317 The Tales of Hoffmann

[exte]

Could you be a bit more technical, I'm not sure what you mean...

[Gordon]

How can be certain that Studio Canal are the the creators of these transfers? Couldn't they simply be licensed from Studio Canal by Criterion?

About the Transfer
The Tales of Hoffmann is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1. On widescreen televisions, black bars will appear on the left and the right of the image to maintain the proper screen format. This new high-definition digital transfer was created on a C-Reality with Oliver Electronic Wetgate processing from the British Film Institute's 35mm restoration internegative, under the supervision of the film's camera operator, Freddie Francis. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System. To maintain optimal image quality through the compression process, the picture on this dual-layer DVD-9 was encoded at the highest-possible bit rate for the quantity of material included.

I'm probably wrong, but I don't think that there is an Oliver Electronic Wetgate in the USA - there is one in London and one in Paris.

MTI (Mathematical Technologies Incorporated) are based in Providence Rhode Island. I have always wondered: Do Criterion use the MTI Digital Restoration System software in-house or do MTI themselves undertake the refurbishing of the video images? Colour-correction is not part of the MTI system, so this might not be relevent. At the end of the day, someone at Criterion has to approve the transfer.

[Narshty]

Freddie Francis, a major cinematographer (and a not-so-great director, admittedly) worked as a camera operator on Hoffmann and supervised this new transfer. I'd be very trusting of his eye as far as colours are concerned.

[viciousliar]

Well, I must say I'm intrigued and baffled at this information. I'm still awaiting my DVD, but in one of the screencaps David provided - one of the actors' complexion appeared as pallid as flour. Was really this how it was supposed to register??

[Narshty]

Nothing about that screencap looks especially "off" to me. He's clearly meant to look pasty with his grey hair and white ruffles.

[zedz]

I was thinking that the blue / green discrepancy David's made so glaringly obvious should be able to be sorted out, so I looked through the stills, lobby cards and Heckroth designs on the disc and was frustrated to find no reference for them. The stills for that sequence are all B&W, and I couldn't see any obvious references in the Heckroth gallery. Can anybody track down other contemporary sources?

If anybody's in an educational institution in the UK, they can view clips from the film on the bfi's website here. Not that this will necessarily be conclusive if there are radically different prints in existence.

[glueman]

I challenge any or all of you to take a trip to New York the next time the recent US resotration is playing there and tell me if the Studio Canal print is not wrongly color balanced.

If you live in, say, Europe you might just want to check whether you're an eidetic before you rush out and do this.

[Narshty]

One thing Cardiff, nor Powell would ever have allowed was the inclusion of green and red in any scene other than an onimous or conflictual one - and this alone - thus the screamingly wrong green turban and makeup and the Helena Rubinstein lippy in the SC Baracrolle scene are right off.

I'm not calling you a liar, but I'd be interested to know your source for this claim.

[Theodore R. Stockton]

I don't know what "ripping" means, but not only does the disc go wierd at the point I mentioned before but also it freezes halfway through the short and returns to the introduction menue.

[Lino]

DVDtimes review

Neglected for many years, The Tales of Hoffmann was restored by the British Film Institute in the early 1990s and it is this restoration which is the basis of Criterion's new DVD of the film.

[Lino]

I was wondering if maybe Powell and Pressburger were fans of Disney's 1940 magnum opus, Fantasia. I mean, just looking at this capture below, I'm instantly reminded of The Nutcracker Suite segment of the Disney film:



Not to mention the fact that 4 years later, Powell would direct a short called The Sorcerer's Apprentice which is also a segment of Fantasia. Having not read anything about this direct influence or not, can anyone shine a light on this strange resemblance/homage?

[tryavna]

I don't know anything specific about Fantasia, but Powell was a huge fan of Disney's cartoon features in general. He and Scorsese say as much on the commentary track for Black Narcissus -- something about how Powell appreciated Disney's cinematic language and envied the total control over the material that a cartoonist can have (as opposed to a live-action director). So I'd say it's a fair bet that Powell's love extended to Fantasia, too.

[Lino]

More evidence:



If truly Powell was a Disney fan, that would explain a lot. Fantasia was also a non-narrative film much in the way like Hoffmann is so it wouldn't surprise me if a thing or two was borrowed from the earlier Disney film. I would however appreciate some words of wisdom thrown in here for good measure.

[tryavna]

I would however appreciate some words of wisdom thrown in here for good measure.

I guess my previous post doesn't count as "words of wisdom"....

But seriously, you need to revisit Scorsese and Powell's commentary for Black Narcissus. They talk about the Powell-Disney connection several times.

[Lino]

Sorry, didn't mean to put you down... Whom I'm hoping to hear something more about this is from David Hare, perhaps. I'm sure he knows plenty more .

[ben d banana]

Yes, but any of us who've paid any attention to the extras on previous Criterion discs, or read books on P&P can easily tell you yes, he loved Disney.

[tryavna]

Or perhaps you just ought to specify that you'd rather read conjecture than receive information (with source cited)....

[kinjitsu]

Powell mentions his admiration and respect for Disney in his autobiography, A Life in Movies, though frankly, he has more to say about Alfred Hitchcock than about Walt Disney. However, there is a reference to Fantasia in the filmography re: the short ballet film, The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1956), which was "based on the story used as the basis of Paul Dukas's scherzo, which accompanies Disney's version in Fantasia, although Powell's film owing nothing to either." Powell also cites Disney along with Charlie Chaplin and Hitchcock, as being three great artists who "saved the film business from going completely off the rails in my time, three great humanists as well as great craftsmen..."

There is no mention of Tinkerbell!

[Lino]

Thank you. That is what I was looking for. And that is not Tinkerbell on the Disney capture - I believe it's a sprite or something of the sort.

[Narshty]

This is odd - the original BBFC classification listing runs at just over 140 minutes. Where have the missing 13 minutes gone since? The IMDB lists the complete version as 138 minutes and claims it once circulated in 16mm rental prints. I can quite believe that Powell & Pressburger made the cuts themselves just before release after having watched it with an audience, given that it would be truly bizarre for British Lion to submit the film for classification in a version they weren't willing to release. Still, it would be interesting to know if the footage still survives anywhere.

[Greathinker]

These guys must have been doing something right, every film that I see by the archers has an uncanny ability of remaining on my consciousness, even if I'm not enthralled while watching. I rented this film from the library, thinking it was worthy viewing if just for the cinematography, and even though I didn't think it was nearly as captivating as the red shoes/blimp, etc., now that I've taken it back I can't stop thinking about it. I wouldn't believe anyone could call this film uneven, everything works-- it's not filmed opera and it's not a 2-hour red shoes ballet sequence; it's completley on its own and deserves to be considered among the archer's best work.

I see this thread has gotten old, I don't suppose there's been a new release with a different transfer yet? I'm interested in knowing more about this possible problem with the colors.

[viciousliar]

Oh, darling David - would you be an absolute angel and provide a link as to where the Japanese DVD may be readily purchased(if it's still in print)? Anyone with an aesthetic sense should realize that the cheap-looking green should be turquoise. I just don't fathom that most people here have no objections over CC's DVD transfer - after all, they have not yet reached the status of sacred cows - they can still be fallible. Now, really, folks - shame on you, like Snow White once said! -_-

[Gordon]

The Japanese DVD is OOP. I had it in my posession, but I sold it just before the Criterion came out.

The color timing issue is troublesome and I wonder where the answer lies. I don't know what to say really. Chris Challis was a Technicolor technician before working as a cinematographer and he recounts a humourous story regarding keeping the cans of Technicolor stock cool when it shipped over to India for the filming of The Drum (1938, Zoltan Korda) where he pulled focus for Robert Krasker with Georges Périnal as DP. Excellent memoir; very dry and witty and brutally honest at times. Great DP, but much of his best work isn't on DVD.

[Greathinker]

I tend to think you're right David, although from those caps the criterion's skin tones look more natural-- on the LD they look too orange, and the white makeup on one character disappears altogether. Still the green doesn't seem right nor makes sense. It baffles me that we can't find some kind of confirmation on it, posters, memorabilia?

I guess the next chance we'll get is on the Optimum release that is supposedly coming out late this year.

[Lino]

If the Optimum transfer is taken from the recent 11 disc Powell & Pressburger UK set, then you can expect it to be similar if not equal to the current Criterion one. I have it and can confirm it. Blame or praise Studio Canal because they are the ones behind the restoration.