Kino: Miklós Jancsó Collection

[Matt]

The films in the Miklós Jancsó Collection are starting to turn up on Kanopy and Kino’s rental/purchase streaming service, Kino Now. The Confrontation, Winter Wind, and Electra, My Love are currently available on Kanopy, all six films are on Kino Now.

[therewillbeblus]

How do they look?

[Matt]

They all look a hell of a lot better than previous DVDs I’ve seen. Very stable, clean images. Contrast and tone on the B&W films look very good, colors look rich but not over saturated or skewed.

[MichaelB]

I can certainly confirm that The Round-Up is a colossal improvement on every DVD that I've seen to date, and I was only sent an MP4 proxy.

[L.A.]

Is the Jancsó set A-locked? Just curious.

[MichaelB]

I don't think anyone's seen it yet, have they?

Anyway, that would be my automatic assumption, but we'll see.

[L.A.]

I don't think anyone's seen it yet, have they?

Anyway, that would be my automatic assumption, but we'll see.

Oh, still forthcoming. Willing to bet it is.

[kekid]

Is there a release date for the Jancso set?
I could not find it on the Kino website.
But I recall a date mentioned somewhere.

[sabbath]

Is there a release date for the Jancso set?
I could not find it on the Kino website.
But I recall a date mentioned somewhere.

May 10th.

[andyli]

I can certainly confirm that The Round-Up is a colossal improvement on every DVD that I've seen to date, and I was only sent an MP4 proxy.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but it appears the video of The Round-Up carries a slight but noticeable yellowish cast. Ironically, the image(s) they used to construct the main menu is perfectly black-and-white.

EDIT: ditto The Red and the Yellowish.

[MichaelB]

The Digital Bits offers up the first review of The Round-Up/The Red and the White package that I've seen.

(No mention of a yellowish cast, and I can't see any such thing in my MP4 proxy, which was presumably sourced from the master they used for the disc.)

[tenia]

I've seen screencaps of both discs and can confirm their encodes isn't pure B&W, hence the issues described above.

[criterionsnob]

Beaver on Two Films by Miklós Jancsó (The Round-Up / The Red and the White)

[swo17]

Looks incredible! It does seem to have a slight tint when compared to the (probably washed-out) Second Run, but in isolation my eyes adjust to it and I only see B&W. Also, the commentaries seem very worthwhile, as I always suspected they would be :-"

[andyli]

I should add that for those who do care about this issue a temporary solution can be easily achieved by pushing a button to de-saturate your display. The other aspects of the video as well as the array of bonus materials are still very worthwhile and I wouldn't suggest passing up this release for this issue alone.

[MichaelB]

My copy has finally turned up, and I'm delighted to be able to confirm first-hand that Electra My Love is from a more recent and much more technically accomplished restoration (2020) than the one that Second Run had to make do with.

And I can also confirm that Red Psalm is correctly framed at 1.85:1, and that cinematographer János Kende is credited as a consultant. (There's been more than one open-matte release of this title, but when Second Run made enquiries, both Kende and indeed Jancsó himself - then still alive - confirmed that 1.85:1 was what was intended.

[MichaelB]

I can certainly confirm that The Round-Up is a colossal improvement on every DVD that I've seen to date, and I was only sent an MP4 proxy.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but it appears the video of The Round-Up carries a slight but noticeable yellowish cast. Ironically, the image(s) they used to construct the main menu is perfectly black-and-white.

EDIT: ditto The Red and the Yellowish.

I've now seen both discs, and while there is indeed a faint - very faint - colour cast, I actually like the effect, and the fact that János Kende is explicitly credited with the grading in the restoration credits leads me to suspect that it's deliberate on his part.

(Granted, Kende didn't personally shoot these two films, but he was DOP on a fair number of other Jancsó features, including the black-and-white one that immediately followed this, so I'd be inclined to trust his judgement here.)

One thing that really can't be emphasised enough is that The Red and the White, which has been notoriously poorly served on home video in the past, looks absolutely phenomenal here. Actually being able to make out fine details, something that earlier transfers simply couldn't manage, makes all the difference.

[ryannichols7]

got mine direct from Kino today and before even watching any of them, I have to remark on how good this package is. I may bust on them a little bit for not having a slipcover or something, but this is a hell of a deal for the $30 I paid for it. really good surprise for including a booklet (!!) with notes on each film. knowing the on disc content is already great only makes this all the better. bravo Kino, please do this for Glauber Rocha and any other upcoming projects you guys are taking on.

now again, if only a certain other US label with a really large film library took note of the business model in order to get their various holdings on disc ..

[L.A.]

Is the Jancsó set A-locked? Just curious.

Got mine and checked; yes it is.

[swo17]

Is Kamerával Kosztromában/With a Camera in Kostroma really a Jancsó short film like Kino suggests? (They include it in a list of "Short Films by Miklós Jancsó.") It's a making-of for The Red and the White and generally seems to be credited to Zsolt Kézdi-Kovács

[MichaelB]

It's a short film about Jancsó rather than one by him. And it is indeed directed by his assistant Zsolt Kézdi-Kovács.

[swo17]

Thanks, that's as I suspected

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

I am holding off on The Round Up in the hope that a UK version might house footage or audio of Jansco's Q&A in London which now feels like another era . If nothing else other than Michael B's commentary I would love to bathe in the dulcet tones of the most incredible translator I have ever experienced.
Michael I know you were there Is this at all feasible?

[MichaelB]

It depends on whether or not it was recorded in any form, but I wouldn’t be optimistic about that.

[TMDaines]

We need more boxsets like this one. Lovely and compact. Very cathartic to replace five DVD cases with this, whilst still getting a sixth feature.