Films set outside the U.S. dominate this week’s new releases.

An overwhelming sadness permeates Jane Campion’s Bright Star, the story of the brief, doomed romance of 19th Century British seamstress Fanny Brawne and dying poet John Keats.

Abbie Cornish, who appears in almost every scene, received the lion’s share of the notices for her portrayal of Fanny and she’s quite good, but so is Ben Whishaw as the great romantic poet who died at 25 thinking himself a failure.

Paul Schneider as Keats’ friend, Mr. Brown, is quite annoying, but the supporting cast headed by Kerry Fox as Fannie’s mother is letter perfect. The rich period detail is exquisite but the film doesn’t play fair with history. It would have you believe that after Keats’ death, Fanny roamed the moors like a madwoman until her own death, but in reality she lived another forty years, married someone else and raised numerous children so she must have had other things to do besides walk up and down the moors mooning about the lost love of her youth.

The DVD includes several making-of documentaries.

Bright Star is available on standard DVD only.

Another poet, Spain’s Federico Garcia Lorca is the subject of Paul Morrison’s Little Ashes. The film follows Garcia Lorca from his college days to his affair with Salvador Dali to his murder by the militia at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. More a series of scenes than a coherent work, the film doesn’t really offer any insight into the minds of Garcia Lorca, Dali or their college chum, future filmmaker Luis Bunuel.

Javier Beltran gives an excellent account of himself as Garcia Lorca, but a pre-Twilight Robert Pattinson as Dali is a mixed bag. His acting is fine, but between the horrid wigs and fake moustache, his appearance is often cartoonish, detracting from the tragic events around him. Like Dali’s art, the film is quite abstract and not for all tastes.

Little Ashes is available on standard DVD only.

Scott Hicks has made his first film in South Australiasince Shine. Called The Boys Are Back, based on a memoir by New Zealand writer Simon Carr, Hicks’ film, which moves the narrative to Hick’s homeland, takes full advantage of the beautiful landscapes of the beaches and vineyards of that part of the country. The results are breathtaking to see. The story, while compelling, suffers a bit in the telling from the flashbacks, fanciful sequences and a bit too much will he, won’t he, in the characterizations. Nevertheless the film is an actor’s showcase, particularly for Clive Owen as the recent widower who over-indulges his six year-old son (Nicholas McAnulty) and has an awkward reunion with his estranged fourteen year-old son (George MacKay) who comes from England for a stay.

You haven’t got a heart if you don’t turn misty-eyed during the climactic scene in London’s Paddington Station.

DVD extras include a fascinating get-together with the actors playing the boys and their real-life counterparts, now 25 and 17.

The Boys Are Back is available on standard DVD only.

Drew Barrymore makes her big screen directing debut with Whip It, a coming of age story revolving around an Austin, Texas roller derby. Ellen Page stars as the teenager passing for a 22 year-old with Marcia Gay Harden and Daniel Stern as her clueless parents and Barrymore, Juliette Lewis, Kristin Wiig and Eve among the professional skaters. Jimmy Fallon is the Master of Ceremonies. It’s a decent time killer, nothing more.

Whip It is available on Blu-ray and standard DVD.

Criterion does its usual classy job with Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy featuring the masterworks, Rome Open City, Paisan and Germany Year Zero along with tons of extras.

All three films are introduced by Rossellini himself, who recorded the introductions in French for TV showings in France in 1963.

The commentary on Rome Open City by Rossellini scholar Peter Bondanella was recorded for the 1995 laserdisc release. Extras include several documentaries on the importance of the film which was made near the end of World War II.

Similar extras are provided on the other two films. Both Rome Open City (aka Open City) and Germany Year Zero, were early DVD releases but oddly enough the Oscar winning Paisan has not previously been available on home video.

Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy is available on standard DVD only.

Major new releases on the TV front include Cranford: Return to Cranford, Damages – The Complete Second Season and Law & Order: The 7th Year.

A beautifully wrought follow-up to 2007’s Cranford, Cranford: Return to Cranford takes its time grabbing hold of you but proves well worth the time in the end. Judi Dench, Julia MacKenzie, Jonathan Pryce, Jim Carter, Imelda Staunton, Celia Imrie and Franmcesca Annis are among those representing the older generation, while Jodie Whattaker, Tom Hiddleston and Alex Etel are the principal younger players. Tim Curry appears in the final sequence.

The emphasis on this two-part follow-up to the six-part original is on the building of the railroad and the coming together of the town. Unlike the first part, in which there was a major death every twenty minutes or so, there are only two in this, including one that is, oh, so very deserved.

Cranford: Return to Cranford is available on standard DVD only.

The second season of Damages is engrossing as the first. If you haven’t seen the show and are watching it for the first time on DVD, I recommend you set aside enough time to watch all thirteen episodes in one day. You won’t be able to sleep until all the pieces of the puzzle, make that several puzzles, are put together.

Glenn Close, Rose Byrne and Tate Donovan are once again the hard edged litigators this time involved a case that includes corporate double-dealing, government cover-ups and of course, murder. William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Timothy Olyphant and James Naughton join the previous season’s villain, Ted Danson, with Tom Aldredge repeating his role as Close’s elderly henchman.

Once again nothing is as it seems, but the loose ends are tied up more neatly than in the first season with several unresolved mysteries from that season coming to an end as well.

Damages – The Complete Second Season is available on standard DVD only.

Carey Lowell joins Jerry Orbach, Benjamin Bratt, Sam Waterston, S. Epatha Merkerson and Steven Hill for Law & Order: The 7th Year which initially ran from 1996-1997. I say initially because like every other year of the now twenty year-old megahit series, it has run repeatedly in syndication.

The show has been slow in finding its way to home video compared to its spin-off Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which has released its first ten seasons to DVD. This is only the eighth year of the original series to be released. The fourteenth season, Orbach’s last, was released out of sequence.

Law & Order: The 7th Year is available on standard DVD only.