Canadian actress Sarah Polley's remarkable directorial debut Away From Her is out this week on DVD. Also worthy: the Belgian film Private Property, featuring Isabelle Hubbert as a deliciously creepy mother of teenage sons, and The Sissi Collection, the German classic series starring Romy Schneider, out in a new 5-Disc box set.
1. Away From Her
Sarah Polley did a remarkable job with her first feature film, Away From Her, an adaption of an Alice Munro short story about the love, marriage, and Alzheimer's disease. Polley has made a beautiful film, working with an astonishingly accomplished cast, including Gordon Pinset and Oscar-winning actresses Julie Christie and Olympia Dukakis. Still, audiences didn't rush into theaters; perhaps the grim subject matter was a deterrent. But don't be deterred: Away From Her is one of the best films of 2007.
2. Private Property
Joachim Lafosse's drama about a mother (the always fascinating Isabelle Huppert) and her teenage twin sons (played by real life twins Jérémie and Yannick Renier) on a farm in Belgium is deliciously creepy. Manipulative and without boundaries, a lingerie-wearing Huppert provides an uncomfortable portrait of motherhood, giving too much attention to her grown boys. Trouble begins when the divorced woman finds a new boyfriend.
3. The Sissi Collection (5-Disc Collection, 1954-1962)
If you grew up in Germany like Jurgen, you'd know all about Sissi. She's a cultural icon, and photos from the beloved trilogy line the walls of the Film Museum in Berlin. At only seventeen, Romy Schneider became an international star through her portrayal of Princess Elisabeth (Sissi) of Austria. Directed by Ernst Marischka, the series follow the trials and tribulations of the young princess.
The 5-Disc Set includes the Sissi trilogy (Sissi (1955), The Young Empress (1956), Sissi: The Fateful Years of the Empress (1957)), and the English-language dubbed version, Forever My Love (1962), and The Story of Vicki (1954), a precursor to the trilogy in which Schneider plays Britain's Princess Victoria.
