Satantango (Artificial Eye & Facets)

[kekid]

Facets are a mystery to me. Someone in that organization clearly has a passion for film. They publish monthly newsletters from which I have learned of the existence of films on DVD that I would not have otherwise known. They select important films to release. With this as the backdrop, I cannot understand why they would not do what it takes to release this material in the best possible form. Think about this: if everything that came out in R1 under the Facets logo was produced with the quality of the now-defunct HVE, they would be one of the most important lablels around. Someone should write to them to awaken their conscience!

[mbalson]

By now it's a given that Facets and Water Bearer(Pasolini) are two of the worst DVD production companies in the world that actually own the rights to outstanding material.

[MichaelB]

Facets are a mystery to me. Someone in that organization clearly has a passion for film. They publish monthly newsletters from which I have learned of the existence of films on DVD that I would not have otherwise known. They select important films to release. With this as the backdrop, I cannot understand why they would not do what it takes to release this material in the best possible form.

Well, I completely understand and sympathise with the inescapable fact that "the best possible form" often involves one hell of a lot of money and hard work, and given the extreme obscurity of much of Facets' catalogue it wouldn't be realistic to expect that they make much money out of individual releases...

...but that's no excuse for basic technical sloppiness such as painfully out-of-sync subtitles. It doesn't cost any extra to get them in sync in the first place, and it would have transformed my experience of watching Pearls of the Deep out of all proportion to the effort at their end.

And while I'm less affected by their prices than people on their side of the Atlantic (believe me, I'm taking full advantage of the $2:£1 exchange rate while it lasts!), they should be taking a leaf out of Second Run's book - they also clearly don't have the money for a full-scale clean-up job, but even when working from substandard materials they're conscientious about quality control and they charge very reasonable prices for the end result. If Facets adopted them as role models, I'd applaud.

[BrightEyes23]

this may belong in the facets thread, but i agree about the painfully out of sync subtitles...The Fifth Horsemen is Fear's subtitles were a bit of a strain to keep up with being out of sync, and they dampered an otherwise amazing film viewing for me.

[criterionsnob]

From Jonathan Rosenbaum's latest Cinema Scope column:

Some readers of this column have been asking me periodically if I know what's been holding up Facets Video's long-awaited DVD release of Béla Tarr's Sátántangó (1994). Having asked Tarr himself about this at the Toronto film festival, I got an answer that isn't at all surprising, given how exacting and uncompromising he is about every particular of his art: he's been rejecting every transfer submitted to him for his inspection for not being good enough.

[miless]

From Jonathan Rosenbaum's latest Cinema Scope column:

Some readers of this column have been asking me periodically if I know what's been holding up Facets Video's long-awaited DVD release of Béla Tarr's Sátántangó (1994). Having asked Tarr himself about this at the Toronto film festival, I got an answer that isn't at all surprising, given how exacting and uncompromising he is about every particular of his art: he's been rejecting every transfer submitted to him for his inspection for not being good enough.

well, maybe this will mean Facets will have to lease it to someone capable of delivering what Mr. Tarr expects. Am I worng to dream of a Criterion release? (alongside re-issues of Werckmeister, Damnation and everything else, for that matter... maybe even The Man From London)

[Oedipax]

Good for Tarr. I wonder if he also was involved in approving the three films of his they already released?

[sidehacker]

I think so. From what I remember, the transfer for Almanac of the Fall is actually quite good, maybe even Facet's best. Everything else is fairly mediocre/standard for Facets. Maybe he just doesn't care about those earlier films? Then again, the transfers for Werckmeister and Damnation aren't that great either.

[MichaelB]

I think so. From what I remember, the transfer for Almanac of the Fall is actually quite good, maybe even Facet's best. Everything else is fairly mediocre/standard for Facets. Maybe he just doesn't care about those earlier films?

I have the Hungarian DVD of Family Nest, and while it's certainly better than the Facets (going from the Beaver's screencaps), once you've sidelined the advantages of optional subtitles and a native PAL encode, the end result isn't THAT much better.

The bottom line is that this film was shot in black-and-white 16mm over five days by someone with no formal training and a barely subsistence-level budget, so it's always going to look pretty rough.

[JanPB]

From Jonathan Rosenbaum's latest Cinema Scope column:

Some readers of this column have been asking me periodically if I know what's been holding up Facets Video's long-awaited DVD release of Béla Tarr's Sátántangó (1994). Having asked Tarr himself about this at the Toronto film festival, I got an answer that isn't at all surprising, given how exacting and uncompromising he is about every particular of his art: he's been rejecting every transfer submitted to him for his inspection for not being good enough.

This doesn't make much sense. The Clavis edition of Sátántangó has very noticeable digital artifacts, yet here it is.

Jan Bielawski

[MichaelB]

This doesn't make much sense. The Clavis edition of Sátántangó has very noticeable digital artifacts, yet here it is.

Maybe the Facets contract has a clause requiring filmmaker approval and the Clavis one doesn't?

[Rich Malloy]

Price-break news: I've had AE's "Satantango" in my amazon.co.uk cart for about a year now, and it finally received its first price reduction yesterday... down to £10.97.

[Adam]

Just saw Satantango projected at LACMA yesterday. Marvelous as always, and very few walk-outs - I think people know what they were in for.
This print though is pretty scratched up - definitely been around the block (or the world) a few times.

[backstreetsbackalright]

very few walk-outs - I think people know what they were in for.

I'd hope a glance at the runtime would help.

[MichaelB]

This print though is pretty scratched up - definitely been around the block (or the world) a few times.

I can't believe there are too many 35mm English-subtitled prints out there - did it ever open commercially in an English-speaking territory?

(It certainly didn't in Britain, where screenings can still be counted on the fingers of one hand)

[Adam]

This print though is pretty scratched up - definitely been around the block (or the world) a few times.

I can't believe there are too many 35mm English-subtitled prints out there - did it ever open commercially in an English-speaking territory?

(It certainly didn't in Britain, where screenings can still be counted on the fingers of one hand)

I would think there is probably one English-subtitled print around. Ian (at LACMA) did thank Film Magyar, so the print might have come from Hungary along with all the others. (Think of the shipping!) It could have been the same print that the American Cinematheque screened ten years ago, for all we know. But the print of "Werckmeister" was pretty nice.

[alfons416]

The hungarian distributor (Magyar Filmunió), got at least 2 english subtitled 35mm prints of sátántángó. i've been in contact with them a some years ago about aranging a screening of it in my town.

[miless]

The hungarian distributor (Magyar Filmunió), got at least 2 english subtitled 35mm prints of sátántángó. i've been in contact with them a some years ago about aranging a screening of it in my town.

and which town is this?

[alfons416]

It's Göteborg in Sweden, but even though they gave me a good deal it never got any screening.

[tavernier]

From Facets rep:

Satantango is coming in July.

This DVD will have tons of extras (including the Hungarian television version of Macbeth by Bela Tarr). Satantango has been restored extensively and this version was put together with the close cooperation of the director.

It is going to be a fantastic version of the film.

[miless]

I'm actually really excited. I would gladly pay the $70 or so to see 9+(?) hours of Béla Tarr Whenever I see fit. I hope this means that this will be a good transfer.

[John Cope]

Even if it isn't you still have the AE edition. Meanwhile, I guess I'll have to get this if they're actually going to put Macbeth on there.

[miless]

I wonder how a film shot on video from 1982 will look (especially from Facets)

I am also hoping that 'restored extensively' means that they have done a new telecine. I really hope that this will be 16:9 (it's my one complaint with all of the AE 1.66:1 titles)

[AlexHansen]

I wonder how a film shot on video from 1982 will look (especially from Facets)

Probably comparable to their edition of von Trier's Medea.

[MichaelB]

It's a pretty safe bet that it'll be a PAL-to-NTSC conversion...