Artificial Eye / Curzon Film World

[eerik]

Can anyone comment on the PQ of the Dancer In The Dark blu from Curzon vs the old dvd? I'm not having much luck finding reviews.

or comparisons to 4Kult UHDs of Dancer In The Dark and Dogville. I'm curious about the decision to release these 2 in both blu-ray & UHD editions (but not Breaking The Waves) in Italy, whereas Breaking The Waves gets a UHD in the Uk but not the other 2.

Breaking the Waves was filmed on 35mm and the new 4K master looks great. Dancer in the Dark and Dogville were filmed digitally at SD and HD resolutions, and weill never look better than that. All three were re-released in Italian cinemas as "new 4K restorations". I assume Zentropa provided new official 4K masters and the Italian distibutors decided to put them on 4K disc, regardless how good the source material looks. (They are also releasing Breaking the Waves on 4K disc)

[eerik]

Can anyone comment on the PQ of the Dancer In The Dark blu from Curzon vs the old dvd? I'm not having much luck finding reviews.

I checked my disc to see if there are any remastering credits and this is at the end of the film:



I am not too familiar with the film itself and this is my only copy, so I don't have anything to compare it against. Quick googling came up with this Reddit post (about a Japanese Blu-ray), which lists a handful of changes and improvements from the previous releases: https://www.reddit.com/r/bjork/comments ... rtainment/

[Zot!]

For the curious, a member of the Zentropa restoration team joined us a while back and answered a few question...see also the video referenced in the thread.
viewtopic.php?p=504655#p504655

What is really interesting in the Dancer restoration team credit posted above is that they seem to have scanned the 35mm IP for the restoration...so some of the natural "bleed" of an SD video image transferred to 35mm will be part of the overall look of the 4K master. While that doesn't add distinct picture resolution in the way of sharpness, a 4K could retain the interesting filmic pointillism this process introduces, much like how a film grain is better preserved on a 4K.

[eerik]

Curzon are currently doing a theatrical re-release of Amélie, and this teaser on Instagram pretty much confirms they will also release it on Blu-ray.

[Calvin]

Curzon will be the home for a batch of Ken Loach films with a new 4K restoration of Land and Freedom showing at Cannes and The Wind That Shakes The Barley, My Name is Joe, Bread & Roses, Sweet Sixteen, The Navigators, and Ae Fond Kiss to follow.

[rapta]

Great news about the above, never thought we'd see The Wind That Shakes the Barley let alone most of those others (though some are Film4, so I thought maybe Indicator or BFI might do them; My Name is Joe, Bread & Roses). Have some fond memories studying Sweet Sixteen in media class when we did social realism, so be nice to revisit that one.

Also worth noting Curzon seem to be theatrically touring 4K restorations of two Tarkovsky titles: Nostalgia and The Sacrifice. Hoping they release those on disc again as they were the dodgier disc releases (I actually refused to buy their Nostalgia BD release, but did eventually get The Sacrifice). I imagine they will be the same restorations Kino released in the US, and I did actually have their Nostalgia 4K release but decided to ditch it as the extras were region locked. I think it'd be sensible to see Curzon release 4K releases of these two, if only to make up for their lacklustre treatment previously.

[eerik]

Curzon are currently doing a theatrical re-release of Amélie, and this teaser on Instagram pretty much confirms they will also release it on Blu-ray.

27th July.

Amazon links:
Limited Edition
Standard Edition

LIMITED EDITION INCLUDES:
- Rigid book box featuring the Bergamottes de Nancy design inspired by the prop from the film
- O-ring featuring new artwork by Javi Aznarez
- 100-page booklet featuring essays, storyboards, maps and other archival materials
- 'The Hunt for Bredoteau' board game - inspired by the film (includes dice and pawns)
- A double-sided poster featuring the original and 25th anniversary re-release designs
- 8 gnome polaroids
- Stickers
- Concertina postcard

ON THE DISC:
- Commentary with Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- An Intimate Chat with Jean-Pierre Jeunet
- Q&A with Director and Cast
- Jean-Pierre Jeunet on the 25th anniversary of Amelie (2026)
- Home Movies - Inside the Making of Amelie
- The Look of Amelie
- Fantasies of Audrey Tautou - Blooper Reel
- Storyboard Comparisons
- Screen Tests
- Teasers
- TV Spots
- Trailers
- English SDH subtitles
- Audio description

[Lowry_Sam]

So this is just another blu-ray, not a UHD?

[eerik]

So this is just another blu-ray, not a UHD?

Correct. As far as I know, the original film elements were either destroyed or lost after the post production, and the film is heavy on special effects anyway. Native 4K release is impossible and nobody seems to be keen on an upscale, even Sony (who are upscaling much lower quality 28 Days Later) didn't do it when they secured the US rights some years ago.

[eerik]

Portrait of a Lady on Fire theatrical re-release announced for the end of the month. I hope 4K UHD disc will follow.

[MichaelB]

I suspect this was in part inspired by the fact that the original UK theatrical release was abruptly curtailed by the Covid lockdowns - it had only just opened when I saw it, and it was my last cinema trip for some time.

(And a weirdly appropriate film given that context, since it's all about longing at a distance.)