Bernardo Bertolucci on DVD

Discuss internationally-released DVDs and Blu-rays or other international DVD and Blu-ray-related topics.
Message
Author
User avatar
tojoed
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:47 am
Location: Cambridge, England

Coffret Bertolucci

#51 Post by tojoed » Thu Feb 28, 2008 7:58 am

Coffret Bertolucci: Coming from Gaumont Columbia Tri-Star on 28 March 2008. This set is "La Luna" and "Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man". Unfortunately there are no English subs on "Tragedy", but there are French.

User avatar
Awesome Welles
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2007 6:02 am
Location: London

#52 Post by Awesome Welles » Thu Feb 28, 2008 2:01 pm

jsteffe wrote:
Ovader wrote:I received an e-mail from Emilio Oliveira of New Yorker Films:
New Yorker Films no longer distributes THE SPIDER'S STRATAGEM, and I'm afraid I don't know who currently distributes the film.
I had contact from Vittorio Storaro and he is more than happy to supervise the HD transfer of the film whenever a DVD distributor is interested.
I just sent an email to Criterion's "suggestions" email address urging them to consider picking up the rights to this one if they haven't already.

But here's my completely speculative take on this: if it's correct that New Yorker doesn't have the rights to it any longer, and if no one else has optioned them already, then Criterion has already picked up the rights for THE SPIDER'S STRATEGEM or is seriously considering it. Criterion obviously knows who Bertolucci is, and they just finished working with Storaro on THE LAST EMPEROR. There's no way they can't be aware of the situation.
Agreed entirely. I would say they are working on this now, how could they pass it up if they had the chance? I'm sending them an email now!

Thanks for the tip Dr. Amicus.

PNeski
Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 3:11 pm

Bertollucci

#53 Post by PNeski » Tue Mar 11, 2008 5:40 pm

But I agree with his decisions/reasoning in regards to Apocalypse (the DVD is basically the 70mm framing and I can live with that).

No its 2.1 Not 2.2 or 2.35:1. Didn't you see this in the theatre last time and notice the sides of the frame?

Nothing wrong with 2.1 if he shoots it that way, but to crop the sides of AN or the Emperor just because his new bag is 2.1 is insane.

As for "Tango" the problem isn't Storaro, it's the Director, he has no eye.

User avatar
King Prendergast
Joined: Sat Mar 01, 2008 1:53 pm
Contact:

Re: Bertollucci

#54 Post by King Prendergast » Tue Mar 25, 2008 7:17 pm

in the March/April issue of Film Comment they have La Luna and Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man as forthcoming from a company called "Opening". Can anyone confirm this? Where is this company from?

ptmd
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:12 pm

#55 Post by ptmd » Tue Mar 25, 2008 11:47 pm

It's a new French release available here

User avatar
tojoed
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:47 am
Location: Cambridge, England

#56 Post by tojoed » Wed Mar 26, 2008 7:48 am

It's also mentioned on the previous page of this thread.

videozor
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2007 11:16 am
Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA

#57 Post by videozor » Thu Aug 28, 2008 11:04 am

I'm sure that I read sometime last year that Tango would be getting an Anniversary Special Edition in 2008. Well, it's almost September 2008. Does anyone has an update on this? Thanks

videozor
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2007 11:16 am
Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA

Re: Bernardo Bertolucci on DVD

#58 Post by videozor » Thu Oct 29, 2009 2:52 pm

This edition of Tango:

http://www.italica.rai.it/eng/principal ... /tango.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

is already OOP.

Any new about UK or US editions coming?

Calvin
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:12 am

Re: Bernardo Bertolucci on DVD

#59 Post by Calvin » Sat Apr 20, 2013 9:54 am

Artificial Eye will be releasing Me and You on DVDand Blu-Ray July 8th.

I contacted Arrow regarding The Spider's Stratagem seeing as they released The Conformist and they informed be that they tried to get it but the rights are a "mess". So it appears that it isn't uninterested distributors to blame for its absence on DVD and Blu-Ray.

Calvin
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:12 am

Re: Bernardo Bertolucci on DVD

#60 Post by Calvin » Tue Oct 23, 2018 3:59 pm

Blu-Ray of The Spider's Stratagem out in Japan next week, from a new 2K restoration from the original negative.

Calvin
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:12 am

Re: Bernardo Bertolucci on DVD

#61 Post by Calvin » Tue Oct 23, 2018 6:45 pm

david hare wrote:
Tue Oct 23, 2018 6:39 pm
Calvin in which direction are the rights a problem? Is it the Borges estate?
Arrow never told me anything more than that I'm afraid. Thank you for the assessment of the Japanese Blu-Ray. Google Translate seemed to indicate it would be a more promising transfer than that, but it certainly sounds like a step in the right direction!

User avatar
jsteffe
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 9:00 am
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Bernardo Bertolucci on DVD

#62 Post by jsteffe » Wed Oct 24, 2018 1:29 pm

There are actually two new Blu-ray editions of The Spider's Stratagem: one already released in Germany in addition to the one in Japan.

David, do you think that the Blu-ray is a reasonably good representation of the film's color based on your experience? I've never seen the film on 35mm, only on VHS. I did notice that the flesh tones and overall color spectrum are unusual on the Blu-ray transfer, and I wonder whether that reflects the specific color effects that Bertolucci and Storaro were going for. Among other things, it looks to me as if yellow has been suppressed in many shots, pushing the image more toward cyan/magenta combinations. This is not a complaint, I'm just curious.

User avatar
jsteffe
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 9:00 am
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Bernardo Bertolucci on DVD

#63 Post by jsteffe » Mon Oct 29, 2018 10:35 pm

I just received the Japanese Blu-ray released by Cinefil and it looks dramatically different from the German Blu-ray. The source is altogether different. The German Blu-ray looks OK in terms of detail, but lacks a full color range - yellows are fairly weak. Maybe the Germans were working off a faded copy?

The Japanese disc is from the 2018 restoration overseen by Storaro (if I am not mistaken), with Italian credits, including a separate credit for RAI at the opening. It features bold, rich, and well-balanced color. It is also in the 1.33 aspect ratio, unlike the German Blu-ray. It lacks English subtitles, but frankly I don't care.

When I have some time later I'll post screen captures.

User avatar
andyli
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 4:46 pm

Re: Bernardo Bertolucci on DVD

#64 Post by andyli » Mon Oct 29, 2018 10:58 pm

Great news! Nice to hear confirmation that the Japanese release is the one that features the new 2K restoration, because from what I gathered the German release is only 15 gigs, in addition to some of the issues outlined above.

User avatar
jsteffe
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 9:00 am
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Bernardo Bertolucci on DVD

#65 Post by jsteffe » Mon Oct 29, 2018 11:42 pm

The Japanese Blu-ray is dual-layer, and the main feature is about 32 gigs. Please excuse me for being selfish if I wallow about in the film for the next few days before publishing any screen caps! I've been waiting for many years to see a decent copy of this film and am beside myself...

User avatar
andyli
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 4:46 pm

Re: Bernardo Bertolucci on DVD

#66 Post by andyli » Mon Oct 29, 2018 11:57 pm

Take your time, James. By the way the Japanese release is from Kadokawa, not Cinefil, not that it matters.

User avatar
jsteffe
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 9:00 am
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Bernardo Bertolucci on DVD

#67 Post by jsteffe » Tue Oct 30, 2018 1:04 pm

andyli wrote:
Mon Oct 29, 2018 11:57 pm
Take your time, James. By the way the Japanese release is from Kadokawa, not Cinefil, not that it matters.
Correct. I double-checked and It has both Kadokawa and Cinefil listed on the case, so maybe it is some kind of joint release.

User avatar
The Fanciful Norwegian
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:24 pm
Location: Teegeeack

Re: Bernardo Bertolucci on DVD

#68 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Tue Oct 30, 2018 4:29 pm

Cinefil is the home video label of the satellite channel Cinefil WOWOW (formerly Cinefil Imagica, which was also the old name of the label). Their titles have been distributed by a few companies over the years, but it looks like the main ones are Pioneer, Kinokuniya, and now Kadokawa. I don't know if Cinefil WOWOW actually works on releases published under their label or it's just a branding agreement. Either way they've put out a ton of stuff, but I appreciate them mainly for releasing the only OAR DVD of A City of Sadness.

User avatar
andyli
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 4:46 pm

Re: Bernardo Bertolucci on DVD

#69 Post by andyli » Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:04 pm

Good to learn something! They are also behind the irreplaceable Yuriy Norshteyn blu-ray set.

User avatar
jsteffe
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 9:00 am
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Bernardo Bertolucci on DVD

#70 Post by jsteffe » Mon Nov 05, 2018 1:11 pm

As promised, here are some screen captures from the Japanese Blu-ray of THE SPIDER'S STRATAGEM.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

kekid
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:55 pm

Re: Bernardo Bertolucci on DVD

#71 Post by kekid » Mon Nov 05, 2018 8:04 pm

Which labels are most likely to pick this up in regions A and B? I have been looking for this for years.

User avatar
jsteffe
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 9:00 am
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Bernardo Bertolucci on DVD

#72 Post by jsteffe » Tue Nov 06, 2018 12:20 pm

That's hard to say. There could be some underlying rights issues that have prevented a DVD release over the years, since I imagine that Bertolucci is a marketable director. But there may be some momentum for an English-friendly release now that a new restoration is available.

User avatar
Noiretirc
Joined: Tue Dec 09, 2008 6:04 pm
Location: VanIsle
Contact:

Re: Bernardo Bertolucci on DVD

#73 Post by Noiretirc » Sat Feb 20, 2021 5:14 pm

Dammit, we are still waiting for an English-sub release of The Spider's Stratagem, right? This film deserves more love.

Post Reply