Re: Artificial Eye
Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:37 pm
Intermedio released a Spanish disc that looks pretty good except for some overzealous DNR. The R2J clearly used a good master, but they windowboxed it to an absurd degree. There are no English subs on either, in case anyone didn't already assume that. Bear in mind that Jia is preparing a Michael Mann-esque "final director's cut," so even if AE does use a new master, I expect a still-better-looking version will be along within a year or two (although it won't be quite the same movie). To be honest, I don't think Xiao Wu and Unknown Pleasures could look that much better.bigP wrote:I'm really hoping that the Jia Zhang-ke collection is from a new set of transfers and that we might actually find a watchable version of Platform.
Is there an article or interview where he talks about this, Fanciful Norwegian? I'd love to hear his thoughts on the existing cut prior to it's re-release.The Fanciful Norwegian wrote:Intermedio released a Spanish disc that looks pretty good except for some overzealous DNR. The R2J clearly used a good master, but they windowboxed it to an absurd degree. There are no English subs on either, in case anyone didn't already assume that. Bear in mind that Jia is preparing a Michael Mann-esque "final director's cut," so even if AE does use a new master, I expect a still-better-looking version will be along within a year or two (although it won't be quite the same movie).bigP wrote:I'm really hoping that the Jia Zhang-ke collection is from a new set of transfers and that we might actually find a watchable version of Platform.
I totally agree. I thought they both looked pretty good, but I'd be more than willing to buy them again for an improvement on Platform. I still feel like I haven't really watched that film yet as I couldn't sit comfortably with the previous release enough to enjoy it. The same goes for Shinji Aoyama's Eureka, another film I'd love to see them revisit.The Fanciful Norwegian wrote:To be honest, I don't think Xiao Wu and Unknown Pleasures could look that much better.
I can think of several that they don't have - they're unlikely to get Studio Canal's Diary of a Country Priest, for instance, and I believe the BFI still has Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne. And aren't Une Femme Douce and Four Nights of a Dreamer in limbo?Calvin wrote:With AE now having the rights to the whole of Bresson's oeuvre (I think?)
The recut was mentioned in Cinema Scope's recent "50 Directors Under 50" issue. I can't turn up anything else about it, but Jia has spoken more than once about the decisions that went into the original release cut -- which was itself shortened by 40 minutes from the Venice premiere version (193 minutes), which was in turn reduced from a 210-minute first cut. According to Jia, the festival cut was done under deadline pressure and he wasn't really happy with it; his main strategy with the release cut was to remove what he considered unnecessary connective tissue. So where the longer cut(s) would show a couple breaking up and going their separate ways, the release version would just show the girl leaving and skip the actual breakup. However, this writer (who refers to the short version as a "distributor's cut," though I have never seen Jia suggest anyone but himself was responsible) says the short version also removes some non-plot-related material, like additional performances and a non-diegetic coda. My guess is that some of this will be restored to the new version.bigP wrote:Is there an article or interview where he talks about this, Fanciful Norwegian? I'd love to hear his thoughts on the existing cut prior to it's re-release.
I asked MoC on twitter a few months ago about Bresson and they said "there's a push, by his widow, to get all Bresson under one roof in the UK. So all eyes on Artificial Eye."MichaelB wrote:I can think of several that they don't have - they're unlikely to get Studio Canal's Diary of a Country Priest, for instance, and I believe the BFI still has Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne. And aren't Une Femme Douce and Four Nights of a Dreamer in limbo?Calvin wrote:With AE now having the rights to the whole of Bresson's oeuvre (I think?)
If whoever holds the rights is as terrified of Mylene as everybody else seems to be, probably quite a bit!MichaelB wrote:But how much say (and sway) does his widow have over, say, Diary of a Country Priest?
What movie is Second Choice? never heard of it. (they're not meaning Second Circle?)bigP wrote:The Alexander Sokurov Collection [Save and Protect, Second Choice & Elegy of Life] - 24th September DVD
Struggling to work that one out myself. I've updated the Sokurov page in the Filmmakers section of the forum with added information of the Cinema Guild upcoming releases and for Save and Protect from this set, but haven't worked out which film they're talking about with Second Choice (and I wanted to check that Elegy of Life is this before I add that update too). I did think Second Circle was highly likely but thought I'd wait until there is clarification first.alfons416 wrote:What movie is Second Choice? never heard of it. (they're not meaning Second Circle?)bigP wrote:The Alexander Sokurov Collection [Save and Protect, Second Choice & Elegy of Life] - 24th September DVD
Maybe Second Choice is the previously unsuspected B-Roll version of Second Circle.solaris72 wrote:Here it's listed as Second Circle.
EDIT: I didn't notice it does indeed appear as "Second Choice" on the above link, though the text (which was posted some time ago when this was initially announced) lists the film as Second Circle.
It would be good to have another DVD with 24 Realities per Second on it, if that's going to be included. If not, I don't see how this AE disc will be any improvement whatsoever over the Kino release of The Castle, and either way it's a little frustrating to see DVD-only releases when, like you say, some of Haneke's other '90s films are already becoming available on blu in France.McCrutchy wrote:Great to see The Castle is getting an individual release. I didn't want to shell out for the re-released AE DVD box set when his catalogue is already starting to make the jump to Blu-ray in France. I hope it will have the extras mentioned in the review of the box set screener disc at The Digital Fix...
The release date has been pushed to September 10.bigP wrote:September - December releases [as there are some new additions, this is so far the line up]:
The Turin Horse - 3rd September DVD
Thanks for this info. I found this interview with Jia on the Senses of Cinema website where he is asked briefly about the two cuts [though doesn't go into much detail]:The Fanciful Norwegian wrote:The recut was mentioned in Cinema Scope's recent "50 Directors Under 50" issue. I can't turn up anything else about it, but Jia has spoken more than once about the decisions that went into the original release cut -- which was itself shortened by 40 minutes from the Venice premiere version (193 minutes), which was in turn reduced from a 210-minute first cut. According to Jia, the festival cut was done under deadline pressure and he wasn't really happy with it; his main strategy with the release cut was to remove what he considered unnecessary connective tissue. So where the longer cut(s) would show a couple breaking up and going their separate ways, the release version would just show the girl leaving and skip the actual breakup. However, this writer (who refers to the short version as a "distributor's cut," though I have never seen Jia suggest anyone but himself was responsible) says the short version also removes some non-plot-related material, like additional performances and a non-diegetic coda. My guess is that some of this will be restored to the new version.bigP wrote:Is there an article or interview where he talks about this, Fanciful Norwegian? I'd love to hear his thoughts on the existing cut prior to it's re-release.
It's interesting to see that he values the shorter cut of the film (though still describing it as the distributor's cut), and I wonder if this keeping to the runtime will be something he tries to work around in his 'director's cut'? A Touch of Evil type MOC package would undoubtedly be of great value in housing all of the (potential) cuts for this film, though I can't picture AE getting into this.Stephen Teo: There are two versions of the film, a longer uncut version running over three hours, and a shorter version that runs two-and-a-half hours. Which version are you more satisfied with?
Jia: I am more satisfied with the shorter version because the longer version was something that we did in a hurry. I feel sorry for my investors because I had to prolong the schedule as I was waiting for the right season. And I was revising the screenplay non-stop. They asked me to hurry up the production in order to make the Venice Film Festival, and I did so. The shorter version is a distributor’s cut. But I myself wanted to cut it down to two-and-a-half hours, the better for it to be shown in theatres.
Thanks for the update, I've amended the list.feckless boy wrote:The release date has been pushed to September 10.bigP wrote:September - December releases [as there are some new additions, this is so far the line up]:
The Turin Horse - 3rd September DVD
Thanks for this information. If the options are: 1) a rushed cut the director wasn't happy with; 2) a distributor's cut that the director preferred to his own one; and 3) an actual director's cut; then this sounds more like a situation where 'director's cut + deleted / alternate scenes' would be the most sensible option. It's not a situation like Mr Arkadin or Touch of Evil where there's no definitive version and the relationships between the different cuts are murky or contentious.bigP wrote: I found this interview with Jia on the Senses of Cinema website where he is asked briefly about the two cuts [though doesn't go into much detail]:It's interesting to see that he values the shorter cut of the film (though still describing it as the distributor's cut), and I wonder if this keeping to the runtime will be something he tries to work around in his 'director's cut'? A Touch of Evil type MOC package would undoubtedly be of great value in housing all of the (potential) cuts for this film, though I can't picture AE getting into this.Stephen Teo: There are two versions of the film, a longer uncut version running over three hours, and a shorter version that runs two-and-a-half hours. Which version are you more satisfied with?
Jia: I am more satisfied with the shorter version because the longer version was something that we did in a hurry. I feel sorry for my investors because I had to prolong the schedule as I was waiting for the right season. And I was revising the screenplay non-stop. They asked me to hurry up the production in order to make the Venice Film Festival, and I did so. The shorter version is a distributor’s cut. But I myself wanted to cut it down to two-and-a-half hours, the better for it to be shown in theatres.