The Rare & OOP DVDs site has announced the surprising news that Paramount has abruptly withdrawn Bernardo Bertolucci's 1900 [NOVECENTO, 1976] from the marketplace. The disc, which marked the first-ever release of Bertolucci's five-hour director's cut in America (there was a Bravo channel broadcast of a moderately censored version in the early 1980s), was issued last December and made my own list of favorite DVDs of 2006. It's still in stores, supposedly, so if you find a copy, I recommend you grab it before the eBay sellers snag them all. Speculation is that a graphic shot of Stefania Casini (SUSPIRIA) simultaneously masturbating Robert De Niro and Gerard Depardieu, with all three actors nude and in plain sight, may be the reason for the disc's retraction.
A tip of the hat to Jeremy Richey's always interesting Moon in the Gutter blog for bringing this news to our attention.
