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Jan Svankmajer - The Ossuary and Other Tales DVD (KimStim)

Here is just one screen capture from this dvd to illustrate the fact that it suffers from very poor pal-ntsc conversion. It suffers from some of the worst ghosting I've ever seen as well as numerous other defects. This bothers me more than usual because I find it largely destroys the effect of Svankmajers animation.
I want to see the actual animated frames as created by Svankmajer not frames like this..



Bloody dreadful.

vogler wrote:Bloody dreadful.

Ever since I saw Kim Stim's first release, the François Ozon short collection, I have avoided them like the proverbial plague. The Chabrol discs they released through Kino are, if it can be believed, just as bad if not worse than the ones put out by Pathfinder.

Blind Husbands (French mk2 vs German filmmuseum)
These are not all exact frame matches, but you get the general idea.
The mk2 has English intertitles. The filmmuseum has German intertitles with optional English subtitles (it's also 6 minutes longer).

French mk2 (top) vs German filmmuseum (bottom):



French mk2 (top) vs German filmmuseum (bottom):



French mk2 (top) vs German filmmuseum (bottom):



French mk2 (top) vs German filmmuseum (bottom):



French mk2 (top) vs German filmmuseum (bottom):

New french release: Maria Chapdelaine (1934) by Julien Duvivier, Edition Prestige. Cast: Jean Gabin and Madelaine Renaud.

This brand new release has a "Documentaire analytique sur le film" and a 50 min portrait on Duvivier. You also get french subs!!!! - Probably because much of the dialogue is in canadian...

The print has some scratches here and there. I have not watched the whole disc yet. Screencaps are done with vlcplayer so the quality may not be perfect.




This is Robert LeVigan in an early role. He played Jesus in Golgotha the next year.

EDIT: Changed the first three caps for better ones.

Thanks, Knappen. Have you had a chance to test La Bandera yet? I'm hoping for an improvement on the lacklustre R1 edition.

Thanks, Knappen. Have you had a chance to test La Bandera yet? I'm hoping for an improvement on the lacklustre R1 edition.

Nope, I already have the R1 and a french vhs, so I went for Maria. I await news about the print like you. Bandera is probably of better quality since it has been a more popular film with more copies around. There is also Boulevard by Duvivier with Léaud from Prestige. I have a more than decent tv-rip of this less essential (but not all bad) picture, so I'll abstain.

What I have ordered is the new Sous le ciel de Paris from René Chateau. That is a masterpiece and should be in any dvd collection. No stars, though, so it will probably stay unknown outside France.

Kinsayder, what do you use to do your caps? I've tried out some programs, but they're either impossible to use or give mediocre results.

I have the Japanese René Chateau of Sous le ciel de Paris. It seems to have come from a good print, but they've used a bit too much compression to squeeze it onto a single-layer disc. I like the film a lot but I'm not sure I can justify buying the French edition as well unless it's a much better (dual-layer) transfer.

For screen caps, I use VLC. It's not ideal, but the choices are limited on a Mac.

Pretty self-explanatory grabs from the three current versions of Sergei Paradjanov's The Colour of Pomegranates.

First choice for picture quality is clearly this Japanese DVD from Columbia (though it's the shorter cut and lacks English subtitles):



Second for picture quality but best all-rounder (in that it has the longer cut and optional English subtitles) is this French DVD from Films sans frontières:



And a very poor third is this heavily windowboxed Kino disc (though, annoyingly, it's best for extras):

Kinuyo Tanaka and young Hideko Takamine in Gosho's "Song of the Flower Basket" (1937):



Chishu Ryu in same:

La Bandera (French R2)
I don't have the R1 to hand for a direct comparison, but this new Warner France release seems like a distinct improvement.

Sous-titrage français pour sourds et malentendants.

David Lean Collection (UK R2 9-disc box)

Blithe Spirit:


Brief Encounter:


Great Expectations:


This Happy Breed:


Hobson's Choice:


Madeleine:


Olvier Twist:


The Passionate Friends (the only weak transfer in the set):


The Sound Barrier:

Caps from the R0 (not R3) Taiwanese "10th Anniversary" reissue of Happy Together -- I assume the Hong Kong edition is identical:













Looks pretty much identical to the Kino SE (as seen on DVD Beaver) -- so much so that I suspect they're the same transfer, although the Kino is slightly less cropped. Notice that the first shot is in B&W only on the Kino SE and the 10th Anniversary reissue; my guess is that all the previous versions were incorrect and the shot was supposed to be in B&W from the beginning (Fallen Angels had the same problem, which was finally fixed on the Accent release). The remixed 5.1 soundtrack is probably better than the Kino's 2.0 mix (I can't really judge, lacking the proper equipment), but visually I'd say it's a wash. I'm glad I got it for $30 and not $130-200.

Any improvements in the 10th Anniversary edition (it looks a bit sharper and more detailed to my eyes, although this could be an artifact of the capture and compression process on my part and/or the Beev's) are probably due to a higher video bitrate, since it puts Buenos Aires Zero Degree on a separate disc whereas the Kino crams it all onto one. And I'd normally agree about the opening, except the disc was apparently done by Jet Tone themselves -- nobody's infalliable, but between Jet Tone's involvement and the previous incident with Fallen Angels, I think the case can be made. I confess I've never given a lot of thought to the logic behind the B&W/color transitions but it doesn't seem to hurt the scene to have it in B&W. I'm interested to hear your thoughts, though. In any event, I've fired off an e-mail to Jet Tone on the matter, although I'm not holding my breath for a response.

Mirror - Distinction Series, AUST, R0

Ivan's Childhood - Distinction Series, AUST, R0

they both look incredible!
best available versions of both? looks so to my eye...
yes, I am interested in Double Indemnity caps to devlinn, by the way

Double Indemnity - Madman, AUST, R4

Four captures from the Polish dvd of Krzysztof Zanussi's Iluminacja.











And one from the mineral water advertisement that you are forced to watch not only every time you load the dvd in the machine,
but also every time you start the film from the menu. Grrrrrrrr

Wow. The girl from the water advertisement is much hotter than the guy with the glasses...

Les Enfants du Paradis
Criterion vs Pathé Classique (French R2)
Optional French subs only on the Pathé

Criterion (top) vs Pathé (bottom):



Criterion (top) vs Pathé (bottom) - lots of detail missing in the shadows on the Criterion:



Criterion (top) vs Pathé (bottom):

Kinsayder wrote:Les Enfants du Paradis
Criterion vs Pathé Classique (French R2)
Optional French subs only on the Pathé

I've never before been so inclined to weep over screen captures. Jesus, that looks good. And I can see Arletty's aureolas! I may have to get it, even though my French surely can't keep up with the dialogue. Of course, I've seen this so many times, I've got a lot of the dialogue memorized.

Wow... those captures leap off the screen. Ditto this is a purchase one cannot ignore. Thankfully familarity and a reasonable knowledge of French = a no brainer!