Studio Canal / Kinowelt / Optimum

[KJones77]

If StudioCanal are releasing The Nights of Cabiria, why have BFI Video submitted it to the BBFC? Very odd..

Could BFI be doing a Fellini box-set of their own with SC licensing out titles like Nights of Cabiria as box-set exclusives?

[tenia]

The BFI submitted the movie as "film", in opposition to submitting it for "video". The BFI has UK theatrical rights and will show theatrically the movies as part of their Fellini 100th anniversary event this year, while SC will be the ones releasing those on video. The BFI also submitted Juliet of the Spirits, I Vitelloni and La Dolce Vita, for instance.
Nothing new here, since this was announced on Oct 30th 2019.

[ianthemovie]

It looks like this may not have ever been posted about here, but some while back StudioCanal released a 2-disc special edition of The Piano:

DISC ONE Film and audio commentary with Jane Campion and Jan Chapman
The Making of The Piano

DISC TWO Original Soundtrack CD
Alternative artwork poster
Booklet featuring new essays by: Film critic & broadcaster Anna Smith, Screenwriter & critic Kate Muir and Film journalist and Editor-at-large of Empire magazine Helen O'Hara

Has anyone picked this up? (I'm assuming it also includes subtitles for the sign language and Maori dialogue which were criminally left off of the Lionsgate R1 Blu-ray?)

[feihong]

After you pointed this release out to me, I picked it up. I had a previous 2014 StudioCanal release of this blu ray, but to my eyes this transfer looks a bit better (and that transfer looked waaaaay better than the Lionsgate r1). There is a good amount of visible grain throughout, though it's a half-a-shade softer than one would like. In some of the heavily-filtered shots the grain looks a bit softer. The color separation seems improved on the Special Edition than on the 2014 disc. There's an English subtitle track that does seem to translate the Maori dialogue and the sign language. I've not checked the director/producer audio commentary, but I assume it's the same one as on the 2014 SC blu ray. The only new features are the soundtrack to the film on a separate CD, and a feature on the blu-ray called "The Piano at 25." The Making Of is also from the 2014 disc. There is a horrible poster to unfold from the box, look at, be horrified (the art is excrutiating), and stuff it right back next to a booklet with some critical essays on the movie. Not a lot of material in these essays you couldn't just get from watching the movie, I don't think.

I think the only real difference between the 2014 disc and the current one is that the compression looks a hair better. And the Special Edition is super-cheap. It's definitely worth getting, if you are still relying upon the LionsGate disc.

[ianthemovie]

Thanks! I ordered a copy as well but haven’t received it yet. Can’t wait to see that poster!

So if I understand you right, the only way to get subtitles for the Maori and sign language dialogue is to turn on the captions for the whole movie? Why is it so hard for the studios to get this right? Sigh.

[feihong]

That correct as far as I can see about the subtitles. To be fair, I saw this in the theater about 6 times when it came out, and none of the sign language or Maori dialogue was translated there.

[ianthemovie]

That correct as far as I can see about the subtitles. To be fair, I saw this in the theater about 6 times when it came out, and none of the sign language or Maori dialogue was translated there.

That's fascinating. I have never seen The Piano theatrically but have owned multiple home video copies of it going back to VHS in the late 90s, as well as seen it on TV, and all of them prior to the Lionsgate R1 Blu-ray had subtitled that dialogue. I'm not sure what part of the world you're in; could it be a regional difference? It's possible to follow the movie without those subtitles but they add immense resonance, as when Ada explains that she and Flora's father could communicate without speaking (setting up a parallel to the later scene in which Stewart claims to have heard Ada communicating with him telepathically), to take only one example.

[feihong]

I live in Los Angeles. Now that you mention it, I do remember the scene you talk about being subtitled, but I also recall that scene being an outlier. I'll check the disc again to see if they handle that scene any differently than the others.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

FWIW, the script specifies subtitles for some but not all of the non-English dialogue.

[ianthemovie]

What perfect timing--my copy of the Blu-ray was waiting for me when I got home today. I'm happy to report that all of the subtitling appears to have been restored and displays automatically (i.e., even with the rest of the captions turned off). It's a slightly different subtitle translation which I find interesting. (Ex. "It's a coffin. Let the sea bury it" is now rendered as "Push the coffin into the water.") There are some brief moments where Ada's sign language is not subtitled but I believe these were never subtitled in any of the previous versions.

[bad future]

Saw the 4k restoration trailer of Caibiria yesterday at Film Forum and can pretty confidently say that it doesn't seem to come from a new restoration, FWIW. It had scratches on it and pulsing brightness at various points.

I’m assuming this Film Forum trailer is a new, different one? Or does this exhibit all the problems detailed re: the Japanese blu-ray and I just can’t tell (watching it on my phone)? Would be great to know the restoration isn’t a bust after all...

[A Tempted Christ]

Here is a screenshot from JPN Blu-Ray:


And here is the same shot but from the new FilmForum trailer:


I apologize for uploading such big pictures, but I think they will be informative.

[Drucker]

It's bizarre but I swear the Film Forum trailer floating around online is not the one I saw at the actual Film Forum the other week. I am 100% positive there were scratches and pulsing in the picture.

New trailer looks wonderful. Very excited!

[bad future]

I apologize for uploading such big pictures, but I think they will be informative.

It's bizarre but I swear the Film Forum trailer floating around online is not the one I saw at the actual Film Forum the other week. I am 100% positive there were scratches and pulsing in the picture.

New trailer looks wonderful. Very excited!

Thanks! What a strange saga this has been. I wonder if the Japanese Blu-ray and/or earlier trailer were not actually from the new restoration, or if that blu had been unnecessarily messed with, or if additional work was done since then. I assume all the improvements evident here should go for the expected Criterion release? Hopefully also the StudioCanal one? Fingers crossed anyway..

[eerik]

Australian retailer Kicks (who appear to be the equivalent of Zoom in the UK) have listed Verhoeven's Basic Instinct 4K UHD for July, and Kurosawa's Ran for September. If the latter is correct then it should be the existing restoration from 2016, which makes me hope they will also release Mulholland Drive on UHD.

[Adam X]

It says they’re run by Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Australia. Not sure if that has any effect on the films they sell, though they only deliver to Australia.

[eerik]

Indeed, Sony/Universal also run Zoom.co.uk, which I already mentioned, but that's not really the point. If these discs are released in Australia, then they will definitely be released in Studiocanal's European territories as well. Kicks also has Flash Gordon listed for July, which already has at least one listing in France for June.

[Adam X]

Indeed, Sony/Universal also run Zoom.co.uk, which I already mentioned, but that's not really the point.

Didn’t know about the Zoom connection, just thought you meant the type of store, but yeah, I know; but I wrote the post and for some reason didn’t delete it. It was done and I left it that way. :-k

[kekid]

I received "The Elephant Man Collector's Edition" today. Based on the reviews on Amazon UK the quality of the discs is perhaps very good. I did not even get to them, because the packaging was atrocious. The discs are housed on a 3-piece folded cardboard, which in turn is inserted in a fancy sleeve with a popup of some buildings. Once I got the cardboard part out, I could not re-insert it in the sleeve. It is so tight, I am afraid I would damage the inner piece which actually houses the discs if I tried to put it back inside the sleeve. This would be a prime example of "Impressive Impractical Packaging." I wish they used simple functional packaging rather then this flashy, thoroughly dysfunctional packaging.

[domino harvey]

I feel like packaging like that is designed by young artists who don’t actually use physical media

[chatterjees]

the packaging was atrocious.

For a change, I am happy with it. For the first time, the spine of a studio canal box set is not creased up in my collection. I personally think that this kind of packaging saved the outer box from compression from sides and top and the bottom during the shipping. The pop-up of the church was not really necessary, but who doesn't do fancy packaging? Criterion has done this so many times.

[L.A.]

The Green Man (1956) coming May 18th.

[tenia]

I received "The Elephant Man Collector's Edition" today. Based on the reviews on Amazon UK the quality of the discs is perhaps very good. I did not even get to them, because the packaging was atrocious. The discs are housed on a 3-piece folded cardboard, which in turn is inserted in a fancy sleeve with a popup of some buildings. Once I got the cardboard part out, I could not re-insert it in the sleeve. It is so tight, I am afraid I would damage the inner piece which actually houses the discs if I tried to put it back inside the sleeve. This would be a prime example of "Impressive Impractical Packaging." I wish they used simple functional packaging rather then this flashy, thoroughly dysfunctional packaging.

I've seen an Unboxing video, and it seems like a regular digipack except it has a pop-up sleeve. It doesn't look more elaborated than that. It might however be that your copy is on the tighter end of the specs for the packaging, hence why it's so hard to put it back in. The digi on the video seems to slide very easily.
In any case though, I thought I'd favor this digi (because of the booklet, but also because I prefer this quote than the usual one used on the steelbook) but shelf space is going to make me buy the steel instead, I guess.

[kekid]

I appreciate the other users' feedback on The Elephant Man packaging. But for me, it is not just difficult to re-insert the inner box; it is impossible (it had to be pushed out with some pressure to get it out). As has been suggested, perhaps the tolerance on the outer sleeve was too tight for my unit. I had to store the discs in a 3-disc Criterion-type case. I don't know where to put the big fat book. I would have returned the whole thing, but the cost of returning to UK is very high. I have not seen the video, but I have reached the conclusion that if you need a video to explain a packaging, you should re-think it.

[tenia]

Couldnt you simply get rid of the outer case and keep everything else together ? That's what I'd do. I'd probably cut the back cover to keep it though, but it seems much simpler than trying to change the whole packaging.

Note also that I didnt "need" the video to explain the packaging, but that your explanation made it look more complicated to me than it actually is. And I'm more of a visual guy so there's that.