The Archers (Powell & Pressburger): S/D

michael powell did laserdisc commentaries. reckon he'd be chill with blu-ray.

I'm just asking, as I've never seen a BluRay.

also I don't remember ppl saying "It's never looked like this" re laserdisc the way they do with BR.

Similar to Jeffrey Wells' vote for scrubbing ALL grain from old movies on video?

i've seen it in shops. looks better than dvd, but not *that* better. when my dvd breaks i'll get one, now that the cost has come down.

i haven't heard people say blu-ray falsifies the movie, but do see a lot of debate out there. everyone says 'the red shoes' looks amazing and they can;t all be shills.

Most film-makers I think probably want/ed their films to look as well as they possibly could. As long as technology doesn't fuck with what's meant to be in the frame then I don't have much issue with it.

Can't imagine P&P not wanting e.g. The Red Shoes to look as luminous and vivid as technology wd allow.

Part of the point of these blu-ray reissues is that they are better able to recreate the experience of watching a film (ie. better resolution, colour depth, contrast, visible film grain etc etc) than any previous home video system. Def. a sight closer to the original intent than some shitty VHS or TV viewing.

yeah, they look MORE like the original film, not less

VHS on the other hand was a travesty

the question is more valid, kinda, when it comes to TV on bluray, like the recent star treks that look SO much more spotless and gleaming than anyone could have ever experienced them, save for maybe the editor, back in tha day

xpost to Noodle Vague
oh wait, I think we're talking about totally different things! By "frame story" I simply meant the prologue with Andrew Gray piloting a yacht with two English people on it (played by Powell and his wife, Frankie) to the island. I didn't mean the story Powell wrote to flesh out the original evacuation of the island story---is that what you thought I meant? At any rate, I totally agree about myth-making and almost totally agree with Powell's own extremely negative stance on documentaries.

All that said, there's actually a bit in the prologue that I love. Powell's character asks Andrew what Hirta (the island's name) means. Andrew says very portentously "it means...death." Cut to an ominous shot of an eagle hunting a lamb. Just before it can kill the lamb, the eagle is shot by Powell.

ha okay I'd forgotten that bit. I get ya now. Still fits into the ghost story theme I guess tho, and I like that "tourists stepping onto sacred ground" kind of feeling.

Like he's building layers to make it easier for City folk to get into the story.

i've only seen a couple of BR discs projected onto a living room wall but they do look really, really good - seems like the perfect home video format for the archers, tati, etc (until the next thing comes along in 2020 or whatever)

cunga i loved IKWIG! - the location shots alone are like damn

xp
Yeah, your initial response made me rethink things and while it is a little tacked-on (and forgettable, ha!) it still has some nice footage and that hunting bit. And I agree it makes sense thematically and narratively in the way you're suggesting. Also in retrospect it adds to the tragedy that Andrew is reduced to piloting around some English swell's yacht after leaving Hirta.

Donna, you should see Edge of the World if you haven't--the location shooting might even be superior to IKWIG's at times. Maybe not superior, but wilder and very beautiful.

The eagle sequence is a fore-runner of the hawk-into-Spitfire shot at the beginning of A Canterbury Tale if I'm remembering right.

This thread is making me want a fancy TV btw

I have to confess I ordered RS and BN despite not owning either a bluray player (yet) or a fancy TV. In my defense, they were 50% off and uh... :/

vibing out to 'the spy in black'

conrad veidt seems like a suitable case for some kind of treatment - biography, biopic - v. interesting figure - get on it, nrq!

The Spy in Black is excellent. Also look for Contraband from around the same time (also with Veidt).

Veidt's also pretty much my favorite actor ever.

Given the one-a-year drip feed of hi-def reissues, I finally ponied up and bought the 11-disc dvd box set so I can fill in the gaps of what I've seen in the meantime. Watched A Canterbury Tale last night, enjoyed it enormously for many of the reasons people have noted upthread. Another standout scene for me was Colpeper's speech during his presentation about the old pilgrims' road:

"When you lie flat on your back and rest, and watch the clouds sailing, as I often do, you're so close to those other people, that you can hear the thrumming of the hoofs of their horses, and the sound of the wheels on the road, and their laughter and talk, and the music of the instruments they carried. And when I turn the bend in the road, where they too saw the towers of Canterbury, I feel I've only to turn my head, to see them on the road behind me."

beautiful.

Been running these boxset discs as Sunday-afternoon-specials, which has always been the best time for filmic drama imo. Last week's was I Know Where I'm Going!, another that I'd never seen, and was absolutely delighted again. My wife made a point that their films are often actually very strange in many regards, but because they are so well made, acted and written one just accepts this.

On a Powell related note, "Peeping Tom" is out on blu-ray next week (and is getting some stupendous reviews). Currently only on Region-B locked issue from Optimum, but I'd be surprised if Criterion don't issue it too in the near future.

just saw 'the red shoes', not even on blu, but the new dvd

just astonishing in every way

must see 'hoffman'

ya man.

I watched Hoffmann before going to bed and when I closed my eyes I saw nothing but bright saturated colors.

tales of albert hofmann

hadn't noticed before how when vicky and the composer meet after getting their new jobs, it's looks very obviously like a stage set, but at the end, it's the spot she falls from and it's a real location... moira shearer apparently hadn't acted before? she's so affecting in this.

beautiful too.

gonna sit down with the fam and watch a bunch of P&P movies today.

<3 powell's red hair obsession

>gonna sit down with the fam and watch a bunch of P&P movies today.

Best idea I've heard this week.

has anyone seen his episodes of the 1960s series 'espionage'? it's on dvd but not to rent

fopp adverts in papers today have the 9dvd box set for £9

£18 today

anyone seen this early German sound film co-written by Pressbuger? (dir R Siodmak)

http://germanyinnyc.org/index.php?section=catevent&cat_evt_id=1880&cat_id=9

Newly restored Col. Blimp begins run in NYC today; Scorsese introduces tonight, Thelma Schoonmaker tomorrow.

http://www.filmforum.org/films/blimp.html

so fuckin jealous

You going, Morbius? Don't think I can.

this would come along in the midst of the year-end/in-review shitstorm, of course. It's for 2 weeks, I guess I'll try during Thanksgiving break.

(Scorsese sold out online)

plus i'm sure he'll be speaking on the DVD, plus his Britfilm doc.

Finally getting around to watching Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff. Very good so far. Wish I had bought a copy of Magic Hour when I had the chance.

Wish i had DVRed some other things that night like Pandora and the Flying Dutchman

Don't think I've ever seen anything he directed, not even Sons and Lovers.

The documentary does not mention his relationship with Sophia Loren.

That Cardiff documentary was great, I was really happy to happen across it on TCM one evening when nothing more interesting was going on.

how's The 49th Parallel?

awesome, as you might expect.

trivia: that was actually their most popular film in britain on original release! (If you don't count korda's thief of bagdad.)

I can believe it, based on what I've read.

I barely remember it now, but here's what I said when CC released it.