Polish Cinema on Disc

[djvaso]

Old TV series Czterej pancerni i pies has been released in Germany as 7-disc boxset. Unfortunately, it isn't English friendly. There are two editions: standard one and limited edition (royal treatment: Warner Bros. tin case style, T-34 tank model etc. limited to 5000 pieces)

[MichaelB]

There are loads of Polish TV series out on DVD in Poland itself - ones that definitely have English subtitles (personally checked) include the recent Polish immigrants in London drama The Londoners (Londyńczycy), 1960s WWII secret-agent romp Playing For High Stakes (Stawka większa niż życie), International Emmy-winning children's fantasy serial The Magic Tree (Magiczne drzewo) and the extended TV version of Andrzej Wajda's Land of Promise (Ziemie obiecana).

In fact, the latter is available in three English-friendly editions - original theatrical version, "director's cut" (which, for once, is shorter than the original) and extended TV version.

[menthymenthy]

In fact, the latter is available in three English-friendly editions - original theatrical version

Are you sure, Michael? I can't find a third on either Merlin, dvdmax or Punkt44.

But from what I've been told (or at least from what I've gathered from the New Version and TV Version) is that it's the ultimate version (none of the apology of the former or compromise of the latter).

[posto]

Thanks for posting this:

Old TV series Czterej pancerni i pies has been released in Germany as 7-disc boxset. Unfortunately, it isn't English friendly. There are two editions: standard one and limited edition (royal treatment: Warner Bros. tin case style, T-34 tank model etc. limited to 5000 pieces)

This German edition with model tank is a hoot - and the trailer with German dubbing is just a riot. I'm very tempted to buy this special edition.
I have fond memories of "Czterej pancerni i pies" - I grew up in Poland and still remember, as a young kid, waiting for new episodes. Originally this ran between 1966 and 1970, but tv was re-running it to death for many years later.
Common theme was the Polish guys together with Russians were outsmarting and beating the hell out of Germans. Oh, and one of the tank crew was a Georgian - after all Stalin won the war, didn't he. This was fun.
This and "Stawka większa niż życie" were hugely popular tv series in 60's and 70's Poland.

There are many great polish actors in "Czterej pancerni i pies": Janusz Gajos, Roman Wilhelmi, Franciszek Pieczka to name a few.
"Stawka" was directed by Janusz Morgenstern who recently passed away.

[eltopo]

Krzyzacy (1960)

2DVD (Gazeta Wyborcza PL) http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/vie ... cy#p297901" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
vs. DVD (SecondRun UK)

[Perkins Cobb]

A powerful comparison, but where do I buy the Gazeta Wyborcza disc?

[MichaelB]

A powerful comparison, but where do I buy the Gazeta Wyborcza disc?

If my other Gazeta Wyborcza discs are any guide, it may not have subtitles.

[MichaelB]

Incidentally, Second Run is bringing out a quartet of Polish films from 1958-60, using the new Studio Kadr restorations as sources.

More details here.

[Perkins Cobb]

A powerful comparison, but where do I buy the Gazeta Wyborcza disc?

If my other Gazeta Wyborcza discs are any guide, it may not have subtitles.

Right ... I guess I was getting it mixed up with that Blu-ray that never appeared. Sigh....

[MichaelB]

The impression I get is that Gazeta Wyborcza paid for the exclusive rights to distribute a handful of titles (20 or so) in unsubtitled "book+DVD" editions, which is why that whole raft of Blu-ray releases never materialised beyond the three initial releases in mid-2010.

I'm sure they will eventually (given that these are 2K masters, it seems a bit of a waste otherwise), but I don't have any idea of the timescale.

[MichaelB]

Because I need to delve into Jerzy Kawalerowicz's back catalogue for a writing commission, I thought I'd try Polart's relatively new VOD service, since they seem to offer quite a few of his films with English subtitles for a reasonable price.

I experimentally tried downloading Shadow (Cień) for $8.95, and ended up with a one-gigabyte Flash Video (.flv) file, which was easy enough to convert to MP4 so I could watch it on my iPad.

Given Polart's DVD track record, I wasn't expecting to be blown away, and I duly wasn't - the resolution is SD NTSC (which is fair enough), the source obviously an elderly analogue master (anyone familiar with a typical Polart release will expect this), and it's interlaced - though I was able to get round this problem by running it through Handbrake's deinterlacing filter.

The biggest problem is that the bitrate is far too low for this material. One gigabyte is acceptable if the material comes from a good clean source, but I find I need 2 or even 3 gigs to get an equivalent picture from an analogue source - and since this only gets one gig, this means blocky artefacting galore whenever the image combines visual complexity with movement. I ran the original Flash video side by side with my newly-created MP4 on a high-resolution monitor, and while the MP4 looked blockier at first glance, closer inspection revealed that it was just as bad in the original - it's just that the interlacing concealed it.

Still, it's watchable enough for my research purposes, but I'm not sure I'd be wildly impressed if I was planning to blow it up to a 42" plasma.

[Telstar]

When I was in two branches of Empik in Kraków back in April, they seemed to have pretty much everything in stock apart from the specific box I was after (the then newly-released Horrory).

Any ideas on where the Horrory set can be had? Doesn't seem to be available at Merlin.

Update: Found it on punkt44.

[L.A.]

List of Polish films on Blu-ray.

[MichaelB]

List of Polish films on Blu-ray.

That's very useful, but not all of them have subtitles. For instance, Wojna polsko-ruska (Snow White and Russian Red) definitely doesn't.

In fact, it might be worth posting a revised list here, split into four categories:

English subtitles (confirmed first-hand)
• Ashes and Diamonds (Popiół i diament, d. Andrzej Wajda, 1958) - NB: Arrow Academy release has the same transfer but superior extras.
• Austeria (d. Jerzy Kawalerowicz, 1982)
• The Dark House (Dom zły, d. Wojciech Smarzowski, 2009)
• Drowsiness (Senność, d. Magdalena Piekorz, 2008)
• Katyń (d. Andrzej Wajda, 2007) - NB: this is cropped to 16:9, whereas Artificial Eye is correctly framed at 2.35:1.
• Night Train (Pociąg, d. Jerzy Kawalerowicz, 1959)
• Reversal (Rewers, d. Borys Lankosz, 2009)
• We're All Christs (Wszyscy Jesteśmy Chrystusami, d. Marek Koterski, 2006)
• With a Warm Heart (Serce na dłoni, d. Krzysztof Zanussi, 2008)

English subtitles claimed (but not confirmed)
• An Ancient Tale: When the Sun Was a God (Stara baśń. kiedy słońce było Bogiem, d. Jerzy Hoffman, 2003)
• Battle of Warsaw 1920 (1920 bitwa Warszawska, d. Jerzy Hoffman, 2011) - both 2D and 3D versions
• Case Unknown (Enen, d. Feliks Falk, 2009)
• The Double Life of Veronique (Podwójne życie Weroniki, d. Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1991) - I'd favour the Artificial Eye or Criterion releases: this one claims to have soundtracks in either English or Polish, but not Polish/French (!)
• Flying Pigs (Skrzydlate świnie, d. Anna Kazejak, 2010)
• General Nil (Generał Nil, d. Ryszard Bugajski, 2009)
• George the Hedgehog (Jeż Jerzy, d. Wojtek Wawszczyk, Jakub Tarkowski, Tomasz Leśniak, 2011)
• God's Little Garden (U pana Boga w ogródku, d. Jacek Bromski, 2007)
• How Much Does the Trojan Horse Weigh? (Ile waży koń Trojański?, d. Juliusz Machulski, 2008)
• How to Get Rid of Cellulite (Jak się pozbyć cellulitu, d. Andrzej Saramonowicz, 2011)
• Laydees (Lejdis, d. Tomasz Konecki, 2008)
• The Lesser Evil (d. Mniejsze zło, d. Janusz Morgenstern, 2009)
• Love and Dance (Kochaj i tańcz, d. Bruce Parramore, 2009)
• Mall Girls (Galerianki, d. Katarzyna Rosłaniec, 2009)
• Oh Charles 2 (Och Karol 2, d. Piotr Wereśniak, 2011)
• Testosterone (Testosteron (d. Tomasz Konecki/Andrzej Saramonowicz, 2007)
• Time of Darkness (Pora mroku, d. Grzegorz Kuczeriszka, 2008)
• Trick (d. Jan Hryniak, 2010)
• Weekend (d. Cezary Pazura, 2011)
• With Fire and Sword (Ogniem i mieczem, d. Jerzy Hoffman, 1999)
• Zero (d. Paweł Borowski, 2009)
• Zamiana (d. Konrad Aksinowicz, 2009)

No English subtitles (confirmed first-hand)
• Snow White and Russian Red (Wojna polsko-ruska) - NB: the DVD definitely has English subtitles.

No English subtitles claimed (but not checked)
• All That I Love (Wszystko co kocham, d. Jacek Borcuch, 2009) - NB: the DVD definitely has English subtitles
• Czarny czwartek. Janek Wiśniewski padł (d. Antoni Krauze, 2011)
• Don't Lie, Darling (Nie kłam, kochanie, d. Piotr Wereśniak, 2008)
• God's Little Village (U pana Boga za miedzą, d. Jacek Bromski, 2009)
• Kret (d. Rafael Lewandowski, 2011)
• The Suicide Room (Sala samobójców, d. Jan Komasa, 2011) - NB: the DVD definitely has English subtitles
• Superheroes (Ciacho, d. Patryk Vega, 2011) - NB: the DVD definitely has English subtitles
• Wojna żeńsko-męska (d. Łukasz Palkowski, 2011)

(I left out a few titles, because they were cabaret shows, TV series and primarily foreign films like Avalon.)

Not too surprisingly, the overwhelming majority of these films are very recent commercial hits, with tacky (but chart-topping) comedies like Laydees and How to Get Rid of Cellulite much in evidence. But there's some good stuff there too - The Dark House is one of the best recent films I've seen from anywhere (my review).

It's interesting that quite a few Blu-rays don't have English subtitles but their DVD equivalents (often on the same label) do - maybe the rightsholders are being overly optimistic about HD sales to English-speaking territories?

[L.A.]

^ Very good list. Thanks for that!

[Telstar]

Finally got around to watching the bio-doc included on the Aleksander Ford set and was more than a bit surprised to see a small cross on the director's gravestone in Naples, Florida. Most sources make a fairly big deal of Ford's Jewish identity (which seems to have played directly into his banishment from Poland), and I've never heard a peep about him converting, so what the heck's up with the cross?

[MichaelB]

I've just uploaded framegrabs for Second Run's new DVDs of:

• Eroica
• Goodbye, See You Tomorrow
• Innocent Sorcerers
• Night Train

Anyone familiar with previous releases from Best Film Co and Polart may be rather startled by how good these look!

[brzostek]

I can confirm there are two editions of Kuchnia Polska. One had English subtitles and one does not. The Vision edition I have has subtitles.

Scratch (RYSA) is claimed to have subtitles, and it does not. I have tested both the paper case and plastic case versions. Both do not have subtitles.

I have tested two copies of Slodko Gorzki and they do not have subtitles, despite the back saying it does. I know someone in Canada that says his copy has the subtitles, so maybe an edition of this does exist with subtitles.

I have been trying to review every Polish movie with subtitles (but I did do a couple without them).

Here is my website.

I must have over 100 on my "to do" shelf but would be happy to compare notes on which films might have subtitles or not...

[MichaelB]

Second Run's fifth Polish revival of the year (and far from the last, I gather) is also their first reissue - the coincidence of the BFI's DVD of The Devils and the availability of Kadr's restoration of Mother Joan of the Angels proved too much to resist...

[L.A.]

Chopin: Film Motifs

Impressive set.

[MichaelB]

Is that commercially available now? It is indeed an impressive set, but it was originally produced exclusively for embassies and cultural organisations - Jonathan Rosenbaum reviewed it here.

(I was lucky enough to get a copy of my own after the Filmoteka Narodowa sent one to the BFI and it ended up on my desk - fortuitously, only a few weeks before I left!)

[L.A.]

It is indeed an impressive set, but it was originally produced exclusively for embassies and cultural organisations

Yeah, noticed that as well. Well, I sent an email to Filmoteka Narodowa and asked if there's any chance of having a copy. Let's see what happens.

[Calvin]

Is there any word on more Blu-Rays coming out from Pro-Motion? You need a username and password to get into their site now...

[MichaelB]

Is there any word on more Blu-Rays coming out from Pro-Motion? You need a username and password to get into their site now...

I haven't heard anything: their original plans seem to have been torn up when the Gazeta Wyborcza DVDs came out last year, and I'm not aware of any new ones.

[Calvin]

I e-mailed Filmoteka Nardowa regarding the Chopin set and they sent me back a reply (understandably) in Polish. Anyone help me with the translation? Google Translate mentions something to do with a courier and...plates!

Wydawnictwo jest non-profit i jest bezpłatne.

Przeznaczone jest dla instytucji oświatowych i instytucji kultury, jednak w wyjątkowych przypadkach również przekazujemy wydawnictwo osobom prywatnym,

w tym wypadku też tak możemy zrobić, w związku z tym najlepszym rozwiązaniem jest zamówienie przez Pana/Panią kuriera, który odbierze od nas płyty.

Proszę o informację co do ew. kuriera