Artificial Eye / Curzon: Andrei Tarkovsky Collection

[thirtyframesasecond]

Has there been any word on the source of the transfers on the Tarkovskys? (Especially Stalker and Mirror, which have never had a decent release anywhere.)

Used to really bug me on the old AE releases that you'd have to change discs halfway through.

[solaris72]

The two I've long been waiting for, Stalker and The Mirror, are up for preorder, along with Solaris.

[rapta]

Has there been any word on the source of the transfers on the Tarkovskys? (Especially Stalker and Mirror, which have never had a decent release anywhere.)

All we really know is that they're new restorations, and they'v been in the works for some time now. These were originally scheduled to be ready for release around the same time last year, but by my logic the longer we wait the better. I hope they will be worth the wait, and if not they're unlikely to all be terrible (in which case one could just buy the ones that aren't terrible and skip the box set).

Something tells me this will be more hits than misses though. Artificial Eye don't generally screw things up that badly, and when they do at least they're still entirely watchable and generally available (even if their initial pricing can be a bit unreasonable sometimes). I hope they announce details of the box set soon!

[Tommaso]

Artificial Eye don't generally screw things up that badly, and when they do at least they're still entirely watchable and generally available

Mostly yes, but I hope nobody has forgotten the disastrous soundtrack on their original "Nostalghia" release (which apparently also made it into their dvd Tarkovsky box set, while there was already a much superior dvd version available on a Czech release). And let's not even start again on how awful their release of Rivette's "Jeanne la Pucelle" is; admittedly, the only release of the full version of the film anywhere, but you simply wouldn't believe how bad a 1994 film can look on dvd unless you've seen that one.

[FrauBlucher]

Nostalghia is up for pre-order. Sacrifice should follow shortly.

[criterion10]

Covers are up for most of the Tarkovsky's:

[swo17]

sorry for the large image sizes

When linking to images from Amazon, just manually adjust the number at the end of the link ("_SL1064_" or whatever) to something smaller like 500.

[Zot!]

Those are really busy, and wind up not really representing anything. I can't tell them apart mostly. If the content is up to par all is forgiven.

[AK]

I like all the covers a lot.

Nice to be able to retire an old enough Italian DVD for Nostalghia that I bought from Italy in circa 2009 for a more random kind of use. Not that there is anything wrong with it, really, and it also has Tempo di viaggio, but... Blu-ray!

[rapta]

I like the Ivan's Childhood one best - in fact, they should've made them all B&W. I can see why they didn't for the last four - and presumably The Sacrifice too - since they're colour films, but I do love a bit of uniformity.

A bit of a missed opportunity, since I loved the covers for the Satyajit Ray, Hal Hartley, Wong Kar-wai titles and thought they might do something like that with these. But I guess they could be worse, and maybe the eventual box set will look a little more handsome - if these discs are a success, I will definitely wait for that.

PS: I wonder if they'll include Tempo di viaggio on one of the discs? And/or the Marker and Sokurov documentaries? AE released them all together on DVD (as 'The Andrei Tarkovsky Companion'), so they could well get those back again for these new Blu-ray editions. Also, I hope they could get a few of Tarkovsky's student films, even if they're not newly restored like the feature films.

[AK]

PS: I wonder if they'll include Tempo di viaggio on one of the discs? And/or the Marker and Sokurov documentaries? AE released them all together on DVD (as 'The Andrei Tarkovsky Companion'), so they could well get those back again for these new Blu-ray editions. Also, I hope they could get a few of Tarkovsky's student films, even if they're not newly restored like the feature films.

You're absolutely right! I've been so psyched about the films themselves that I completely forgot that there's a wealth of excellent material they should/could include as supplements.

[thirtyframesasecond]

There was nothing wrong with the previous AE Tarkovsky covers, don't mess with what works!

[rapta]

PS: I wonder if they'll include Tempo di viaggio on one of the discs? And/or the Marker and Sokurov documentaries? AE released them all together on DVD (as 'The Andrei Tarkovsky Companion'), so they could well get those back again for these new Blu-ray editions. Also, I hope they could get a few of Tarkovsky's student films, even if they're not newly restored like the feature films.

You're absolutely right! I've been so psyched about the films themselves that I completely forgot that there's a wealth of excellent material they should/could include as supplements.

AE aren't always strong on supplements, but hopefully they acknowledge the extreme interest in these Tarkovsky titles and get as much onto these discs as they can afford to.

I think I posted already about this some months back - I noticed the BFI were screening a 'Shorts Programme' at the NFT last October (during their Mirroring Tarkovsky season), and that The Steamroller and the Violin had to be cancelled because of some sort of rights issue (it was replaced with Marker's documentary). I don't know if that's any indication of home video rights per se, but it could lead you to believe that The Killers and There Will Be No Leave Today are slightly more likely to appear on these AE discs than The Steamroller and the Violin...although all three would be ideal!

[MichaelB]

The UK rights to The Killers were certainly available when I made enquiries in 2014, but for a price that I wasn't comfortable with paying. Not only would it have pushed up my budget but I'd also have had to dump all the other extras on Arrow's The Killers discs.

[rapta]

The UK rights to The Killers were certainly available when I made enquiries in 2014, but for a price that I wasn't comfortable with paying. Not only would it have pushed up my budget but I'd also have had to dump all the other extras on Arrow's The Killers discs.

Ouch - sounds a little doubtful AE would go for it then! Unless they don't plan on producing any extras for these.

[FrauBlucher]

With the first couple of Tarkovskys getting released over the next couple of weeks, has there been any word on what type of restoration been done for these films? Surprisingly no reviews or details have surfaced.

[Luke M]

With the first couple of Tarkovskys getting released over the next couple of weeks, has there been any word on what type of restoration been done for these films? Surprisingly no reviews or details have surfaced.

I came here ask to the same thing. Noticed the lower prices on them on Amazon UK and came here looking for early word.

[AK]

With the first couple of Tarkovskys getting released over the next couple of weeks, has there been any word on what type of restoration been done for these films? Surprisingly no reviews or details have surfaced.

I came here ask to the same thing. Noticed the lower prices on them on Amazon UK and came here looking for early word.

Nothing on the early word on the releases, but have to say, those are ridiculously low prices for the films.

[domino harvey]

I could not believe how cheap those preorders had dropped when I logged into my Amazon.co.uk cart. Total no-brainer

[rwaits]

Will the forthcoming box have any extras not included on these individual releases?

[FrauBlucher]

Is there any correlation between the very low prices and barebones releases?

[TMDaines]

Pretty good for pre-order prices, but they'll drop much lower. You'll be able to get them all in a box for £20 within a year's time.

[tenia]

Total no-brainer

I don't know. There is still not a single detailed info available as to the sources used for the movie and what the extras will be (if there will be any).
And I'm even sure we know for sure which cut of Rublev is going to be included.

[Drucker]

Of course, if we learn something negative about the releases before hand, you can cancel before it ships without being charged.

[MichaelB]

And I'm even sure we know for sure which cut of Rublev is going to be included.

I will swallow my right arm whole if it's anything other than the same three-hour cut that Artificial Eye has been distributing for as long as I've been in this business - i.e. the final cut that Tarkovsky personally signed off on.

For starters, if it was the longer "Passion of Andrei" cut, surely it would have been shown at BFI Southbank during their recent all-digital Tarkovsky retrospective?