MORE NEW RELEASES : Movies

Two highly praised films by French director Claude Berri, “Jean De Florette” and its simultaneously released sequel “Manon of the Spring” (Orion, $89.98 each, 1987, PG), come to video stores today even though they’re still playing in many art houses across the country. These stories of ironic tragedy and revenge among landowners and villagers feature several top French actors, including Daniel Auteuil, Yves Montand and Emanuelle Beart.

Well before Japan’s premier director Akira Kurosawa made his version of Shakespeare’s “King Lear” (“Ran”), he set “Macbeth” in medieval Japan and called it “Throne of Blood” (Media/Cinematheque Collection, $59.95, subtitled). There’s a lot more Kurosawa than Shakespeare in this highly praised 1957 film, which stars Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada and Takashi Shimura.

“Withnail and I” (Media, $79.95, 1987, R) is a wild British comedy about two struggling actors on holiday in the 1960s. Bruce Robinson (“The Killing Fields”) wrote and directed. “World Gone Wild” (Media, $79.95, 1988, R) sounds like it could be a subtitle for “Withnail and I”; instead it’s another one of those post-nuclear-war tales of futuristic terror. Bruce Dern, Catherine Mary Stewart, Michael Pare and Adam Ant star.

For movie lovers who’d like something a little lighter, CBS/Fox has marked down the price of several classic musicals to $19.98, including “My Fair Lady,” “Cabaret,” “Oklahoma,” “South Pacific,” “Hello Dolly” and “Dr. Doolittle.” Meanwhile, the double-cassette “The Sound of Music” has been reduced to $29.98.