Source: Tartan Video
By: Company Press Release
Maverick director Carlos Reygadas’ Battle in Heaven in Stores May 9th from Tartan Video “Beautiful and utterly compelling. Carlos Reygadas makes films like no one else in modern cinema.” -Esquire
“Lives up to the hype. A stunning follow-up to his debut Japon, 34-year-old Mexican director Carlos Reygadas establishes himself as one of the world’s most important young art filmmakers.” -IndieWire
“A Mexican masterpiece of formal intelligence and unstable perspectives?this year’s movie to beat” -Michael Atkinson, Village Voice
(LOS ANGELES, CA) — The most controversial film of the 2005 Cannes, Toronto and Sundance film festivals, Carlos Reygadas’ Battle in Heaven is available on DVD May 9th in stores across the nation from Tartan Video.
Cast entirely with non-professionals, Battle in Heaven tells the story of Marcos (Marcos Hernandez), the middle-aged chauffeur of Ana (Anapola Mushkadiz), daughter of a Mexican general. Marcos is the only member of Ana’s household who knows she leads a double life. Although a child of Mexico’s political elite, Ana amuses herself by working as a prostitute in a high-end brothel. But, Marcos also has a secret. He and his wife (Berta Ruiz) kidnapped a baby for ransom and the infant died in their custody. When he confesses to Ana, a bond of secrecy consecrated by the flesh unites them. As the police draw closer, Ana urges Marcos to turn himself in, but he seeks redemption from a higher power?
The second film from maverick director Carlos Reygadas, who first burst onto the world cinema stage with his stunning 2002 feature debut, Japón, Battle in Heaven is a sexually explicit and stylistically audacious meditation on crime, class and guilt in present-day Mexico City.
At the Sundance Film Festival, the film was pulled from its original screening location inside a local high school when school officials found out about the film’s now-infamous scenes of graphic sex. Sundance moved quickly to relocate the screening. This was not the first time however, that Battle in Heaven has stirred controversy. When it screened in competition at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, many critics were agog at Battle’s opening and closing scenes of full-frontal fellatio.
The film, a critically acclaimed and aesthetically stunning journey through the labyrinth of life and death in present-day Mexico City, opens theatrically through Tartan Films in February.
Spanish, with English subtitles, Battle in Heaven is presented in anamorphic widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and DTS Surround Sound 5.1. Special DVD features include Behind-The-Scenes documentary, interview with Director Carlos Reygadas, clips from Carlos Reygadas’ 1st film Japon, original theatrical trailer and trailers of Tartan Video’s upcoming releases.
Hamish McAlpine, founder of Tartan Films – which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year in the U.K. – launched Tartan U.S.A. in 2004 with an eclectic and controversial slate of films from established auteurs and up-and-coming filmmakers. Recent Tartan releases include 2004 Cannes Grand Jury Prize Winner Oldboy, the sincerely creepy A Tale of Two Sisters and Michael Winterbottom’s controversial 9 Songs. Upcoming releases include Yoji Yomada’s The Hidden Blade and the final film in Park Chanwook’s “Vengeance Trilogy,” Lady Vengeance. Tartan Video is distributed exclusively by TLA Releasing. For more information, visit TartanVideoUSA.com.
Battle in Heaven
Tartan Video
Genre: Drama/Foreign
Rating: Not Rated
Language: Spanish (English Subtitles)
Format: DVD Only
Running Time: Approx. 98 Minutes (Plus Special Features)
Suggested Retail Price: $24.99
Pre-Order Date: April 4, 2006
Street Date: May 9, 2006
Catalog #: TVD2016
UPC Code: # 842498020166
