Fact is : maybe the people who downloaded the Naruse boxset liked it so much they found it was in fact a interesting box to buy, and went to buy it. Or, even better, they found out that MoC were real good at what they're doing, and went to buy 5 or 6 of their releases.Felix wrote:I wonder how many actual sales MoC lose through downloading, no matter how many copies are downloaded. I doubt that such people would buy the discs, regardless of price or format. The Naruse may be an exception due to the strategy of releasing the films as a box and the associated pricing. Some may then have downloaded, checked them out, and decided they did not wish to proceed with buying; those people may have bought at least one DVD had they been released as stand alone discs. FFS, the vast, and I mean vast, majority of people out there have never heard of Naruse, however important he may be in Japan or on fora like these (the vast majority are only vaguely aware of Ozu or Mizoguchi). I have said before that I thought it was the wrong strategy but I also acknowledge that it is Nick running the label, not me, and what do I know about running a DVD label.
I did eventually buy both sets and would buy another but I waited until I saw them a lot cheaper online before I did dip. For the record, I do not download so have no pony to ride here (though I could do my own covers, etc, as I do repackage some legitimate releases if I do not like the cover or can find better information online to do my own booklets.) And if we are talking of lost sales, where do libraries fit in, or people who buy second-hand?
And you're also right with libraries and second-hand. Plus, I would say that they can carry a lot of piracy too ("I rent, I copy, I give back / I sell in second-hand") but there, how could anybody know ?
But, you're unfortunately right, Naruse is not, with Mizoguchi, Ozu and Shinoda, a well-known Japanese-filmmaker. Honestly, the cliché would be to say that only Kurosawa is a mainstream Japanese--classic filmmaker, but I think it's pretty accurate.
And, as I was saying, I think that this is the main point. It's a problem of culture, of education. If people would know at first who is Naruse and how good are some of their movies, maybe more people would start considering watching some of them. And then, they will discover what is this collection of DVD, Masters of something, the brand with all the old movies nobody knows about.
I'll probably be ordering the Naruse box set in the next few days, if that means anything. I found out that buying directly from Eureka is even cheaper than that Amazon Marketplace link I showed you.
