles
The dramatized recreations of The Invisibles are supported by interviews with four Holocaust survivors, teenagers at the time the Nazis ordered all Jews deported. The four were among the 7,000 Berlin Jews who evaded detection through forged documents and acute awareness of every weak link in the chain of oppression. They were helped along the way by the occasional acts of kindness by everyday Germans. Claus Räfle’s film walks the line between documentary and thriller.
The Informer
John Ford’s 1935 version of Liam O’Flaherty’s Irish civil war novel is remembered by film buffs, but the original 1929 adaptation is just as engrossing. Shot in the last days of silent movies, this British film features a cast that has learned how to act for onscreen closeups, conveying emotions with subtle expressions rather than melodramatic gestures. The new Blu-ray release boasts a lustrous, restored print and a new, appropriately Celtic score by composer Garth Knox.
The Prisoner
Alec Guinness stars as a Roman Catholic cardinal in Eastern Europe arrested by Communist authorities seeking a “confession” of treason. Directed by Britain’s Peter Glenville, The Prisoner (1955) is astutely constructed from shadow, sound, silence and small incidents. Guinness plays the role with restraint as he engages in long discussions with an interrogator whose goal is nothing less than changing the cardinal’s mind. To its credit, the Cold War drama angered ideologues on both sides.
The Vault
Three squabbling siblings lead a bank robbery that turns violent and becomes a hostage situation before taking a weird turn when a wily bank manager sends the crooks into a haunted sub-basement. Lights flicker, doors move, and strange shapes are glimpsed in the shadows. What lurks within The Vault? The lack of elaborate special effects is one of the film’s strengths. The indie project lured a bankable cast led by James Franco and Taryn Manning.
