Palisades Tartan

[Donald Brown]

Tartan Video

[kazantzakis]

Here's the barebones version of their Tartan Video USA site

[Pinback]

From DVD Times:

Morrissey/Warhol Box Set - Flesh/Trash/Heat

A leading figure of 60s underground film-making, Paul Morrissey mixed stylish realism, experimental spontaneity, and sexually frankness. This boxset focuses on three cult favourites which he collaborated on with Andy Warhol and legendary male lead, Joe Dallesandro. FLESH (1968), tells a day-in-the-life of a hustler who�s trying to raise money for an abortion for his wife�s lesbian lover. TRASH (1970) follows the fortunes of a sexually impotent drug user and the trashy characters he encounters on his travels, including his transvestite girlfriend (played by Holly Woodlawn, recently seen in Milwaukee, Minnesota). HEAT (1972), a passing tribute to Sunset Boulevard, features an unemployed TV Western star seeking to make his comeback with an ageing movie star offering her help in exchange for bedroom favours in the bedroom. An insightful documentary about the world of Warhol�s Factory makes up a fourth disc to complete the boxset. Released totally uncut for the first time in the UK.

This is the first in a series of releases from Tartan�s Morrissey collection which also includes the cult classics Blood For Dracula (1972) and Flesh for Frankenstein (1974) - to be released on Tartan�s new Grindhouse horror label - as well as three delirious dramas: Women In Revolt (1971), a satirical look at women�s lib; Madame Wang�s (1981), set in a restaurant where sadists and punk bands hang out; and Mixed Blood (1985), a gritty tale of Brazilian drug dealers. In all, Tartan will be releasing eight titles over the course of the year.

Fans of Blood for Dracula and Flesh for Frankenstein can rejoice...

[peerpee]

The Ozu Box Set 2 has been delayed a month, to March.

[Pinback]

Is it still just two films? Seems a bit odd since the first one had three...

[Steven H]

At least it's retailing for £10 less. Kind of an odd pair though.

[peerpee]

Yeah, I don't really understand their plan with the Ozus. I personally believe it would've been much better to release them separately like they did the Bergmans, Truffaut, etc - but they were obviously afraid of poor sales for some of them.

[Michael Kerpan]

"Green Tea" would be matched much better with "What the Lady Forgot". "Tenement Gentleman" would be a great companion to something like "Passing Fancy".

MEK

[peerpee]

...except Tartan haven't bothered getting the rights for the silents --- Respect to Criterion!

[Michael Kerpan]

... or did they not get any of the 30s films (silent or not)?

Criterion has 'em. But so does Panorama. Let's hope Criterion puts the rights it bought to better use -- and soon.

;~}

MEK

[Steven H]

So are the rights to the silents up in the air in R2?

[peerpee]

R2 = UK, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, blah blah.

No, the silent rights aren't in the air for R2.

As far as I know, the silent rights are available for R2 UK. Everything upto THERE WAS A FATHER is free.

The thing is, with no scores, and Criterion working on them... what's the incentive for anyone else to spend tens of thousands on them?

[ellipsis7]

CC seems to be going beyond the 12 films limit - good news. It's been a while since the last Ozu release - maybe a boxset or two would be in order...

Tartan's TENEMENT GENTLEMAN/GREEN TEA is very interesting but probably not the most compelling combination of the Ozu oeuvre. GREEN TEA would be definitely my preferred title of the two (also relates to EARLY SPRING) but strange that Derek Malcolm contributes commentary to the other, a lesser work in my reckoning...


Tartan's own website now gives release date for Ozu #2 as Monday 30th May 2005

[Steven H]

The thing is, with no scores, and Criterion working on them... what's the incentive for anyone else to spend tens of thousands on them?

I understand. Just hope Criterion comes through on this.

[bcsparker]

This might be a niche question, but what the hell -

I've seen copies of Tartan's The Hillside Strangler lying around my local Blockbuster. Can anyone recommend it? Is it factual? I've read about the case. And these were the guys that made Gacy, so I don't know....

[reaky]

Whatever happened to Tartan's release of Tirez Sur Le Pianiste? This was announced about a year and a half ago, kept getting pushed back, and God knows what the release date is now (or if there is one any more). Last time I waited this long for a DVD was the AE Vigo collection.

[Donald Brown]

Reported today by DVD Times:

Tartan Video's Paul Morrissey boxset has been postponed because the director himself has become personally involved in the project. With all three films (Flesh, Trash, and Heat) all being fully passed uncut for the first time in the UK, Tartan plans on making its boxset the very best possible.

Newly mastered prints will ensure maximum picture quality and sound, whilst Morrissey is making a whole series of extras available to include in the package. These will include some short films, deleted scenes, and fascinating behind-the-scenes footage of life in The Factory. In addition, negotiations are underway to access commentaries and voice-overs.

While all the materials are being sourced and approved, Tartan has postponed the release date. It is hoped that the boxset will be rescheduled for a July release. Full details will be announced nearer the time.

[Lino]

Hmm... let's see if they can top this one (which incidentally won a prize at Cannes that year for best DVD production, no less)

[Pinback]

DVDAnswers reports that Tartan Video have issued the following statement about their recent UK R2 Wong Kar-Wai releases:

Tartan Video has issued a statement in response to critism of its recent Wong Kar-wai titles. Here's what they have to say:

As Wong Kar-wai fans and long-time consumers of DVD product it is most likely that you are already aware of the fact that Tartan Video’s recent releases of ‘As Tears Go By’, ‘Days of Being Wild’ and ‘Chinese Odyssey 2002’ contain Mandarin language audio tracks.

During the production phase on ‘As Tears Go By’ and ‘Days of Being Wild’, Tartan Video made many enquiries regarding the technical specifications of the materials it was delivered, but was continually advised that no Cantonese audio tracks were available and that these versions should be considered definitive. Thus the decision was taken to release the films in Mandarin.

In light of recent critical reactions to the DVDs and - of far greater significance to the company - a high rate of customer feedback Tartan Video is left in no doubt that, in the case of both of these films, the Cantonese versions are considered to be the ‘originals’, and we are now trying to obtain the films in Cantonese.

However, in the case of the Wong Kar-wai produced ‘Chinese Odyssey 2002’, there seems to be some confusion. All of Tartan Video’s pre and post-release correspondence with the agent responsible for materials, confirmed that the film was originally shot and released in Mandarin and that the any Cantonese variation is actually dubbed. More significantly, Tartan Video has received the following statement from Wong Kar-wai himself, confirming that the version it released was actually created and approved by him:

“There is minimal difference between the two versions [of A CHINESE ODYSESSY 2002] released in Greater China and the international version. The only difference is the addition of two scenes - one featuring director Jeff Lau making an appearance as a cop while the second is a scene involving characters played by Tony Leung and Faye Wong. Both scenes were not in the original script. They were added during shooting of the film to increase the festive element as A CHINESE ODYSESSY 2002 was released at the Chinese New Year time period. With the consultation of the director Jeff Lau, we decided to take out both scenes to preserve the vision of the filmmaker. I hope your consumer in UK will find this satisfactory. Best regards WKW.”

Tartan Video takes the issue of quality control very seriously indeed, and is currently in lengthy discussions about securing new and alternate source materials where appropriate. Please be assured that every effort is being made to ensure that a satisfactory resolution to this problem is reached as soon as possible.

Tartan Video would like to take this opportunity to apologise that its DVD releases of ‘As Tears Go By’ and ‘Days of Being Wild’ did not meet with the approval of all who bought them and to reassure its loyal customers that if we can obtain a Cantonese version of either film then we will operate a ‘new-for-old’ exchange scheme for those customers who would rather own the Cantonese versions. We will not, obviously, be releasing a Cantonese dubbed version of ‘Chinese Odyssey 2002’.

Please watch this space for any further news and developments.

Thank you for your attention and understanding.

[ellipsis7]

That's good news... Hopefully they can port in the DD5.1 Cantonese soundtrack on DAYS OF BEING WILD...

[colinr0380]

That is great about the Chinese Odyssey disc. It shows that they consulted with the director. My one question is, having not seen the disc, did they put any of this information on the disc that was released, mentioning about the different versions and the consultation that they had done? Was it in the liner notes or text screens on the disc? If it was that would give both the critic and consumer a complete picture of how the film is the correct version, and also would be a good selling point for the Tartan disc - Criterion are not shy to mention how fully restored some films are, or how much effort have been put into putting out the correct version - Tartan should do the same. Because I can't help getting the feeling that an outcry could have been prevented if the information had been made available, and it seems that Tartan are only telling people this in response to criticism, rather through a policy of being proud of producing the best DVD version of a film.

Also, as I said before having not seen the Chinese Odyssey disc yet, does it have the scenes as extras? That would be a great bonus feature, perhaps associated with a couple of text screens detailing why they were inserted for the other version and where they would have fit into the film, and a copy of Wong Kar Wai's letter (assuming he gave permission, or course).

[Harold Gervais]

Hopefully my copy of A Tale of Two Sisters should arrive today or tomorrow. Phone was quite good in that spooky & atmospheric asian way. I've also got my eye on the Tartan R2 set of Oldboy.

[ben d banana]

Are you in North America? Old Boy is getting a theatrical release by Tartan USA so I'm assuming an R1 DVD will follow.

[Pinback]

The specs for Tartan's forthcoming UK R2 release of Wong Kar-Wai's 2046 have it listed as 1.85:1 aspect ratio, despite the film being shot and shown in 2.35:1.

Is this a printing error, or are Tartan about to mess up another WKW UK release?

[dvdane]

It is a misprint. Tartan is releasing "2046" in 2.35:1 (16x9).