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Yes, that's true. The best Indian DVDs I've seen to date were the AE Apu Trilogy, and MoC's Abhijaan...nowhere near pristine. Still, I was at least hoping that the many delays would result in transfers similar to those. But I've been too eager to see Charulata in a decent form; a friend of mine who is largely responsible for my interest in movies claims its Ray's best film, and is endlessly frustrated about the lack of quality release.

BFI's DVD of Ghatak's The Cloud-Capped Star, though, is pretty good, and has moments of clarity that are among the most vivid I've seen on any SD DVD transfer. Ray fans would find that a worthwhile title to add to their collection, btw.

I'd have to see it in motion, but from Gary's caps it does look like an "as good as it gets" situation. Indifference can't be the only reason there's no Indian cinema in the Criterion catalog.

Matango wrote:BFI's DVD of Ghatak's The Cloud-Capped Star, though, is pretty good, and has moments of clarity that are among the most vivid I've seen on any SD DVD transfer. Ray fans would find that a worthwhile title to add to their collection, btw.

Have to disagree with this, though - the transfer might look fine, but it's one of the worst PAL->NTSC conversions I've ever seen. The unnatural "sped up" quality to the motion in the image was so bad I gave up after a few minutes -- and then cursed myself for skipping a recent theatrical screening because I figured this DVD would be OK. Does anyone know why BFI, a UK label, released only NTSC discs of this and A River Called Titas? As far as I know those are their only two releases in that format.

MOC's Abhijan is a great-looking DVD, though. It's given me a ruinous hope for more quality Satyajit Ray DVDs one day....

Does anyone one have the French hardsubbed DVD of Charulata to compare it to the new AE disc?

To say I disagree with his opinion of the film is something of an understatement (I wasn't the one who voted the film 10 in the sidebar, but I'm glad someone tried to redress the balance!), but here's DVD Times' Noel Megahey on AE's You, The Living.

MichaelB wrote:To say I disagree with his opinion of the film is something of an understatement (I wasn't the one who voted the film 10 in the sidebar, but I'm glad someone tried to redress the balance!), but here's DVD Times' Noel Megahey on AE's You, The Living.

I guess he just didn't get it, I saw the movie and thought it was hugely entertaining, I preferred it to "Songs From the Second Floor", and that's a great movie too. I love the "fish tank" lighting he employs and the deadpan (Beckett comes to mind) humour. I didn't vote in the sidebar either, though I may just go back to do so.

Edit....since I haven't seen the DVD, I didn't vote.

Zobalob wrote:Edit....since I haven't seen the DVD, I didn't vote.

You don't have to have seen the DVD - there are two separate voting buttons, for 'Film' and 'DVD'.

MichaelB wrote:To say I disagree with his opinion of the film is something of an understatement (I wasn't the one who voted the film 10 in the sidebar, but I'm glad someone tried to redress the balance!), but here's DVD Times' Noel Megahey on AE's You, The Living.

He's maybe a little harsh, but I think Noel is onto something here - I had a little moan about the film in another thread a few days ago (can't remember which). All the reviews I've read have been some shade of glowing, so I'm pleased that somebody has tried to take Andersson's fussy aesthetic down a notch. Probably the most disappointing theatrical release of the year for me so far - anybody who hasn't seen much of Andersson's work should definitely pick up A Swedish Love Story on DVD first.

I found Songs from the Second Floor so persistently annoying that I gave up on it after 30 minutes or so. ;~{

I've heard (from a source I can't remember) that Andersson's cinematic progression was greatly influenced by the pressure he was receiving to make another A Swedish Love Story film. As a result, he decided to make the complete opposite and the result was Gilliap. Like him or not, one has to admit that he is one of cinema's most elusive and interesting figures.

I wasn't wildly enamoured of Songs from the Second Floor, which is why I was so pleasantly surprised by You the Living - about which I'd had no real expectations, having somehow failed to clock the reviews.

Songs From the Second Floor is a lot like the Life Aquatic, in that it doesn't really want to be a movie.

Songs From the Second Floor is one of the best European films of the last 10 years. Due to the packed frame it may not work that well on DVD.

I missed Songs for some reason, so You, the Living came as quite a shock! A Swedish Love Story is full of extremely sensitive filmmaking, and the way in which Andersson prevents the whole exercise from tipping over into sheer mawkishness is very impressive. The observational style in You, the Living however struck me as weirdly meticulous, cynical and lifeless, so sidehacker's post makes a lot of sense.

DVD Outsider on You The Living - much more on the film's wavelength.

Andrei Zvyagintsev's The Banishment has been added on AE's site.

Pro-B

DVD Times on Satyajit Ray Collection – Volume 1

Still waiting for my copy of the Ray to show up. I wonder how many postponements can it have?

zone_resident wrote:DVD Times on Satyajit Ray Collection – Volume 1

Man, this sounds like a disaster. If they really are NTSC->PAL conversions, I wonder if they're actually ports of the American Bollywood Home Entertainment DVDs. I hope Gary will do a comparison.

DVD Times on Satyajit Ray Collection - Volume 2

Gary already did a review. It seems to be a matter of non-progressive combing and nothing more.

Gary reviewed only Volume 1 as far as I know.

I am glad that these films are finally available on DVD despite the imperfections (which seem to be due to the problems with original prints).

Combing (result of nonprogressive) is the result of the transfer itself-- it has nothing to do with the original print's disposition.

Still waiting for it to arrive...

HerrSchreck wrote:Combing (result of nonprogressive) is the result of the transfer itself-- it has nothing to do with the original print's disposition.

I'd take a guess that the masters are NTSC. AE should probably have considered issuing an NTSC master as an NTSC disc (like MoC did with ABHIJAN). Instead of doing an NTSC > PAL conversion -- which introduces the combing.