623 Lonesome

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ccfixx
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#76 Post by ccfixx » Sat Aug 18, 2012 10:17 pm

The first "talkie" clip on the beach blew my mind today when compared to the silent footage. I haven't read the booklet, yet, so maybe it sheds some light on the subject, but how did the sound clips remain so pristine compared to the other footage?

wllm995
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#77 Post by wllm995 » Sat Aug 18, 2012 10:46 pm

http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s3956lone.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Tommaso
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#78 Post by Tommaso » Sun Aug 19, 2012 6:54 am

Oops, am I reading the Savant review correctly? There's only mention of an audio essay on "Broadway", but it sounds as if the film itself was not included. If that were true, it would mean a major letdown, even though two complete films ("Lonesome" and "The Last Performance") would still be a cause to be overjoyed.

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Sloper
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#79 Post by Sloper » Sun Aug 19, 2012 7:03 am

Luckily the Mondo Digital review linked to on the previous page indicates that Broadway itself is part of the package, as well as an interview about the film with Hal Mohr.

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Tommaso
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#80 Post by Tommaso » Sun Aug 19, 2012 7:06 am

Phew! Thanks, I already saw my silent dream castle tumbling down...

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domino harvey
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#81 Post by domino harvey » Sun Aug 19, 2012 9:11 am

I'm glad MD included the running times (59 and 104 mins) of the two included "bonus" films, I wondered if all that was existent was a reel or two-- this is its own Eclipse set!

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Jeff
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#82 Post by Jeff » Sun Aug 19, 2012 9:42 am

domino harvey wrote:this is its own Eclipse set!
In 1080p with a nice set of supplements!

It doesn't look like he's linked it yet: here's Chris's take.

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swo17
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#83 Post by swo17 » Sun Aug 19, 2012 11:11 am

I dunno, I think my old copy of Lonesome looks just fine...

Image

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triodelover
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#84 Post by triodelover » Sun Aug 19, 2012 12:22 pm

If only Glenn Tryon didn't lo so much like Sean Hannity's brother...

Brianruns10
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#85 Post by Brianruns10 » Sun Aug 19, 2012 2:54 pm

Tommaso wrote:Oops, am I reading the Savant review correctly? There's only mention of an audio essay on "Broadway", but it sounds as if the film itself was not included. If that were true, it would mean a major letdown, even though two complete films ("Lonesome" and "The Last Performance") would still be a cause to be overjoyed.
It's not your fault. Broadway IS in this set. I read the review too, and I don't know what was up with the writer, if he had a hard deadline or what, but he really dropped the ball, by completely omitting a very, very significant extra on this. I mean, I'm anticipating this set MORE for the inclusion of "Broadway," than I am for "Lonesome."

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Tommaso
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#86 Post by Tommaso » Sun Aug 19, 2012 5:11 pm

Well, I can't think of any film I'd like more to see on dvd than "Lonesome", but I have to admit that I haven't seen "Broadway" yet. Even the backchannels seem to have only compromised versions of that film (one with Hungarian intertitles, the other a honourable but probably not fully successful attempt at 'privately restoring' the sound version with footage from the silent version). Great fan work, but thankfully we will now be able to leave all this behind...

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colinr0380
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#87 Post by colinr0380 » Fri Aug 24, 2012 3:12 pm


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Tommaso
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#88 Post by Tommaso » Mon Aug 27, 2012 6:14 pm

Heavens, yes, I've got it...

First of all I have to say thanks to importcds.com, an online retailer totally unknown to me until someone recommended them here recently in another thread. I gave them a chance due to them having the cheapest price on this set, and lo and behold: they managed to send it to Germany ultra-quick, and so I have this jewel in my hands even before the official release date. Totally great, because I was already anticipating a terrible wait of four weeks or so, while everybody else here was being already out of their mind for the sheer stunningness (does that word exist?) of this set and especially the main film...

Even though I don't know "Broadway" yet, there was no way around for me to watch "Lonesome" first. I had seen two different prints before, an Italian and a Hungarian one (with intertitles in the respective languages, IIRC), and both were completely silent: no music, no talking passages. So the greatest interest for me was the sound. Interesting to hear the original music soundtrack, because it is surprisingly upbeat and gives the film a somewhat lighter feeling, a rather joyful twist in places in a film that I had hitherto experienced mainly as a heartbreakingly romantic thing in the first place. Fantastic to hear the music of the storywise important "Always" 78 rpm finally, in any case. On the other hand, the spoken passages felt almost as an intrusion in this completely poetic masterpiece, adding nothing to the story but somewhat distracting from Fejös' hypnotic flow of images, especially the inserted sequence at the police station, which appeared to me as an unfortunate afterthought more than ever. You can clearly see that it is a mere insertion when the film picks up at the fair immediately afterwards. Strange, but in the interest of filmic poetry I would perhaps almost have preferred a version without it.

Otherwise, I'm completely with David about the colour sequences. Absolutely fantastic, delirious, and extremely beautiful, like the whole film. And as I'm not 100% convinced of the original score: if there's ever been a film on which In The Nursery should lay their soundtracking fingers, this one must be it.

The transfer is very fine, of course, the two full films on the second disc are incredible extras in any case (whatever "Broadway" may turn out to be; "The Last Performance" is a very fine film for sure), the booklet texts are extremely informative, and I'll now watch the film again with the audiocommentary, which I'm sure will provide me with further insights, so in a mood of silent enthusiasm let me state already: this set is an absolute must-have for sure; it's everything CC used to stand for in former years (and not always recently). I'm simply overjoyed about it.

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denti alligator
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#89 Post by denti alligator » Mon Aug 27, 2012 7:42 pm

Thanks, Tommaso. You're making my wait that much more intolerable!

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Tommaso
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#90 Post by Tommaso » Mon Aug 27, 2012 8:03 pm

Denti, it's out tomorrow officially, so the wait won't be long anymore. And your post is a good chance to mention that it was actually you who first made me aware of this marvel a long, long time ago. Thanks a lot, really!

Jonathan S
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#91 Post by Jonathan S » Tue Aug 28, 2012 5:24 am

Tommaso wrote:Fantastic to hear the music of the storywise important "Always" 78 rpm finally, in any case.
When I compiled a needle-drop soundtrack for Lonesome a few years ago, I was very disappointed I couldn't find an instrumental-only version of Berlin's song for inclusion and had to resort to other music. (Maybe it's a vocal on the real soundtrack? But I've always tried to avoid that when "scoring" silents.)

"Always" has been used for primarily dramatic - rather than musical - effect in several major films. Blithe Spirit and Siodmak's Christmas Holiday come to mind. I gather it's also quite central to Pride of the Yankees, which I haven't seen. Any others?

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mfunk9786
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#92 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Aug 29, 2012 9:09 am

I'm guessing that I'm the only person on Amazon who used his $15 promotional credit from pre-ordering Madden 13 towards this.

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Tommaso
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#93 Post by Tommaso » Sat Sep 01, 2012 5:34 am

Have watched the other two films now. "The last performance" is a fine little film, probably not quite complete with its only 59 minutes, living basically from Veidt's performance. Imdb, probably wrongly, gives this as a 1927 film, so I always thought that it had been made before "Lonesome". Learning that it was actually made after that masterpiece somehow diminished my appreciation of it because I couldn't help seeing it as a step backwards now, with less inventiveness and boldness than the main feature, obviously. Still an entertaining film, although the piano score is again the conventional stuff one expects from Sosin.

"Broadway" is probably the much more interesting film, with a daring title sequence containing a giant striding through the streets of New York, pouring champagne. Positively weird and unexpected. Equally unexpected is the mix of the gangster and musical film genres that makes up the film, but it works surprisingly well, and the camerawork is outstanding and miles ahead of the plain look of almost all the other musical films of that very early sound vintage. The technicolor finale is very brief, but effective. Again, not "Lonesome" level, but a very fine addition to the still rather small number of earliest talkies on disc. I only wished for optional subs here, because the sound clearly shows its age, and some of it was rather difficult to understand for a non-native speaker like me.

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manicsounds
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#94 Post by manicsounds » Thu Sep 06, 2012 9:27 am


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Drucker
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#95 Post by Drucker » Sun Sep 09, 2012 10:35 am

I watched the main feature Lonesome last night and wanted to lavish a bit of praise on it. Certainly one of the most upbeat and vibrant silent films I've ever seen (in my admittedly short film-watching life). While the moving camera and city feel certainly resemble Murnau to a degree, the vibe I felt the most was almost Man With a Movie Camera-styled. The film is hectic and hypnotic, and really a pleasure throughout.

Yes the talkie sequences are annoying (especially the first and last one; honestly the one in the middle, if it were there alone, wouldn't have been as distracting, considering it comes right as the color appears in the film). But otherwise, this release is a knockout. I loved the dazzlingly beautiful color sequences are, as well as an amazing on-board the Cyclone sequence at Coney Island.

The PQ and audio really aren't as shoddy as some reviews led me to believe. The start of the picture is a little rough, and the last scene is really, really messy, with what I assume is mold(?), but otherwise, the film looks great.
The title screen for the blu ray doesn't have any moving images (reads "top menu" rather than a timer...is that unusual?)

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htshell
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#96 Post by htshell » Mon Sep 10, 2012 11:59 am

The beginning and end of silent era film (well... any film) always has more damage than the middle. Without seeing it, I'd hazard a guess that what you see at the end isn't mold but nitrate decomposition.

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CSM126
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#97 Post by CSM126 » Mon Sep 10, 2012 12:50 pm

To be fair, the booklet does mention mold damage, so it could be.

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mfunk9786
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#98 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:06 pm

What a lovely film. Feels completely groundbreaking, especially when color appears and talkie sequences come up. I suppose I understand the grouchiness over these, but I think they're well-acted and well-directed, and give the film an avant garde and experimental feel that a lot of silent films, by nature of their limitations, don't often achieve. Honestly, the film that it brought to mind more than any other for me is Punch-Drunk Love, a film in which the lead characters' very sudden romantic pursuits are only limited by interference from the outside world and their own neuroses. It's also a really neat historical archive and inadvertent commentary on pre-Great Depression American excess (all that confetti!) in the 1920s, particularly in New York City. Even with all this complexity and experimentation, it's a movie that knows exactly when to end, lest it overstay it's welcome and reduce the effect of the whole experience. A really warm, inviting piece of work that I'm so honored to have in my collection in such a flawless edition.

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Drucker
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#99 Post by Drucker » Mon Sep 10, 2012 1:38 pm

htshell wrote:The beginning and end of silent era film (well... any film) always has more damage than the middle. Without seeing it, I'd hazard a guess that what you see at the end isn't mold but nitrate decomposition.
I had recently watched The Red Shoes restoration video, and the damage at the end of Lonesome certainly resembles the damage on the reels identified as mold in that film.

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htshell
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Re: 623 Lonesome

#100 Post by htshell » Mon Sep 10, 2012 8:49 pm

Fair enough! Lonesome is one of my most-anticipated Criterions since the Jean Vigo set, though I won't be able to buy it for a bit..

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