criterionforum.org

I work at a theater in Portland and I just found out that we will be screening A Zed & Two Noughts and The Draughtsman's Contract in September...
Awesome!

They screened here in St. Louis over the past two weekends. Both look as good as I could ever imagine, although ZOO is obviously the more eye-poppingly impressive of the two (The Draughtsman's Contract was "only" Super16 and Curtis Clark is no Vierny).

The Fanciful Norwegian wrote:They screened here in St. Louis over the past two weekends. Both look as good as I could ever imagine, although ZOO is obviously the more eye-poppingly impressive of the two (The Draughtsman's Contract was "only" Super16 and Curtis Clark is no Vierny).

No, but I always thought that Draughtsman's Contract would've looked fantastic on the big screen (without having actually seen it at a theater), it always looked beautiful to me. Is it really not all that visually when compared to ZOO?

Tribe

The Draughtsman's Contract hardly looks bad -- there's some striking candlelight photography -- but much of it takes place outdoors in overcast conditions, which I suppose is faithful to the setting, at least. (And to its credit, there's one fantastic long take of a cloud's shadow creeping across a landscape, and some others where the sunlight peeks in and out during the course of the shot, which holds some fascination in its own right -- too many directors and DPs seem hellbent on maintaining "consistent" lighting for outdoors photography.) And objects/people in the distance and near-distance have a noticeable lack of detail, but if I hadn't already known it was Super16 I probably would've chalked this up to the print or the projection equipment. No disrespect to Chris Clark (or Greenaway himself, for that matter), but I thought ZOO was really on a completely different level, visually speaking -- it's a cliche, but practically every frame of that film could be enlarged and sold in a gallery.

The Fanciful Norwegian wrote:And to its credit, there's one fantastic long take of a cloud's shadow creeping across a landscape, and some others where the sunlight peeks in and out during the course of the shot, which holds some fascination in its own right -- too many directors and DPs seem hellbent on maintaining "consistent" lighting for outdoors photography.)

I know exactly which shot you're referring to...it is beautiful. Interesting, I would have always thought those candlelit scenes would have never looked as good as the outside ones...just goes to show how one makes impressions never having seen these things on a big screen.

Which could also lead to a thread about this entire generation that has seen most of its films via VHS and DVD rather than a theater.

Tribe

I just noticed the following upcoming releases from Zeitgeist:

Tierney Gearon: The Mother Project
(J. Youngelson & P. Sutherland) - Out on 9/25

Into Great Silence
(Philip Gröning) 2-Disc Special Edition - Out on 10/23

Manifactured Landscapes
(Jennifer Baichwal) - Out on 11/20

What Remains: The Life and Work of Sally Mann
(Steven Cantor) - Early 2008

from the latest Zeitgeist press release, details on Greenaway's Draughtsman and Zed (both out February 12, 2008) and other releases:

Zeitgeist's fully remastered Greenaway editions will feature new anamorphic transfers, director commentaries, video introductions by Peter Greenaway, deleted scenes, production sketches, a rare short on Zed and more.

2008 also marks Zeitgeist's 20th anniversary! In celebration of this milestone, stay tuned for details on more lavish editions, including a new Derek Jarman box-set with beautifully re-mastered versions of Caravaggio, Wittgenstein, Blue, Glitterbug and The Angelic Conversation, as well as definitive new releases of Olivier Assayas' inimitable Irma Vep and Guy Maddin's dazzling Careful.

JARMAN box set? With Blue! And not just Blue but Caravaggio, too. Words fail me. Truly. And then Irma Vep on top of that! I'm just... stunned. And excited. Holy fuck. This just made my day.

tavernier wrote:

denti alligator wrote:Two disc for the Early Films? The bfi disc is single-layered, so they'd really have to dig up lots of obscure stuff to fill another layer and part of another disc.

Zeitgeist is releasing only two discs of Greenaway's early films: they look to be ports of the BFI discs. They are releasing them as both a two-disc set and separately, which may account for DVD Planet's three listings.

I could not find any conclusive comments on this/these release(s) of Greenaway's early short works. Are they direct ports of the BFI release? Are there any very strong arguments for not purchasing the Zeitgeist, and go with the BFI, or one of the French or German releases of this material?

Jean-Luc Garbo wrote:JARMAN box set? With Blue! And not just Blue but Caravaggio, too. Words fail me. Truly. And then Irma Vep on top of that! I'm just... stunned. And excited. Holy fuck. This just made my day.

Excellent news! I've been debating about buying those BFI Jarmans or waiting for someone to release them in Region 1 in good editions. These will likely be the BFI transfers.

Scharphedin2 wrote:

tavernier wrote:

denti alligator wrote:Two disc for the Early Films? The bfi disc is single-layered, so they'd really have to dig up lots of obscure stuff to fill another layer and part of another disc.

Zeitgeist is releasing only two discs of Greenaway's early films: they look to be ports of the BFI discs. They are releasing them as both a two-disc set and separately, which may account for DVD Planet's three listings.

I could not find any conclusive comments on this/these release(s) of Greenaway's early short works. Are they direct ports of the BFI release? Are there any very strong arguments for not purchasing the Zeitgeist, and go with the BFI, or one of the French or German releases of this material?

I'm not familiar with the BFIs, but these carry extras that were purported to be on the BFI discs. I don't know if there were other extras that didn't make it. Also, the box set is two discs, but one disc is dedicated to The Falls. I'm not a big stickler for the best possible image and transfer, but I found these to look very good. I've yet to find a poor Zeitgeist release, and these certainly aren't it.

Tribe

Tribe wrote: I'm not a big stickler for the best possible image and transfer, but I found these to look very good. I've yet to find a poor Zeitgeist release, and these certainly aren't it.

Thanks Tribe, I am sure that if these discs look good enough to you, they will look good to me as well.

For whatever its worth, here's a cap from The Falls:



The shorts' transfers are of similar quality.

Tribe

I have the BFI discs of the Early Films, and while they indeed look quite good, don't expect too much. These are comparatively old films made on a small budget, and it shows from time to time, especially in the audio department and here especially with "The Falls". Sometimes it's hard to make out what is being said by the narrator. But that's surely a minor point, and the BFI transfers of the two feature films are absolutely excellent (as are PG's audio commentaries).
I really wished someone would put out the later (short) films like "Death in the Seine", "26 Bathrooms" and especially "A TV Dante" (which was available on VHS, so I wonder why at least this one hasn't made it to disc yet). All pretty major works, much better than his films from the 90s.

Tommaso wrote:These are comparatively old films made on a small budget, and it shows from time to time, especially in the audio department.

For the record, they all originated from 16mm copies - I don't think Greenaway got to shoot on 35mm until A Zed and Two Noughts in 1985.

Tribe wrote:And there is a note on the second disc of Phantom Museums that Zeitgeist will be releasing Peter Greenaway's The Draughtsman's Contract and A Zed and Two Noughts later in 2007.

Any news as to when The Draughtsman's Contract will be released?

kinemax wrote:Any news as to when The Draughtsman's Contract will be released?

February 12th, 2008... it's located a few posts above...

I believe I know the reason why it was pushed back (I believe it has to do with an NTSC DigiBeta being transferred from a damaged PAL one)

Specs are up on The Draughtsman's Contract:

Restored anamorphic transfer, created from Hi-Def elements
- Peter Greenaway commentary and video introduction
- Four deleted scenes
- Behind-the-scenes footage and on-set interviews
- Interview with composer Michael Nyman
- Restoration demonstration
- Production photo and Draughtsman's sketch galleries
- English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
- Original theatrical trailer
- Essays by Greenaway and cinematographer Curtis Clark

And on A Zed and Two Noughts:

- Restored anamorphic transfer, created from Hi-Def elements
- Peter Greenaway commentary and video introduction
- Behind-the-scenes footage from ?O, Zoo!, by Philip Hoffman
- Six “Decayâ€

Can anyone report anything about China; A Century of Revolution from these guys? I've held the thing in my hands a few times but never took the plunge. I missed it on PBS (except for one episode).

Tribe wrote:Reads identical to the BFI releases as I remember, right?

Right.

HerrSchreck wrote:Can anyone report anything about China; A Century of Revolution from these guys? I've held the thing in my hands a few times but never took the plunge. I missed it on PBS (except for one episode).

The quality of the Zeitgeist disc is virtually a port over of the previous DVD release from Winstar (now OOP). An excellent series but parts feel a bit dated now - I use it for class mainly. The only drawback (if this is a drawback) is the lack of English subtitles/captioning for the hearing impaired. There are Chinese subtitles (simplified) however. The Chinese titles become very useful when listening to the interviews. One of the strengths of this series is the number and quality of people interviewed - since the program was produced for an English-speaking audience primarily, the interviews were voiced over in English (there is no Chinese language only audio option). However, the Chinese subtitles are not dubtitles but taken directly from the Chinese interviews - you'll notice small differences in the translation used for the dub.

As for the series itself, I'd say the biggest assets are the breadth of China's modern period that it covers, the quality of first hand interviews, and a wealth of fascinating visual material. Some of the clips used are very rare and the production values are first rate.

My two cents.

Tommaso wrote:

Tribe wrote:Reads identical to the BFI releases as I remember, right?

Right.

I do not recall bfi having the English subtitles for hearing-impaired.

kekid wrote:

Tommaso wrote:

Tribe wrote:Reads identical to the BFI releases as I remember, right?

Right.

I do not recall bfi having the English subtitles for hearing-impaired.

Checking my BFI copy of Zed and Two Noughts it only has French and Dutch subtitles for the film and introduction (Greenaway's commentary and the ?O, Zoo! extracts are subtitled in French) - no English subs.

Specs are up for a new Peter Delpeut collage of found footage: Diva Dolorosa

[quote]In this mesmerizing collage of early Italian film clips, â€

colinr0380 wrote:Checking my BFI copy of Zed and Two Noughts it only has French and Dutch subtitles for the film and introduction (Greenaway's commentary and the ?O, Zoo! extracts are subtitled in French) - no English subs.

Interestingly, it's the other way round for the Quay Brothers DVD - the BFI version offers English subtitles on everything (I should know, as I transcribed the commentaries and interviews myself!), but they were mysteriously dropped by the Zeitgeist.

[quote="Tribe"]Specs are up for a new Peter Delpeut collage of found footage: Diva Dolorosa

[quote]In this mesmerizing collage of early Italian film clips, â€