SONG OF THE MIRACULOUS HIND - Deluxe Edition (4K-UHD) ***Preorder***3/10

SONG OF THE MIRACULOUS HIND (ÉNEK A CSODASZARVASRÓL), 2002, N.F.I. (Hungary), 89 min.  “We are the people of the deer, our dead appear in the form of a deer," proclaims the voice of the great cosmic elk as it descends to earth, in legendary Hungarian animator Marcell Jankovics’ dazzling, multicolored masterpiece, a stunning blend of Ice Age mythology, primordial symbolism, medieval history and mind-bending metaphysics.  His follow-up feature to SON OF THE WHITE MARE, and made during production on his magnum opus THE TRAGEDY OF MAN (recently released by Deaf Crocodile), SONG is Jankovics’ incredibly ambitious attempt to depict thousands of years of Hungarian culture and myth, based in part on early Siberian and Finno-Ugric legends and incorporating Scythian, Iranian and Turkic artistic influences.  Divided into four sections, the film opens in a violent snowstorm, with nomadic hunters stalking deer and woolly mammoth and singing songs of their spiritual brethren – and it ends millennia later, with Géza, Grand Prince of the Hungarians, who helped bridge the gap between Paganism and early Christianity.  Filled with cascading imagery of mythical She-Deer, of legendary brothers Hunor and Magyar, of forest spirits, gorgeous birds of fire and streams of silvery fish, SONG is easily the visual equal of SON OF THE WHITE MARE and TRAGEDY OF MAN in Jankovics’ filmography  As the ancient ballad sings:  "The wonderful hind of their dreams ran ahead of them."  Featuring the voices of Árpád Besenczi, Ildikó Bokor, Róbert Bolla and others.  In Hungarian with English subtitles.

Special Features:

• 4K restoration of the film by the NFI – Film Archive in Hungary.

• First-ever worldwide 4K UHD + Blu-ray release of the film.

• New video interview with the film’s composer Levente Szörényi (of legendary Hungarian rock band Illés) and animator Piroska Martsa, translated by Anna Klaniczay and moderated by Dennis Bartok for Deaf Crocodile.  (In Hungarian with English translation.)

• New visual essay by film historian Evan Chester.

• New commentary track by animation producer and podcaster Adam Rackoff, podcaster and film critic James Hancock, and filmmaker and podcaster Martin Kessler.

• Blu-ray authoring by Vital Passenger.

Deluxe Edition Bonus Content:

• Hard slipcase featuring new artwork by Beth Morris

• 60-page illustrated booklet

• New essay by film historian Jenny Barker

• New essay by film critic Walter Chaw

• Limited to 2000 units