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Absolutely stunning. When will we get Mirror and Nostalgia as well? (does Kino still have Nostalgia?)

Kino has Nostalgia but I don't know about Mirror. I seem to recall Janus is touring very soon with a print but the print is from Kino???? Can someone clarify this?

If I'm not mistaken, Janus tweeted a still from Mirror fairly recently.

Can't find the relevant post right now but I definitely remember someone posting an email from Mosfilm confirming that The Mirror had been licensed to Criterion along with Stalker and Rublev.

The Mirror is available now on Filmstruck's Criterion Channel.

The Mirror has been on the Criterion Channel since the service launched back in Nov 2016. It has been a likely Criterion release since that.

It still plays on Filmstruck with the Janus logo, although it's not on Janus's website. Kino Lorber's website is also not selling The Mirror in any permutation. It seems as good a candidate from Criterion as any non-confirmed film.

Omensetter wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 4:30 pm It still plays on Filmstruck with the Janus logo, although it's not on Janus's website. Kino Lorber's website is also not selling The Mirror in any permutation. It seems as good a candidate from Criterion as any non-confirmed film.

With just a couple of exceptions, the Janus site's listing of films only has those that Criterion has either released on disc or that Janus has officially toured in the past 10 years. So all of those hundreds of Kinoshita films they own the rights to aren't listed, but the Wender / Chaplin films they toured are listed.

Which is why, if it appears on Filmstruck with a Janus logo - that's the best way to find out if its Janus owned (until the eventual disc/theatrical tour)

Criterion licensed a large bunch of films from MOS back around when Filmstruck launched - including the Tarkovskys, Come and See, some Eisenstein films, or just see the USSR/Russia section here.

Chrisrobles27 wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 4:27 pm The Mirror has been on the Criterion Channel since the service launched back in Nov 2016. It has been a likely Criterion release since that.

HD? Wonder if it looks any better than my old Artificial Eye dvd.

Have to say I stopped paying attention to Criterion releases but casually checked the site the other day, amazing to finally see Rublev given proper treatment after all these years.

Interestingly, Criterion have updated the release specs :

Original :

New 2K digital restoration of the director's preferred 185-minute cut, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New 2K digital transfer of the original 205-minute version of the film, The Passion According to Andrei

Now :
New high-definition digital restoration of the director’s preferred 185-minute cut, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
The Passion According to Andrei, the original 205-minute version of the film

Uh oh

I'm all the more surprised that IIRC, the recent French set presents the main cut from a 2K restoration (but The Passion only is offered in SD).

My anticipation for this release has been downgraded from "This may be the best one of the year" to "cautiously pessimistic."

Is it disingenuous to announce it as 2K for both cuts knowing that it wouldn't even be hi-def for one of them?

They might have not known at the time, which would be my first guess. But still, I'm quite certain the French set has the main cut as 2K-sourced, and I don't see why Criterion couldn't get it.
Or maybe they have some doubts about the workflow and prefer to understate and over deliver ?

Well they already blew that

What's the difference between saying 2K and hi-def? That it might be 720p instead of 1080p?

No it’ll definitely be 1080p.. but usually just saying “High Definition Transfer” means it’s either from an old (usually outdated) source. Because most great transfers for older films of the past 6-8 years have all been from 2k / 4K transfers.

Usually refers to older HD telecine (but still 1080p).

You guys can be silly. Do harken back to the first post on this same page with the lovely looking Janus trailer.

However they decide to list it on their packaging, its not going to look like a garbage fire.

I just realized that I’d confused myself into thinking the 2K was the width, not the height.

I'm actually confused why it got changed after announcement. How could they realize it's not a 2k restoration 2 months from release? Does production on criterion releases sometimes finish by cutting close to the proposed release date? Rights issues i.e. for some reason they couldn't use the 2k? Did they choose at the last minute to not use it? Does this mean they had an HD transfer as backup?

Minkin wrote: Thu Jul 05, 2018 4:58 am However they decide to list it on their packaging, its not going to look like a garbage fire.

It's not the point. Criterion clearly sources what they technically use, so if they use what definitely seems to be a 2K restoration, they never under-marketed it as HD restoration, so I'm just wondering why they're changing the denomination, if it's because 2 restorations co-exist, if because the work actually was done in HD (which would be weird because I don't think any restoration are done in this workflow anymore), etc etc.

It can seem silly, but it's not. There seemed to be only one restoration available, and by changing the denomination for their release, Criterion is casting some doubt about what it is exactly.

Again, it might be a technicality, it might be a mistake and they'll put back 2K instead of HD, who knows. But so far, it's a bit confusing for people like me who like to stay aware of the restorations available, no matter how good it looks.

However, what's clear is that I expected the release to upgrade The Passion version over the Potemkine SD presentation, and am now not so sure about it either.

tenia wrote: Thu Jul 05, 2018 8:38 am ...However, what's clear is that I expected the release to upgrade The Passion version over the Potemkine SD presentation, and am now not so sure about it either.

A decent-looking 35mm print of the 205 min. version has been making rounds throughout the U.S. over the past decade; it seems to me that Criterion could have done a 2K scan of that print for the new release. Maybe the lack of time or money would have prevented any digital clean-up, but it would be better than issuing that version in SD. If the second disc of this higher-priced deluxe set is going to be upscaled SD, they could have saved even more money by just throwing the old non-anamorphic DVD on the spindle.