Blast of Silence - Criterion Collection
by Allen Baron
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Allen Baron, Danny Meehan, Larry Tucker, Molly McCarthy, Peter H. CluneDirector: Allen Baron
Brand: Image Entertainment
Composer: Meyer Kupferman
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 77 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-04-15
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion Collection
Movie Reviews of Blast of Silence - Criterion Collection
Movie Review: My first walk on the wild side!
Summary: 4 Stars
I saw this movie when it was first released. I loved it! I had never seen anything like it and tried to get my buddies to see it. They felt the same way I had at first."This movie can't be any good, there's nobody famous in it". It taught me that there was a whole world of films out there that I hadn't been aware of. It was a great discovery that echoes down to this day. The film is probably about a 3 1/2 but I'll give it four for the life lesson it taught!
Summary of Blast of Silence - Criterion Collection
Somewhere between film noir and The Sopranos lies Blast of Silence, a concise, compelling psychological portrait of a low-level hit-man, shot in 1961 on a shoestring budget with New York City grit. This is the sort of movie, unique but out of sync with its time, that Criterion practically exists to rescue. Accompanied by an avant-jazz soundtrack and hard-boiled Beat narration from the gloriously gravel-voiced Lionel Stander, the blue-collar assassin wanders through the city at Christmastime, revolted by human contact but sucker enough to think a girl he once knew might redeem him. Writer/director Allen Baron stepped into the lead role when he lost Peter Falk; while he's certainly not as expressive an actor, his face has an uncomfortable mixture of yearning and defensiveness that suits the character to a T. Stylishly framed images and sharp, staccato editing, combined with the almost documentary feel of the performances and settings, wrap the entire movie in an alienated tension. This being a Criterion release, it's got fantastic extras: A relaxed interview with the chatty, garrulous Baron, which is combined with a short documentary from 1990 in which Baron went back to all the locations used in Blast of Silence and reminisced; Polaroid photos from the set that look like lost Weegee photographs; a loving essay by critic Terrence Rafferty; and more. But the movie doesn't need any of this to make its mark--it's an American classic, as crucial to the launch of independent film as Cassavetes. Highly recommended. --Bret FetzerSwift brutal and black-hearted Allen Baron's New York City noir Blast of Silence is a sensational surprise. This low-budget carefully crafted portrait of a hit man on assignment in Manhattan during Christmastime follows its stripped-down narrative with mechanical precision yet also with an eye and ear for the oddball idiosyncrasies of urban living and the imposing beauty of the city's locations. At once visually ragged and artfully composed and featuring rough poetic narration by Lionel Stander Blast of Silence is a stylish triumph.DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:New restored digital transferRequiem for a Killer: The Making of Blast of Silence (2007)Rare on-set PolaroidsLocations revisited in 2008TrailerPLUS: An essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty and a four-page graphic-novel adaptation of the film by award-winning artist Sean Phillips (Criminal Sleeper Batman: Jekyll & Hyde)System Requirements:LENGTH: 77 minutes Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MYSTERY/SUSPENSE/FILM NOIR UPC: 715515028721 Manufacturer No: CC1745DDVD
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