524-526 The Only Son and There Was a Father

[Matt]

I'm sure you're correct. Looking at my search results from the forum and Google Books, it doesn't look like he mentions The Only Son at all in his book. He does mention the then forthcoming Late Spring (as well as forthcoming Criterion releases of Humanity and Paper Balloons and Flowing. Sigh).

[HistoryProf]

524-526: three spines for two DVDs. It seems the outer box gets its own spine number. What does that portend for the availability of the titles separate from the box?

very odd. why do this instead of the treatment they did for The Killers? Granted, we wouldn't get three pieces of cover art that are quite delightful, but it seems silly to do it this way. Just make it a digipack and call it good.

ETA: Or does this mean at some point they'll make them available at $24.99 or $29.99 each?

[cysiam]

they do this often. just look at the montery pop box, the dreyer box, i am curious...etc.

[zedz]

It might seem eccentric, but the numbering practice is completely systematic and consistent with Criterion: the box in a box set always gets its own spine number.

Double features with no box just get a single spine number (e.g. Close Up and The Traveller), even if they have equal billing (e.g. The Killers, Floating Weeds).

This doesn't apply to "collector's sets", which are boxed groupings of previously or individually available titles (e.g. all those Samurai ones, Hitchcock, Bergman).

[HistoryProf]

It might seem eccentric, but the numbering practice is completely systematic and consistent with Criterion: the box in a box set always gets its own spine number.

Double features with no box just get a single spine number (e.g. Close Up and The Traveller), even if they have equal billing (e.g. The Killers, Floating Weeds).

This doesn't apply to "collector's sets", which are boxed groupings of previously or individually available titles (e.g. all those Samurai ones, Hitchcock, Bergman).

I am well aware of all that. I was simply saying this particular release seems to fit the second category far more than the first with things like the Rossellini Trilogy/Pigs Pimps & Prostitutes, etc. Particularly since they are putting it at the single release pricepoint like Killers and Floating Weeds. It seems inconsistent to me, that's all. Though honestly I adore the art so much I am glad they did it this way rather than a flimsy digipack - which must have been the debate in house.

[artfilmfan]

My distinct recollection was that Richie mentioned this during a pre (or post) movie speech at some US event.

My recollection is that it was a speech at Yale.

[movielocke]

seems like the commentary question would be a good one to inquire about on facebook.

This has been a great year for my most wanted Criterion titles, first Make Way for Tomorrow, now, There was a Father, if they release Humanity and Paper Balloons later this year that would make them three for three for my most wanted.

[tajmahal]

if they release Humanity and Paper Balloons later this year that would make them three for three for my most wanted.

There's always the very nice R2 MOC edition. I can't imagine Criterion giving it the blu treatment, so I'd be checking out MOC's monthly sales, as it is sure to pop up again.

[Ashirg]

DVD Beaver

[zedz]

Looks great! A shame there's no mention of the audio, which was the real disaster with previous versions of There Was a Father.

[reno dakota]

Agreed. Both look great, but I never thought There Was a Father could look that sharp! I wonder about the audio as well, so if anyone out there has a review copy, please speak up.

[Gary Tooze]

... A shame there's no mention of the audio

From the review...

...and even the hollow, tinny, audio (1.0 channel mono on the Criterions) seems much better.

I don't know that I could be much more detailed unless you want specific times or audio samples on the webpage - it is imperfect. It's better than the Panorama - but, expectantly, lacks consitency.

[zedz]

Sorry, I should have been clearer. What I was really specifically interested in was what had been done regarding the bizarre audio processing / 'clean-up' on There Was a Father. If it just sounds like your typical hollow, tinny mono now, then that's a radical difference from (and improvement over) the earlier release. The Only Son had its problems, soundtrack-wise, but not in terms of a botched clean-up, so if that comment can now be blandly applied to both films, some major work has been done (or undone) on the later film.

[Zot!]

Is "Father" expected to turn-up as a BFI Ozu extra? The Criterion/Tomine packaging on this is wonderful, but not enough for me to double dip.

[Michael Kerpan]

Sorry, I should have been clearer. What I was really specifically interested in was what had been done regarding the bizarre audio processing / 'clean-up' on There Was a Father.

Sort of like the sound was recorded inside a tin can big enough to echo (??)

[zedz]

Sort of like the sound was recorded inside a tin can big enough to echo (??)

Yes, but also eerily blank, as if they'd taken drastic steps to reduce the noise on a very noisy soundtrack and ended up irrevocably scrubbing off most of the actual soundtrack as well, then tried to rebuild it by filtering / echoing up whatever was left. It did indeed sound like you were listening to the film from the end of a long steel pipe!

[Michael Kerpan]

It did indeed sound like you were listening to the film from the end of a long steel pipe!

I certainly have never encountered anything remotely similar. ;~}

[cdnchris]

DVD

[dad1153]

"There Was A Father" was the first Ozu movie I ever saw (on TCM's Father's Day marathon a few years back) and it looked/sounded as bad or worse on cable than what it appears it will look/sound on DVD. And yet, despite the crappy A/V, the movie made me cry like a little baby and pushed me to seek out more Ozu ("Tokyo Story" and "Late Spring" were next and I haven't looked back since). For that alone this is a Day 1 Buy for me, with "The Good Son" a neat bonus.

[Matt]

16mm! No wonder we get two films for the price of one.

[Finch]

I haven't seen the supplements and There Was A Father yet but Chris' review seems very fair. The damage in The Only Son (watched it a week ago) isn't confined to fade ins and outs as in, say, the CC/MoC releases of Ugetsu, but quite pronounced throughout several scenes. Definitely keep your expectations in check for the A/V although I'd say it's not entirely without some decent looking shots and/or sequences.

[cdnchris]

16mm! No wonder we get two films for the price of one.

Oops. It should have said 16mm copy (I'll go back and fix it) but yes. I blame the overall fuzziness on that, but they state in both booklets that these copies were the best existing materials they could find.

[Michael Kerpan]

Only Son looks quite good compared to my favorite Ozu film of the 30s -- Tokyo Inn.

One or two of the (partially) surviving Ozu films survived only in 12.5mm versions (e.g., I Graduated But).

To my eyes, those screen shots look pretty darn good -- much better than what I first encountered (VHS copies of long ago TV broadcasts). ;~}

[kaujot]

The Only Son joins Ebert's Great Movies series.

[dad1153]

^^^ Which 'discarded' great movie did Ebert remove from his Top 100 to make room for "Only Son"?