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International A Matter of Life and Death (Powell/Pressburger, 1946) FINALLY coming to Blu-ray (France) (1 Viewer)

John Hodson

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Possibly...

It's coming from Elephant films, whose output is inconsistent to say the least (their BD of The Spy in Black, for instance, is 1080i 50, and that's before we get to the restoration of a print still bearing reel change marks). I'd be astonished if they'd managed to lay hands on Sony's restoration.

I'd wait for reviews.
 

Ed Lachmann

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That along with the Carol Reed set, the "Fantastic World of Michael Powell" set and the Sabu set, all to be released in blu-ray by Elysees in mid October. Anybody know how the PQ of their BDs stack up and if we'll have to put up with that damned burned in subtitles baloney again?
 

Yorkshire

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John Hodson said:
Possibly...

It's coming from Elephant films, whose output is inconsistent to say the least (their BD of The Spy in Black, for instance, is 1080i 50, and that's before we get to the restoration of a print still bearing reel change marks). I'd be astonished if they'd managed to lay hands on Sony's restoration.

I'd wait for reviews.
John, you're right in saying EF have been inconsistent.

However, we're fortunate enough to know that 1080i/50 is the worst crime they've committed (not the end of the world by a long way), and some of their output has been great.

A 2K digital restoration started doing the rounds in France at almost exactly the same time as the Sony version in the US, and I suspect they're the same - it was Carlotta who distributed it theatrically in France.

Obviously, we'll only know for sure when the disc appears, but whilst it's not a done deal by any means, I'm a tad more optimistic that this is going to be good.

Steve W
 

Yorkshire

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Good spot.

Niven was also in Powell/Pressburger's The Elusive Pimpernel.

Steve W
 

bujaki

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They're a Weird Mob. Funny, colorful film about an Italian (Walter Chiari) trying to adjust to life Down Under. Haven't seen it since the Powell/Pressburger retrospective at MoMA decades ago.
 

AnthonyClarke

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'They're a Weird Mob' was a fun movie, but Powell's best solo effort for me was 'The Age of Consent'. 'The Elusive Pimpernel' mentioned earlier in this thread was, I thought, a real dud.
I'll be buying 'A Matter of LIfe and Death' but am really really waiting for 'Tales of Hoffman'.
 

bujaki

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Well, what's not to like about a young, naked 90%-of-the-time Helen Mirren, in The Age of Consent?
Speaking of opera, Anthony, did you see Powell's version of Bluebeard's Castle? Or another solo effort: The Boy Who Turned Yellow?
 

david hare

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AnthonyClarke said:
'They're a Weird Mob' was a fun movie, but Powell's best solo effort for me was 'The Age of Consent'. 'The Elusive Pimpernel' mentioned earlier in this thread was, I thought, a real dud.
I'll be buying 'A Matter of LIfe and Death' but am really really waiting for 'Tales of Hoffman'.
I can't find the source for a link but Thelma virtually confirmed they finished the Hoffmann restoration earlier this year. She mentions in passing they had very few problems this time around with the elements, nothing like the situation with Blimp with mould and other horros. Scorsese has always had an IB print of Hoffmann (which I have seen in NYC in 1982) which is breathtaking. This was printed to a new IP and was the source for the old Criterion gatefold Laserdisc, and this has presumably been used as a reference print to guide the color timing on the new resto. The existing Canal DVD has completely wrong color timing, with what should be turquoise and blue-greens rendered as lime green (Ludmilla Tcherina's eye makeup for instance) and the Helena Rubinstein red lippy so typical for Tech is rendered as pale pink. (Tcherina again in the Baracrolle sequence.) It's complete rubbish so the new resto will be a real treat. Expect Criterion next year.
 

AnthonyClarke

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That is fantastic news. I'll post it int he international section in case there's any more fans out there....
Who could have guessed Bobby Helpmann had such a deep voice!
 

ABaglivi

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Again, will The Tales of Hoffmann be complete at 138 minutes instead of the cut print Criterion issued on DVD?
 

david hare

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I still have both the Criterion Laser and the DVD which both run c.124 minutes. (I ascribed the DVD to Studio Canal who I believe provided the master for the Criterion DVD which is incorrectly color timed.)EDIT; Just played back and confirm he DVD master was from Canal. IF they still have US rights Crit won't be releasing the new resto.As far as I know this is the complete running time for the release version of the film. Others here may have other knowledge about this but I had thought the pre-release, at 138 minutes was cut by P/P themselves after Pressburger decided it was too long at the previews. Powell then agreed. I am also inclined to agree with them , I think the final Antonia episode drags on until the last few dazzling shots including Beecham at the podium, and it's probably the weakest episode in terms of exposing the deficiencies of the leads (excluding Bobby of course), as both actors and vocalists. The other two eps and the prologue all lend themselves to far more cinematic display. The gorgeous IB print I saw in NYC in 1982 was also 124 minutes. They alternated the screenings with Honeymoon, Ludmilla Tcherina's and Powells vanity piece (not so good I'm afraid.)Bobby and Ludmilla together are incredibly perverse.
 

ABaglivi

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I viewed the cut sections (in the Prologue, Venice, and Antonia scenes) in a 16mm
reversal print that belonged to an executive at Paramount. It is highly unlikely the complete print made it to 16mm without having been released. It is more likely that approximately 12 minutes were cut, as was the custom with many British titles, on its trip across the Pond. Whatever, the footage that I saw exists to this day.
 

david hare

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It's good to hear from someone who's seen this stuff. The IB print that screened in NYC may or may not have been Scorsese's, in any case the whole screening regime was highly secretive with no advertising etc. It was obviously a collector's print. Prior to this I had heard about the long version in Sydney as a teenager, but screenings here in the 60s and 70s were extremely clandestine and nobody ever told me if it was the long or short print. The film became extremely difficult to see even in OZ until the HV era at least. Thelma doesn't say anything about long or short versions but one would think the resto would have provided an ideal opportunity. Do you think the footage makes very much difference to the film's impact, particularly the Antonia ep (which I find a real drag)?
 

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