An American masterpiece in the early days of a new wave
Brooklyn, 1950s. Lennie's mother entrusts her with the care of her little brother Joey because she has to go to the bedside of the sick grandmother. Lennie had planned to spend the weekend with his friends. Irritated at having to take his little brother everywhere with him, he decides to play a trick on him by simulating a rifle accident...
Filmed in sumptuous black and white, The Little Fugitive is considered the precursor film of independent American cinema, which strongly inspired the first feature films by John Cassavetes and Martin Scorsese, as well as the French New Wave. True avant-gardes, Morris Engel, Ruth Orkin and Ray Ashley immerse themselves in the crowd of Coney Island, mythical place of New York, and carry out a work with height of child without precedent. Silver Lion at the 1953 Venice Festival, The Little Fugitive is to be discovered for the first time on Blu-ray in its 2K restoration!
THE LITTLE FUGITIVE
by Morris Engel, Ruth Orkin and Ray Ashley
(1953 – B&W – 82 mins)
New HD Restoration
Available on Blu-ray.
SUPPLEMENTS
. INTRODUCTION: THE MISSING LINK (11 mins)
Alain Bergala, director and teacher at La Fémis, explains why Le Petit Fugitive is a knot of modernity, a real direct link between neorealism and the New Wave.
. THE DOG LOVER - Blu-ray Exclusive -
a short film by Morris Engel (1962 – B&W – 24 mins – HD)
Manager of a neighborhood supermarket, Jack comes home every evening exhausted to his wife and daughter Susie. The latter dreams of having a dog but her father refuses, because he knows that he will have to take care of it after his hard day's work. That's when little Susie finds a lost dog on the street and decides to bring him home...
. MORRIS ENGEL, THE INDEPENDENT (2008 – 29 mins)
Mary Engel, daughter of Morris Engel and Ruth Orkin, pays homage to her father and his work thanks to numerous period and contemporary testimonies, illustrated from the archives.
. ORIGINAL TRAILER
. TRAILER 2009
BD 50 • HIGH DEFINITION MASTER • 1080/23.98p • AVC ENCODING
Original Version / French Version DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 • French Subtitles
1.33 format respected • Black & White • Film length: 81 mins
Released on Blu-ray on March 10, 2021
