Aspect ratio of 2 Bunuel films needed. (1 Viewer)

[Ali B]

I'm considering buying the 'Ensayo de un crimen' / 'El' double feature Link Removed from France, but am concerned about the aspect ratio - 1.33:1. IMDB has no tech spec listing for either film. They were both filmed in the 1950s - would they have been shot and exhibited as 1.33:1?????
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
ali

 

[Rain]

Disclaimer: I'm not specifically familiar with either of those films.

Most films up to around 1951 were composed for 1.37:1.

Foreign films typically started using wider aspect ratios later than North American films.

In other words, seems likely they would have been composed 1.37:1.

 

[DonaldB]

Neither one of these films was shot widescreen.

 

[GerardoHP]

Both those films were shot 1.37:1, although it's most likely that ENSAYO DE UN CRIMEN was released at 1.66:1. EL was definitely released at 1.37:1. Grab those titles!

 

[Ali B]

Thanks for the help guys! I've really enjoyed the 3 Criterion Bunuel discs and want more Belle Du Jour looks like it will be fantastic!
If anyone is interested, there are 2 other Bunuel films available from the same company:
Link Removed
Link Removed
It is uncertain whether Viridana actually has English subs. The retail link above says no, but DVD.fr says yes!
ali

 

[DonaldB]

According to Hendrick, Viridiana doesn't have English subs.

 

[Ted Todorov]

The best source for subtitle info (besides Hendrik, of course) is musicbox.fr, where they have excellent back cover scans as well as menu captures. The catch is that they don't have a lot of stuff listed compared to dvdfr.com

Ted

 

[Hendrik]

...ahh... beware of back cover scans!...
...based on this ( http://www.veo-veo.com/media/detalle.asp?d=25380&e=1 ) scan - which clearly states "Subtítulos: Castellano, Inglés" - I bought the Spanish DVD ... which turns out to have a dts soundtrack as stated, and which is indeed anamorphic 1.78:1, but which includes ningun subtítulos (and damn the Spanish HoH! let them eat cake!) :frowning: ...
...I also ordered this ( http://www.veo-veo.com/docs/detalle.asp?d=11868 ) disc, because it promised "Subtítulos: Castellano, Francés, Inglés", but Castellano is all I got... so I'm off to buy a Spanish dictionary and brush up on the Spanish that I 'studied' - and never had occasion to use - some 40 years ago (well, it works for riding bicycles, or so they say)...
The upshot of it all is: don't believe everything that's printed!
BTW, both El and Ensayo de un crimen are transferred at their original 1.37:1 AR ... and very clean copies they are, too!
...the other recent additions to my R2 Spanish-language DVDs are two Alex de la Iglesia films: Muertos de risa (the latter PAL/R0) and La Comunidad; two Fernando Trueba titles: La Niña de tus Ojos and Calle 54 (the latter anamorphic 1.78:1, dts sound), all with optional English subs and/or dubs; and a French DVD of Arturo Ripstein's 1999 sublimely acted (Mexican) film Coronel no tiene quien le escriba (original Spanish, French dub, or French subs only, nada inglés)...
. . . . . .

 

[CamiloCamacho]

Those are great movies. They were shot on Full Frame and the dvd's respect the ratio. I don´t know why criterion never release Buñuel Mexican movies, personally i think there are great (more great if you consider the budget and the way movies were made in Mexico). Hope one day they see the light on America. But otherwise, those discs are in NTSC and with the exception of Veridiana, have english subtitles (They are zone 0, i think).

Note: Hendrix post refered to another titles (amores perros), but all the buñuel´s collection with Viridiana´s exception comes with english subtitles.

 

[Ali B]

Can anyone recommend a good French DVD supplier? My usual bet (amazon.fr) doesn't seem to have either of the Buñuel discs.

ali

 

[DonaldB]

Ali, try Link Removed.