Martin Scorsese Presents Masterpieces of Polish Cinema

[MichaelB]

Sadly, the Blu-ray market in Poland appears to be tiny, with very little interest in back-catalogue titles. Various initiatives have started up over the years, but all have foundered after the initial batch of releases.

I suspect this is what led to the otherwise bizarre decision to crop Dekalog to 16:9 - it made more commercial sense from TVP's perspective to sell it as a mainstream Polish TV series, with the picture filling the screen, something that's actually plausible in Poland because it features an impressive cast list of major local stars (and a couple of international ones too: Krystyna Janda, Daniel Olbrychski). Thankfully, the cropping wasn't carried out until the very final stages, so it was easy enough for Arrow and Criterion to turn the clock back - although while I can't speak for Criterion, not being able to release it as originally framed would have been an absolute deal-breaker for Arrow.

[zedz]

Since I don't think anybody else has reported back yet: my third set arrived today, and the interior construction unsurprisingly followed the sturdy model of Volume 2 and not flimsy Volume 1, so everything arrived in perfect condition.

[MichaelB]

All three of my sets arrived today, and I lost no time in ditching the boxes altogether and just lining the Blu-rays up on my shelves.

[zedz]

All three of my sets arrived today, and I lost no time in ditching the boxes altogether and just lining the Blu-rays up on my shelves.

I feel like you should cannibalise the innards of one of the boxes to make bookends with the 'key' on them as a holiday crafts project!

[chatterjees]

Since I don't think anybody else has reported back yet: my third set arrived today, and the interior construction unsurprisingly followed the sturdy model of Volume 2 and not flimsy Volume 1, so everything arrived in perfect condition.

Are you in USA? I am still waiting for my 3rd set. The tracking info was last updated on Dec 20, which just says that the package had left Poland. Also, this information was obtained from the Polish website that was provided in the dispatch email. On, the other hand, usps site has a page for the tracking number, but its blank.

[feihong]

I'm in Los Angeles, and I'm on the lookout for the 3rd box. But it hasn't arrived yet.

Good to see people getting the new set!

[chatterjees]

I am not worried because the set hasn't arrived yet. What's bothering me is the fact that the box's vanished in the thin air for almost 9 days on the tracking system.

I'm in Los Angeles, and I'm on the lookout for the 3rd box. But it hasn't arrived yet.

Good to see people getting the new set!

You should have a tracking number, right? Will you please check whether you are experiencing the same thing? Thanks.

[chiendent]

I am not worried because the set hasn't arrived yet. What's bothering me is the fact that the box's vanished in the thin air for almost 9 days on the tracking system.

You should have a tracking number, right? Will you please check whether you are experiencing the same thing? Thanks.

I'm also in California, hasn't arrived yet here either. I didn't know I could track this through USPS but for me it just says "origin post is preparing shipment" with the last update on the 20th. I'm not worried, though. Never have tracking numbers for Arrow/MoC shipments and haven't had a problem yet.

[chatterjees]

I am not worried because the set hasn't arrived yet. What's bothering me is the fact that the box's vanished in the thin air for almost 9 days on the tracking system.

You should have a tracking number, right? Will you please check whether you are experiencing the same thing? Thanks.

I'm also in California, hasn't arrived yet here either. I didn't know I could track this through USPS but for me it just says "origin post is preparing shipment" with the last update on the 20th. I'm not worried, though. Never have tracking numbers for Arrow/MoC shipments and haven't had a problem yet.

I am feeling better now, as the usps page for my tracking number says the same thing.

[MichaelB]

My tracking fizzled out on the 22nd, and then the package turned up yesterday with no warning.

[feihong]

Ah, I found the tracking # in my old e-mail account. Apparently the box has arrived at my home. I'm not home, but it looks like it was delivered yesterday.

[chatterjees]

Well, I still don't have anything updated since Dec 20 as per my tracking number. So, what should I do if this set does not show up in next few days?

[kekid]

Well, I still don't have anything updated since Dec 20 as per my tracking number. So, what should I do if this set does not show up in next few days?

I have not received mine either.
As I understand, they ship once a week, on Mondays. So our deliveries may be a week later if we missed the Monday those who got theirs were shipped.
So, I am hoping...some time this week.

[feihong]

I've taken a look at a couple of the films in the Volume 3 set. Wesele looks very nice indeed, comparable to the way Promised Land looked in the first set. But Ashes and Diamonds doesn't look so hot. I'm watching the Arrow disc to compare the two, and to my eyes the Scorcese Vol. 3 set version is darker, murkier, with more DNR and zoomed in a bit. The Arrow disc has its own DNR issues, but it looks quite a bit better to my eyes.

[feihong]

The other discs are also a mix of different quality-levels. Mother Joan of the Angels and Eroica are muddy-looking, with heavy DNR, like Ashes and Diamonds. But Knife in Water, A Short Film About Killing, Blind Chance and To Kill This Love all look gorgeous––these are the sharpest transfers I've seen in all three sets, with crisp, robust grain, lovely color (or greyscale in the case of Knife in Water)...really, really good stuff. The differences in quality between the various transfers in these sets is pretty frustrating. I think some of these films stand a chance of coming out in a better edition in another country at some point, but others...not so much.

[MichaelB]

It's clear that different Polish restoration houses have different attitudes to what constitutes "good restoration", and I suspect it's no coincidence that the masters for Ashes and Diamonds and Mother Joan of the Angels are at least five years old, while others are much more recent.

This is why I was very nervous about the Poles tackling Story of Sin, as we didn't know whether we'd get something fabulous or DNRed to high heaven - and I wasn't completely reassured until I finally got to see the completed restoration myself. (You can relax: it looks amazing).

[tenia]

I'd suppose that A Short Film About Killing and Blind Chance are the same restorations used by Criterion for their releases.

[feihong]

They definitely look as if they are the same as the Criterion transfers. To Kill This Love is a little surprising in that regard, because it looks equally good as those that come from transfers Criterion has used.

[MichaelB]

Criterion would certainly have used the Polish masters: they weren't broken so didn't need fixing. In fact, if Arrow's experience of Story of Sin is anything to go by, they'd have been refused direct access to original 35mm mastering materials on the grounds that a new restoration already existed.

Also, all three BD editions of Dekalog also came from the same 4K restoration, although TVP (Poland), Criterion and Arrow treated it differently:

TVP: severely cropped at the top and bottom to 16:9, native 25fps.
Criterion: slightly cropped at the sides to 4:3, slowed down to 24fps.
Arrow: as supplied (a non-standard but compositionally convincing 1.39:1), native 25fps.

[Lowry_Sam]

How many in the US have received theirs? Still no sign of mine yet.

[nick]

No sign of mine either and tracking stopped showing any progress on December 20th. I emailed them and they are filling a missing package claim.

[javi82]

No sign of mine either and tracking stopped showing any progress on December 20th. I emailed them and they are filling a missing package claim.

Same here. Haven't emailed them yet though. Thought maybe it was stuck in customs or something.

[vertovfan]

I ordered mine on December 11, shipped to Illinois. The package was accepted at the post office in Poland on December 16, processed through a facility in Warsaw on December 26, and processed through a facility in New York on January 9. Slow going for some reason this time around, but seems like it's still on its way.

[kekid]

I ordered mine on December 11, shipped to Illinois. The package was accepted at the post office in Poland on December 16, processed through a facility in Warsaw on December 26, and processed through a facility in New York on January 9. Slow going for some reason this time around, but seems like it's still on its way.

How did you get the details on the progress of the package? Like other members, my tracking stopped after the package left Poland.

[Morgan Creek]

How did you get the details on the progress of the package? Like other members, my tracking stopped after the package left Poland.

After it leaves Poland you have to track progress on the USPS site. Use the same tracking number that the Polish shipper provided.