Kino

[SoyCuba]

BEST News this year! I wonder whether this is a port of some forthcoming BFI disc?

I'd say that it might very well be a MoC release. I actually guessed (but posted it on another forum, not here) that this Jarman film might be the 1989 release as there just isn't that many directors with their names starting with "J", at least not many well known. This Kino announcement only increases my suspicions of a MoC release.

[Tommaso]

I'd say that it might very well be a MoC release. I actually guessed (but posted it on another forum, not here) that this Jarman film might be the 1989 release as there just isn't that many directors with their names starting with "J", at least not many well known. This Kino announcement only increases my suspicions of a MoC release.

I never thought about that; but of course this would be the best that could happen. I only hope we will find out before September, I'd hate to have to double-dip here. Nick, what do you say?

[foggy eyes]

I never thought about that; but of course this would be the best that could happen. I only hope we will find out before September, I'd hate to have to double-dip here.

I'd be very surprised if this turned out to be MoC - rights are probably all tied up with the BBC and others. Anyway, I've seen the transfer for the UK disc, but have no idea who will be releasing it (forgot to ask). It was projected via less than optimal equipment, but looked good, clean and accurate. Don Boyd had a hand in supervising the transfer.

[Tommaso]

Ah, that means that a UK disc is coming in any case? Very good, I'd suspect the BFI here, it would fit nicely with their other Jarman releases. In this case, surely more extras than Kino, if only because of a booklet. On the other hand, "Blue" was released by AE which of course makes me less than enthusiastic. Hopefully we'll find out more soon; I wouldn't want to wait too long to finally see this film (on the other hand, I waited about 20 years now...)

[colinr0380]

Ah, that means that a UK disc is coming in any case? Very good, I'd suspect the BFI here, it would fit nicely with their other Jarman releases.

As well as the other film by Isaac Julien that the BFI released, Looking For Langston.

[Darth Lavender]

Just read on a blu-ray forum, Kino has officially announced Metropolis for "some time in 2009"

No specs, of course, so it's a little early for the party hats. (Could be over priced, plagued with ghosting, too fast, or full of those annoying fake English intertitles.)
But, I'm somewhat optimistic. The early scenes of "Phantom of the Opera" on HDDVD showed that there is some room for improvement on older films (several scenes, for those who haven't seen the movie, are deliberately aged to look like footage from 1901) Not much new 'detail,' but it just looks so much more film-like and so much less digital than SD DVD silents.

[HerrSchreck]

Would pal-ntsc ghosting even be an issue here when dealing w HD? My understanding is that preconversion issues are not a problem in HD..

[MichaelB]

Would pal-ntsc ghosting even be an issue here when dealing w HD? My understanding is that preconversion issues are not a problem in HD

Depends on the source, but you're basically right: it shouldn't be an issue if it's been authored properly from a legitimate 1080p source.

[HerrSchreck]

Here's hoping! Anything to save overseas $conversion right now would be a blessing.. though for the other way around its like the US is on sale.

[MichaelB]

though for the other way around its like the US is on sale.

[Darth Lavender]

though for the other way around its like the US is on sale.

Got to second that; it's great shopping from DVDPacific or Amazon and seeing barely any change between US Dollars and Australian Dollars....

As for PAL>NTSC ghosting, that specifically shouldn't be a problem. But, I imagine there's a lot that can go wrong here. Kino might introduce ghosting to account for the frame-rate (seems, with the 20fps, there's four possibilities there; interlaced, sped-up, double-frames or ghosting. Interlaced seems to be the better option, though, and I'm almost certain that's what Kino will go for). What concerns me much more is how they'll handle intertitles. The original release insisted on replacing all these with English, even where shots of monuments, etc. are concerned (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompar ... polis2.htm)
So, I'm cautiously optimistic here. Kino has improved there track record immensely in the past year or so.

[hearthesilence]

EDIT: Never mind, someone beat me to it, but here's what they posted on digitalbits:

we've gotten official confirmation from the good folks at Kino International that they're planning to release Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Wong Kar-Wai's Fallen Angels in high-definition on the Blu-ray Disc format sometime in 2009. The exact street dates and special features are all still to be determined, so we'll follow up with them over the next few months.

Is Metropolis the first silent film to get BD treatment? Wonder if it'll make a huge difference.

[Saturnome]

I have just seen Tramp, Tramp, Tramp after Mike's suggestion for more Harry Langdon (Thank you!). The plot is thin and there's no time for drama, it's mostly Langdon in a variety of situations but it work great. It's not a masterpiece, features nothing astounding, but it got great scenes, though the ending is the best (That Baby!). It was what I hoped, a great use of Langdon's persona and a better film (my opinion) than The Strong Man. Maybe I'm naive, or in a minority, but I'm taking a guess that the fact that it is Capra's first feature and a success made it better known as the "essential Langdon" though it shouldn't.

[railroaded]

Curious announcement or not?

[starmanof51]

Curious announcement or not?

Well I'm pleased. I've not seen the film but would like to. I took the plunge on one of those 20 film public domain packages for about 5 bucks in the current DVDPlanet sale, and it just showed up. Man on the Eiffel Tower was one of the 20, but the print was just awful looking and the color nearly drained, so I'll probably not watch that one. Sad, but I knew what I was getting into - you take your chances. The print of Detour in that collection was surprisingly good for example. Point is, it looks to me like an interesting film with interesting people that needed some saving from PD hell. I'll at least rent it.

[Jonathan S]

The Man on the Eiffel Tower has also been released this week on the UK's Odeon label, but I don't know whether the transfer is the same as Kino will be using - I haven't read any reviews. (Odeon strike me as a bit better than the PD-only labels who normally release this film.)

Until now, the best edition has supposedly been an almost private release from The Great Lakes Cinephile Society - which may sound unlikely, but I've seen most of their silent film transfers and they are surprisingly high quality.

According to Simon Callow's biography (and other sources), Laughton directed certain scenes of Eiffel Tower while the other stars Burgess Meredith (the credited director) and Franchot Tone (also co-producer) did the rest. (Is there any other film directed collaboratively by its three stars?)

Stanley Cortez was the DP and Callow writes that "the film's opening sequence [directed by Laughton] has real flair and menace" - which makes it sound like a rehearsal for The Night of the Hunter. I've only ever seen the final chase sequence (also by Laughton) - an extract on 8mm - which struck me as just an efficient thriller, but I am curious to see the whole film in a good colour print.

[Gloria]

In his autobiography "So far, So good" Burgess Meredith states that he and Laughton would plan the scenes they were going to shoot the day before, so more than "Charles directed this" and "Burgess Directed that", my guess is that there was more of a team-work... And I bet both had one helluva input from Stanley Cortez: his imprint is clear in the film and there are scenes with shadowplay which are pretty reminiscent of Night of the Hunter.

IMHO, there are many scenes with flair beyond the opening scene. The scene where the Burgess Meredith Character discovers the corpse and flees is pretty good, and the scene in the restaurant, with the string band accompanying Franchot Tone's manic delivery is fun. The chase in the Eiffel Tower is neat, too

I have a Spanish DVD, but I'm curious about the Kino one: If it has Anscolor proper, and a good print as a source, I'd be certainly interested.

[Mike Gebert]

I have just seen Tramp, Tramp, Tramp after Mike's suggestion for more Harry Langdon (Thank you!). The plot is thin and there's no time for drama, it's mostly Langdon in a variety of situations but it work great. It's not a masterpiece, features nothing astounding, but it got great scenes, though the ending is the best (That Baby!). It was what I hoped, a great use of Langdon's persona and a better film (my opinion) than The Strong Man. Maybe I'm naive, or in a minority, but I'm taking a guess that the fact that it is Capra's first feature and a success made it better known as the "essential Langdon" though it shouldn't.

I think The Strong Man got classed as Langdon's "masterpiece" because it's very well constructed dramatically (it largely steals the plot of William S. Hart's Hell's Hinges), where the others are sort of randomly plotted. But it's just not as funny as Tramp, Tramp, Tramp. You also can't rule out that it may have simply been more available-- for a long time "everyone knew" that the two Keaton masterpieces were The Navigator and The General, which just happened to also be the only two that the Museum of Modern Art distributed. As others became easier to see, The Navigator slid down the list a bit.

Anyway, glad you liked it. Again, my praise for Langdon is decidedly qualified, but you might as well see him at his best and decide for yourself.

[railroaded]

Art War Requiem:

[gelich]

This news from The Digital Bits:

All right... we've got one last post for you today, because this just couldn't wait until Monday. We've just heard back from our friends over at Kino International. The good news is that they have officially confirmed that the newly-discovered footage from Fritz Lang's original version of Metropolis (which we mentioned yesterday) WILL be a part of the forthcoming special edition Blu-ray Disc release in 2009. What's more, the new special edition will be released on standard DVD format as well on the same day. Watch for more details on this sure-to-be-amazing release in the weeks and months ahead.

[domino harvey]

I doubt that's going to be true. The restorers themselves were quoted as saying it would take a couple years to restore the footage, weren't they? Unless Kino is short-sighted enough to put an inferior transfer on their Blu-ray disc. #-o

[kaujot]

Kino? Putting out a low quality transfer on a Blu-Ray disc? I will never believe that.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

I doubt that's going to be true. The restorers themselves were quoted as saying it would take a couple years to restore the footage, weren't they?

Were they? I confess I can't keep up with all of the articles and writeups out there (I didn't expect this to blow up so big, although I'm pleased that it has), so if they've given a time frame I'd love to see it.

[Tommaso]

No, there wasn't a time frame given anywhere; but their old resto was several years in the making (which is normal for such an ambitious project). Okay, as they already made a full-length study version of "Metropolis" with complete music, theoretically they would only have to cut in the newly found footage in the right places. But the condition it is currently in is pretty deplorable; and if they want to get it anywhere near the look of the rest of the film, it will take hours and hours of work at the computer (and what wonders can be achieved by digital restoration is demonstrated on the documentary that comes with the current "Metropolis" dvd, and I don't think they will want to fall short of that effort). So, 2009 sounds extremely unlikely to me, apart from the fact that FWMS will probably tour the film across Germany and Europe theatrically before they put it on disc.

[HerrSchreck]

Sadly, yes.. true. Can you imagine the media drumbeat?

Deep scratchy voice: "For the first time in eighty years...."

Half second clip of Metropolis.

"Never before seen in __________..."

More teaser clips.

"Restored at last to it's original vision.."

Yadda yadda. Cue balloons.

So yea the theatrical will be real big. There'll be no 'Quick dvds slipping the new footage into the old resto-telecine" being brought out quick. The heads at the Stifting will have too many orgasms 'partaking in history' via the restoration, and put the thing out on tour and do a ton of interviews publicizing the Stiftung and raising money.