1245 The Mother and the Whore

[spectre]

While it is a shame about this not being released as part of a box set, it does feel like something to celebrate that, after all these years, this masterpiece is finally on disc with English subtitles. Hoping Criterion do have a separate release planned for Mes Petites Amoureuses and the other works.

I haven't been keeping up with the UK rights situation at all, apart from that BFI aren’t doing it (as per a post from last year in their Facebook group) – any chance someone else will be bringing Eustache's films out?

[knives]

Nope. Janus also has UK rights.

[spectre]

Thanks – at least we can expect a Zone B Blu-ray of this in Jan/Feb, with luck.

[CSM126]

The Beaver and the Whore

[nicolas]

I got my copy today and what immediately struck me was that this is the first Criterion release in a long time which doesn’t have the discs made in Mexico. Instead they look like they were manufactured at Sonopress in Germany! That means no scratches - woo-hoo!

The film’s got very good encode in 4K and I’d say it’s as good as Fidelity’s BD encode for Carlotta’s BD. On a couple occasions, David may have occasionally squeezed out a fraction more highlight detail for the BD encode but grain on the Criterion is finer and only very rarely shows hints of blocking (which the FiM encode also does but it’s unavoidable in this case). It’s a great encode and definitely the best way to watch the film. (I still detest the color grade and think it does a huge disservice to the cinematography but this is everything we get for now and I’m already grateful to get to see the film at all).

Criterion’s BD shouldn’t be mentioned. It’s atrocious from start to finish encoding-wise. Heavily low-pass filtered and insanely blocky throughout. This disc should solely be used for the extras. I only meant to sample a minute or two of Françoise Lebrun’s interview but watched the entire thing as it’s very illuminating and beautiful to watch her speak. She is very fond of the new restorations of Eustache’s films and that they’re finally available again.

[Zot!]

4k for this film was a beautiful surprise, but it's sort of soul crushing that the rest of the restored Eustache catalogue is now in perpetual limbo....yet again. I saw a full retrospective in Chicago a scant 25 years ago.

[pistolwink]

Why is it in limbo?

[domino harvey]

Because Criterion is unlikely to release it all given that they already mainlined the film that would anchor such a set

[andyli]

If The Mother and the Whore were only released on blu-ray then I'd start worrying. For now it seems Criterion are just not willing to shell out for a 4K box set for Eustache. The rest could still warrant a blu-ray set. I know there's no precedent for this model but they've only started releasing 4K for three years and a half.

[therewillbeblus]

Just throw the rest of the shorts as supplements for Desplechin’s Comment je me suis disputé... (ma vie sexuelle) and call it a day

[pistolwink]

I just figure that some other company outside of the US will eventually release the whole shebang with English subtitles (as Carlotta did in France, w/o the subs). Or is Criterion the only company with pockets deep enough to do that?

[spectre]

What are the chances of that at this stage? Wondering if I should plump for the Carlotta set and trust in the power of Oppo to get subtitles working, or whether there's any actual reason to hold out hope for an English-subtitled release for Mes petites amoureuses et al.

[Zot!]

I could even envisage a Mes petites amoureuses/Santa Claus has blue Eyes release in my wildest imagination , but have a hard time thinking of a way to do a commercially viable release of the rest of what is a haphazard filmography without the box. The Carlotta is 6 discs….we currently have 1. And our understanding is Criterion own the lot in US and UK.