criterionforum.org

• New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New conversation between author Hervé Dumont (Frank Borzage: The Life and Films of a Hollywood Romantic) and film historian Peter Cowie
• Interview from 2019 with critic Farran Smith Nehme about director Frank Borzage’s obsession with romantic love
• Audio excerpts of a 1958 interview with Borzage from the collection of the George Eastman Museum
• Radio adaptation of the film from 1940, broadcast by The Screen Guild Theater and starring Charles Boyer
• New program about the restoration
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  PLUS: An essay by critic Dan Callahan

bottlesofsmoke wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 7:16 pm This is great news, I absolutely love this movie but have only ever gotten to see it in pretty crummy versions. I have to imagine a 4K resoration will make for quite a different experience.

soundchaser wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 7:18 pm

bottlesofsmoke wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 7:16 pm This is great news, I absolutely love this movie but have only ever gotten to see it in pretty crummy versions. I have to imagine a 4K resoration will make for quite a different experience.

I've been going through Borzage's work chronologically and now I'm wondering if I should put things on hold until April...

soundchaser wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 7:18 pm I've been going through Borzage's work chronologically and now I'm wondering if I should put things on hold until April...

bottlesofsmoke wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 7:36 pm

soundchaser wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 7:18 pm I've been going through Borzage's work chronologically and now I'm wondering if I should put things on hold until April...

Just a quick comparison between the version on the Criterion Channel and the restoration clip shows a pretty big difference. Have you seen it before? If you watch it and like it, you can still get the blu and revel in the improvement and extras. If you don’t like it, well then you saved some cash.

I’ve run into similar problems before and found when I put stuff on hold it’s a lot harder to pick back up again. But that’s just me!

movielocke wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 7:19 pm Wow, this looks like another Show Boat in that the extras are better than the main feature. Don't love the movie, but maybe it's better the second time around, really intrigued by that huge stash of extras though.

therewillbeblus wrote: Sun Apr 26, 2020 12:13 am

HinkyDinkyTruesmith wrote: Fri Apr 17, 2020 3:45 am Have you seen History Is Made at Night, TWBB? While I admire 7th Heaven and have great affection for Lucky Star, History is I think where Borzage's romantic power is at its fullest (and least problematic) blossom. It's where his material is at its closest to obliterating itself in sheer absurdity, but where the dignity of his characters transcends it. Shifts of tone and plot are so perfectly handled as to beggar belief. The conviction of him and his cast is awe-inspiring there, where I think the added adversity of dialogue makes it more of a challenge to navigate the unreality of the scenario, whereas in the silents the unnatural form itself accommodates such miracles.

Finally caught up with History is Made at Night and while it’s too challenging for me to compare Borzage’s strengths in elicitation of emotion in silent vs sound films, I thought this was a terrific tale of the ‘grand romantic gesture’ of existential risk via one-way ticket to high stakes adventure. These types of plots walk the tightrope between being unbelievable contrivances or emotional proclamations of love-conquering-all (though I did have a professor once who claimed to have followed his love interest around the world to profess his love to her, so it’s not necessarily a fabrication!) but this one finds a sweet spot where Paul and Irene engage in this tense dance of attraction while remaining grounded to reality in awareness of consequence.

I loved the use of ‘Coco’ for Irene to express her affection, and the role-playing games that follow; a playfulness that most can probably recognize from blossoming romances in our pasts. The humor worked well too, in gentle warmth like Boyer’s transitional attitude between professionalism and peer loyalty when on the job, or for laughs like the excitable chef interaction descending into exaggerated Italian gibberish near the end.

I wasn’t crazy about the Titanic ending, not only because of the obvious physical metaphor, or because it felt out of step with the micro-intimacy of our participation outlets despite the range of space traversed, but because rest of the departure of attention to our surrogate characters for lengths of time which took me out of the movie during the act when audience involvement is critical to the payoff. Still, despite this detour, the rest of the film worked perfectly, and I appreciate the passion you have for it. Like many films, I could see this one growing on me with revisits, and I’m now hungry for more Borzage.

Pavel wrote: Fri Jan 15, 2021 7:08 pm Any doubts I've had about Bressonaire having insider information are now gone

domino harvey wrote: Fri Feb 05, 2021 6:30 pm This is like the perfect film for someone who likes the Talk of the Town...