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dad1153 wrote:

dad1153 wrote:TOUFFAN website (Mondo Vision's distributor) is up and running again.

Prices are lowered on all four titles: one-disc SE's are now $27.95 (down for $29.95) and two-disc LE's are $42.95 (down from $44.95). Free USPS media mail shipping (if you order directly from their website) still applies.

Prices are lowered yet again: $24.95 for the SE's and $39.95 for the LE's. Only the SE of "L’important C’est D’aimer" is out of stock, but not OOP.

Speaking of "L’important C’est D’aimer," I didn't realize when I was watching "My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days" at BAM that Jacques Dutronc was the same dude that Romy Schneider was living with in "D'aimer." Holy shit, how could I be so blind and clueless?

For those who asked about Chicago screenings of Z., the May calendar for the Gene Siskel Film Center (http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/node/2/2012-05" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) lists screenings of Possession May 20, 21, and 23.

^^^ Thanks a bunch! :)

Those of us that caught Zulawski's retrospective in 35mm at BAM lucked out big time. Movie Studios Are Forcing Hollywood to Abandon 35mm Film. But the Consequences of Going Digital Are Vast, and Troubling.

Hadrian Belove wanted to show Breakfast at Tiffany's for Valentine's Day. As executive director of the Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theatre in West Hollywood, he's used to working with studios to borrow prints of rare or classic films.

But this year it proved trickier. Studios are pushing a new format. And Belove's cinema — a nonprofit collective of cinephiles dedicated to presenting "weird and wonderful" movies — hasn't made the upgrade.

The new format is called a DCP, or Digital Cinema Package. It is a virtual format, a collection of files stored on a hard drive. Roughly the size of a paperback novel, the hard drive is mailed in a lightweight, foam-lined plastic case to the theater, where it's inserted (or, in the lingo, "ingested") into a server that runs the digital projector. DCPs won't run on traditional film projectors, however. So if they want to play the new format, theater owners must update their equipment.

. . .

"The pressure's on me," he says. "I know I'm going to be forced to do a major outlay."

But the alternative also is lousy. Already there are films he couldn't show for lack of a DCP-compliant projector. He couldn't get a print of A New Leaf from Paramount for an Elaine May retrospective he wanted to do. Ditto for Saul Bass' Phase IV for a Bass retrospective, and Andrzej Zulawski's The Important Thing Is to Love for a Zulawski retrospective. Studio Canal in France would supply only a DCP.

"This is classic cinematheque stuff," Belove says with frustration.

And then there was Valentine's Day. Instead of a 35mm print, the studio offered Belove either a DCP or a DVD of Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Everything else was 35mm, but BAM showed the same DCP of Most Important Thing Is Love.

A horrible looking DCP, I might add. I thought it was just a video projection.

I thought it looked pretty good, where'd you see it? Colours seemed a little desaturated, but that'd be my only complaint.

BAM. DCP is \"supposed\" to look like film, with grain, shimmer etc. The colors were definitely way too desaturated and it had that telltale flat video look. There\'s no way it could have been mistaken for 35mm. Of the few DCPs I\'ve watched, I\'ve noticed a huge variation in quality.

I've never seen a digital presentation that I could mistake for 35mm, sadly.

My biggest complaint is with motion. That's down to the lack of shutter in the digital projector, though, not the DCP format itself. The extra flicker in 35mm presentations is actually beneficial when it comes to motion clarity perception.

David M, do you know when the heck Possession is coming? I got l'important c'est d'aimer from TOUFAAN not long ago, and they included an ad for it. I don't know if they always do this, or if it means it'll be soon.

Is that the flyer with Isabelle Adjani's face on one side and all the boxes on the other?

They still haven't announced a release date. It IS being worked on and you can be assured that it's not come out yet for a reason. There are so many releases of this film on disc already that look, uh, not very film-like - because of limitations of technology at the time the master was made - and this won't be another of them.

I wish I could say "it's coming out on _____", but not yet

Does this mean On The Silver Globe will be released in the meantime?

David M. wrote:Is that the flyer with Isabelle Adjani's face on one side and all the boxes on the other?

They still haven't announced a release date. It IS being worked on and you can be assured that it's not come out yet for a reason. There are so many releases of this film on disc already that look, uh, not very film-like - because of limitations of technology at the time the master was made - and this won't be another of them.

I wish I could say "it's coming out on _____", but not yet

Any update?

Hi all,

Mondo Vision have asked me to come on here and give you all a status update with regards to POSSESSION (last week actually, but I've just got round to it).

Basically, the title has been stuck in quality control since May 2011 for the reason that we aren't allowing it to be compromised. Good news is that we've just worked out a solution

The original supplied master contained several revisionist changes to the color timing of the film. For example, some shots had an ersatz day-for-night effect applied, with a heavy blue tint and crushed out shadow details (quite odd to look at, given that these same shots have visible clouds in the sky). Other shots had been transferred with white clipping, where bright details (such as the windows in the apartment) appeared entirely white.

Possession relies heavily on color to tell the story. I'm currently working on a preliminary color correction, where I adjust things to look correct to my eye. After that, I'll be sitting down with Zulawski to ensure what goes to disc is correct.

As usual, Mondo Vision asked for my opinion on the supplied element and decided to go with this advice. We also consulted with Andrzej Zulawski, naturally.

My argument was that it would not be acceptable to release a Star-Wars'd up version of a film that is 30+ years old and *already has* an established aesthetic. Mondo Vision agreed and delayed the release until it could be released properly. This is critically important, given that for a niche film like this, it's highly likely that the version we're putting together now is going to be the way the film is viewed for many decades to come.

Not only this, but the changes rendered the appearance of the film very unfilmic.

Fortunately, TF1, who owns the rights to the film for the North American territories, understood our concerns and worked with me to re-supply the segments in question. I'll be color correcting the film (to level out the differences between the original and resupplied scenes) and will later be flying to Warsaw with a broadcast monitor and workstation to get the thumbs-up from Zulawski, and to make final adjustments.

As an example, here is how this version of one scene was supplied. It appears the colorist had attempted to harmonise the flesh tones to look natural. That's not a bad assumption, but Possession features quite a few heavily stylised scenes. Additionally, I knocked this back because of the highlight clipping which is a highly digital-looking artefact.



This might not be altogether obvious without a comparison point, but have a look at how much extra dynamic range is present on the original film - look at the window:



^ BTW, this is just a preliminary color correction. Everything is going to be checked with the director himself before it goes out.

So, please be patient, because the end is in sight. Possession hasn't had a video transfer that does the film justice, ever (because the video technology when the last version - which looks like it was done in the 1980s - wasn't good enough). So, it's important that we get this version right! We will not, repeat not, be adding another "sort of okay" version of Possession to the pile of discs. This is going to be completely first rate.

With everything I need at my fingertips, I imagine we'll be hearing an announcement very shortly.

Thanks for the interesting update, and all the ongoing work, David.
I'm sure, based on the last couple of pages of this thread at least, MV must've been getting sick of all the emails asking "when?"

I'm curious, can you say how close the Anchor Bay DVD was to the intended look of the film? It's the only version I've seen, and your post makes me wonder how different an experience Possession might be once you're finally done with it.

Not very close. It seems to have been made from the same old 80s master but with attempts made to neutralise the colours.

I don't remember having ever seen a version that looked like the first screenshot labeled "originally supplied version". All the R2 releases I know are much closer to the 2nd one. For example, this is a matching shot from the German Bildstörung DVD, which seems to be the best one currently available:
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u317 ... oerung.jpg

My children's children would like to thank you in advance for your refusal to compromise. I won't speak for others' children's children, but I imagine they would feel the same if they took a second to reflect on things.

In the meantime, I'm impatient. I'm going to send Mondo Vision several angry emails this very second.

There is a lot of dynamic range on the film that is difficult to translate into video. In parts, it looks like the old telecine master dulled the entire picture to protect the highlights (the windows). Keeping in mind what 1980s telecine was, it's important not to take that as a reference either. The first attempt threw the highlight detail away to make the picture brighter, and changed the colour.

My plan is to get the best of both by "lighting" the image the way I think looks correct, but motion-tracking protection for the highlights so they don't get blown out. AZ will tell us if the end result is correct.

Can't wait!

Thank you for all the hard work you're putting into this David.

What about On the Silver Globe and La Note Bleue, are they still scheduled for 2012?

While waiting for the Mondo Vision Possession, note that Finder Keepers have pre-orders up for Korzynski's score on vinyl and cd. (plus vinyl for Third Part of the Night) Nice!

What about On the Silver Globe and La Note Bleue, are they still scheduled for 2012?

My understanding is that those are coming to DVD in 2012, yep!

David, you may not be able/allowed to answer this, but will the commentary from the Anchor Bay DVD be included on MV's Possession DVD?

I just asked for permission.

Mondo Vision's response: yes, "the permission has been granted by Daniel Bird and Andrzej Zulawski to include the commentary".

David M. wrote:Mondo Vision's response: yes, "the permission has been granted by Daniel Bird and Andrzej Zulawski to include the commentary".

So this older commentary will be used to spare the expense of recording a new one, correct?