141 Children of Paradise

[Michael Kerpan]

Thank you for this enlightening discussion.

Welcome to the Forum. ;~}

Sometimes, I think people think we're just a bunch of never-happy cry-babies when most of our concerns are fully motivated.
Glad to see that the discussion seems to take a positive turn.

This was one of the nicest (maybe THE nicest) thread turnaround in all the years I've been here. ;~}

[hearthesilence]

Just to be clear, the current DVD is just an SD mastering of the new HD master, correct? In other words, if I don't like the look of the HD master, I should get the old DVD?

[hearthesilence]

Amusingly, Pathé has blocked Janus' YouTube upload of their restoration demonstration on "copyright grounds."

[Drucker]

There's probably a better place for this, but there is a copy of a 16mm print up for sale on ebay. Person listing also has other films listed.

[hearthesilence]

Is there an HD version of this without the DNR? Just thinking of The Earrings of Madame de…, which you can download on iTunes in 720p in a mastering without that terribly looking grain reduction…are we just SOL with Children of Paradise?

[Lowry_Sam]

So I've looked all over but haven't been able to find a comparison of the Pathe blu to the Criterion. I would assume that the 2 releases are identical, but I haven't been found any site that confirms this. Beaver only compares the (previous) Criterion dvd with the blu-ray and I haven't seen any reviews of the Pathe blu-ray that include screen grabs.

[tenia]

I only have the Pathé BD release, but except minute differences mostly down to the encode, it certainly looks the same crap than what I've seen on reviews of the Criterion release.
Second Sight release probably also looks the same.

[Maltic]

CoP is being revived at the local cinema in a "newly restored version"

I assume it hasn't actually been re-restored and so it will be the decade-old Pathe version. If so, was the issue mostly with the BD releases.. or with DCP's as well?

[jegharfangetmigenmyg]

It would seem weird to call a 2011 restoration "newly restored", but I haven't heard anything about a newer restoration, which is kind of baffling after all the backlash. Especially for a film of its stature. Maybe they will do a new one for its 80th anniversary in 2025?

[tenia]

As far as I recall, the restoration was acclaimed by many, including by professionnals from the industry. The fact that it was the 1st B&W French movie to be restored in 4k certainly helped this non-sensical acclaim considering how bad it is.

[Drucker]

CoP is being revived at the local cinema in a "newly restored version"

I assume it hasn't actually been re-restored and so it will be the decade-old Pathe version. If so, was the issue mostly with the BD releases.. or with DCP's as well?

It's nonsense. Film Forum does the same thing here in NYC. Whatever they play is "recently restored" even if it's been a decade (Contempt for example a couple of years ago).

[Maltic]

I take it the DCP will have more or less the same flaws as the Criterion BD has, in which case I won't be going. Pitty...

[hearthesilence]

Thanks to Joan Jonas, who was given carte blanche to program some films in conjunction with MoMA's ongoing retrospective of her work, MoMA is screening a 35mm print of this film and there's one more screening on Sunday (tomorrow) at 4:30 pm. It's struck from the Lobster restoration from the early '90s, and it's pretty great. (The second-to-last reel is a touch faded, but it still looks fine.) It really makes the travesty of the current restoration all the more regrettable, especially when it's been the only version being made available for home viewing for over a decade now.

It occurred to me there's been an ongoing tradition of great "romantic" films linking love with time. With Letter from an Unknown Woman, the Before trilogy and many others, trying to attain, keep or retrieve ideal love is framed as a struggle against time, as if one had to conquer it or break free from it's forward movement - a physically impossible endeavor. When the works in question express this struggle, it usually plays to the filmmaker or the work's greatest strength. In this case, it's the screenplay which is still amazing, some of the most beautiful dialogue ever written for a film. When they return years later to Garance's former room at the Great Post House, Jacques Prévert couldn't have written it better.

[vanshady]

I don't know whether Pathe 2016 is different from its 2012 version. Nonetheless, I believe the Pathe 2016 DNR is better than Criterion, so it should be the superior version. See my screencap vs DVDBeaver's here https://slow.pics/c/z8p3fR0G I don't have criterion or 2012 Pathe for comparison, so this is the best I can do.

One interesting thing to note is that the FNAC website specifically list out the "2016 version" in the title, which it doesn't usually do I think.

[nicolas]

I don't know whether Pathe 2016 is different from its 2012 version. Nonetheless, I believe the Pathe 2016 DNR is better than Criterion, so it should be the superior version. See my screencap vs DVDBeaver's here https://slow.pics/c/z8p3fR0G I don't have criterion or 2012 Pathe for comparison, so this is the best I can do.

One interesting thing to note is that the FNAC website specifically list out the "2016 version" in the title, which it doesn't usually do I think.

You’re right, the 2016 Pathé is definitely a better disc than the Criterion with a stronger encode that restored a touch more fine detail that Criterion’s authoring house filtered off as usual. The master on the other hand is surely identical.

[vanshady]

You’re right, the 2016 Pathé is definitely a better disc than the Criterion with a stronger encode that restored a touch more fine detail that Criterion’s authoring house filtered off as usual. The master on the other hand is surely identical.

I wonder why I didn't see anyone mention 2012 Pathe's version at all, surely they didn't restore again just 4 years apart.

[tenia]

No it's the same (godawful) restoration.
Also, remember that Beaver caps are notoriously slightly filtered one way (texture) or the other (colors), so the differences in your comparison might be screencaps related.

[Stefan Andersson]

110 000 Euros has been granted (9 Dec. 2025) to Pathé Films, for digitizing Children of Paradise. I assume this will be a new restoration.
https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/aides ... moi&annee=