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But the restoration you saw theatrically would have had the exact same inherent issue according to RH. He's saying this occurred pre-restoration during the film element scans. Meaning you didn't notice the issue theatrically.

Or am I reading his comments incorrectly?

FrauBlucher wrote:When are these companies going to refuse masters that have correctable issues, instead saying, "fuck it, lets put it out."

Well, for obvious reasons, when this happens we generally don't get to hear about it! (Arrow has rejected quite a few masters of late, for instance, but they don't make public announcements when it happens.)

Also, I'd add an "affordably" to your "correctable issues", because while it certainly could be notionally possible to go back to 35mm basics in terms of available materials and technology, in practice it could well mean the difference between breaking even and a thumping loss.

FrauBlucher wrote:

Drucker wrote:Now I really wish I'd gone to the restoration at Film Forum...he's saying the restoration and not just the disc sounds like a flub?

I went. It looked lovely. Didn't notice any stabilization issues.

captveg wrote:Yeah, he just confirmed my assumption that it's a frame jitter / stretching issue and not a picture quality (colors, grain structure, etc.) issue. Did the Cineteca di Bologna, rather that Raro, screw up here?

When are these companies going to refuse masters that have correctable issues, instead saying, "fuck it, lets put it out."

The new Blu-ray will look essentially the same as the restoration you saw at Film Forum on DCP. That was sourced from the same master that was used for the Blu-ray, a master that was approved by Bertolucci. The issue that RAH points out goes back to the original film to digital transfer, supervised by the film's director of photography, Vittorio Storaro, several years ago. The image instability was present in the theatrical DCPs which premiered at Cannes Classics, the Japanese Blu-ray that has been lauded (by those who have seen it) on the various Blu-ray forums, and the Italian Blu-ray that was lambasted for other reasons, DNR chiefly. But, no one mentioned jittery image / instability before RAH, as far as I can tell. That's not to say no one noticed it...I doubt that...but it does seem to be something that will bother some more than others. Ideally, the process would begin totally anew, the film would be rescanned in higher resolution, and everything would follow from there, but there is substantially extra monetary cost involved in doing so, obviously, as MIchaelB has already mentioned.

kneelzod wrote:But, no one mentioned jittery image / instability before RAH, as far as I can tell.

I definitely mentioned it in my Sight & Sound review of the Arrow BD.

MichaelB wrote:

kneelzod wrote:But, no one mentioned jittery image / instability before RAH, as far as I can tell.

I definitely mentioned it in my Sight & Sound review of the Arrow BD.

I stand corrected, Michael. Thanks for confirming that the issue is also present on the Arrow disc.

And also the Paramount DVD.

So if that's the only nitpick Harris has, and the colors look as good as has been described, this Raro release could very well be excellent to others' eyes...is that the sense I'm getting...

Drucker wrote:So if that's the only nitpick Harris has, and the colors look as good as has been described, this Raro release could very well be excellent to others' eyes...is that the sense I'm getting...

I haven't seen the Japanese Blu-ray, apart from screengrabs, but I have seen the new DCP and the new Blu-ray, and I think the new BD should be quite similar to the Japanese edition, with the added benefits of being English-friendly and cheaper.

MichaelB wrote:And also the Paramount DVD.

Learning something new every day. Thanks, MB.

Harris's latest post clarifies his position well. In other words, most everyone will think the disc is great.

Sounds like it could be exciting. If the color is better than on the Arrow, I'll be happy to double-dip.

Drucker wrote:Sounds like it could be exciting. If the color is better than on the Arrow, I'll be happy to double-dip.

Color, grain, detail are all better than the Arrow Blu. The Arrow has some fine exclusive extras, so it's, of course, still very worthwhile.

Bluray.com on The Conformist.

Only gets 3.5 stars, and while the grain is certainly noticeably better, the color improvements don't seem dramatic enough for me to double-dip, which is a shame. I don't know if this is how the film just looks and the descriptions I've read have made me expect stronger colors, but seeing the screenshots and comparing with Arrow just doesn't overwhelm me.

Drucker wrote: I don't know if this is how the film just looks and the descriptions I've read have made me expect stronger colors, but seeing the screenshots and comparing with Arrow just doesn't overwhelm me.

I saw "The Conformist" a couple of times back in the '70s, and then the slightly-longer version in the early '90s, and do remember the color being stronger than I see in those Blu-ray caps. Not a huge lot maybe, but enough to make a difference. In the '70s, I remember the color at times seemed especially deep and rich, almost pouring off the screen. So, in this case, I may have to disagree with Mr. Harris in thinking that the Blu-ray color could be more intense than it is. But then I don't remember being as knocked out by the color work on the revised version, so, with the ravages of time, maybe this is the best the film can look now.

The restoration probably helps this one a bit in terms of color and the shadows (check out the wide shot of Sandrelli smoking in the doorway, particularly the shadows and the light in the hallway behind her). But the screen cap comparisons suggest a little more filtering on the Arrow disc, most notably in the close-ups. (Check out the close up of Trintignant's profile in a well-lit dinner scene - the wrinkles on his face are more visible on the Raro disc.)

Watched a bit of the Arrow disc, which I presume has the same image stability issues as the Raro disc (judging by previous comments made by Harris and others).

I never noticed it before, but now that it's pointed out to me, it's distracting as hell.

The Slaughter Hotel screencap situation is bizarre. Ian Jane posted caps and pics of the Blu-ray on his television at Rock Shock Pop and that noise/those artifacts is in the screencaps taken in Total Media Theater but not on the television. The noise is also absent in caps he took with VLC.

Still it is riddled with compression artifacts, so Raro is still doing a shitty job.

Plus, going by this bit of text on the Diabolik DVD listing, Raro's talents extend to presenting alternate language cuts too (emphasis mine). I'm really looking forward to watching this now.

RARO wrote:
The longer exclusive uncut version of this movie, that we have released, has no audio in some very short segments of the English dubbed version-not due to a technical problem, but because we used a master that had scenes that were never used in previous releases and/or screenings. We, at Raro, decided to add some of these parts as extras in the special features. But, in order to give you access to this rare and longer uncut version, we left some short silent scenes in the English dubbed version.
You can always view the original Italian version with subtitles, if you wish, where the same scenes have the original Italian audio.

Having belatedly viewed Raro's release of The Conformist, I'll offer some thoughts:
The film is one of my all time favourites, so Ill probably rebuy it with every upgrade even when the benefits are none too large. Actually, the Raro in my mind is an improvement over Arrow's release, although it could've have been even better. The picture quality has a nicely satisfying retention of grain although I was irritated to note edge enhancement applied at stray moments throughout, when characters are placed in long shot. The image instability I could safely ignore without jeopardising my enjoyment of the disc, but again, it's an unnecessary flaw, even if the fault doesn't appear to reside with Raro. The video extra, nearly an hour long, is superior to Arrow's overview of Bertolucci's career, looking far more specifically at the film's genesis. The two booklets offer excellent, distinct material, so in other words, the picture quality can still, frustratingly, be improved on, even if this is the best it's looked so far.

Raro Video U.S. have revealed that they are planning to add two new titles to their Blu-ray catalog in early 2016.

The Secret of Dorian Gray (Massimo Dallamano, 1970)




To Be Twenty (Fernando Di Leo, 1978)

Hitch-Hike a.k.a. Autostop rosso sangue (Pasquale Festa Campanile, 1977)

To be released February 16th

Special Features:

• Documentary: Road to Ruin (26:29)
  Fully Illustrated Booklet

Interesting. 88 Films have already released it on Blu-ray in the UK. No on-disc extra though.

Beaver on Hitch-Hike

Another case ala Generalle della Rovare where they inexplicably leave in raggedy, tattered edges of the frame (though not nearly as pronounced, anyway).