a. classical period    b. the others

The Cherry Orchard  英文發音，260分(共2卷)  792.6/ M623/W052317V

Judi Dench is one of those actors who rarely seem to make a false move, handling wrenching drama, madcap farce, and witty comedy with equal aplomb. Among the BBC productions of classic and original plays available in the The Judi Dench Collection, she stars as Anya in Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, a 1962 production translated by, and starring, John Gielgud and, as Madame Ranesvky, Peggy Ashcroft. Ashcroft is a hard act to follow, but Dench pulls it off in a 1981 production in which she assumes the role of the irresponsible aristocrat, also included here. --Donald Liebenson        

Tartuffe - Kirk Browning 842/B885/W052346V  無文字幕，英文發音，130分。

Moliere's classic tale is translated by Richard Wilbur for this excellent production featuring Donald Moffat as the scoundrel Tartuffe, a master hypocrite who uses his slick ways to win the confidence of Orgon, an affluent member of the bourgeoisie. Once gaining Orgon's trust, Tartuffe attempts to seduce his wife and daughter.

Agamemnon                      無字幕,英文發音    EV/880/005B01        V0032606
Agamemnon                                    EVR/880/005M11       V0007920
Agamemnon is the first play of the Oreseteia-the oldesta surviving classical tragedy and still universally accepted as teh masterpiece of masterpieces. The play opens as the Watchman at King Agamemnon's palace sees the beacon announcing the fall of Troy. The Chorus of Old Men tell the background to the story of the Trojan War. When Agamemnon returns home after a 10-year absence at the Trojan War, his queen, Clytemnestra, welcomes him but Cassandra (daughter of the vanguished Trojan king priam and now Agamemnon's captive mistress) foretells his murder. The murder of Agamemnon will be a double revenge: Clymnestra will avenge their daughter Iphigenia, sacrificed by Agamemnon to secure a favorable wind toward Troy; Aegisthus, Clymnestra's lover, will avenge the murder of his brothers by Agamemnon's father. This is the origin of the blood feud that runs through Agamemnon, Choepori, and Eumenides.

Antigone                    無字幕,英文發音    EV/880/006B01        V0032651
Antigone                                     EV/880/006M11        V0007921
Antigone is perhaps the most easily accessible of all the great classical tragedies, its theme clear and contemporary; the conflict between moral and political law. Thus the tale of Oedipus and his family comes to an end-he himself, his wife Jocasta, his sons and now, at last, his daughter, all dead. Antigone is not the only victim in this play; Creon too comes to a tragic downfall-although he repents in time, bureaucratic ritual results in the deaths of Creon;s son and wife, burdening him with guilt as well as grief.

Barefoot in Athens 無字幕,英文發音 EV/880/025B01 V0013065

Classical Age, The                            EVR/880/012M11       V0007927
This program is devoted to the period between approzximately 500 BC and the death of Alexander: the achievements of pericles, Thucydides, and Plato; the sahpe of Greek societies; the nature of Athenian democracy; and the buildings, bronze and marble sculpture, painted pottery, and other writings; and the consequences of the rivalry between Syracuse and Athens.

Choephori EV880/008M11
Choephori (The Libation Bearers) is the second play of the Oresteia-the oldest surviving classical tragedy and till universally accepted as the masterpiece of masterpiece. The play opens as Orestes, Agamemnon's son, return from exile with his friend Pylades and dedicates a lock of his hair on his father Agamemnon's tomb. His sisterElectra and the Chorus of Trojan Women come to offer libations at he tomb, and in a deeply moving scene brother and sister recognize one another. They swear to avenge their father's death, as they have been directed to do by Apollo. Disguised as strangers, Orestes and Pylades enter Agamemnon's palace and Orestes first kills Aegishtus and then his mother Clymnestra. Threatened by the Furies, he flees to seek Apollo's help.

The Classical Age              無字幕,英文發音    EV/880/012B01        V0032622

Classical Comedy                              EV/822/031B01        V0031847
  Aristophanes: Women in  Power
Classical Comedy                              EVR/822/031M11       V0007883
  Aristophanes: Women in  Power
The first part of this film, devoted to a substantial section of Aristophanes' Ecclesiazusaw (Women in Power), shows what happens when women, fed up with the stupidity and incompetence of men, organize to take over the government. The second part introduces Roman comedy, with its sotck cahracter types of the Vainglorious Soldier and the Clever Servant in Miles Gloriosus. The two palys demonstrate the different concepts of "funny" and the differnte functions of comedy in democratic Greece and autocratic Rome.

The Changing Classical Audience for Theatre    無字幕,英文發音    EV/880/028B01        V0013053
In the 50 years separating Aeschylus from the later works of Euripides, theatre changed: plays had been performed in honor of the god Dionysus and for the enjoyment of spectators; now they were targeted at spectators who took pleasure in the spectacle itself. Where once the text itself set the stage and described the scene, sets came into use-at first to stimulate imagination, later to imitate it; in Roman times, there were troupes of travelling actors; and by 100 A.D., the theatre had acquired a permanent stage.

Circe the Sorceress 無字幕,英文發音 EV/880/016B01 V0032626
Having escaped from the Cyclops, the Greeks are made welcome by Aeolus, King of th eWinds, who gives Odysseus a bag of iwnds that would ohterwise blow him off course. Within sight of Ithaca, distrust overcomes his men and they open the bag to see what treasures Odysseus is hiding. The ensuing storm takes them to the Island of Circe, the sorceress who drugs men and turns them into swine. Through the intervention o fHermes, messenger of the gods, Odysseus is able to withstand the spell, free his men, and learn that, before he can reach home, he must visit Tiresias in the Land of the Dead.

The Country of the Dead 無字幕,英文發音 EV/880/018B01 V0032650
Arriving in Hades, Odysseus consults Tiresias, the soothsayer of Thebes, to ascertain the cause of his many misfortunes and learns that Poseidon is the father of the Cyclops. Meeting the shade of Agamemnon, he inquires after the cause of the Argive's death and is in turn warned about the fickleness of women. Arriving next on the Island of the Cattle of the Sun, Odysseus' men disregard the warnings not to eat Apollo's cattle; disobeying, they incur the wrath of the god and further delay their homecoming.

The Etruscans               無字幕,英文發音    EV/880/023B01        V0013073
This program examines the chief Etruscan sites in Tarquinia and Cervetri, showing the natural landscape in which th eEtuscans lived, and their houses of the dead, where they were buried with some of the most hauntingly beautiful statuary and frescoes of any period and any place.

Eumenides (The furies)       無字幕,英文發音    EV/880/009B01        V0032610
Eumenides (The furies)                      EVR/880/009M11       V0007924
Having avenged his father's murder by killing his mother, Orestes-now pursued by the Furies because he has commited matricide-takes refuge at the shrine of Apollo, who promises protection and sends him to seek justice from Athena. Teh ghost of Clymnestra rouses the Chorus of Furies to bring her murderer to justice. Athena, goddess of wisdom, judges between Orestes, who murdered his mother to avenge his fahter, and the Furies, who demand revenge for the murder of Clymnestra. Her decision reflects the historical turning in Athens from personal retribution to community law.

Greek Beginning, The EVR/880/011M11
This program presents ian introduction to Greece and the Greeks. Broadly covering the period from the Mycenaean Age in 1300 BC to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, it sets out the principal historical landmarks and presents some of the work of the most important Greek writers, philosophers, historians and politicians of the period.

Greek Epic 無字幕,英文發音 EV/880/021B01
Greek Epic EVR/880/021M11
This program presents an exploration of the two Homeric masterpieces, the Illiad (a tragedy) and the Odyssey (a comedy). It explains the nature of epic and the Greeks's concepts of honor and fame. Viewers survey the journeys of Achilles and Odysseus as Heroes' quests for identity within the rich symbolic tradition of folklore and history. The program provides a fundamentals understanding and appreciation of the Homeric epics, and the key to reading them for edification and enjoyment.

Greek and Roman Legends 無字幕,英文發音 EV/880/022B01
Greek and Roman Legends EVR/880/022M11
This program inrodeuces the principal Greek and Roman Legends, examinig the differences between Greek legends, which combine victory with difficulty and loss, with those of Rome, which place nationalism, heroism and virtue above any personal human ties. The stories covered are: the wedding of Peleus and thetis; the judgement of Paris; the sacrifice of Iphigenia; the Trojan War; Achilles' choice; Odysseus and the Trojan Horse; the legends of Theseus, etc.

The rise of Greek trgedy, Sophocles: Oedipus the King EVR/822/037B01
This film helps to explain Tragedy as a form and to acquaint audiences with what is probably its foremost example, Oedipus the King. Photographed in the ancient Greek theatre of Amphiaraion, using tragic masks, this production emphasizes the modernity and the eternity of the play, as well as its lasting emotional impact.

Heinrich Schliemann: The Rediscovery of Troy 無字幕,英文發音 EV/880/024B01 V0013069
This program traces Schliemann's career: a troubled home, an ordinary education, a self-awakened interest in the Greek past that he fueled throughout his successful business ventures, his archaeological attempts and failures, the evidence he unwittingly destroyed and deliberately falsified, the errors of identificatin, and the indisputable fact proved by his work-that Homer described a historical event which occured where the Ilias said it did, if we but read the text closely.

The Greeks - Heroes and men EV880/013M11
This program concentrates in the work of Homer, the blind epic poet, and Aeshylus, the world's first great dramatist, author of hte Oresteia. Viewer's are taken on a tour of the sites of Athens, Mycenae (where Agamemnon had ruled), Olympia (birthplace of the Olympic Games and sanctuary of Zeus), Delphi (sacred to Apollo), and the great theatre at Epidauros.
 
Classic Books on Video  The Iliad

                                          A series of introductions to great works of literature. Each tape contains a
                                          dramatization of key scenes from the novel, followed by an on-screen discussion
                                          and analysis of the meaning and context of the entire work. Each tape is 40 mins.
 

The Odyssey 無字幕,英文發音 EV/880/002BO1

Slaying of the Suitors, The EVR/880/020M11 V0007935
Odysseus and Telemachus are reunited, and their plan almost undone by the old nurse who washes the feet of Odysseus-disguised as a beggar-and recognizes the scar on his foot. penelope, too, is nearly at the end of her ability to put off the suitors, her nightly unravelling of the robe she is supposed to be weaving for her marriage having finally been betrayed. In the contest to see who can bend the mighty bow of Odysseus, the suitors are slain and Odysseus is reunited with his faithful Penelope.

One-Eyed Cyclops, The EVR/880/015M11 V0007930
A quick retelling of the fall of Troy (showing the wooden horse), and the visit to the Land odf the Lotus-Eaters, where the desire to dream sweet dreams overcame many of the Greeks until Odysseus had them forcibly brought aboard his boats again. Crossing the wine-dark sea, they come to the Land of the Cyclops where they come a-cropper of Polyphemus, the murderous giant who disobeys the law of the gods to be hospitable to strangers. Only the cunning of Odysseus saves the Greeks, and as the rosy-dfingered dawn approaches, they escape.

Oedipus The King EV880/004M11
Oedipus The King- a film for the Humanities- this task has been accomplised by means of a new, aggresively contemporary translation that remains true to the text; setting the plays in the past yet not the distant past, an indeterminate past; and, dispensing with masks, using the finest Britihsh classical actors. Sophocles often won the leading prize at the Dionysia, the principal dramatic festival of Athens; but Oedipus the King was a runner-up, winner of the second prize.  Posterity, however, considers the play second to none. This play recounts the beginning of the beginning of the Oedipus saga, setting the stage and creating the characters who will continue the story to its conclusion in Antigone.

Oedipus at Colonus (I) EV880/007M11
Bearer of an almost unspeakable, immutable fate, Oedipus yet feels himself a man chosen-that is, favored-by the gods. Now an old man, blind and outcast, he wanders through Greece guided by his daughter Antigone until he comes to Colonus, where he knows he will die. Protected by the ruler of Thebes against eh armies o fCreon who have come in pursuit, Oedipus curses his son Polynices for indiffernce and ingratitude. Oedipus in this play is old and rails agianst the indignities of old age. Sophocles, nearly 90 at the time of its composition, apparently wrote the play to prove he was of sound mind; his son, it seems, was trying to claim Sophocles' estate by accusing his father of senility.

Oedipus at Colonus (II) VRE880/007 M11
Bearer of an almost unspeakable, immutable fate, Oedipus yet feels himself a man chosen-that is, favored-by the gods. Now an old man, blind and outcast, he wanders through Greece guided by his daughter Antigone until he comes to Colonus, where he knows he will die. Protected by the ruler of Thebes against eh armies o fCreon who have come in pursuit, Oedipus curses his son Polynices for indiffernce and ingratitude. Oedipus in this play is old and rails agianst the indignities of old age. Sophocles, nearly 90 at the time of its composition, apparently wrote the play to prove he was of sound mind; his son, it seems, was trying to claim Sophocles' estate by accusing his father of senility.

Myth, History, and Drama 無字幕,英文發音 EV/880/027B01
Myth, History, and Drama EVR/880/027M11
The remains of ancient theatres are spread across the territory of Greece, haunted by the shadows of Homer, of the myths that fill the epics and the tragedies, of the not-so-distant past of human sacrifice: a theatre built on a high acropolis, perhaps religious in character; an amphitheatre in a major city of the Achaean League; the theatre of ancient Psophis, scene of Euripides' Alcmeon in Psophis; the smallest theatre preserved, at a site renowned in Homeric times.

The Rise of Greek Trusedian , The Sophecles:Oedipus the King VE822/037B01

Role of Theatre in Ancient Greece, The EVR/880/030M11 V0007944
This program looks at the theatres of Herodus Atticus, Epidauros, Corinth (where Arion is said to have taught the dithyramb) and many others to explain the design of the ancient theatre; the synthesis of art forms that was ancient Greek drama; the origins of tragedy ; the audience in classical times; the comparative roles of writer/director and actors; the use of the surrounding landscape in many plays.

Scylla and Charybdis 無字幕,英文發音 EV/880/017B01
Forewarned by Circe, Odysseus has his men plug their ears with wax so they will not hear the Siren's song, and himself lashed to the mast. Thus restrained from responding to the lure of promised wisdom, Odysseus navigates between the monstrous man-devouring beast Scylla and the wandering ship-shattering rocks of Charybdis. Bemoaning the loss of yet more of his men, Odysseus progresses to the next stage of his journey.

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Boccaccio: Tales From the Decameron EV/820/025B01 V0031797
This marvelous new video demonstrates what fun late medieval/early Renaissance literature can be. Chaucer lifted the concept, tone, and even some of the stories for The Canterburry Tales from the Decameron. Here are six of Boccaccio's tales executed with style and wit, using live action animation of shaodw puppets. Teachers who would not offer their classess "The Miller's Tale" unexpurgated should be forewarned that, while the stories themselves and the visuals are the soul of propriety, the brilliant and witty translations can be racy.

Comedy of Manners, The Moliere: The Misanthrope EV/822/025B01 V0031268
A brilliant production of this most successful example of the Comedy of Manners.  It offers an authentically baroque version of Richard Wilbur's artful translation, starring Edward Pehterbridge in a thoroughly stylized, thoroughly modern, thoroughtly delightful rendition.

Chronicle of a death foretold= 預知死亡記事中文字幕,英文發音 EV/792/430B01

Title: The Decameron (LD, 1990, Image Entertainment Inc.) (Color, 111 mins; Italian with English Subtitles)
Category: Italian Literature

Summary:

Only Pasolini could bring Boccaccio's classic tales of passion to the screen with all their lusty fervor intact. Winner of the Sliver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, The Decameron is Pasolini's triumphant celebration of the flesh and the spirit, the sacred and the profane.

Eight tales from 14^th century Naples, including the seducing nuns, the tree jealous brothers who murder their sister's lover, the wizard who could change his wife into a burro, and the story of a false saint. The first of Pasolini's 'Trilogy of Life' films that sets the tone and tempo for the films to follow (" Arabian Nights' and "The Canterbury Tales".)

Faust (Part I) 無字幕, 英文發音 EV/782/071B01
Faust (Part II) 無字幕, 英文發音 EV/782/072B01

Hunchback of Notre Dame (Hugo) EV792/592B01

Les Meserables (Hugo) EV792/394B01

Hedda Gabler, Ibsen EV/822/049B01

Hunchback of Notre Dame= 新鐘樓怪人 無文字幕,英文發音 EV/792/380B01 V0031502

Hunchback of Notre Dame, The EV/792/592B01 V0032433

Les Miserables EV/792/394B01

Title: Madame Bovary (MGM/UA Home Video) (B/W, 1hr. 54mins, 1949)

Jennifer Jones, van Heflin and Louis Jourdan star in this filmed adaptation of Gustave Flaubert's masterpiece--the story of one ill-fated woman's revolt against conventional society.

Ardent and beautiful, convent-bred Emma (Jones) longs fervently for passion and change. Knowing little of either, she marries stolid Charles Bovary (Heflin), expecting matrimony to resemble the romantic novels and daydreams that have always afforded her imaginary escape. But marriage and motherhood stifle her, and she soon takes first one lover, Rodolphe (Louis Jourdan), and then another, Leon (Christopher Kent). Ultimately, society's condemnations and her own delusions overwhelm her.

This tragic story is narrated by James Mason as author Flaubert, who shows us "how Emma Bovary learned that life makes all people--even beautiful women--pay for what they want." A remarkable treatment of a literary work that rocked Europe in its time, Madame Bovary is a landmark of romantic cinema.

Theatrical Devices in Classical Theatre EV880/026M11
Violence, bloodshed, and horror took place off-stage; the ekkyklema, a platform on wheels rolled to the edge of the orchestra to reveal perpetrators and victims, and the deus ex machina, a crane mechanism to suspend gods above the stage; the ladder of charos, fo ghosts from the underwolrd. The physical requirements of New Comedy: painted panels, a raised stage, and, for the actors who now had to project themselves in new ways, expressive masks, high-soled shows, padded shoulders.

The Three Sisters (Anton Chekov) 三姊妹
(Color, 172 mins; directed by Laurence Olivier 勞倫斯奧利佛) (one set--two tapes) (主演：德瑞傑柯比、珍妮維特)

三姊妹的命運各異，愛情生活卻都受到嚴重的挫折...... 故事發生於四個半世紀前的莫斯科，一位將軍妻子早逝，留下三個女兒及一個兒子，大女兒瑪莉是位保守的教師，二女兒瑪莎18歲便嫁給一位才華洋溢的教授，三女兒蕾娜正值含苞待放的年齡，兒子安德烈娶一位平民女為妻，由於出身貧寒，使得三姊妹對這位弟媳無法接納......   (Donated by Bro. Nicholas Koss)

An all-star cast is featured in this filmed recreation of the NY Actor's Studio production of the classic drama by
Anton Chekhov about three sisters who live in illusion of their past and must face the reality of their future.

This is a rarely seen videotape recording of the 1965 Broaway presentation of Anton Chekhov's classic play
"The Three Sisters". Geraldine Page, Kim Stanley, and Sandy Dennis are sensational in the title roles: three
equally unhappy women who believe their dreary lives will improve if they can just return to their  childhood home in Moscow. Shelley Winters co-stars as their nagging, irritating sister-in-law who doesn't  do much to make their lives easier. All in all, this is a faithful rendition of the Chekhov play, but the all-star cast is what makes the film so enjoyable. (review from Amazon)

Treasure Island

'Suddenly, there was a high voice screaming in the darkness: "Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!" It was Long John Silver's parrot, Captain Flint! I turned to run...' But, young Jim Hawkins does not escape from the pirates this time. Will he and his friends find the treasure before the pirates do?

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