Ozu Yasujiro on DVD

[Stefan Andersson]

All or most of Ozu´s color films were released on French DVD several years ago. Has anybody seen them? Comments on A/V quality compared to Criterion, Tartan and Madman are welcome.

[artfilmfan]

It's been a few years since I watched the French DVDs of Ozu's color films. My recollection is that I was not impressed by the video quality. The video quality of the Australian "An Autumn Afternoon" is bad (wrong color, ghosting). The UK DVD of "End of Summer" doesn't look good. Stay a least a mile away from the Criterion "Good Morning".

Among the French/English-friendly DVDs, I recommend getting the Eclipse boxset for "Late Autumn" and "End of Summer"; the Criterion version of "An Autumn Afternoon"; and the Tartan boxset for "Equinox Flower" and "Good Morning". The skins of the people in the Criterion "Floating Weeds" look too red; but at least the picture is not squeezed horizontally as in the UK DVD. The Tartan version of "Late Autumn" looks at least as good as the Eclipse version (and may even be a little better than the Eclipse); however, the "Autumn Afternoon" DVD that comes in the same Tartan boxset is not as good as the Criterion.

[Michael Kerpan]

I think the Tartan Equinox Flower is better than the Eclipse one --otherwise I pretty much agree.

[artfilmfan]

Yep. The Tartan "Equinox Flower" is better than the Eclipse one, a lot better. I hope someday Criterion will release "Equinox Flower" on Blu-ray.

[Michael Kerpan]

Yep. The Tartan "Equinox Flower" is better than the Eclipse one, a lot better. I hope someday Criterion will release "Equinox Flower" on Blu-ray.

It won't be an improvement unless Criterion gets the colors right, however.

[artfilmfan]

Should Criterion decide to release "Equinox Flower" on Blu-ray, based on their track record on Ozu's color films, there is a 50% chance that they'll get the color right

I'm not that crazy about Blu-ray. There are only about 20 - 30 films that I really want on Blu-ray. EF happens to be one of them.

[8140david]

Has anyone watched these Panorama releases? What about their subtitles? And the quality of the picture?
1) What Did The Lady Forget? (Hong Kong Version)
2) Record of a Tenement Gentleman (Hong Kong Version)
3) Passing Fancy (Hong Kong Version)
I'm hesistating to buy them through YesAsia

[Awesome Welles]

Your best bet is to wait for the upcoming BFI discs, see this thread for info.

[MichaelB]

I'd be horrified if the BFI discs were worse than the Panoramas - at the very least, the subtitles should be significantly better.

[8140david]

The thread convinced me: I preordered on amazon.co.uk BFI's first three Ozu releases.
Each time, for about 12£, you get a bluray of a major Ozu title + a dvd of a less known one.
They're supposed to be around in June & July.
I hope for the best!

[Michael Kerpan]

The Panorama releases have been decent enough placeholders while one waited for better releases. But it would seem better releases are indeed on the way.