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Michael Kerpan wrote:My recollection is that the PAL version of Ruscico's Lear was reputed to look better than its NTSC one.

Yes! I just noted that.

Is there a good place to pick up the PAL versions other than direct from Ruscico (pricey last time I checked)?

swo17 wrote:Is there a good place to pick up the PAL versions other than direct from Ruscico (pricey last time I checked)?

There used to be an online store (located in Brighton Beach -- NYC) that handled these -- but I haven't ordered from them in MANY years (and am not sure what name they currently go under). If I recall, I'll let people know.

Addendum -- turned out to be easy to find -- http://www.russiandvd.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; -- but not PAL Kozintsev DVDs anymore. Problem is the Krupny Plan DVDs (the better versions of Hamlet and Lear) are apparently not supposed to be distributed outside Russia --as Rsucico has all the foreign rights (or something like that).

bottled spider wrote:A word of warning: the subtitles on the Facets Hamlet DVD are absolutely appalling. Out of sync or often just missing, and full of typos.

You left out the times that the subtitles flash up and disappear before you can read them.
I watched this last night, and the horrendous subtitles were a real challenge.
At first the subtitles put me on edge trying to understand what meaning was contained in the garbled words, then I got used to the botch job, and finally I paid more attention to the images and didn't worry if I read or understood the subtitles. Hamlet is a terrific film, and the music and set design were impressive. Wish I had a better edition -- I bought the Facets years ago -- but at least the storyline is so familiar that i could get through and appreciate the film despite the subtitle sabotage. You really have to wonder why such a mess was approved and released. Spelling mistakes are pervasive, which is inexcusable.

It's been a while, but yeah, I think I may have just switched off the subtitles at some point. The marriage between image and score in this and Lear is quite unlike anything else I've seen. Shostakovich in his youth made a living improvising at the piano for silent films.

Of course, no release to date of either Kozintsev Shakespeare film has actual subtitles. No translation of Pasternak's much-praised (by Russian experts) adaptation, just the closest corresponding chunks of some version or another of Shakespeare's lines.

Lenfilm have uploaded recent 2K restorations of Hamlet and King Lear to YouTube with optional English subtitles

Calvin wrote:Lenfilm have uploaded recent 2K restorations of Hamlet and King Lear to YouTube with optional English subtitles

Thanks -- I'll have to take a look....

Lear is playing in 35mm at the National Gallery of Art here in DC on March 11.

Saw Lear at the National Gallery of Art today. A great film. Chimes at Midnight is still the greatest Shakespeare film to me, but Yarvet's eyes and Shostakovich's score are a thing to behold. A blu-ray would be great, ideally with both straight Shakespeare subs and also subs actually translated from the Pasternak. Definitely will be watching Kozintsev's Hamlet on youtube next.

solaris72 wrote:Saw Lear at the National Gallery of Art today. A great film. Chimes at Midnight is still the greatest Shakespeare film to me, but Yarvet's eyes and Shostakovich's score are a thing to behold. A blu-ray would be great, ideally with both straight Shakespeare subs and also subs actually translated from the Pasternak. Definitely will be watching Kozintsev's Hamlet on youtube next.

I actually love Kozintsev's 2 Shakespeare films even more than Chimes (perhaps biased due to the Shostakovich scores), his otherwise impressive Don Quixote is one of his few films without a Shostakovich score -- and I feel the lack when watching it....

I second your hope for both original Shakespearean subtitles and translations of Pasternak's (famed in its own right) "translation".

I can see why people might want to engage with Pasternak's version, but how would it be possible to convey it effectively with subtitles? The qualities that make it a great translation--or any other translation great, for that matter--probably could not be fully captured in a translation back to English, let alone via subtitles. At best, we'd be wholly at the mercy of a second translator. It would no longer be Pasternak.

jsteffe wrote:I can see why people might want to engage with Pasternak's version, but how would it be possible to convey it effectively with subtitles? The qualities that make it a great translation--or any other translation great, for that matter--probably could not be fully captured in a translation back to English, let alone via subtitles. At best, we'd be wholly at the mercy of a second translator. It would no longer be Pasternak.

Before seeing the film I felt a further translation of the Pasternak would be unnecessary, but watching it I changed my mind. It wouldn't be about appreciating the Pasternak in and of itself, but getting a better feel for the actors' performances through a somewhat closer understanding of what they're saying. I'd definitely still want the straight Shakespeare subs available as an option, it's a totally legitimate way to view the film.