Studio Canal / Kinowelt / Optimum

[JSC]

This subject came up when they released Contempt. Most StudioCanal discs now have this
warning, doesn't matter what film.

[furbicide]

The cynic in me thinks that studios will just start putting these bland, broad trigger warnings before every film they release, even the most innocuous, just in case someone somewhere is offended by anything at all in the film. They’ll say, “Well, we did warn you.”

I don’t think you’re being cynical at all – in fact, it seems like that’s exactly what’s happening here!

Interesting (and even slightly alarming) context about UK TV, jlnight. Again, nothing against content warnings of pretty much any kind for any reason, but there is something insulting to audiences in all of this – and perhaps to the filmmakers too, because how we approach a work is probably at least somewhat subconsciously shaped by stuff like this (I know I had this warning in the back of my mind throughout watching The Long Farewell and kind of wondering what this offensive/outdated material could possibly be).

[jlnight]

Right, I've had a look at what the BBFC said about Brief Encounters and they claimed:

There are metaphorical references to 'savage' cannibal tribes, as well as use of the term 'gypsy'.

It was passed as a PG, as a screenshot of the cover in this thread confirms, but they could have bumped it up to a '12' if it was really a problem.

Not sure what the issue would be for The Long Farewell, although:

a teenage boy tries to repeatedly kiss a girl on the lips but she pushes him away laughing.

I have no idea how it plays out onscreen. The fall-out from the Women's Football World Cup final indicate that those type of actions might be deemed unacceptable nowadays.

In any case StudioCanal and other companies probably receive feedback from customers and respond with the content warnings. It might be better than dismissing the concerns out of hand.

[domino harvey]

This subject came up when they released Contempt. Most StudioCanal discs now have this
warning, doesn't matter what film.

While one did, the other seven films in the Tavernier box have no warnings, so I don’t think this is as widespread as that

[tenia]

The cynic in me thinks that studios will just start putting these bland, broad trigger warnings before every film they release, even the most innocuous, just in case someone somewhere is offended by anything at all in the film. They’ll say, “Well, we did warn you.”

I don’t think you’re being cynical at all – in fact, it seems like that’s exactly what’s happening here!

Interesting (and even slightly alarming) context about UK TV, jlnight. Again, nothing against content warnings of pretty much any kind for any reason, but there is something insulting to audiences in all of this – and perhaps to the filmmakers too, because how we approach a work is probably at least somewhat subconsciously shaped by stuff like this (I know I had this warning in the back of my mind throughout watching The Long Farewell and kind of wondering what this offensive/outdated material could possibly be).

In a perfect world, illeterate-to-picture people wouldn't need such bland generic warnings, which is some kind of "a stupid answer to a stupid reaction", but personnally, I think that if it's what required for labels to be at ease within their work and for such viewers to be warned beforehand "we told you", it might not be such a bad situation after all.

[bottlesofsmoke]

I mentioned this a few months back, but there’s a racism warning on Studio Canal’s disc of Coup de torchon. None of the other Tavernier films in the set had a warning

Warner Archive’s new Blu-ray of Gentleman Jim has a similar warning. I haven’t watched any other of WAC most recent discs but this is the first time I’ve seen it on a non-cartoon release from them. Certainly something like Santa Fe Trail would have warranted one if the few seconds of an extra in blackface in Gentleman Jim did. I suppose if it is making them more comfortable releasing A Day at the Races or as Domino said in the WAC thread, the remaining Garland-Rooney-Berkeley musicals, I can’t complain, not that I would have any way.

[Tuppence]

This subject came up when they released Contempt. Most StudioCanal discs now have this
warning, doesn't matter what film.

Interestingly, at least on the UHD, there is no such warning when you watch the film via the French or German menus. So this is something being requested specifically by the UK office.

[What A Disgrace]

The Lavender Hill Mob Is the next Ealing comedy to get a 4K Blu-ray release, on the 22nd of April.

[Finch]

Also, a 4k of Kind Hearts and Coronets but without the tat.

[What A Disgrace]

They blew their "big fancy packaging" load for Kind Hearts five years ago, on a Blu-ray, though that edition is still in print as far as I can tell. I wonder if Whiskey Galore! and The Man In the White Suit will qualify for UHD releases, and surely Dead of Night will.

[MichaelB]

I wonder if Whiskey Galore! and The Man In the White Suit will qualify for UHD releases, and surely Dead of Night will.

Very likely indeed, and Passport to Pimlico too - there's really nothing to choose between the great Ealing comedies in terms of reputation and popularity.

Lesser Ealing comedies like Hue and Cry and The Titfield Thunderbolt might be more of a surprise, but the above-mentioned titles definitely won't be.

[Stefan Andersson]

The Great Flamarion (Anthony Mann) has been shown recently at the Cinématheque Francaise, in "a brilliant Canal Plus digital presentation, based on a master from the British Film Institute. Only fleeting moments were seemingly retrieved from inferior sources."

Source:
https://anttialanenfilmdiary.blogspot.com/ -April 07, 2024 post

[Maltic]

Warner Archive’s new Blu-ray of Gentleman Jim has a similar warning. I haven’t watched any other of WAC most recent discs but this is the first time I’ve seen it on a non-cartoon release from them. Certainly something like Santa Fe Trail would have warranted one if the few seconds of an extra in blackface in Gentleman Jim did. I suppose if it is making them more comfortable releasing A Day at the Races or as Domino said in the WAC thread, the remaining Garland-Rooney-Berkeley musicals, I can’t complain, not that I would have any way.

As Joe Dante has said, they should put a warning on all the old movies.

[Finch]

The Small Back Room is getting a Blu-Ray from SC based on a 4K restoration on June 3. Maybe Criterion will upgrade their DVD.

NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
NEW - Restoring The Small Back Room
NEW - A Tortured Hero: Kevin Macdonald on The Small Back Room
NEW - Defusing The Archers: Ian Christie on The Small Back Room
Audio Commentary featuring film scholar Charles Barr
Interview with cinematographer Christoper Challis
The Making of An Englishman
Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature

[ryannichols7]

looks pretty definitive. if Criterion released it, I'm gonna guess they won't include the new Macdonald and Christie extras

[Matt]

It would almost certainly just be a format upgrade for them and not a new edition.

[Stefan Andersson]

Comparisons between theatrical, restored and Reprise cuts of One from the Heart:
https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=163831
https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=679411

[hearthesilence]

The Lavender Hill Mob Is the next Ealing comedy to get a 4K Blu-ray release, on the 22nd of April.

Film Forum has been screening the trailer for the upcoming theatrical release of the same 4K restoration and it looks great - but I have to say the optical printer shots do look lousy. No getting around it though given the nature of those shots, so it's not a complaint so much as a disclaimer.

[Finch]

Amazon UK has specs and artwork up for a 4K of Coppola's The Conversation.

Specs for the regular edition:

Q&A with Walter Murch, filmed at Curzon Soho, 2017
Behind the Scenes Stills
Gallery
50th Anniversary trailer
Feature commentary with writer/director Francis Ford Coppola
Feature Commentary with Editor Walter Murch
Close-up on 'The Conversation' Coppola dictates script
Opening Sequence
The Life of Harry Caul
The Convention
Introduction to Frank Lovista
Jack Tar Hotel
Police Station Ending
Harrison Ford screen test
Composer David Shire interviewed by Francis Ford Coppola
Interview with Gene Hackman (1973)
Harry Caul's San Francisco: Locations Then & Now
No Cigar (1956 short, Francis Ford Coppola)
Theatrical Trailer

The tat version has a 64 page book, posters, a cassette tape etc.

All dated for mid July.

[hearthesilence]

God, this looks amazing, but I'm going to wait for reviews and caps to appear. A post I made a year ago:

I just caught the latest 35mm print of The Conversation supervised by Coppola (per Rialto and MoMA’s description). I was surprised how soft it looked in spots. I actually thought it was a focus issue but it became clear that select shots or scenes were softened up. I will have to compare it to the Blu-ray later (which pre-dates the print) but I can only speculate it was de-grained digitally even though it was a film print - the scenes in particular were the opening (especially in the van), the convention, and back at Harry’s office.

I have seen this projected in 35mm before, way back in 2009, but have no recollection of any softness like this. A shame - had I known, I would have seen Warhol’s Batman Dracula which got a rare screening in the smaller theater.

EDIT: Looked through the Blu-ray - it could use a new scan (the grainier parts like the opening shot are a little "clumpy" looking), but otherwise the soft shots I remember from the screening do not look soft at all. All the grain and detail is there on the Blu-ray release. I imagine this will eventually get bumped to UHD - hopefully the detail and grain will be intact there as well. Again, for whatever reason, the scenes where they're back at Harry's office (the place that looks like an empty industrial building) was especially bad during the screening, but there were plenty of scenes that looked normal.

[therewillbeblus]

and I was just having a conversation today about how I'm caught up on my preorders

[nicolas]

Bluray-Disc.de claims that a new Coppola interview is included on the UHD! They also either know or guessed that 5.1 and PCM 1.0 audio are the options. Seeing PCM on a SC UHD may already imply FiM but I’ll take their info with a grain of salt for now.

[Finch]

Studio Canal are also releasing Army of Shadows on 4K and BD. The 4K listing is only for France so far, (June 10) the UK listing was only for the Blu-Ray (June 3). As with the Coppola, I'm not parting with the older BDs until it's been confirmed that they're all safe to buy (I'm more confident about the Coppola than the Melville). The new restoration of Army of Shadows will be playing at Cannes so hopefully we get an inkling of whether the grade is faithful or not.

PS.: I really wish Studio Canal, Arrow and others would follow Second Sight's example and release a regular version simultaneously with the tat stuff.

[Dr Amicus]

Night of the Eagle has recently been resubmitted to the BBFC for Home Video release, so presumably a long overdue Blu Ray is coming.

[hearthesilence]

Studio Canal are also releasing Army of Shadows on 4K and BD. The 4K listing is only for France so far, (June 10) the UK listing was only for the Blu-Ray (June 3). As with the Coppola, I'm not parting with the older BDs until it's been confirmed that they're all safe to buy (I'm more confident about the Coppola than the Melville). The new restoration of Army of Shadows will be playing at Cannes so hopefully we get an inkling of whether the grade is faithful or not.

PS.: I really wish Studio Canal, Arrow and others would follow Second Sight's example and release a regular version simultaneously with the tat stuff.

I posted and asked about the grading of Army of Shadows a year ago - I didn't get an answer, but I found one anyway that's pretty definitive:

Just out of curiosity, when Pierre Lhomme supervised the 35mm and digital restorations that were used for the belated U.S. release (2006 and beyond), was he able to match the look of the original 1969 release, or did he make any tweaks or changes?

I've found the answer.

[Lhomme] reveals that Melville wanted to shoot the picture in black-and-white, but the financiers mandated color. The filmmakers subsequently strove for images that were as desaturated as possible, leaning toward the blue tones. “Melville hated warm colors, so every effort was made to avoid them, and bright colors in general,” says Lhomme. In addition, a thin orange-yellow wash of paint was sometimes added to the set walls and later timed out by adding blue; this allowed the filmmakers to achieve paler skin tones while keeping the walls gray.

The restoration of Army of Shadows was initiated by Studio Canal with assistance from the CNC, the French National Center for Cinema. Lhomme was involved in the timing of the restored print and the digital master, working with restoration supervisor Ronald Boullet and color timer Raymond Terrentin at Eclair Laboratories. (Beatrice Valbin of Studio Canal shepherded the project from start to finish.) When asked whether the restored version matches the original 1969 print, Lhomme replies with a laugh, “I don’t remember what the original print looked like anymore!” The truth underlying his jocular response is that because the prints have faded, there is no absolute reference for the look of the timed print.

During production, Lhomme shot a reference shot, called a “Lily” in France, with a small grayscale for each setup. He kept a few frames of the negative of these Lilys and stuck them to the appropriate pages of his script. Prints from these Lilys served as a reminder of what was on the negative, and as a starting place for timing.

Lhomme notes that the digital-intermediate (DI) process allowed him to create a restored negative that is perhaps more faithful to Melville’s vision than the original print was, in that he was able to further desaturate the images and increase the blue tonalities. The DVD might be even more faithful, he continues, because it was a further refinement of the DI created for the new “digital” negative. “By doing the restoration of this film, I restored my own memo­ries — no joke,” says Lhomme. “To restore is to discover, and 35 years [after I shot this film], I rediscovered it on the big screen and saw its extraordinary cinematic qualities.”

Original source: American Cinematographer, July 2007 pp. 62-70