A number of stirring documentaries have landed on DVD, led by a fascinating look at Bob Dylan (which also airs in two parts Monday and Tuesday on PBS) and last year's documentary Oscar-winner, "Born Into Brothels."
"No Direction Home: Bob Dylan" (Paramount, 2005, not rated, $29.99). Prolific filmmaker Martin Scorsese directed this 3 1/2-hour American Masters production, which ranks right up there with his earlier musical documentaries, "The Last Waltz" and the PBS miniseries "The Blues."
The focus here is less on Dylan's personal life than on his prolific early career, from 1961-66, when he became a leader among protest and folk singers but then famously turned his back on the genre and his fans. There are the expected interviews with fellow performers, but there's also never-before seen concert footage — and, most surprisingly, Dylan himself talking pretty openly about his career and life at that time.
This is great stuff for music fans, and especially for those who worship Dylan — but even those with just a passing interest will find much to savor.
Extras: Full frame, live TV and concert performances, promo spot, optional English subtitles, chapters.
"Born Into Brothels" (THINKFilm, 2004; R for language, drugs, violence, nude photos; $29.99). Photographer Zana Briski was chronicling life in Calcutta's red-light district when she decided to teach nine kids living in brothels how to take pictures.
The result is this film, which allows the children to tell their own heartbreaking stories and open the door to a lifestyle and area of the world that is quite foreign to most of us. Each child is personable; seeing them express themselves through photography is fascinating and each story is wrenching.
Extras: Full frame, audio commentaries (one with filmmakers Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski; one with the kids watching selected scenes), deleted scenes, making-of featurette, excerpt from TV's "Charlie Rose," Oscar-show excerpt, photo gallery, trailers, language options (English, Bengali), optional English subtitles.
"Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story" (Anchor Bay, 2005, not rated, $19.98). Another sad but engrossing tale is this story of Emile Griffith, the six-time world-boxing champion who killed an opponent, Benny Paret, in the ring on live television in 1962. The story is exacerbated by the fact that hours before the fight, Paret had taunted Griffith with anti-gay remarks.
In addition to the effect this had on Griffith, and Paret's family, the movie also examines how the event changed the world of boxing in ways that still resonate today.
Extras: Widescreen, audio commentary (by directors Dan Klores, Ron Berger), deleted scenes, outtakes, optional English subtitles, chapters
"James Dean: Forever Young" (Warner, 2005, PG, color and b/w, $19.97).
"James Dean: Sense Memories" (Warner, 2005, not rated, color and b/w, $14.97). "Forever Young" goes beyond most James Dean biographies by including a wide array of his TV performances, in addition to his well-documented films. These old black-and-white, mostly live-TV productions are instructive for what they say about the era as much as they are an observation of Dean's early acting talent.
"Sense Memories" is mostly talking heads, albeit artistically filmed (often in black and white), but the anecdotes related by those who were colleagues of or friendly with Dean are often amusing and always interesting. Among them are Mark Rydell, Martin Landau, Eartha Kitt, and others.
Extras: Widescreen and full frame, chapters.
"The Sixties: The Years That Shaped a Generation" (PBS/Paramount, 2005, not rated, color and b/w, $24.99). This exploration of the late 1960s looks at such hot-button issues as civil rights, the Vietnam War, free love, sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. The faces who have things to say about these subjects are mostly familiar, and there's plenty of old newsreel footage and lots of photographs to supplement the talking heads. For those of us who lived through it, there's also a certain amount of chagrin at admitting that this is history.
Extras: Full frame, optional English subtitles, chapters.
"The Carter Family: Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (PBS/Paramount, 2005, not rated, color and b/w, $19.99). Robert Duvall narrates this "American Experience" look at the lives of singing Carters, from their poor roots in Virginia through 1943 when they wrapped up a long, influential recording career.
Extras: Widescreen, three featurettes on the Carters and guitar music, optional English subtitles, chapters.
E-mail: hicks@desnews.com