Facets

[yoshimori]

Yoshimori felt it was a disaster.

My memory - which is, for me at least, confirmed by this comparison - is that the discs were horribly soft and the color timing was impossible. One nice thing about these little movies is Kieslowski's willingness to slather the most fabulously hideously urpy colors across his frames. [The Facets discs are indeed hideous, but in a completely banal way. Whether they deserve yellow or red is, I guess, a definitional and/or subjective matter.]

To my great surprise, when I took the whitewashed Facets transfer to Amoeba Records four years ago, happy just to purify my DVD shelves by banishing the hated discs, they paid me over $150 for them!

btw. Thanks for the work on this thread. I've added a couple of discs to my netflix queue based on various recs.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Some caps from the Forest With No Name disc I mentioned on the last page:

#1
#2
#3
#4

Please note that this film was made in 2002.

And since the picture is only part of what makes this such a lousy disc, I also grabbed a short 18-second sample from the soundtrack, which you can download here (yes, it's an MP3, but I assure you the real thing sounds no better). That hum you hear in the background is present through the entire film, as is the weird phasing. Awful.

[Scharphedin2]

Thanks for the link Yoshimori... the Beaver link that I found earlier did not have all the comparisons. Judging from this, the Warner's release obviously looks miles better than either of the Facets releases. However, I saw these films in the theatre at the time of release, and I could have sworn that the colors in the Warner discs are almost too vibrant (could also be that they showed worn prints in Denmark at the time).

The edition I own is the older Facets/Image release, and from what I can see it at least has a sharper image than the latter Facets release. The Korean disc, I really don't know about.

I of course respect your view on this release, but based on my personal experience, I would still say that the Facets release (that I own) looks acceptable to my eyes, when playing the films.

"Amoeba records"... huh! That is almost too funny.

[skuhn8]

Yeah, there were two releases. I owned both of them. [I made a tidy profit off the first OOP edition the day after I heard that a new edition was in the works....so in the end my current set is pretty much free. Who cares, right?]

Perhaps I am too forgiving with the Decalogue because I understand that it was prepared for Polish TV and I just don't expect cinema quality. That being said I think it is still perfectly servicable. Whether or not they hit Kieslowski's curious color schemes on the head or not I can't vouch. They did a fine job on packaging and even got comments from Ebert who has been a long-standing champion of the collection. I don't know. I certainly would recommend holding out on this one.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

I can't see Menzel's Capricious Summer on Scharphedin2's master list. Any experiences with one please???? It's sitting in my Amazon basket.. Trump or dump?????

[Scharphedin2]

Hi Nabob... in fact it is there, although maybe it is hiding behind the yellow color of the print

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Hi Nabob... in fact it is there, although maybe it is hiding behind the yellow color of the print

Ah yes! Now I've put my 3D glasses on I can see clearly.
Sorry about that oversight. Well,given the review I might just plump for it rather than dump .
Thanks again for your work on this thread.

[Ashirg]

My Name Was Sucky DVD - a shame considering the film is pretty recent.

[Scharphedin2]

My Name Was Sucky DVD - a shame considering the film is pretty recent.

Thanks for the link Ashirg, which I have added to the list. What a real shame. I had never heard of this film, but it sounds really fascinating. Unfortunately, even I would hesitate with this Facets title after reading Svet's review.

On a different note, I finally received my Facets titles last week (the long wait had nothing to do with Facets, btw), and I viewed Valerie and Her Week of Wonders last night. This was a film that I remember speculating about as a teenager, when I was first reading about film history, and coming across some black and white stills from the film. It was really special having the opportunity to see it finally, and it was quite different from what I remember thinking it would be. There are scenes that are gothic, but also moments of lyricism, and even humor. Also, it is clearly a film that would invite many different opinions, and I may go ahead and start a thread on it one of the coming days.

In this thread, we are more interested in the quality of the presentation. And again, I was carried away by the film, and was not bothered by anything, really. The print hardly had any wear in terms of scratches or specks, which I did notice. The subtitles, someone mentioned as being obtrusive, and I suppose they were to the extent that subtitles often are obtrusive... Since it is a full frame film, the subtitles were bound to be in the picture, but I did not find that they were excessively large, and their coloring was pale yellow.

The general look of the film was very much like other Eastern European color films of the late sixties, seventies, and even eighties. The color palette was not vibrant, but not as muted and bleached as some of the stills at DVDBeaver would lead one to believe. In the Beaver comparison, the R2 release looks significantly sharper and more vibrant in image, and I am really tempted to pick that one up as well. However, as I was watching the Facets release (I of course did not have the other release next to the image), and I honestly did not feel that the presentation was severely lacking in either color, contrast or sharpness.

I will leave the title "yellow" in the list, but I for one am happy with this release by Facets. And, of course, the film is a must.

[Scharphedin2]

A few notes about Facets' release of Rene Clement's Bataille du Rail, which I watched yesterday.

The film itself is a small marvel. Clement commenced shooting the film, while the Second World War was still raging on French soil. And, like Rosellini's Rome, Open City, the film not only uses the actual landscape of war as its backdrop, but also authentic railroad workers and resistance fighters as its cast. In many ways it is a staged documentary, depicting the final days of the occupation, as the Nazis were generally making their retreat, while the local resistance was doing their utmost to ensure that the movement of troops and equipment was subject to as much delay and loss as possible.

There are no strong lead characters in the film. Instead, the film follows the various operations of the resistance, at times losing the main characters of a given skirmish in the midst of action, while other characters emerge successful, and are seen again later in the film.

DVD Savant has an insightful review of the film (linked from the master list on page 2 of this thread), and gives a very accurate estimate of the quality of the disc. The print used for the transfer was definitely in very good condition for a film of this age, but it is very dark, or, possibly the transfer to DVD rendered it so -- "contrasty" is what DVD Savant calls it, and I suppose that is a fitting description. It is a film that has many night scenes, and there is clearly a fair amount of detail and definition lost in the murkiness of the transfer.

As much as I would of course love to see the film in a sharper and clearer print, I must say that this reminds me more than anything of seeing older films at the Film Institute. Although the image has few tears or scratches, it looks a little "worn." That said, once I had decided to watch this film, knowing its age, and not expecting a newly restored, pristine looking film, it simply is what it is, just as I know what to expect when I go to see a film at the Insitute.

I had no trouble enjoying the film -- in fact I was too busy enjoying it to really think much about the transfer, until sitting down to write this post, and reading Savant's comments. So, although I would not dare recommend it blindly, I feel (as so often) that it would be a real sad shame to pass up the opportunity of seeing this film.

[Bajaja]

My twopence contribution to Scharphedin2's catalog:

Austeria (Kawalerowicz, 1982) should be coded red - very poor PAL transfer with fuzziness, combing, etc. - but the film is wonderful: both funny and sad, with the great humanistic spirit and the message that is still so needed - that of ethnic and religious tolerance.

Old Believers: Three Films by Jana Sevcikova (Old Believers; Piemule; Jakub) (Sevcikova, 2001/1984/1992) deserves at least yellow, if not green - I do not recall big technical issues with the transfer, although the source material might have been somewhat dated - all three films are atmospheric documentaries or quasi-documentaries in Herzogian fashion - with a lot of spirit, beauty, and quirkiness found among poverty and squalor in unusual locales - actually, Herzog himself appears with Sevcikova in the bonus recording of a festival interview.

Valley of the Bees (Vlacil, 1967) is indeed a must-see film with a very reasonable transfer - I agree with green - although perhaps less sprawling, artful and all-encompassing than Marketa Lazarova or Andrei Rublev, it is dramatically tighter and philosophically sharper (or simpler).

[Scharphedin2]

Welcome to the forum Bajaja, and thank you for your contribution to this thread. I will update the list later this week, when I am on a stronger connection.

[Kirkinson]

Facets' most recent Myspace bulletin:

Date: Aug 16, 2006 1:46 AM
Subject: why most of you are delusional idiots.

1) you think the person running this myspace page for Facets is the one who can get your movie distributed (can you say "AMATEUR"??).

2) You think that because you shot a film anyone will see it or care (regardless of whether you live in LA or not).

3) You do not realize that films whose directors win awards at Cannes have problems with distribution.

4) You do not realize that being good may not matter but being talent less is fatal in indie film.

5) That Troma already exist and have no need of being duplicated.

6) That Bela Tarr is a genius but that you are just dull.

7) That Other Cinema is the home of quirky geniuses and that you and your friends with your camcorders are just high.

8) Kung Fu movies are best left to experts.

9) No one is ever going to be the next Orson Welles.

10) That PolArt release movies from Poland...not movies about poles.

[skuhn8]

Date: Aug 16, 2006 1:46 AM
Subject: why most of you are delusional idiots.

1) you think the person running this myspace page for Facets is the one who can get your movie distributed (can you say "AMATEUR"??).

2) You think that because you shot a film anyone will see it or care (regardless of whether you live in LA or not).

3) You do not realize that films whose directors win awards at Cannes have problems with distribution.

4) You do not realize that being good may not matter but being talent less is fatal in indie film.

5) That Troma already exist and have no need of being duplicated.

6) That Bela Tarr is a genius but that you are just dull.

7) That Other Cinema is the home of quirky geniuses and that you and your friends with your camcorders are just high.

8) Kung Fu movies are best left to experts.

9) No one is ever going to be the next Orson Welles.

10) That PolArt release movies from Poland...not movies about poles.

11) You think that sensation your feeling is of someone with heinously long fingernails tearing about your anal cavity when it is in fact the realization of having bought a facets DVD for over $40 that looks like it was taped off someone's cell phone screen...when you could have gone multi.

[rumz]

This just in:

Satantango releasere-scheduled for November 28.

The new street date for SATANTANGO will be November 28, 2006.

The Facets edition of Satantango is based on a new digital master personally supervised and approved by Bela Tarr, with new and improved subtitles. It is also a complete version which is almost 2 minutes longer than previous editions.

The November 28 release will also be preceded by a national theatrical tour of Satantango, which begins at Facets and tours 6 other American cities.

and those would be:

At noon on Saturday, October 8 at the Wexner Center for the Arts, 1871 North High Street, Columbus, Ohio. For more information visit wexarts.org.

On Saturday, October 21 at the University of Wisconsin Cinematheque, 6038 Vilas Hall, 821 University Ave, Madison, Wisconsin. Showtimes to be set. For more information visit cinema.wisc.edu.

On Sunday, October 29 and Wednesday and Thursday, November 1 and 2 at Cinema Arts Centre, 423 Park Ave, Huntington, New York. For more information visit cinemaartscentre.org.

At 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 19 at George Eastman House, 900 East Avenue, Rochester, New York. For more information visit eastmanhouse.org.

On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, December 7-9 at NW Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave, Seattle, Washington. For more information visit nwfilmforum.org.

(NW Film Forum will also screen Damnation Dec. 1-3 and Werkmeister Harmonies Dec. 14-16).

[toiletduck!]

Fuck Facets, it's going to be at the Gene Siskel Film Center November 10-12.

-Toilet Dcuk

[spencerw]

Beaver's review of Bela Tarr's Alamanc of Fall is now up at http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... f_fall.htm. I'd second his view that this transfer is a good one.

[Ashirg]

Tickets:

A far from sharp but pleasing transfer captures some of the smooth visual consistency of the picture, although flecks become prominent toward the end, perhaps reflecting Loach's preference for the unvarnished. The surround soundtrack peaks early during Olmi's segment, but remains solid all the way through.

[spencerw]

For the sake of comparison, here are the comments of the DVD Times reviewer on the video aspects of the Artificial Eye release of Tickets:

The video transfer of Tickets is simply superb. There are neither analogue marks on the print nor any significant digital artefacts or compression issues. The tone of the film is accurate throughout, capturing the dreaminess of Olmi's section, the ambiguity of Kiarostami's section and the gritty earthiness of Loach's section, all the while retaining a consistent, realistic tone – which is no doubt obligatory filming in the confined space of a real train. These conditions might also account for the slight softness in tone in places and the very European yellowish tone that predominates. Other than a faint bit of macro-blocking, there is however nothing of any consequence here to complain about. This is as good a transfer as you could expect for the film.

From: http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=61220

[Ashirg]

I wonder if Facets used AE's transfer and converted it to NTSC since they rarely can do good transfers themselves.

[zone_resident]

DVDSavant's review of Tickets is now available.

Like Slantmagazine, Savant is happy with the video quality.

[miless]

Maybe Facets decided to spruce things up and look professional while Tarr was around... and as soon as he left they all sighed and went back to shelling out shit. maybe Tarr saw the appaling state of his first three films from Facets and decided to put them straight.

[miless]

Beaver's review of Bela Tarr's Alamanc of Fall is now up at http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... f_fall.htm. I'd second his view that this transfer is a good one.

how is the Damnation transfer from Facets? is it on par with Almanac, or is it shite?

[Subbuteo]

Maybe Facets decided to spruce things up and look professional while Tarr was around... and as soon as he left they all sighed and went back to shelling out shit. maybe Tarr saw the appaling state of his first three films from Facets and decided to put them straight.

Put them straight...I would have fuckin shot them!

[spencerw]

how is the Damnation transfer from Facets? is it on par with Almanac, or is it shite?

I've not seen it myself (I have the very fine AE transfer), but this review suggests it's good. .