andrew markworthy

Citizen Cane region 2 SE - buy it!

Those who have the excellent R1 release of Citizen Kane may be wondering about the new R2 release. All I can say is buy it. Here's why:

A different transfer from the R1 version. It's basically a 'digitally slightly cleaned up' version from an interpositive that's been lying in the BFI film vaults. I'm not a film restoration fiend, but IMHO it looks more like a film than the R1 version, that's a bit *too* clean (almost to the point of being antiseptic in places). Sound also is good without being synthesised.

A different commentary track - not better than the R1, but different.

A *superb* 1 hour documentary on the making of the movie. It's basically film-making 101 level, but what's wrong in that? It gives you the clearest, most sensible introduction to the movie I've seen without giving away any major spoilers. Plus, there's some excellent visual illustrations of the special effects, etc.

A break-down of the budget for the making of the movie, and some good written biographies of the principa actors and crew.

Well worth getting.

Cees Alons

Andrew,

The rain?

Cees

andrew markworthy

Not only is the rain there, but on the new edition you can see exactly how the confusion arose over the R1 edition.

For those wondering what Cees and I are going on about, in the scene in Bernstein's office (Chapter 9 in the R2 edition, I think Chapter 10 in the R1) there is rain coming down pretty heavily outside, which you can see through the window - or at least, you *should* be able to see it. In the R1 version, you can see the rain coming down in the top third of the window, but after that the rain seems to disappear. The allegation is that the digital clean-up was over-zealous and erased the rain, thinking it was visual noise.

Okay, cut to the chase - in the new R2 version you can see *exactly* what's going on. Outside is a light source that makes the upper third of the rain brighter, so it's far easier to see. The lower two thirds are visible, but in contrast, this portion is much dimmer than the top third (indeed, you see rather more of the rain running down the window). I think that what Greg Tolland (the cinematographer) was trying to do here was to give an impression of an illuminated sign or logo outside the window, as you see on the side of big corporate HQ buildings. These are always placed high up on buildings, and of course Bernstein, being the big cheese, will have an office high up the building. I think this is yet another example of the meticulous planning that went into CK, right down to the subtle reinforcement by visual cues. It didn't have to be there, but it just adds that slight extra edge.

Cees Alons

Andrew,

Thanks.
And.. one sold to older gentleman there in the back, wearing glasses and a tiny moderator badge.


Cees

Gordon McMurphy

James Reader

I'm not sure where they're getting the "unrestored" footage in the restoration featurette. The previous Universal release was bad, but not that bad! Did they feel the need to drag it over the floor first?

However, this bodes well for King Kong, whenever Universal decides to release a special edition over here.

\"Would you recommend this movie to a friend?\"
\"Only if I was friendly with Hitler.\"

John Hodson

That's the one thing that's putting me off . Having said that, I really only want the R2 for War of the Worlds...

---
So many films, so little time...

Douglas R

Exactly what I thought! This is a rather dishonest example of a before and after restoration.

Sergio A

I must admit, I feel there's a lot wrong with this DVD - first off it doesn't include the RKO logo at the beginning!

Also there's quite a bit of print damage towards the end that could have been dealt with much more successfully, even if they didn't have quite asmuch money to spend as Warners did on the R1 release.

I found the commentary and the "making of", without wishing to be unkind, to be very typical of the previous homily-ridden audio efforts by Ken Barnes. They're fine if you've never seen the film beforeor ever read a word about it, but beyond that it feels almost amateurish in its simplicity and in its frequent recourse to very broad generalisations. It really feels like it's aimed at 15 year olds -there's nothing basically wrong with that of course, but i don't think it was intentional.

In particular, the documentary covers all of the same ground that the BBC covered in their excellent THE MAKING OF CITIEN KANE from ten years ago, only in less depth - as they licensed quite a lot of BBC material for the Welles and Wise interviews, why didn't they just get the whole documentary instead? (It probably was waay too expensive, but I can't help thinking that there's a perception that you can't have a ten-year old supplement on a brand new DVD and a fear that it will be less saleable as a result, even though it's supporting a 60-year old movie with practically all of the main participants long gone).

I'm still glad I have it, but personally I prefer the R1, although the radio plays are anice feature (Barnes' area of expertise is in fact in the music recording industry)

Hendrik

"...first off it doesn't include the RKO logo at the beginning!..."

...erm... IIRC there never was an RKO logo at the beginning - the movie starts straight away with the MoT newsreel...

. . . . . .

andrew markworthy

Sergio, what's wrong with that? The whole package is primarily based around introducing newbies to this movie. Are you saying that a classic film such as CK shouldn't try to explain what is a pretty complex film to newcomers?

I agree that the BBC programme from a few years back was good, but it requires a prior knowledge of the movie to get the most out of it. However, the current Barry Norman documentary is arguably a far better introduction if you know nothing, or very little, about the film.

And, notwithstanding your comments on the occasional lapse in quality, I think this is a far better transfer than the squeaky clean R1 transfer. It at least looks like a *film*.