International French/UK Region B Versions of Complete Jacques Tati Box (1 Viewer)

I've been waiting for the Criterion Tati collection, but I changed my mind and ordered the UK set instead. The thing that decided it for me was the fact that the UK set includes more versions of a couple of films, in particular Jour de Fete, which on UK is in the original B&W, spot tinting version and color version. Criterion doesn't include the original B&W. There are also alternate versions of Mon Oncle and Hulot's Holiday on the UK that will not be on the Criterion set.

The Criterion set probably has better supplements, the UK set has mostly analysis by a French film scholar, but it's the films and the alternate versions I really care about. At Amazon UK the set was around $75 shipped, so that makes it $50 cheaper too.

Has anyone gotten this box yet who can comment on the supplements?

I think you've perhaps not read the Criterion specs closely enough. Jour de fete will feature all 3 versions of the film, the original version and updated version of Hulot's Holiday, and the original version and UK version of Mon oncle. They ain't calling it the "Complete Jacques Tati" for nothing.

Despite being in the UK I'm still waiting to confirm some things about the Criterion set before I decided which to get, primarily if the full colour version of Jour de fete will be in SD like the new UK/France sets, or if it'll use the BFI's HD master found on their OOP release. Also, if Playtime will look better on the Criterion disc than on the new UK disc, as the colour space looks off on the latter.

Or...buy both...

I must have read specs based on earlier announcements. But all I really care about is the films. Fifty bucks cheaper for the same films is fine with me.

By the way, Iisn't the color version of Jour de Fete 720p on the French and UK sets? I've seen clips of it and 1080p wouldn't help it much. It is very rough looking.

More resolution certainly wouldn't help the transfer that is on the StudioCanal sets no, but a whole new transfer would. SC look to have used some ancient VHS master or something, whilst the BFI did a new restoration in 2012.

BFI:

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Jour-De-Fete-Blu-ray/52646/#Screenshots

SC:

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/screenshot.php?movieid=108753&position=33
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/screenshot.php?movieid=108753&position=37
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/screenshot.php?movieid=108753&position=35
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/screenshot.php?movieid=108753&position=38
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/screenshot.php?movieid=108753&position=40

The BFI version is nothing pretty but it is leaps and bounds ahead of what SC is using, and almost certainly the best the Thomsoncolour version can look. I'm hoping Criterion have licensed the BFI transfer.

Direct comparison:
BFI: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/screenshot.php?movieid=52646&position=9
SC: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/screenshot.php?movieid=108753&position=34

Thanks for the posts ...
Makes me think I should go ahead and go for the UK set .. not too worried about whether the colour Jour de Fete is Blu ray or not as I'll be keeping the BFI disc anyway if that should prove an issue. I just want to have the original b & W version of Jour de Fete, which wasn;t available to the BFI when they issued their disc. The cost price differential is pretty compelling given that the contents look like being identical!

What are the two versions of HULOT' HOLIDAY? I only know of the French and the alternate English dialog tracks.....

The version that is most often seen is the 1978 re-edit. If you recall the scene that takes off "Jaws" then you've seen the 1978 version; that scene was not in the 1953 original. All Blu-rays include both versions. The Criterion is reviewed here, with caps from both versions:

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Monsieur-Hulots-Holiday-Blu-ray/108709/#Review

Unfortunately, the 1953 version does not survive in as good condition as the re-edit.

Well, the BFI appears to have some sort of flat contrast haze over everything and the SC seems to be contrasty. Split the difference between the two and you'd have something perhaps. I watched the color Jour de Fete once. I'm not likely to watch it again. I like the original B&W on that one. In fact, I like the original release version of all of Tati's films now that I think about it.

My copy just shipped. Can't wait to have a Tati weekend.

Whilst I generally agree about original release versions of Tati's films, Jour de fete is not so simple. The colour version is often called the "1994" version, but that refers to the date it was first exhibited, rather than when it was made. Unlike the later version of Holiday, the "1994" version of Jour de fete is in fact the version that passed through the primary camera back in 1949. The "original" version, that is the completely black and white version, was the secondary camera. So although it was never released in 1949, it was entirely made in 1949, and could thus be argued to be the true "original" version.

Except it was never processed and Tati never saw it. He might have edited it differently if he had seen it. First official release is what I want.

True, a valid point.

Well, I will indeed be hanging onto my BFI copy as the Criterion release is the same as the new SC UK release:

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Jour-De-Fete-Blu-ray/108708/#Review

Then the only difference will be the extras. Has anyone done a rundown of the extras on the UK set?

Turns out the 1953 original version of Hulot's Holiday is in upscaled SD on both the UK, French and Criterion sets. It was in HD on the BFI disc.

That sounds like a production mistake. Did SC and Criterion confirm that?

Technically it's in "HD" because it's upscaled, but they're definitely from SD masters:

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/screenshot.php?movieid=108709&position=22
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/screenshot.php?movieid=108709&position=26

Note how the image doesn't even fill the screen and there is no semblance of a proper grain structure. Compare to the master on the BFI disc:

http://i.imgur.com/8s6eLyg.jpg

And it's obvious that we're dealing with a different, inferior source (though of course even the BFI master is no match for the 1978 transfer that is featured on both the Criterion/SC sets and the BFI disc. See: http://i.imgur.com/bKlPoOi.jpg)

Here is a summary of what you get across all the releases:
Jour de fete (1949) - SC/Criterion only, HD
Jour de fete (1964) - SC/Criterion only, HD
The Village Fair (1964, English variant) - BFI only, HD
Jour de fete (1994/5) - SC/Criterion SD, BFI HD

Les Vacances de M. Hulot (1953) - SC/Criterion SD, BFI HD
Les Vacances de M. Hulot (1978) - SC/Criterion HD, BFI HD (same transfer)

Mon oncle (1958) - SC/Criterion HD, BFI HD (different transfer, SC/Criterion superior)
My Uncle (1984) - SC/Criterion SD, BFI HD

So the Criterion and SC sets appear to be identical, but one must have the BFI individuals (now OOP) to have a complete collection of all cuts in HD.

I dunno... I'm looking at the blu-ray.com review right now and I assume the screen grabs below the menu screen are from the original release. Some look good and the ones you selected don't look as good. But their review of the BFI disk doesn't appear to have screen grabs of the original version at all, so it is hard to compare. The DVD Beaver review has grabs of the original version, but it's hard to compare the grabs from there to the ones at blu-ray.com that have been resized. If you look at Beaver's image of the man with the belly watching the pretty girl take off her shoes, the difference between the revised version and the original look pretty comparable to the blu-ray.com grabs.

Look at the shot with the car on Beaver. The original and revised look very close. I'm wondering if the quality varies shot to shot in the original version, and the only way to know for sure is to compare the exact same frame.

What comparison are you referring to for the English language My Uncle?