Artificial Eye / Curzon Film World

[fdm]

Does anyone know if Curzon's Flux Gourmet blu has any extras?

A commentary with Peter Strickland and a short film called "Black Narcissus (Passion of the Swamp)" is what I see mentioned in some posts elsewhere.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Thanks - I was worried the film was getting dumped without extras.

[mhofmann]

Can’t check right now but I think it was dumped with non-removable (i.e., burnt-in) English subtitles for the spoken Greek. The U.S. Blu-ray has removable subtitle options.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Oh that's interesting. I think that Shudder streams it with the subtitles burnt-in so I thought it was intended.

[MichaelB]

The subtitles at those points are indeed burned in.

Which makes absolutely no difference to this non-Greek speaker - I wasn't even aware that they weren't optional until you raised it.

[Stefan Andersson]

Any indications as to whether the Blurays included in the 4K Three Colours and Double Life of Veronique sets will be derived from the 4k remasters? Or will they be repackaged Blus of the older masters?

Mods: should there be a separate thread documenting which 4k/UHD releases contain Bluray discs derived from the 4k masters? An overview of chances to upgrade from Blu to UHD-on-Blu would be very useful to us as-yet not set up for UHD.

[rapta]

Any indications as to whether the Blurays included in the 4K Three Colours and Double Life of Veronique sets will be derived from the 4k remasters? Or will they be repackaged Blus of the older masters?

Mods: should there be a separate thread documenting which 4k/UHD releases contain Bluray discs derived from the 4k masters? An overview of chances to upgrade from Blu to UHD-on-Blu would be very useful to us as-yet not set up for UHD.

Not clear yet but the extras on Veronique are the exact same as their previous Blu-ray - with the UHD having the film only (I believe) - so don't think the BD will be the new 4K restoration. Could be wrong of course, sometimes Curzon AE have randomly (sometimes unnecessarily) encoded separate discs for different editions in the past.

[MichaelB]

I can now answer this in detail: the Blu-ray discs included in the 4K UHD package of both The Double Life of Véronique and the Three Colours Trilogy are indeed exactly the same ones as previously released, with the UHD discs containing just the features.

But the bonus disc in the Three Colours box makes up for a lot, containing what I believe to be Blu-ray premieres of full 1080p versions of the WFDIF restorations of several of Kieślowski's best documentaries (previously seen on the DVD-only Kieślowski Dokumentalista Polish release), plus three of his film-school shorts, plus Kazimierz Karabasz's already much-anthologised but here vastly improved The Musicians (1960), plus Piotr Studziński's The Face (1966), a film-school short by a contemporary of Kieślowski that just happens to be a study of Kieślowski's own face.

The Kieślowski films are Tramway (1966), The Office (1966), Concert of Requests (1967), Factory (1970), I Was a Soldier (1970), Hospital (1976), From a Night Porter's Point of View (1977), Seven Women of Different Ages (1978), Talking Heads (1980) and Railway Station (1980) - so not complete, but nonetheless a pretty good survey, all presented in the highest quality that I've seen to date. This is especially true of Concert of Requests, whose previous releases have been woeful (an analogue SD transfer of a well-worn print), but here it looks brand new.

Other bonuses are Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz's affectionate feature-length documentary Still Alive (2005), albeit with a caveat that this version, unlike the one that Arrow put out a few years ago, has burned-in subtitles, including equally burned-in mistakes - for instance, a reference to "Lucia Bozze" rather than Lucia Bosè, which is correct in the Arrow edition (full disclosure: I was the one who corrected the mistakes). But the film's many virtues still ring out loud and clear regardless. The 11-minute In Search of Kieślowski is properly fascinating stuff, doubling as an introduction to the restoration process in general and colour correction in particular, including before-and-after comparisons, presented by Hiventy's Jérôme Bigueur. And then there's eight minutes of Slavoj Žižek on Kieślowski, if you fancy that sort of thing.

[yoloswegmaster]

For the first time ever, this comprehensive collection of the works of the acclaimed, maverick filmmaker Ruben Östlund boasts his complete feature filmography to date. Along with his two Palme d’Or-winning films The Square and Triangle of Sadness, the collection also includes three of his earlier short films, six bespoke invitation cards and an exclusive, specially-created card game endorsed by the filmmaker himself.


6 FILMS | 3 SHORT FILMS | EXCLUSIVE CARD GAME: ÖSTLUND’S ORDINARY DISASTERS | 6 COLLECTIBLE LUXURY INVITATION CARDS


SPECIAL FEATURES

Hard cover box set in a canvas slipcase
6 Feature Films: The Guitar Mongoloid, Involuntary, Play, Force Majeure, The Square, Triangle of Sadness
3 Short Films: Family Again, Autobiographical No. 6882, Incident by a Bank
New masterclass and interviews with Ruben Östlund.
Interviews, making of videos, featurettes, casting tapes and theatrical trailers.

[swo17]

Wonderful! The format isn't entirely clear but I don't see anyone saying anything about 4K, so the Criterion of Triangle could still have some added value

[yoloswegmaster]

It's nice to have discs for the first 3 films and the short films but I've never understood the creation of a director's set when the director himself is still alive and has plans to keep on creating more films. This set also could have been better by focusing solely on his early work and not including the latter 3 films, as they have already been individually released by Curzon (not to mention that it would help to decrease the cost and packaging size of the set).

[Matt]

It’s just a superfan/Christmas cash grab. 1000 copies which will long be sold out by the time Östlund’s next feature comes out.

It’s kind of cute, actually.

[rapta]

Bit of an odd cash-grab. Are there a thousand Östlund fans with £100 to blow, who don't already own some of the films in this set? They did this before with Bong Joon-ho, but at least they offered the earlier films separately too.

I'd personally rather pay twice this and get the Wenders set, which has a similarly too-high price point, but I may consider it eventually just for the sheer number of films (even if a lot of them would be double-dips).

[MichaelB]

I was only persuaded to spring for the Three Colours box when I found about about the bonus disc, which I'd gladly have bought separately if that had been an option.

But it's still irritating, because the recent Kieślowski 4K sets also include upscaled versions of the crap analogue SD versions of the documentaries, which are now completely redundant.

[yoloswegmaster]

Known for his restless technical innovation and rebellious approach, Lars von Trier’s work has confronted taboo subjects and existential problems of the human condition with both thorny, troubled intelligence and puckish humour. Having courted ardent fans and enemies in equal measure during his nearly 40-year career, this extensive collection of works from one of world cinema's most renowned and daring provocateurs features films from his Dogme 95 years (The Idiots, Breaking the Waves) and beyond (Melancholia, Antichrist, Dogville), including the Directors’ Cut of Nymphomaniac.

FEATURE FILMS

Element of Crime (restored)

Epidemic (restored)

Europa (restored)

Breaking the Waves (restored)

The Idiots (restored)

Dogville (restored)

The Five Obstructions

Manderlay

The Boss of it All (restored)

Antichrist

Melancholia

Nymphomaniac: The Director’s Cut - Volumes I & II

The House that Jack Built

SPECIAL FEATURES

Over 12 hours of special features including interviews with Lars von Trier and cast, commentaries, behind-the-scenes, featurettes, casting tapes, extended and deleted scenes, and theatrical trailers.

3 collectible posters and 1 wide poster of the cover illustration by Daniele Castellano

68-page booklet including new essays by Slavoj Zizek, Catherine Wheatley, Steven Ryder and more.

2 Digipaks and hardcover slipcase in a canvas Curzon Collection slipcase

Illustration by Daniele Castellano

Design by Andrew Bannister

[therewillbeblus]

This is really exciting, especially given that it includes Manderlay and also "bonus" films not noted here (I'm not a fan of The Orchid Gardener, but LvT's Medea is my favorite adaptation, and far better than Pasolini's in my mind - though I don't think this is a popular opinion) though I'm hesitant to get too excited given who's releasing it and the apparent botched-job of their recent Wenders set... will have to wait for reviews before unloading these discs

[Grand Wazoo]

Peter Strickland getting the big box treatment including a restored Katalin Varga!

LIMITED EDITION

Step into the weird and wonderful world of Peter Strickland with this comprehensive, limited edition, 6 blu-ray disc collection boasting his complete feature filmography to date: Berberian Sound Studio, The Duke of Burgundy, In Fabric, Flux Gourmet, and Strickland’s debut film, Katalin Varga, available on Blu-ray for the first time.

Also included are more than a dozen short films spanning over 30 years of Strickland’s filmmaking career, from his first forays into music videos to a brand-new short film exclusive to this collection.

Many of these included shorts have never been seen before, and are newly restored, accompanied by a diary-like exploration featured in the editorial booklet, written by the director himself.

FEATURE FILMS

Katalin Varga (2009) - 2K restoration

Berberian Sound Studio (2012)

The Duke of Burgundy (2014)

In Fabric (2018)

Flux Gourmet (2022)

SPECIAL FEATURES

Over 7 hours of special features include:

• Newly restored & never-before-seen short films & music videos
• Interviews • Behind-the-scenes • Commentaries • Deleted scenes
• Featurettes • Theatrical trailers • Collectible posters • A collectible enamel pin



A 48-page booklet including a new essay from film critic Anton Bitel, a piece by Fatma Mohammed (who has appeared in all of Strickland's feature films) on her collaboration with the director over the years, and new writing on his short films by Strickland himself.

RELEASE

Summer 2024

[therewillbeblus]

Awesome news! Though I am getting tired of picking up these surprise box sets for the one exclusive film I don't have on blu-ray yet

[MichaelB]

Much though I'd love Katalin Varga on Blu-ray, it's going to work out eye-wateringly expensive for the likes of me, as I have the rest.

[swo17]

More than a dozen short films though!

[nicolas]

This is great news as I don’t have a single Strickland on BD. I just hope that they nail the encoding once again after the beautiful LvT set.

[DeprongMori]

Fortunately, I’ve only got Berberian Sound Studio, so this is a must for me. Glad I got behind on picking up the other titles that have been in my wishlist.

[senseabove]

Strickland's praising AE/Curzon for being responsive to his calls about this set—and responding to replies—if anybody feels like asking to him to make sure they don't botch the encode.

[ryannichols7]

while this thread is bumped, does anyone know if Curzon hold Werckmeister Harmonies in the UK?

[MichaelB]

They certainly used to, so it's not at all unlikely.