Update 8/14/24: It's Update Week 2024, and I've got my hands on Kino's A Child Is Waiting DVD, so here it is.
For the longest time, our only option for Love Streams was a 2004 French DVD from Cinemalta, which you could either get separately or paired with a much earlier Cassavetes film, A Child Is Waiting. That's not such a complaint, as it was a nice set with quality transfers and even a few English language extras. But in 2014, Criterion finally brought Streams to the US, and in a big way: a really lavish blu-ray/ DVD combo pack (also available in separate DVD and BD releases) featuring a fresh 2k scan and a bunch of great new special features.
Meanwhile, Child remains unreleased stateside, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was somewhere on Criterion's list as well. It's a solid and critically acclaimed film, but it doesn't feel like "a Cassavetes film" at all. It's pretty emotionally affecting, with strong lead performances by Burt Lancaster and Judy Garland who proves she can do more than sing (though they do have her sing a teensy bit, just because). It does feel like it's taking the easy route tugging on heartstrings by having sweetheart Garland as a new teacher coming to care for a cute classroom of mentally challenged children. You can always rely on Cassavetes from getting overly sentimental, but I don't have that same confidence in screenwriter Abby Mann.
So let's take a look at these discs and see how tall the new 2k transfer stands up over the old edition. And since the Criterion set is DVD and blu, let's side-by-side those, too.
Cinemalta DVD on top; Criterion blu-ray on bottom. |
Criterion DVD on top, and their blu-ray on bottom. |
Cinemalta DVD on top; Kino DVD on bottom. |
In 2015, Kino released A Child Is Waiting on DVD and blu - I've got the former[left]. And it's an obvious upgrade for anyone interested in that film. Even just the DVD is a strong step forward, since it's anamorphic and the subtitles aren't forced. The AR is slightly corrected to 1.66:1, which reveals a sliver more image, and adjusted contrast levels. Then the blu would give you the extra bump to HD and lossless audio. The Kinos also have an informative and engaging audio commentary by Casscvetes biographer Tom Charity and film scholar Michael Van Den Bos, the theatrical trailer and a few bonus trailers.
Extras-wise, the French disc was okay, but Criterion really tops it. First of all, Cinemalta had a nice 9 minute extract from the documentary I Am Almost Not Crazy, featuring behind-the-scenes footage and interviews during the shooting of this movie. Criterion has the whole hour-long thing. Then the Cinemalta disc has another 11 minutes of behind the scenes footage taken from a show called Scene 143, which is actually a decent little exclusive for the French disc. There's another French extra, but it has no English language options... some French lady talks for a few minutes over posters and images from the movie. Lord knows what she's saying.
The Criterion, meanwhile, has brand new interviews with producer Al Ruban and co-stars Seymour Cassel and Diahnne Abbot. Then there's another one of Criterion's excellent "video essays," this time about actress Gena Rowlands. And there's an audio commentary by Michael Ventura who's written extensively on this film, and often reads straight from his book. It's sometimes quite compelling, and sometimes overly gushing and awkward; but overall has enough good content to be worthwhile. Finally, the Criterion disc has the trailer and a 29 page booklet, which includes an article Cassavetes himself wrote on the film for the New York Times. Actually, the French set had a booklet, too; you just couldn't read it unless you knew French.
So the Cinemalta disc was a nice release; it served us well. But now it's time to push it aside for Criterion's definitive blu. Even if you're not that fussed about upgrading your DVDs to blu-ray, this one is well worth it for the new extras and fresh scan. Keep your French disc for that Scene 143 extra, but there's no reason to go out of your way for it today. Especially now that there's a proper A Child Is Waiting blu-ray out now, too.
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