34 Tropical Malady

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railroaded
Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2008 5:40 am

34 Tropical Malady

#1 Post by railroaded » Tue Jun 17, 2008 3:14 am

Tropical Malady

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Garlanded with awards, Apichatpong’s visionary film exists in dual realms, exploring connected themes of love and desire in a radically different way. A fractured love story is interrupted by a feverish night-time odyssey into the heart of the jungle where shape-shifting spirits and tigers abound.

The conscious and the subconscious, the modern and the ancient, reality and myth; all become magically entwined in this hypnotic, mysterious drama.

A work of striking originality from one of the most singular filmmakers in the world.

Special Features
- Thirdworld - DVD premiere of Apichatpong’s 1997 short film.
- Newly filmed interview with the director.
- New digital transfer approved by the director.
- Anamorphic 16:9 enhanced for widescreen televisions.
- Original Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound option.
- New and improved English subtitle translation.
- Optimal quality dual-layer disc, including Stills Gallery and Storyboard sequence.
- Booklet featuring a new essay by film historian and author Tony Rayns.

rs98762001
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#2 Post by rs98762001 » Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:09 pm

railroaded wrote:Tropical Malady (Sud Pralad) is a masterpiece of contemporary world cinema and cement's Apichatpong Weerasethakul's reputation as one of the most original film directors of the 21st Century. Mysterious and beautiful it is a film of two halves: the first a romance story between two men, the second a tale of a soldier lost in the jungle beset by what might be spirits.
Any word as to whether that's the final cover art? Seems surprisingly bland considering how graphic and unique SR's recent designs have been.

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MichaelB
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#3 Post by MichaelB » Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:24 pm

rs98762001 wrote:Any word as to whether that's the final cover art? Seems surprisingly bland considering how graphic and unique SR's recent designs have been.
I'd say it's a racing certainty that that's not the final cover art.

If I remember rightly, virtually all Second Run's recent releases were initially advertised with a photo-based mock-up, presumably because the likes of Amazon and Play have long lead times.

Rich Malloy
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Audio?

#4 Post by Rich Malloy » Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:38 pm

One of my favorite films of the last few years, and I'm really looking forward to what will hopefully be the best DVD version available. Which isn't saying that much, sadly.

I do have one question/concern about the audio track.

If you recall, the second half of the film in the Thai jungle has a fairly remarkable sound design. I believe I read that Weerasethakul and his sound engineer went on long treks in the jungle to record it.

The Thai DVD features a 5.1 surround track that is both quite subtle at points and quite involving at others, and never less than thrillingly immersive. Unfortunately, the R1 release features only a rather mushy 2.0 track that loses all sense of the jungle around the, um, protagonist. This is particularly unfortunate given the lengths the filmmakers apparently undertook to achieve such am immersive, disorienting, thrilling surround mix.

I do leave open the possibility that the Thai disc was somehow goosed into 5.1, and that its effectiveness was sheer luck and not at all how Weerasethakul meant for it to be. But I would be surprised. Very surprised. And I wonder if any others find the the Thai disc's track to be as effective in 5.1 as I do, particularly in comparison to the 2.0 R1 track?

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Bikey
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#5 Post by Bikey » Fri Jun 27, 2008 8:45 am

We are delighted to confirm that the Second Run release will be 5.1

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cgray
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#6 Post by cgray » Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:26 am

Fantastic news! I'll be buying...

Rich Malloy
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#7 Post by Rich Malloy » Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:23 am

I'm thrilled to hear about the audio track, and of course am thrilled generally about this release! =D>

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The Fanciful Norwegian
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#8 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Sat Jun 28, 2008 11:28 am

Disappointing that Malady Diary won't be included -- supposedly there were rights issues that kept it off the earlier DVDs, but I would've hoped those would be resolved after four years. I guess not.

How bizarre is it that Tropical Malady still doesn't have a DVD release in France?

alfons416
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#9 Post by alfons416 » Mon Jun 30, 2008 4:49 am

no plans on including the commentary?

my thai release have a commentary, sadly not subtitled. was hoping to get it subtitled on SRs release

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MichaelB
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#10 Post by MichaelB » Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:46 am

alfons416 wrote:no plans on including the commentary?

my thai release have a commentary, sadly not subtitled. was hoping to get it subtitled on SRs release
Given the costs of translation and subtitling, plus the BBFC's recent decision to start charging for commentary approval, plus the fact that Second Run operates on a shoestring in an ultra-niche market, I wouldn't get your hopes up. (Though I don't know for certain either way).

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What A Disgrace
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#11 Post by What A Disgrace » Tue Jul 01, 2008 5:27 pm

Amazon UK has updated cover art.

First post links directly to Amazon's image, so there it is.

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The Fanciful Norwegian
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#12 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Thu Jul 03, 2008 2:08 pm

alfons416 wrote:no plans on including the commentary?

my thai release have a commentary, sadly not subtitled. was hoping to get it subtitled on SRs release
The R1 release from Strand (which is pretty poor in every other respect) has an English-language commentary (with Apichatpong and Chuck Stephens) that's definitely worth a listen.

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Bikey
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#13 Post by Bikey » Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:44 am

DVD Special features confirmed as:
- Thirdworld: DVD premiere of Apichatpong’s 1997 short film.
- Newly filmed interview with the director.
- New digital transfer approved by the director.
- Anamorphic 16:9
- Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound option.
- Stills Gallery and Storyboard sequence.
- Booklet featuring a new essay by film historian and author Tony Rayns.

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Bikey
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#14 Post by Bikey » Thu Jul 24, 2008 5:13 pm

Just wanted to let you all know that we've had to put the release back by one week to now be 11th August.

There was a Printer's error on the back of the Sleeve which meant that we needed to send the Sleeve back for a reprint. Hope you will bear with us for the extra week.

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MichaelB
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#15 Post by MichaelB » Wed Jul 30, 2008 3:05 pm

Beaver - and it seems like a fair reflection of what I saw.

rs98762001
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2005 6:04 pm

#16 Post by rs98762001 » Thu Jul 31, 2008 2:34 am

Even though the Beaver review claims not to see too much difference between SR's disc and the Region 3, the accompanying caps suggest a different story. SR's seems cleaner and clearer, with better contrast and detail. I am reasonably happy with my R3 Tropical Malady, but I think I'll be upgrading. The cover art is beautiful as always, and the extras seem worthwhile. Anyone seen Thirdworld?

Rich Malloy
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#17 Post by Rich Malloy » Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:29 am

I'm glad you see an improvement - hopefully it's my monitor that makes these shots appear essentially the same.

And I notice that Second Run's transfer has a "flat line" bitrate encode. If the transfers are identical, wouldn't the graph of the bitrates also be?

But I must say that the "flat line" bitrate graph concerns me just a bit. Doesn't this graph indicate the work of the compressionist (or lack thereof), where shots that are essentially static are given a much lower bitrate so that memory is freed up to allow for highter bitrates for shots with more motion (for example, shots up into the jungle canopy with the leaves, branches, grasses waving in the wind)? This concerns me a bit, and I wonder whether the lack of "the compressionist's art" shows up as artifacts in scenes with a great deal of motion in the frame.

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Bikey
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#18 Post by Bikey » Mon Aug 11, 2008 9:48 am



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Bikey
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Re: 34 Tropical Malady

#20 Post by Bikey » Thu May 07, 2009 6:35 am

Screening Tuesday 12th May as part of Close Up film's May programme : http://www.close-upvideos.com/film-prog ... -2009.html

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Bikey
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Re: 34 Tropical Malady

#21 Post by Bikey » Wed Dec 02, 2009 3:19 pm

Apichatpong interviewed in the latest Electric Sheep: http://www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk/ ... asethakul/

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Bikey
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Re: 34 Tropical Malady

#22 Post by Bikey » Fri Dec 18, 2009 6:36 am

Time Out critics choose Tropical Malady at #73 in their '101 Films of the Decade': http://www.timeout.com/film/features/show-feature/9238/

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jbeall
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Re: 34 Tropical Malady

#23 Post by jbeall » Wed Dec 30, 2009 11:57 am

Tropical Malady also made a more exclusive (in quantitative terms, at least) list on this side of the pond:

Stephanie Zacharek's 25 Best Films of the Decade

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Oedipax
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Re: 34 Tropical Malady

#24 Post by Oedipax » Wed Dec 30, 2009 2:23 pm

#8 in Film Comment's decade poll (Syndromes and a Century came in at #4).

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Bikey
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Re: 34 Tropical Malady

#25 Post by Bikey » Sun May 23, 2010 8:13 pm

All of us here at Second Run, and good friend Nick Wrigley too, are happy and delighted to learn that Apichatpong (and the 'spirits') have just walked off with the Palme d'Or at Cannes for his new film UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES. As you know, we love his work and are very proud to have been the first to release Apichatpong's exceptional films on DVD in the UK.

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