Hello!

It was fun to learn that my favorite author the last few years, Leonardo Padura, has been awarded the prestigious Liber Award, as reported two days ago online. Padura’s most popular books follow the career of Havana detective Mario Conde, a professional who has gone through all the bad times in Cuba, solving crimes while seeing the souring of his country’s social dream. The books chart the changes as Cuba went into survival mode, starting in the early 1990s.

I’m deep into reading Padura’s historical novels, about present day investigations into the past. One is a ‘Conde’ book, in which Mario digs into the last days of Ernest Hemingway living in Cuba, that may have involved a murder. The best-known of his historical books is his masterpiece The Man Who Loved Dogs, about the Spaniards and Russians who assassinated Leon Trotsky in Mexico City in 1940.

I’ve only found a few film productions based on Padura’s works. He wrote the screenplay for 2014’s Return to Ithaca (Retour à Ithaque), a lively drama that transpires over one night on a Havana rooftop … the only private place that old friends can gather to talk the truth, and feel somewhat secure from political repercussions. I’ve only found European Region 2 DVDs of Return to Ithaca.

The more conventional  Four Seasons in Havana (Cuatro estaciones en La Habana) is a four-feature miniseries adapting the Conde books known as ‘The Havana Quartet.’ It’s a really fine production.

The problem is that Four Seasons in Havana is now difficult to find. It made its debut on Netflix but has been gone for six years. On streaming platforms, content can be made available or be erased from existence by whim. There are no domestic disc releases. I’ve only found one DVD set, produced in Holland and available only in Europe. It’s a very good encoding of the four features on two discs, but to most American fans it’s useless: it’s only in Spanish Language, and the only subtitles are Dutch. Not only that, the thick Cuban accents can be daunting to non-Cuban Spanish speakers. Oh, it’s a Region 2 DVD as well, so an all-region player is a must. If your Spanish skills is good, I reccomend it. It was filmed in Havana and the acting and directing are excellent.

I’m glad that Leonardo Padura won this award. His film work really ought to be available here, and make him better known. People that like Michael Connelly (me) will love him.

And because people ask, this last entry is just a list, of discs on hand to review, and the ‘wish list’ of what’s expected.

Already in hand at CineSavant Central are these … some are partly written:

Spike of Bensonhurst  4K   (Fun City Editions)
Sergeant Rutledge (The Warner Archive Collection)
French Dressing (Powerhouse Indicator)
The Saragossa Manuscript  4K   (Radiance Films)
The First Deadly Sin (Vinegar Syndrome)
Cruel Story of Youth  4K   (The Criterion Collection)
The Island (KL Studio Classics)
The Wings of Eagles (The Warner Archive Collection)
Hell’s Highway, the True Story of Highway Safety Films (Kino Cult)
The Human Comedy (The Warner Archive Collection)
Hud  4K   (The Criterion Collection)
Project Hail Mary  4K   (MGM/Alliance)
Coup de Torchon  4K   (The Criterion Collection)

Expected soon or hoped for in the next couple of months:

Forbidden Planet  4K   (Arrow Films)
Danza Macabra 5 (Severin Films)
The First Films of Samuel Fuller (Eclipse 5)
Out of the Past  4K   (The Warner Archive Collection)
Ryan’s Daughter  4K   (The Warner Archive Collection)
Fantastique: The Dreams and Nightmares of French Cinema (Radiance)
Skyscraper Souls (The Warner Archive Collection)
Planet of the Vampires  4K   (Radiance)
The Shout  4K   (The Criterion Collection)
The Lost Patrol (The Warner Archive Collection)
The Silence of the Lambs  4K   (The Criterion Collection)
Frankenstein (The Criterion Collection)
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (The Criterion Collection)
The Right Stuff  4K   (The Criterion Collection)
Shoot the Piano Player  4K   (The Criterion Collection)
(Horror of) Dracula  4K   (Hammer)

Plus these three, just confirmed.

Operation Kid Brother (OK Connery) (Explosive Media)
Machine Gun Kelly (Explosive Media)
The Giant of Marathon (Explosive Media)

Thanks for reading! — Glenn Erickson