Polish Cinema on Disc

[L.A.]

Wilcze echa (1968)

This Polish western seems to have three different DVD releases. Does any of these releases have English subtitles?

Well, got Propaganda's seria DVD digitally restored edition of this. Unfortunately, it has no subtitles of any kind at all. Same probably goes for the other editions as well.

[videozor]

Faraon (1966)

Comparison:

DVD Best Film (Poland)

2DVD E-M-S (Germany)

Can you provide more details about German DVD?

Thank you!

[Wu.Qinghua]

Here you find some details on the German dvd release (in German only, but it might be intelligible). The reviewer is satisfied with the overall picture quality which seems to be better than the Polish Dvd, but there are German subtitles only ... though there might be an English audio track for the documentary on the second disc:
http://www.ofdb.de/view.php?page=fassun ... vid=154541" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[L.A.]

Piotr Szulkin box

Includes the following films:

Golem
Wojna światów - Następne stulecie
O-bi, o-ba: Koniec cywilizacji
Ga, ga: Chwała bohaterom

Got the set yesterday and did some checking...

First of all Wojna światów - Następne stulecie, O-bi, o-ba: Koniec cywilizacji and Ga, ga: Chwała bohaterom were available separately before.

I imagine it's a racing certainty that it'll recycle the existing single-disc releases...

It's been a while when I saw the single-disc releases but this seems to be the case. But Golem is a new addition to this set. And main features are subtitled in English of course.

Extra features are different this time. The set includes Szulkin's two short films:

Kobiety pracujące / Working Women (1978, 6 min.), no dialogue
Mięso (Ironica) / Meat (Ironica) (1993, 26 min.), with optional English subtitles

[MichaelB]

I've just ordered the Szulkin box, along the fourth Polish Film School box and Xawery Żuławski's Chaos - the latter apparently lives up to its title with a vengeance, but I was very impressed with his second feature Snow White and Russian Red, and it's ludicrously cheap at under 20 złotys - £4.19/€4.79/$6.99 at the current exchange rate.

Snow White is out on DVD too in mid-October, but I've yet to confirm whether it has English subtitles - Empik says yes, while Merlin doesn't mention language options at all. Fortunately, I have a Polish friend who's a huge fan, so at least it won't go to waste if it hasn't.

[Lazertron]

UPS just shipped my order from merlin.pl of four Telewizja Kino Polska boxes from Skolimowski, Konwicki, Holland and Szulkin which brings my collection to six, counting the Zanussi and Kieslowski boxes I bought directly in Krakow.
I already watched the first DVD of the Munk set from Polskie Wydawnictwo Audiowizualne and I really look forward to some outstanding experiences brought by these great Polish directors.

[MichaelB]

A pleasant surprise - the transfer of Mother Joan of the Angels in Best Film Co's fourth 50 Years of the Polish Film School box appears to be a very substantial advance on Second Run's VHS-quality edition. A quick spin through the disc suggests that the image is still a tad soft, but there's plenty of detail, and it no longer appears to be from an analogue tape source. I'll report back in more detail when I've watched it properly.

[menthymenthy]

Well, I finally got hold of the Best Film Co's 50 Years of the Polish Film School box #2, and I've done a quick comparison between Bad Luck in this release, and Facet's release of it.

Best Film (R2) VS. Facets (R1):



As impossible as it sounds, Facets clearly has the better transfer and subtitles. As MichaelB has stated, the Best Film releases are far too contrasty. The stand-alone releases of Ashes and Diamonds and Kanal had the same problem - very mediocre transfers boosted in contrast to appear to be remastered. It makes the viewing close to unwatchable - especially in Ashes and Diamonds, where certain scenes are so dark, it hurts the eyes.

Disappointing, especially for the prices they charge.

[menthymenthy]

\:D/

[Perkins Cobb]

I guess it's a matter of taste, but I have to disagree -- I find the PAL->NTSC conversion in those Facets DVDs not just annoying, but ruinous. I was pleased with all but a few of the transfers in the Polish Film School sets. For what it's worth, here are my notes (which I meant to post back when the discs arrived):

Cross of Valor (1958) very poor, like a grainy cable broadcast
Last Day of Summer (1958) a little soft but OK
Bad Luck (1958) 16:9 good
Eroica (1959) too grainy but watchable
Lotna (1959) mediocre; notable edge enhancement (but the faded color matches the equally poor print I saw recently)
Night Train (1959) a little soft but OK
Goodbye Till Tomorrow (1960) good
Nobody’s Calling (1960) watchable but from a dirty print

... and everything in Box 3 looked fine to me.

[Perkins Cobb]

MichaelB (or anyone else), have you investigated the Janusz Morgenstern films released on the MediaWay label? Looks like nearly all his features from the 60s-80s are available, but Merlin lists no English subs.

FYI, I watched Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired last night, and from the closing credits it appears that Marina Zenovich recorded an interview with the now 86 year-old Morgenstern that was cut from both the film itself and the extensive bonus features (which include nearly all of her many other unused interviews). A shame.

[L.A.]

Two fantasy films directed Jerzy Łukaszewicz:

Przyjaciel wesołego diabła / Friend of the Jolly Devil (1989)
Bliskie spotkania z wesołym diabłem / Close Encounters with the Jolly Devil (1989)

Both available on DVD which will be released on November 4th. Hopefully English subtitles are provided.

[MichaelB]

Two fantasy films directed Jerzy Łukaszewicz:

Przyjaciel wesołego diabła / Friend of the Jolly Devil (1989)
Bliskie spotkania z wesołym diabłem / Close Encounters with the Jolly Devil (1989)

Both available on DVD which will be released on November 4th. Hopefully English subtitles are provided.

It's not looking too promising on that score, I'm afraid, but I'll update if I hear anything definite. I'll be in Poland in mid-November, so I can check out the actual box if need be.

On the other hand, I can now confirm that Xawery Żuławski's Snow White and Russian Red (Wojna polsko-ruska) promises English subtitles on the actual DVD box. It's a birthday present for a friend, so I can't remove the shrinkwrapping, but I've only once come across a Polish release that promised English subs on the box and failed to deliver, and that was on a different label. (Also, I know for a fact that subtitles are available for this film, as I saw an English-subtitled print in the cinema).

[L.A.]

Szpital przemienienia (1978)

The film is set in a psychiatric hospital in early 1940's Poland.

An English-friendly DVD is available in Poland.

[eltopo]

http://www.ofdb.de/view.php?page=fassun ... vid=135545" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[MichaelB]

This looks quite promising - a new label called 'Dobry film polskie', currently featuring three recent titles.

I can't speak for Mr Kuka's Advice (Lekcje Pana Kuki), but I reviewed Splinters and Before Twilight when I saw them earlier this year, and will definitely be buying the latter at least.

[MichaelB]

Quick public service announcement - contrary to claims made here and doubtless elsewhere, Epelpol Entertainment's Blu-ray of Xawery Żuławski's Snow White and Russian Read (Wojna polsko-ruska) does not have English subtitles - I tried the 'Ustawiena' section of the menu and the subtitle button on the remote, but drew a blank both times.

It also only has a 1080i transfer, but I can't say I can really notice the difference on a 42" plasma - it's certainly a huge improvement on the DVD regardless.

On the other hand, where Epelpol's DVD undoubtedly beats the Blu-ray hands down is that it definitely does have English subtitles, despite several retailers not mentioning them (example) - I bought it as an emergency back-up because I was (rightly) suspicious that the Blu-ray box didn't mention them.

(No blame can be laid at Epelpol's door for retailer inaccuracies, by the way - the information on the back of the DVD and Blu-ray boxes is completely correct, including mentioning the 1080i transfer).

UPDATE: Unexpectedly - indeed, almost unprecedentedly for a Polish label - the production featurette on the DVD also has English subtitles. Terrible ones, admittedly, but better that than nothing at all.

[eltopo]

Szpital przemienienia (1978)

The film is set in a psychiatric hospital in early 1940's Poland.

An English-friendly DVD is available in Poland.

Screenshots DVD Vision (PL):

[perkizitore]

Does this have English subs?

[MichaelB]

I haven't found any evidence that suggests it has, and the fact that its RRP (never mind online discounts) is a mere £4.38/$7.12/€4.92 strongly hints at a barebones edition with no subtitles of any kind. Based on experience, I'd expect a subtitled edition to be a good 10-20 złotys more.

[eltopo]

Does this have English subs?

No, this version ( http://en.ofdb.de/view.php?page=fassung ... vid=219701" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) has no subs.

[multivitamin]

Firstly, to all Londoners:

http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event- ... p?ID=10066" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Secondly, there are 2 new boxes released by Kino Polska.

1. Wojciech Marczewski's box: http://translate.google.com/translate?j ... l=pl&tl=en" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; with:

Zmory/Nightmares 1978
Dreszcze/Creeps 1981 (Silver Bear in Berlin)
Ucieczka z Kina Wolnosc/Escape From the "Freedom" Cinema 1990 (ma favourite of him)

2. Radoslaw Piwowarski's box: http://translate.google.com/translate?j ... l=pl&tl=en" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; with:

Kochankowie Mojej Mamy/My Mother's Lovers 1985
Pociag do Hollywood/Train to Hollywood 1987
Marcowe Migdaly/March Almonds 1989

Probably totally unknown director outside Poland made some beautiful, poetic movies portraying simple but eccentric people striving to fulfill their dreams in a bitter-sweet, slightly comedic manner.

[MichaelB]

Sadly, Polart's new disc of Wanda Jakubowska's important The Last Stage (Ostatni etap, 1948) is an absolute disaster - dreadful source print, VHS quality transfer at best, PAL-to-NTSC ghosting and horrific edge enhancement.

It's so bad I'm even ripping it to my MacBook and running various filters on it to try to minimise some of the problems, though I'm not optimistic that this will achieve much.

[multivitamin]

great review of one of the most cult polish movies from the 60. surprisingly found on...popmatters

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/121 ... -of-salto/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Camera Obscura]

That's great news, just read about Konwicki and I'm quite curious about this one. Let's just hope the Polart DVD is watchable.

As of this writing, Konwicki is an octogenarian who still lives in Warsaw.

Seriously, I had to look up what an octogenarian was. Never heard the term in my life. Perfectly makes sense now, but I thought he devoted himself to some obscure Polish arachnid-worshipping cult.