Search - The Seafarers on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Movie Release: 1951 DVD Release: 12/16/2008 Format: DVD - Color Edition: Restored/Remastered Audio Tracks: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 0 hrs 28 mins Studio: Indian Relay Films Members Wishing: 3 Genres: History, Military & War, Social History

Members of the American Federation of Labor, the Atlantic & Gulf Coast District of the Seafarers International Union commissioned budding filmmaker and magazine photographer Stanley Kubrick to direct this half-hour documentary. Originally released in October of 1953, this short was the director's first film in color. More of an industrial film than a documentary, it basically served as a promotional tool to get sailors to join the union. Since then, it has been released on home video for curious fans of the director. In addition to directing, Kubrick was cinematographer and editor. Presumably, he took the job of making The Seafarers in order to finance his first feature film, Fear and Desire, which was released in the same year. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Most serious fans of Stanley Kubrick's work are aware that he made a handful of short subjects before directing his first feature, 1953's Fear and Desire, but relatively few have had the opportunity to actually see them. From a historical standpoint, Indian Relay Films' DVD release of The Seafarers, an industrial film Kubrick made under commission from the International Seafarers Union not long before beginning work on Fear and Desire, is a welcome addition to the great filmmakers' oeuvre, though the movie itself isn't especially remarkable; elements of Kubrick's visual style can be found if you're looking for them, and there's a dash of insouciant wit here and there, but for the most part this was a work for hire and looks like it. But if this is a marginal work, it comes from a major artist, and longtime fans of Kubrick's work will be able to satisfy their curiosity at last about one of his most obscure works with this release. The Seafarers has been transferred to disc in its original full-frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and while the source print has seen some rough use, the colors have faded only a bit (less than one might expect from a 16mm print more than fifty years old) and the scratches don't distract much from the impact of the image. The audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Stereo, retaining the original monophonic sound mix, and it sounds good for the period, though hardly exceptional. The narration is in English, with no subtitles or multiple language options. As a bonus, this DVD also includes a commentary track from filmmakers and Kubrick fans Keith Gordon and Roger Avary; it doesn't take long for them to run out of things to say about The Seafarers and it ends up being a talk about Kubrick in general rather than this movie in particular, but they both speak about the man and his films with knowledge and a lively enthusiasm. The disc also includes short text interviews with Avary and Katharina Kubrick, Stanley's daughter. Given the fact the film is less than 30 minutes long, this disc doesn't really merit its $19.99 list price, but the rarity of The Seafarers will make this a must-see for longtime Kubrick followers; perhaps now The Day Of The Fight and The Flying Padre will make their way to DVD too. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide