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Optimism.

Remember the talk of the two Dusan Mekavejev films for Criterion, I believe these were released by Facets on VHS back in the day, as a 6 film set.

So there's hope for the Godard.

Speaking though, are you sure that KEEP YOUR RIGHT UP was intended for 1:33 ratio?

HerrSchreck wrote:I buy imported MoC's & AEyes & BFI's regularly in NYC at $28-33 MAX.

Sir (or madame) there is no excuse for charging $55-70 for a VHS.

At Kim's, I assume ($28-33). Yeah, that's the right price. Just to make clear, the Facets prices on those imports were for DVD editions, not VHS.

justeleblanc wrote:Speaking though, are you sure that KEEP YOUR RIGHT UP was intended for 1:33 ratio?

I'm absolutely positive. Post-1980 JLG = 1.33 exclusively. What I posted here.

And please disregard the comments of one "Yoshimori," who apparently requires a personal and lengthy phone-call from Jean-Luc himself to convince him of Godard's faith in the ratio.

Yoshimori's not the only one. In fact I'm not sure I'd even trust a lengthy phone call from Jean-Luc himself. If he sticks untruths or exaggerations into his films to have a bit of fun at the expense of people who think he's being dead serious, I'd expect him to do it in interviews/essays as well.

I'm not saying you're not right, evillights. I'm just saying I don't trust anyone who's 100% sure about it, especially when assumptions about what Godard really meant in the Quandt fax are part of the equation.

I'm with spectator bird on this one, but I fall on the "live in/at one time lived in Chicago" side of the gap. For anyone who can't take advantage of the rest of the Cinemateque's facets (e-ha, e-ha), I can understand how the big F can look like a pile of shit.

I have no interest in purchasing a Facets release of any sort. At all. But when I'm looking to rent some obscure VHS long thought to be lost to mildew of some janitor's closet in Denmark somewhere, it's nice to know that they've most likely got my back. Or if I feel like a screening of Miike's "Great Yokai War" (opening August 11th!), I only have to cruise on down Fullerton. And let's not forget that the Makavejev/Criterion announcement was made during a workshop being taught by Dusan at Facets.

So the rest of you outside the City o' Wind are just gonna have to suck it up: Facets isn't for you, it's for us.

-Toilet Dcuk

Kirkinson wrote:Yoshimori's not the only one. In fact I'm not sure I'd even trust a lengthy phone call from Jean-Luc himself. If he sticks untruths or exaggerations into his films to have a bit of fun at the expense of people who think he's being dead serious, I'd expect him to do it in interviews/essays as well.

Oh, come on. I think it's pretty clear where he stands on aspect ratios nowadays.

Kirkinson wrote:I'm not saying you're not right, evillights. I'm just saying I don't trust anyone who's 100% sure about it, especially when assumptions about what Godard really meant in the Quandt fax are part of the equation.

I never should have brought the fax up. It comes down to this: 'Eloge de l'amour' looks cropped at 1.66. It looks open and free in 1.33, and OF AN AESTHETIC PIECE WITH ALL OF THE 1.33 FILMS BEFORE AND AFTER.

It seems to me that in Godard's cinema, particularly of the last twenty-five years, there's been a certain primacy of the integrity of the human form, of bodies, of light, of windows and passageways. A "vertical foundation" to the films' metaphysics. The essay in Cahiers underscored all of this. But on the English-speaking portions of the Internet, a kind of left-brained statistical fetishism rules, in which proof is provided not by one's own instincts or emotional response, but by the "official memorandum," the snoozy audio-commentary, the tidy biography. A weird, tepid, "cautious optimism" creeps into each debate, a kind of wary emotionlessness waiting for sanction.

So, the evidence of the films themselves aside, he writes and illustrates an essay reiterating what he's already said for years in interviews. But we should understand it as "not applying to the feature before this one"? Or as "just some funnin' he was having 'at the expense of people who think he's being dead serious'"? The exercise is not rewarding, messieurs.

I agree with all of your aesthetic arguments. I agree that all the films in question (at least those that I've seen enough to compare) "feel" more "right" in 1.33. And I wouldn't think Gerard Depardieu's eyes were supposed to be cut off at several points during Helas pour moi, for example.

All I'm saying is that I think the evidence regarding some of the films is short of absolute certainty, regardless of what they look like to me. I don't really see what optimism has to do with it, but if I'm cautious it's because I've been wrong before. Maybe your instincts are perfect, but mine are not. I'm fine and happy watching a Godard film in a way that looks right to me without being completely sure that it is right. The shadow of a doubt doesn't stop me from supporting the open frame, I'm simply acknowledging that the shadow of a doubt exists.

evillights wrote: At Kim's, I assume ($28-33). Yeah, that's the right price. Just to make clear, the Facets prices on those imports were for DVD editions, not VHS.

Facets absodertainly do have VHS's in that price range.

I hope I am not being a wet blanket about a label that most people do not care for. However, as I decided to go through their catalogue (to pan for gold so to speak), I was making a list of their releases on DVD. Since Facets' web site can be painful and slow to negotiate, and in the interest of attracting comments on specific releases, as well as to help inform fellow forum members of the quality of individual releases, I am posting the list below including such comments as have so far come out of this thread relating to specific titles. Where possible I have also included links to external reviews.

Based on available information, I have color coded some of the releases: Red for those titles that it is generally recommended in the forum and in various net-zines should be avoided. Yellow for those titles where opinions tend to be divided, and where it is advisable to tread with care. And, green for those releases that have generally received favorable comments, and which should be safe to buy.

I hope this may be useful to anyone, who, like myself, am curious about Facets' releases. Comments and experiences with Facets releases by members of the forum would be great in further developing this overview. However, please try to qualify any comments, be they negative or positive.

I apologize for the lack in aesthetic splendor in posting this. It was felt that the list should reflect the general consensus on Facets' low production standards (actually, I am just a bit of a butterfinger, when it comes to using this posting tool ).

A Mori Tatsuya 1998 (DVDTalk: "Light on extras and hardly an Earth shattering presentation, the material looks and sounds about as good as you'd expect it to given the circumstances." Complete review: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=22325)
A2 Mori Tatsuya 2001
Adelheid Frantisek Vlacil 1969
Agent #1 Zbigniew Kuzminski 1972 (Fairly positive review at DVDSavant: http://www.dvdsavant.com/s2009agen.html)
All My Good Countrymen Vojtech Jasnych 1968
American Astronaut, The Cory McAbee 2001 (Digitally Obsessed: "Facets has treated McAbee's deliberate retro-stylized work with great care... Shadows are wonderfully deep and black, and contrast and image details are razor sharp. The only negatives are a few instances of specking...;" DVDTalk: "The American Astronaut looks fan – friggin'- tastic on DVD."

...And Give My Love to the Swallows Jaromil Jires 1972 (A fairly neutral review at DVDTalk: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=18004)
Anxious Animation Klahr/Geiser/Trainor/Ascher/Garon/Henry 2006 (Brian Oblivious from earlier in this thread: "Just want to mention that Facets has a partnership with San Francisco microlabel Other Cinema that releases DVDs that, from what I've seen so far (Experiments In Terror, featuring films by Peter Tscherkassky, J. X. Williams, etc., and Anxious Animation, featuring Lewis Klahr, Janie Geiser and Jim Trainor), do not suffer the technical quality issues of other Facets releases.")
Artaud Gerard Mordillat & Jerome Prieur 1993
Austeria Jerzy Kawalerowicz 1982
Aventurera Alberto Gout 1950
Axis of Evil Carmine Cervi 2004
Back Against the Wall James Fotopoulos 2000
Bad Luck Andrzej Munk 1960 (Beaver review -- "Above standard for Facets": http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews12/bad_luck.htm)
Bataille du Rail Rene Clement 1946 (DVD Savant: "Facets' DVD of La bataille du rail is a great show that for quality is merely adequate. Encoding and transfer are good but the transfer element appears to be an intact but contrasty print." Full review: http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1881rail.html)
Beautiful Stranger Jerzy Hoffman 1992
Berlin Jerusalem Amos Gitai 1989
Birth of a Golem Amos Gitai 1991
Black Peter Milos Forman 1963 (This release has been commented upon negatively in this thread; Beaver has a not very favorable review: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... kpeter.htm)
Border Street Aleksandr Ford 1948
Born Under Libra Ahmed Reza Darvish 2000
Boutique Hamid Nematollah 2004
Brigands: Chapter VII Otar Iosseliani 1996
Camila Maria Luisa Bemberg 1984
Capricious Summer Jiri Menzel 1967 (DVD Savant: "Facets Video's DVD of Capricious Summer is a reasonable transfer of a good color element for this forty year-old Czech film." Full review: http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1966capr.html)
Catsplay Karoly Makk 1972
Charlatan Arash Maayerian 2004
Chiro Ibolye Fekete 2001
Christ Stopped at Eboli Francesco Rosi 1979 (Zone_resident: "Christ Stopped at Eboli is a terrible transfer. I guess that's why
some of us here expected too much from the recent R2 release, but
it does not appear to be an edition up to the film's quality, either." Based on what I have read here in the forum, every edition released of this film has been the shorter version of the film, and all have been in bad quality. However, apparently an Italian OOP release exists that has acceptable transfer, albeit still of the short version; Yoshimori also rates this "red")
Close-Up Abbas Kiarostami 1990 (Here is a fairly old and positive review from Beaver: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/Reviews/close-up.htm; Evillights much less positive earlier in this thread: "Abbas Kiarostami's 'Close Up' looks like vomit, with blocked-out subs.")
Colonel Wolodyjowski Jerzy Hoffman 1969 (I have found no reviews of this as such, but Facets' Polski releases generally have a very bad reputation, and although comments on Amazon tend to be very positive about the films themselves, the few comments on the quality are attrocious. Be very careful with these releases)
Colossal Sensation Robert Koltai 2004
Compadre Mendoza, El Fernando de Fuentes & Juan Bustillo Oro 1933 (DVD Savant: "Facets Video's DVD of Cinemateca's El Compadre Mendoza is a good transfer of what is possibly the only surviving copy of the film. The image varies from a few pristine moments (that show us the beauty of original prints) to sections that look as though they've been scoured with steel wool." Full review: http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1947mend.html)
Confession Alexander Sokurov 1998 (Mentioned here and elsewhere as a good release and above Facets' normal standards; Forum member Yoshimori gives it a "yellow" rating)
Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death Peter Bate 2004
Coronation Silvio Caiozzi 2000
Country Teacher He Qun 1993
Crane World Pablo Trapero 1999
Cyclist, The Mohsen Makhmalbaf 1989
Daisies Vera Chytilova 1966 (Gregory: "I was very happy with the transfer of Daisies. Maybe it could be improved upon but my memory of it was being very pleased"; Yoshimori: minor reservations, but still a green title)
Damnation Bela Tarr 1988 (In general, I have only heard very negative opinions of this release; a better edition is available from Artificial Eye in R2 on their Werckmeister Harmonies release)
Dark Side of the Heart Elisco Subiela 1992
Daughters of the Sun Mariam Shahriar 2000
Decalogue, The Krzystoff Kieslowski 1988 (Skuhn gives this a tentative recommendation; I own it, and do not remember being bothered by any severe issues in the transfer, when I watched it a few years ago; Beaver has a comparison review at this link:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/decalogue.htm ; however, Yoshimori gives it a "red" rating, so be careful with this release. There are apparently other better releases out there.)
Deluge, The Jerzy Hoffman 1974 (Cold Bishop: "Although I can't say for myself, I've seen one person describe their The Deluge as looking like it was camcorded off a tv, and that you can actually TV scan lines, plus the picture is crooked." Additionally, the Polski titles have been commented on as very bad elsewhere in the thread).
Departure, The Piotr and Magdalena Lazarkiewicz 1992
Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y Johan Grimonprez 1997 (As pointed aout by Brian Oblivious and Gregory, this title is by the San Francisco label Other Cinema and only distributed by Facets. Any weaknesses in these releases will usually be attributable to the collage/found footage nature of the films)
Dmitri Shostakovich: Sonata for Viola Aleksandr Sokurov (Yoshimori: "ok little doc, hard to know if softness is associated with the film or transfer")
Dismissed From Life Waldemar Krzystek 1992
Distant Journey Alfred Radok 1949
Distortion Haim Bouzaglo 2005
Dog's Life, A: A Dogmentary Gayle Kirshenbaum 2005
Don't Die Without Telling Me Where You're Going Eliseo Subiela 1995
Donya Manouchehr Mosayeri 2003
Electra, My Love Miklos Jancso 1974 (DVD Savant: "The color is good, but the framing looks as though it might be a slightly cropped fullscreen adaptation of a 1:66 original." Full review: http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s817electra.html ; Forum member Yoshimori gives this a "yellow" rating)
End of August at the Hotel Ozone, The Pavel Juracek 1967 (DVD Savant: "Facets Video's DVD of The End of August at the Hotel Ozone is a good transfer of a satisfactory source element. The movie is originally 1:37 so the flat screen ratio is correct. The first reel is a tad scratchy but most of the film accurately renders the hazy feeling of the forest scenes." Full review: http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1864ozon.html)
Enigma Secret Roman Wionczek 1979
Eroica Anrzej Munk 1957 (Given a "red" rating by Yoshimori)
Esther Amos Gitai 1986
Experiments in Terror currated by Craig Baldwin 1961-2002 (Brian Oblivious from earlier in this thread: "Just want to mention that Facets has a partnership with San Francisco microlabel Other Cinema that releases DVDs that, from what I've seen so far (Experiments In Terror, featuring films by Peter Tscherkassky, J. X. Williams, etc., and Anxious Animation, featuring Lewis Klahr, Janie Geiser and Jim Trainor), do not suffer the technical quality issues of other Facets releases"; rated "green" by Forum member Yoshimori)
Eva Peron Juan Carlos Desanzo 1996
Family Nest Bela Tarr 1977 (This title is generally not well thought of; apparently a much nicer edition is available in Hungary; generally negative review at Beaver: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... review.htm)
Felicidades Lucho Bender 2000
Field Diary/Arena of Murder Amos Gitai 1982/96
Fifth Horseman is Fear, The Zbynek Brynych 1964
Fifth Reaction, The Tahmineh Milani 2003
Forbidden Relations Zsolt Kezdi-Kovacs 1983
James Fotopoulos Collection: Zero/Migrating Forms/Back Against the Wall James Fotopoulos 1997-2000
Friday's Soldiers Massoud Kimiai 2004
Fruit of Paradise Vera Chytilova 1970 (Yoshimori rates this DVD "yellow")
Gallo de Oro, El Roberto Gavaldon 1964
Giacometti Michel Van Zek/Jean-Marie Drot 2000/1963
Girl in the Sneakers, The Rassul Sadr-Ameli 1999
Amos Gitai:Spirit of Exile; Golem:Petrified Garden; Exile; Esther; Berlin Jerusalem; Birth of a Golem Amos Gitai 1985-1993
Amos Gitai: Territories; House; House in Jerusalem; Wadi: Grand Canyon; Field Diary Amos Gitai 1980-2001
Glamour Frigyas Godros 2000
Goff in the Desert Heinz Emigholz 2003
Going By Iraj Karimi 2001
Goldstein Philip Kaufman 1964
Good Soldier Schweik 1 + 2, The Karel Stekly 1956/57
Great Day In Havana Laurie Ann Schag & Casey Stoll 2000
Guaguasi Jorge Ulla 1979
H.H. Holmes John Borowski 2004
H.M. Deserters Janusz Majewski 1986
Hamlet/Brook by Brook Peter Brook/Simon Brook 2001
Heimat I Edgar Reitz 1984 (As pointed out by Fanciful Norwegian, Facets' release of Heimat is awful; Beaver comparison with Tartan release -- the review has one purpose only and that is to dissuade people from purchasing the Facets release, and judging from the stills for good reasons: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... facets.htm)
Heimat II Edgar Reitz
Henry IV Marco Bellochio 1984 (Yoshimori: "red," "sadly, since the move is good.")
Hidden Half, The Tahmineh Milani 2001
House is Black, The Forough Farrokhzad 1962 (Generally positive comments for this release, which also includes two short films by Mohsen Makhmalbaf; here is a positive review from Beaver: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... black_.htm)
House of Bernarda Alba Mario Camus 1987
Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting/The Suspended Vacation Raoul Ruiz 1978/77
I Don't Know What Your Eyes Have Done To Me Sergio Wolf & Lorena Munoz 2003 (DVD Savant: "...[L]etterboxed at about 1:85. The new footage looks fine and the library footage and film clips from various old Argentinian musicals varies from good to quality that can be described as "barely survived." This qualifies as a special-circumstance docu and the clips are like archeological relics." Full review: http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1570eyes.html)
Ilona Arrives With the Rain Sergio Cabrera 1996
Image, An Harun Farocki 1983
In MacArthur Park Bruce Schwartz 1977
Indoctrination Harun Farocki 1987
Innocent Sorcerers Andrzej Wajda 1960 (Fairly negative review at DVDSavant: http://www.dvdsavant.com/s1988sorc.html)
Interview, The Harun Farocki 1997
4 Films by Otar Ioselliani: April; Falling Leaves; There Once Was a Singing Blackbird; Pastoral Otar Iosseliani 1962-76 (Zone_resident: "4 films by Otar Iosseliani
is a direct port from Blaq Out PAL edition and it is fine.
DVDBeaver has a review of the original Blaq Out release.")

It All Starts Today Bertrand Tavernier 1999 (Forum member Yoshimori rates this title "green"; DVD Savant rates the disc as "very good": "The non-enhanced letterboxed image looks a bit soft and light on the chroma (it might be a PAL conversion), but other technical concerns are fine." Full review: http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s722today.html)
Janosik Jerzy Passendorfer 1974
Joan the Maid: Complete Set Jacques Rivette 1993 (Yoshimori: "OK, great movie, though apparently incomplete")
Johnny Aquarius Jan Jakub Kolski 1993
Joke, The Jaromil Jires 1968
Journey to the Sun Yesim Ustaoglu 1999
Journey to the Western Xia Empire Lu Wei 1997
Just Beyond the Forest Jan Lomnicki 1991
Keep Walking Ermanno Olmi 1982
Keep Your Right Up! Jean-Luc Godard 1987 (Beaver: "Above average for Facets"; review: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... review.htm ; earlier in this thread sevenarts gave the disc a tentative thumb up, while evillights gave it a very definite thumbs down, but still would recommend that people see the film despite poor quality; Yoshimor gives the disc a "red" rating "sadly," so this is another disc to be very careful with, although in this case it is the only way to see this film.)
King and His Movie, A Carlos Sorin 1985
Kingsize Juliusz Machulski 1988
Kirikou and the Sorceress Michel Ocelot 1998
Paul Klee: Silence of an Angel Michael Gaumnitz 2005
Labor Stories Kartemquin Film Collective 1975
Last Blues, The Peter Gardos 2002
Last Images of the Shipwreck Eliseo Subiela 1985
Last Supper, The Fereydoun Jeyrani 2002
Late Night Talks With Mother Jan Nemec 2001 (MichaelB: I recently watched Facets' Late Night Talks With Mother, which was a pleasant surprise: a good anamorphic transfer and intelligently subtitled (also covering onscreen text as well as dialogue). Only quibble is that the subs are non-removable. I'm guessing from the source and the extras (personal intro and 40-minute supplement) that director Jan Němec was personally involved with this release, which may explain the better-than-usual source materials and treatment.
Laughing In the Wind Vol. 1 Huang Jianzhong 2004
Laughing In the Wind Vol. 2 Huang Jianzhong 2004
Laughing In the Wind Vol. 3 Huang Jianzhong 2004
Laughing In the Wind Vol. 4 Huang Jianzhong 2004
Lea Ivan Fila 1996
Lear '87 Archive: Box Set Jill Godmilow 2001
Legacy of Steel Jan Jakub Kolski 1996
Lemonade Joe Oldrich Lipsky 1964 (Fanciful Norwegian: "The Facets Lemonade Joe is a 1.66:1 crop-job of an anamorphic 2.35:1 film. There's an English-subtitled Czech release that's much closer to the proper AR and it looks very good if the captures are anything to go by." Ashirg: "About atrocious quality of Facet's Lemonade Joe DVD read http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=21691 and http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=21656 and then see quality capture of Czech DVD http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview/lemonade.htm.)

Leper Jerzy Hoffman 1976
Let's Go With Pancho Villa Fernando de Fuentes 1936 (Gregory: "...[A] well-done transfer of fairly trashed source material. I'm grateful it exists at all and I recommend it highly." Review by DVD Savant: http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1725vill.html)
Letters In the Wind Ali-Reza Amini 2002
Life of Buddha Martin meissonnier 2003
Listen Miroslav Sebestik 1992
London Patrick Keiller 1994 (DVD Savant: "Facets' Video's London presents an excellent BFI transfer of the film with a satisfactory encoding." Full review: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=22741 ; also rated "green" by Yoshimori)
Long Weekend in Pest and Buda, A Karoly Makk
Love Karoly Makk 1971
Low Heights Egrahim Hatamikia 2002
Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob, The Gerard Oury 1973
Malunde Stephanie Sycholt 2001
Man On the Tracks Andrzej Munk 1957 (Yoshimori gives this a "red" rating)
Mau Mau Sex Sex Ted Bonnitt 2001 (This is apparently another title that Facets is only distributing. DVD Savant: "7th Planet Productions' disc of Mau Mau Sex Sex is an expert encoding of well-shot video interviews combined with archive clips in excellent condition." Full review: http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s960maumau.html)
Medea Lars Von Trier (Ashirg's review for DVD Beaver - http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview2/medea.htm and DVD Savant's take on it - http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s816medea.html ; Justeleblanc: "Medea is a terrible transfer, but when I saw it a few years go, I assumed von Trier deliberately gave it such a grainy and shitty look.")
Melies the Magician Georges Melies 1898-1909
Migrating Forms James Fotopoulos 1999
Mike Yokohama: A Forest With No Name Shinji Aoyama 2002 (Fanciful Norwegian: I can personally testify that Mike Yokohama: "A Forest With No Name" is god-awful, sourced from what looks like an analog transfer of a battered release print and with quite literally the worst audio I've ever heard from a DVD. "; Yoshimori is in agreement with a "red" rating on this release.)

Mr. Bing & L'Art Nouveau Francoise Levie 2004
Muhamad Ali the Greatest William Klein 1964-74
My Name Was Sabina Spielrein Elisabeth Marton 2002 (DVDTalk gives the film a positive review, and the DVD a rather negative one. It sounds like the print was not pristine to begin with, but that Facets added insult to injury with a poor transfer. Probably in the zone between yellow and red).
Nanny, The Marco Bellochio 1999 (Yoshimori rates this release "yellow")
Net, The: The Unabomber, LSD, and the Internet Lutz Dammbeck 2003
New Year Sacrifice Sang Hu 1956
Nobody Listened Jorge Ulla & Nestor Almendros 1988
Nobody's Wife Maria Luisa Bemberg 1982 (Gregory: "Nobody's Wife has a so-so transfer. Not one of Facets' worst but nothing to write home about, either.")
Nomads and No-Zones Greta Snider & Vanessa Renwick 2003 (As pointed aout by Brian Oblivious and Gregory, this title is by the San Francisco label Other Cinema and only distributed by Facets. Any weaknesses in these releases will usually be attributable to the collage/found footage nature of the films)
North Korea: A Day In the Life of Pieter Fleury 2004
Not Of This World Giuseppe Piccioni 1999
Old Believers: Three Films by Jana Sevcikova (Old Believers; Piemule; Jakub) Jana Sevcikova 01/84/92
On the Banks of the Nieman Zbigniew Kuzminski 1987
Oriana Fina Torres 1991
Our Times Rakhshan Bani-Etemad 2002
Outsider, The Bela Tarr 1981 (Overwhelmingly negative reception in the forum)
Outskirts, The Peter Lutsik 1998
Pan Tadeusz Andrzej Wajda 1999
Paradise Under the Stars, A Gerardo Chijona 1999
Pastry Girl Iraj Tahmasb 2002
Paul Bowles: Half Moon Frieder Schlaich & Irene von Alberti 1995
Pearls Of the Deep Menzel, Nemec, Schorm, Chytilova, Jires 1965 (From earlier in this thread I quote Solent: "I could have put up with VALERIE & PEARLS except for the misplaced subs throughout"; Yoshimori gives this release a "yellow" rating)
Peep TV Show Yutaka Tsuchiya 2004
Pizza, Beer and Smokes Adrian Caetano & Bruno Stagnaro 1998
Porcelain Doll, The Peter Gardos 2005
Pornografia Jan Jakub Kolski 2003
Prefab People, The Bela Tarr 1982 (Overwhelmingly negative reception in the forum)
Prince of Homburg, The Marco Bellochio 1997 (Yoshimori rates this as "red" with the comment: "tragedy, since this is a masterpiece!")
Quack, The Jerzy Hoffman 1982
Rainbow Gao Xiao-Song 2004
Rainbow Man, The Sam Green 1998 (As pointed aout by Brian Oblivious and Gregory, this title is by the San Francisco label Other Cinema and only distributed by Facets. Any weaknesses in these releases will usually be attributable to the collage/found footage nature of the films)
Red River Valley Feng Xiaoning 1996
Rhapsody of Spring Teng Wenji 1998
Rice People Rithy Panh 1994 (DVDSavant: "Facets Video's DVD of Rice People is a better presentation than many of their efforts because of the quality of the transfer supplied by the company Blaq Out." Review here: http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1989rice.html)
Rickshaw Boy Ling Zifeng 1982 ("Positively scathing review by DVDBeaver -- 'This is a very poor DVD - I have seen VHS to DVD by people in their basement that look better.'" Full review: http://207.136.67.23/film/DVDReviews12/rickshaw-boy.htm)
Road to Presidency Scott Jacobs 1992-04
Roaring Across the Horizon Chen Guoxing 1999
Robinson in Space Patrick Keiller 1997 (Forum member Yoshimori rates this title "green")
Rodrigo D: No Future Victor Gaviria 1990
Saga of Mulan Xiao Lang & Qiu Lili 1994
Samson Andrzej Wajda 1961 (very poor review at Beaver with screen caps that look awful: http://www.reviews.dvdbeaver.com/film/D ... samson.htm ; "red" rating backed by Yoshimori)
Satantango Bela Tarr 1994
Saturday Juan Villegas 2001
Saudade Do Futuro Cesar Paes 2000
70s Dimension, The Matt McCormick & Morgan Currie 2005 (As pointed aout by Brian Oblivious and Gregory, this title is by the San Francisco label Other Cinema and only distributed by Facets. Any weaknesses in these releases will usually be attributable to the collage/found footage nature of the films)
Sexmission Juliusz Machulski 1984
Shapes of the Invisible Levy, Turkieh & Sanchez 1998 (DVD Savant rates the disc as excellent: "Facets Video's DVD of Shapes of the Invisible looks good and appears to be wholly digitally sourced." Full review: http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1907invi.html)
Shoe, The Laila Pakalnina 1998 (Yoshimori rates this release "yellow")
Sinkiewicz Trilogy: With Fire and Sword; The Deluge; Wolodyjowski Jerzy Hoffman 99/74/69 (This "red" rating is based on general comments and a few customer testimonials on Amazon. Very sad, because the films sound fantastic.)
Simon the Magician Ildiko Enyedi 1999
Sins of the Fleshapoids Mike Kuchar 1965-67 (As pointed aout by Brian Oblivious and Gregory, this title is by the San Francisco label Other Cinema and only distributed by Facets. Any weaknesses in these releases will usually be attributable to the collage/found footage nature of the films)
Sky is Falling, The Andrea & Antonio Frazzi 2000
So Wrong They're Right Russ Forster 2005 (As pointed aout by Brian Oblivious and Gregory, this title is by the San Francisco label Other Cinema and only distributed by Facets. Any weaknesses in these releases will usually be attributable to the collage/found footage nature of the films)
Somewhere in Europe Geza von Radvanyi 1947 (DVD Savant: "...[A]n acceptable transfer of a mostly intact copy of the B&W film. Image contrast is mostly good and there's little evidence of frame damage after the opening reel." Full review: http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1979some.html)
Dmitri Shostakovich: Sonata for Viola Alexander Sokurov 1981
Sonic Outlaws Craig Baldwin 1995 (As pointed aout by Brian Oblivious and Gregory, this title is by the San Francisco label Other Cinema and only distributed by Facets. Any weaknesses in these releases will usually be attributable to the collage/found footage nature of the films)
Soul Haunted By Painting, A Huang Shuqin 1994
Soul Mate Mehdi Fakhim-Zadeh 2004
Spectres of the Spectrum Craig Baldwin 1999 (As pointed aout by Brian Oblivious and Gregory, this title is by the San Francisco label Other Cinema and only distributed by Facets. Any weaknesses in these releases will usually be attributable to the collage/found footage nature of the films)
Spiritual Voices Alexander Sokurov 1995 (Mentioned here and elsewhere as a good release and above Facets' usual standards, however, Yoshimori advises to approach with care)
Spoils of War David Blaustein 2000
Squint Your Eyes Andrzej Jakimowski 2004
Stalin's Bride Peter Bacso 1991 (DVD Savant: "...[A] plain-wrap presentation of acceptable video quality. The non-enhanced 1:66 image has subdued color but is clean and bright. The clear Hungarian audio track is augmented with non-removable English subtitles." Full review: http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s1948stal.html)
Steamroller and the Violin, The Andrei Tarkovsky 1960 (Generally very positive review at Beaver: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/Reviews/sav.htm)
Storm the Skies Jose Luis Lopez-Linares & Javier Rioyo 1996
Subject is Sex, The Stephen Parr 2004 (As pointed aout by Brian Oblivious and Gregory, this title is by the San Francisco label Other Cinema and only distributed by Facets. Any weaknesses in these releases will usually be attributable to the collage/found footage nature of the films)
Swordsmen of Double Flag Town He Ping 1990
Theatre of Tadeusz Kantor, The Dennis Bablet 1991
Things I Left In Havana Manuel Gutierrez Aragon 1997
Three Brothers Francesco Rosi 1980 (Skuhn's condemnation of this release brought a smile to my face: "...it was complete flotsam jet trash spewed from the nether of a passing antiquated DC-10 bent on finding its oblivion in the Mohave." Yoshimori backs these sentiments with a "red" rating.)
Three Crowns of the Sailor Raoul Ruiz 1982
Three Wishes For Cinderella Vaclav Vorlicek 1973
Thursday Club, The George Paul Csicsery 2005
Tickets Kiarostami, Loach, Olmi 2005
Total Balalaika Show Aki Kaurismäki 1994
Tracker Rolf de Heer 2002
Travelling Companions Peter del Monte 1996
True Life Video Stories Scott Jacobs 1976/02
25 Watts Juan Pablo Rebella & Pablo Stoll 2001 (screen caps at DVDBeaver: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/comparisons/co ... efault.htm)
Twilight Hassan Hedayat 2002
Twilight, The Mohammad Rosoulof 2002
Two Women Tahmineh Milani 1999
Un Chien Andalou Luis Bunuel & Salvador Dali 1929 (BFI has a very nice edition of this film coupled with Bunuel's other early film L'Age D'Or; here is a comparison review, which is fairly lukewarm on the topic of the Facets release, at Beaver: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompar ... ndalou.htm)
Uncoverd: The War In Iraq Robert Greenwald 2003
Under the Moonlight Reza Mir-Karimi 2001
Unwanted Woman Tahmineh Milani 2005
Vabank Juliusz Machulski 1981
Vabank II Juliusz Machulski 1984
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders Jaromil Jires 1970 (Opinions in the forum divided as to whether this is completely unwatchable; Beaver has a comparison with the R2 release, which in general comes out in Facets disfavor: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompar ... erweek.htm)
Valley of the Bees Frantisek Vlacil 1967 (Please see the thread on Frantisek Vlacil. Don Lope has posted links to several reviews including screen caps, and it looks like this is a really nice release: http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/vie ... php?t=4618)
Vasya Andrei Zagdansky 2002
Vera Francisco Athie 2003
Videograms of a Revolution Harun Farocki & Andrei Ujica 1992
Voyage In Time Andrei Tarkovsky & Tonino Guerra 1983 (Yoshimori gives this release a "red" rating)
Wadi 1981-1991/Wadi Grand Canyon 2001 Amos Gitai 1980/01
Wait, The Aldo Garay 2002
Waiting For Fidel Michael Rubbo 1974
Waiting For the Moon Jill Godmilov 1986
Werckmeister Harmonies Bela Tarr 2000 (This release has been clobbered a lot in the forum; luckily a better release is available from Artificial Eye for region free crowd)
When I Close My Eyes Franci Slak 1993
White Dove, The Frantisek Vlacil 1960
White Dream Hamid Jebeli 2001
White Soup, The Ryszard Brylski 2003
Wind From Wyoming, A Andre Forcier 1994
Witches' Hammer Otakar Vaura 1969
With Fire and Sword Jerzy Hoffman 1999 (This "red" rating is based on general comments on Facets' Polski releases, as well as a few very negative customer testimonials at Amazon. Very sad, since the film sounds very good.)
Woman Demon Human Huang Shuqin 1987
Woman of the Port Arcady Boytler 1933
Yerma Pilar Tavora 1999
You Laugh Paolo & Vittorio Taviani 1998
Zero James Fotopoulos 1997

Scharphedin2 wrote: Based on available information, I have color coded some of the releases: Red for those titles that it is generally recommended in the forum and in various net-zines should be avoided. Yellow for those titles where opinions tend to be divided, and where it is advisable to thread with care. And, green for those releases that have generally received favorable comments, and which should be safe to buy.

So, at current standing, out of roughly 252 titles, there are *8* that have had favorable reviews. That's a hit-rate of 3.2%.

PS - Although I find their edition of 'Keep Your Right Up' pretty horrible, I would still recommend the film itself be seen by any- and everyone. It's probably the most major work Facets have released that I'm aware of, outside of those Sokurovs, the Ruizes, and the late Tarrs.

Don't forget their edition of Heimat, with (despite Jonathan Rosenbaum's recommendation in Cinema Scope) is utter garbage compared to the Tartan. And I can personally testify that Mike Yokohama: A Forest With No Name is god-awful, sourced from what looks like an analog transfer of a battered release print and with quite literally the worst audio I've ever heard from a DVD.

Edit: The Facets Lemonade Joe is a 1.66:1 crop-job of an anamorphic 2.35:1 film. There's an English-subtitled Czech release that's much closer to the proper AR and it looks very good if the captures are anything to go by.

Scharphedin2, thanks for your time on this annotated list! I wish we had similar lists for other "controversial" labels (e.g. Kino).

A dominant majority of the DVDs in the list don't have any (positive or negative) review. Many films are very interesting though. I think a major factor in Facet's negative reputation is their careless work on much anticipated releases, e.g. HEIMAT and Tarr films.

Christ Stopped at Eboli is a terrible transfer. I guess that's why some of us here expected too much from the recent R2 release, but it does not appear to be an edition up to the film's quality, either.

On the other hand, 4 films by Otar Iosseliani is a direct port from Blaq Out PAL edition and it is fine. DVDBeaver has a review of the original Blaq Out release.

Valley of the bees appears to have received very good reviews. A must-own DVD of an important film, then.

About atrocious quality of Facet's Lemonade Joe DVD read here and here and then see quality capture of Czech DVD here.

First of all, thanks to all of you, who are providing links and comments on the various releases. To me, this is definitely a worthwhile exercise. Aside from highlighting the good and bad DVDs in Facets' catalogue, it also brings to light films that may otherwise not be that well known, a good example being Lemonade Joe, which I personally had not heard of before, but which sounds like a lot of fun, and looks (in the Hungarian stills) like a gorgeous film.

evillights wrote:So, at current standing, out of roughly 252 titles, there are *8* that have had favorable reviews. That's a hit-rate of 3.2%.

Evillights, thank you for your further comments on Keep Your Right Up!. Remember, I am merely trying to create an overview of Facets' releases in order to find out which titles to definitely avoid, and which titles are of a passable quality. It is not my intent to promote the label, or, really to apologise for lack of quality, or lack in business ethics.

Nobody's Wife has a so-so transfer. Not one of Facets' worst but nothing to write home about, either.
I was very happy with the transfer of Daisies. Maybe it could be improved upon but my memory of it was being very pleased. If I get a chance, I'll get the DVD out and double check it, though.
Some of those on the list are Other Cinema DVDs (viz. Dial H-I-S-T-O-R-Y, Nomads and No-Zones, The Rainbow Man, 70s Dimension, Sins of the Fleshapoids, So Wrong They're Right, Sonic Outlaws, Spectres of the Spectrum, The Subject is Sex). As has been mentioned, these are just distributed by Facets. I haven't seen ALL of these, but I've seen quite a few and can vouch for their consistent quality. Usually anything wrong with the picture quality has to do with the original source material, which for these titles is more often than not video and/or found-footage.
Let's Go With Pancho Villa was reviewed by DVD Savant here. Like Compadre de Mendoza, it's a well-done transfer of fairly trashed source material. I'm grateful it exists at all and I recommend it highly.

Although I can't say for myself, I've seen one person describe their The Deluge as looking like it was camcorded off a tv, and that you can actually TV scan lines, plus the picture is crooked.

I'll be renting The White Dove, along with Valley of the Bees, nextr week. I'll report back as to the quality of the former, hoping that it shares the apparent good image quality of the latter.

Here's a positively scathing DVDBeaver review of Rickshaw Boy (Zifeng Ling, 1982).

Gary Tooze wrote:Both 'ghosting' and 'combing' indicating non-progressive transfer nor HD either. Colors are washed out and the non-anamorphic image is very hazy overall. English subtitles are ingrained (non-removable), crackling audio - what can one say? This is a very poor DVD - I have seen VHS to DVD by people in their basement that look better.

ouch.

I've seen about five of the titles in the Celebration of Chinese Cinema and they have all looked as bad or worse than Rickshaw Boy. And what a shame as most of these are films that will probably never see another release on DVD.

fwiw. I'd color grade these Facets discs as follows:

Green: Daisies (minor reservations); Experiments in Terror; It All Starts Today; London; Robinson in Space

Yellow: Confession; Electra, My Love (looked OK); Fruit of Paradise; Joan the Maid (OK, great movie, though apparently incomplete); The Nanny; Pearls Of the Deep; The Shoe; Dmitri Shostakovich: Sonata for Viola (ok little doc, hard to know if softness is associated with the film or transfer); Spiritual Voices

Red: Christ Stopped at Eboli; Decalogue; Eroica; Henry IV (sadly, since the move is good); Keep Your Right Up! (sadly); Man On the Tracks; Mike Yokohama: A Forest With No Name; Prince of Homburg (tragedy, since this is a masterpiece!); Samson; Three Brothers; Voyage In Time

Von Trier's Medea is missing from the list. Here's a review I did for DVD Beaver - http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview2/medea.htm (and DVD Savant's take on it - http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s816medea.html )

Medea is a terrible transfer, but when I saw it a few years go, I assumed von Trier deliberately gave it such a grainy and shitty look.

Facets is releasing Vlacil's Adelheid on August 29.

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed with comments. I have incorporated all comments into the main list of Facets releases. Please feel free to continue posting your experiences with these DVDs, and I will update on a regular basis.

What A Disgrace -- I really look forward to reading your thoughts on the Vlacil discs. These are at the top of my list, if the quality is decent.

Zone_Resident -- I would be happy to contribute to other lists like this one. One major reason for me to be in this forum is to find out about new films, and the availability/quality of these on DVD. I own a number of Kino's releases and will purchase quite a few more in the DDD sale, and while some look better than others, I do think Kino is in an entirely different league from Facets.

Nice work there, Scharphedin2. Despite my vitriole earlier in the thread I would not so much boycott this company outright as in a Darwinian sense it is good to encourage those little buggers with some worthy characteristics that manage to crawl from the primordial ooze. Just caveat emptor and all that jazz. Approach with caution. Just wish these guys would clean up their act, perhaps investigate a better business model. Would love to have a journalistic account of one of their titles from rights acquisition to distribution to see how the clunky machine operates.

skuhn8 wrote:Nice work there, Scharphedin2. Despite my vitriole earlier in the thread I would not so much boycott this company outright as in a Darwinian sense it is good to encourage those little buggers with some worthy characteristics that manage to crawl from the primordial ooze. Just caveat emptor and all that jazz. Approach with caution. Just wish these guys would clean up their act, perhaps investigate a better business model. Would love to have a journalistic account of one of their titles from rights acquisition to distribution to see how the clunky machine operates.

I am with you all the way Skuhn... thanks for your input (vitriole and all).

In fact, maybe you can help me, because I am a little puzzled about the Decalogue set. My copy has copyright Facets 1999 on the box, but distributed by Image Entertainment (package design 2000). On the discs itself it also has Facets name and "1999." So, I judge this to be the actual Facets release. I think this is an OK release, and I remember you saying the same. However, Yoshimori felt it was a disaster. Are we all talking about the same disc, I wonder?