DVD and Blu-ray releases

If I Want to Whistle I Whistle (Artificial Eye, cert 15, DVD)

A young guy is on the verge of getting out of prison. Can he make it through the last two dangerous weeks? Thematically reminiscent of British kitchen sinkers, this excellent Romanian drama knows how to set up expectations and then confound them.

The Monk (Metrodome, cert 15, DVD)

The medieval mindset is the subject of this French thriller starring Vincent Cassel as a pious cleric being tested to destruction. One for the home cinema system, this is high gothic film-making at its most lush, orchestral and sinful.

Damsels in Distress (Sony, cert 12, DVD)

Whit Stillman’s first film since 1998 and he’s up to his old tricks with a comic drama about hugely entitled, up-themselves college kids. Give it time – the spectacular archness eventually matures into something absurdly feelgood.

Donkeys (Soda, cert 15, DVD)

Wee but very well done, this bleak and black Scottish comedy about an old guy making peace with his family gives James Cosmo a chance to show what an excellent actor he is.

Faust (Artificial Eye, cert PG, Blu-ray/DVD)

This is Russian auteur Aleksandr Sokurov’s take on Goethe’s play about a man selling his soul to the devil. And he’s gone and made it an expressionistic pastiche of Pasolini-style euro arthouse, all distorting lenses and boomy dubbing. Bizarre.

The Island President (Dogwoof, cert E, DVD)

A fascinating documentary about President Nasheed of the Maldives, part one detailing his rise from political exile, part two his increasingly desperate attempts to get some traction at the Copenhagen Climate Change Accord in 2009 – the Maldives are only 1.5 metres above sea level.

Marley (Universal, cert 15, Blu-ray/DVD)

From Touching the Void director Kevin Macdonald, the definitive documentary on Bob Marley gets access to everyone still alive to paint a more flawed, complex portrait of the reggae superstar.

Box Sets

Borgia (StudioCanal, cert 15, DVD £29.99)

Not to be confused with the Jeremy Irons Borgias (plural), this French/German co-production created by Tom (Oz) Fontana hacks through the same territory, has lashings of sex, lots of violence, is well cast and delivers plot, intrigue and historical detail.

Wilfred Seasons 1&2 (Fabulous, cert 18, DVD £49.99)

The rougher Australian original which the US version (starring Elijah Wood) follows also stars Jason Gann as Wilfred, a man in a cheap dog suit determined not to let his mistress enjoy any sort of life that doesn’t include him. Disturbing.

Classic Taggart: The Mark McManus Collection (Go Entertain, cert 12, DVD £19.99)

Seven episodes from the amazing 30 year history of Taggart, all starring original guv’nor McManus (who died in 1994), the copper whose “there’s been a muh-duh” still echoes down the years.