Mondo Vision

[David M.]

Hey Pro - all good on this end, thanks!

Mondo Vision will be listing SZAMANKA soon and in the mean time have asked me to share specs and pictures. I believe CriterionForum users are the first people to get all this info.

First up, regarding the commentary: although there is a commentary, Zulawski isn't on it. He said he'd rather not record a commentary for this film. He explains why elsewhere on the DVD, actually. So, instead of forcing him to comment when he didn't feel there was anything to say, the commentary instead consists of Daniel Bird discussing various aspects of the film, with me "chairing". Daniel does most of the talking, being the resident Zulawski-expert.



As well as including the film in original Polish, the SE features:
* the aforementioned commentary
* "Szamanka: A Film Without Masks" - an interview With Director Andrzej Zulawski [22min]
* Interview With Screenwriter Manuela Gretkowska [10min]
* Remastering before/after comparison
* Image Gallery
* 24 Page Booklet Featuring an Essay by Daniel Bird



The LE (limited to 2000 numbered copies) includes everything in the SE plus:

* the LE booklet is 48 pages instead of 24, so it includes the Daniel Bird essay from the SE, plus:
- Exclusive Essay by Video Watchdog's Tim Lucas
- Andrzej, from Amour to Zulawski: Rare Interview With Andrzej Zulawski (April 1997)
- "Cinema Superactivity": Extracts From An Interview With Andrzej Zulawski -- By Daniel Bird & Stephen Thrower (Spring 1998)
* complete remastered soundtrack CD (run time is 65 minutes)
* Six [5x7] Color Reproductions of the original French Lobby Cards
* Individually numbered certificate of authenticity
* Specially Designed Silver Velvet Packaging

[gyorgys]

Thanks David!
Packaging and content, especially of the LE, are incredible. :-#

Anxiously waiting for a pre-order announcement.

[gyorgys]

The Amazon pre-orders of the LE and SE are now available.

[David M.]

September 30, cool!

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

The Amazon pre-orders of the LE and SE are now available.

Ahhhh! Which one to order? Seriously, though, how good is the music in this movie?

[jonsi]

Well, it depends on the individual taste - for me "Szamanka" is one of those movies where picture and music work so well together... this is seldom...

You could watch the following clip to get a feeling for it... but i warn you - it is the end of the movie - so if you have never seen it - avoid it at all costs!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOh_lm-9BAA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[perkizitore]

Possession coming from Second Sight in late October.
Sorry for posting this here, but do we have a Zulawski thread?

[David M.]

Screen grab of the currently available R5 DVD (corrected for 4:3 letterbox pixel aspect ratio):




Some screen grabs from Mondo Vision's SZAMANKA (corrected for 16:9 anamorphic pixel aspect ratio). Last I heard, all is on track for the September 30 release. I think the packaging is being manufactured soon.




[Additional screen grabs:]

http://www.davidmackenzie.me/other/szam ... _2.PNG.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.davidmackenzie.me/other/szam ... _3.PNG.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.davidmackenzie.me/other/szam ... _4.PNG.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.davidmackenzie.me/other/szam ... _5.PNG.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.davidmackenzie.me/other/szam ... _6.PNG.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.davidmackenzie.me/other/szam ... _7.PNG.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.davidmackenzie.me/other/szam ... _8.PNG.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.davidmackenzie.me/other/szam ... _9.PNG.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.davidmackenzie.me/other/szam ... 10.PNG.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.davidmackenzie.me/other/szam ... 11.PNG.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.davidmackenzie.me/other/szam ... 13.PNG.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.davidmackenzie.me/other/szam ... 14.PNG.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.davidmackenzie.me/other/szam ... 15.PNG.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.davidmackenzie.me/other/szam ... 17.PNG.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.davidmackenzie.me/other/szam ... 18.PNG.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Matt]

David, in the interests of bandwidth and post size, I turned your last 15 grabs into links.

[David M.]

Thanks - I should have remembered the old "56k Death!" saying!

[pro-bassoonist]

As expected, the transfer appears to be top-notch.

Good job David Now get to The Blue Note.

Pro-B

[sammy h]

Finally watched The Important Thing is to Love for the first time, and it was amazing. What an incredible movie. It was a blind buy (along with The Public Woman), and it totally delivered. Got to get the rest. I am kinda glad these titles are coming out slowly, in the hope that by the time they get to Possession they'll be doing these in BluRay as well.

[Psicosis]

Has anyone received Szamanka yet? I pre ordered and didn't receive my copy because Amazon lists the item as temporarily out of stock :(

[gyorgys]

Has anyone received Szamanka yet? I pre ordered and didn't receive my copy because Amazon lists the item as temporarily out of stock

I've received an order-revision from Amazon to approve the delay.

[Psicosis]

Has anyone received Szamanka yet? I pre ordered and didn't receive my copy because Amazon lists the item as temporarily out of stock :(

I've received an order-revision from Amazon to approve the delay.

I didn't receive any sort of notification from Amazon concerning the delay, I had to contact them and find out why my order had yet to ship and when they replied I received the standard copy and paste crap. They also claimed "it'll still take some time to get the DVD" so whatever.

[Psicosis]

Is there any news on why Szamanka didn't ship like it was supposed to? Is it behind in production? Perhaps Mondo Vision didn't produce enough quantity to fulfill the demand or something happened concerning the rights?

I'm shocked to see there isn't even a link on Mondo Vision's site to purchase the item from Amazon. This tidbit along with the fact Amazon currently lists the item as not available (even to those who pre-ordered well in advance) is sort of odd.

[gyorgys]

(...)
I'm shocked to see there isn't even a link on Mondo Vision's site to purchase the item from Amazon. This tidbit along with the fact Amazon currently lists the item as not available (even to those who pre-ordered well in advance) is sort of odd.

They always do that, even there was presumably no stock in the first place. Also the SE is "temporarily out of stock". I pre-ordered the LE exactly on the first day of the announcement.
Perhaps David Mackenzie, who did the superb DVD-authoring, knows more (he provided also the pictures here above).

[Cash Flagg]

From DVDTalk:

The printer made an error with the little technical specifications sheet (probably the only piece of these packages I didn't design ), and I heard they're doing a rush re-print of those.

[Psicosis]

From DVDTalk:

The printer made an error with the little technical specifications sheet (probably the only piece of these packages I didn't design ), and I heard they're doing a rush re-print of those.

I contacted Mondo Vision and they told me the title unexpectedly sold out and it would require 4-6 weeks to for the next batch to reach Amazon.

I guess this is a better way of explaining a printing error?

Regardless of what caused the delay I've had the special edition pre-ordered from the moment Amazon made the option available, so I'll continue to wait until my order is fulfilled.

Mondo Vision is an excellent company that produces high quality DVD's and I urge everyone to support their work as you will not be disappointed.

[David M.]

Really, that's the reason? I didn't get mine yet and was wondering what was going in.
I can just see it in 10 years' time on eBay:

"SZAMANKA: Special `messed up technical spec sheet` R@RE edition!"

I'll ask Mondo Vision how big the delay is - hopefully a few weeks at most.

[Psicosis]

Really, that's the reason? I didn't get mine yet and was wondering what was going in.
I can just see it in 10 years' time on eBay:

"SZAMANKA: Special `messed up technical spec sheet` R@RE edition!"

I'll ask Mondo Vision how big the delay is - hopefully a few weeks at most.

Thanks, let us know when you hear back.

[gyorgys]

I contacted Mondo Vision and they told me the title unexpectedly sold out and it would require 4-6 weeks to for the next batch to reach Amazon. (...)

That the first batch of the title was sold out "unexpectedly" lacks in my view any credibility.
Probably closer to the truth is that they, in Davids words, "messed up" the sheet with the technical specifications, which, if true, also testifies to their striving for applying the same accuracy in easily overlooked (minor) details.

[David M.]

Probably closer to the truth is that they, in Davids words, "messed up" the sheet with the technical specifications

Not my words - that was from the packaging side. I have no reason to doubt that though.
Can't wait for my copy either!

[Psicosis]

Probably closer to the truth is that they, in Davids words, "messed up" the sheet with the technical specifications

Not my words - that was from the packaging side. I have no reason to doubt that though.
Can't wait for my copy either!

So we should expect this to ship by mid November?

[David M.]

I would assume so, but I'm not Mondo Vision. Hopefully before.