Fast Scans, January 2011 

Antichrist. 2 discs. color & b/w. 108+ min. Criterion Collection, dist. by Image Entertainment. 2009. DVD ISBN 9781604653366. $29.95; 1-disc Blu-ray ISBN 9781604653359. $39.95.
While a blissful couple (Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg) make love, their child wanders from his crib to an open window and falls to his death. At the husband’s request, the wife retreats to their backwoods cabin to deal with her inconsolable grief, leading to a dark descent into madness amid nature run amok. Nose-thumbing director Lars von Trier’s psychodrama offers graphic sex and cringe-inducing violence in pursuit of a provocative treatise on evil. For adventurous patrons served by like-minded libraries.

Chaplin at Keystone. 4 discs. boxed set. b/w. 590+ min. Flicker Alley. 1914. DVD ISBN 9781893967571. $79.95.
Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times. 2 discs. b/w. 87+ min. Criterion Collection, dist. by Image Entertainment. 1936. DVD ISBN 9781604653526. $29.95; 1-disc Blu-ray ISBN 9781604653519. $39.95.
Vaudeville performer–turned–silent-movie star Charlie Chaplin made 34 short films for producer Mack Sennett’s Keystone Studios in 1914—a prolific output culminating with Tillie’s Punctured Romance, his first feature-length comedy. In a feat of wide-ranging film collecting aided by extensive restoration, Chaplin at Keystone chronicles the ascent of the fledgling wunderkind whose persona steadily evolved into his signature Little Tramp. Released 22 years later, Chaplin’s magnum opus, Modern Times, retires the iconic character, bowing out as a bewildered cog in a machine signifying progress. These essential releases bookend Chaplin’s adored character with the kind of tender loving care fans will appreciate.

Mademoiselle Chambon. color. 101+ min. In French w/English subtitles. Kino Lorber. 2009. DVD UPC 738329070328. $29.95; Blu-ray UPC 738329071721. $34.95.
A tentative romantic relationship slowly develops between a happily wed construction worker (Vincent Lindon) and his young son’s lonely schoolteacher (Sandrine Kiberlain), leading to a poignant denouement that hangs on a fateful decision. To his credit, writer-director Stéphane Brizé tends to underplay the drama, relying on meaningful gestures, glances, and silence over dialog in this leisurely paced film that wonderfully captures the often reticent moments in courtship. French-film fans especially will enjoy this.

Sherlock Jr. and Three Ages. 2 discs. b/w. 45 min./63 min. Kino Intl. 1924. DVD UPC 738329071622. $29.95; 1-disc Blu-ray UPC 738329067922. $34.95.
Following the welcome, digitally remastered versions of The General and Steamboat Bill Jr., Kino’s latest Buster Keaton release features a double bill starring the silent-era comic genius. In Sherlock Jr., Keaton earns big laughs as a movie projectionist whose fantasy finds him stepping into the screen as a sleuth in order to retrieve a stolen necklace. In Three Ages, the Great Stone Face imaginatively mocks D.W. Griffith’s three-part opus, Intolerance. For film buffs who savor pure cinema.

Vengeance. color. 109+ min. IFC Films, dist. by MPI Home Video. DVD UPC 030306954295. $24.98.
Coping with steadily worsening memory loss, a retired assassin working as a chef (veteran French pop star Johnny Hallyday) hires a trio of hit men to avenge the gangland slaying of his daughter’s family. Hong Kong director Johnnie To takes a page from fellow countryman John Woo (The Killer), Western-genre icon Sam Peckinpah (The Wild Bunch), and a long line of brooding action directors for this stylish meditation on honor, loyalty, and revenge. For shoot-’em-up fans who appreciate moxie behind the mayhem.