Second Sight: Max Ophuls Collection

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Tom Peeping · #26 Post by **Tom Peeping** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:01 pm

denti alligator · #27 Post by **denti alligator** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:07 pm

Those look horrible. What went wrong?

lubitsch · #28 Post by **lubitsch** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:12 pm

HerrSchreck wrote:Ah, Lube, the things that fire you up... Silent but ever lurking in the background then-- unexpectedly-- FLOOMP! Like a burning lion falling onto the quiet dinnertable during a convo about the credibility of Cindy Crawford's mole.

I always gladly solve major problems regarding movie history and criticism

.

HerrSchreck wrote:Me wants Libelei also (I know it's not part of the set).

Hey Criterion put a nice LIEBELEI set out and give as extra the remake CHRISTINE with Romy Schneider. How many cases exist where the daughter plays in a remake the role her mother played in the original film?

And ... I don't want to be a pain in the ***, but what about the SUBTITLES on LETTER and RECKLESS MOMENT? Please ...

Tom Peeping · #29 Post by **Tom Peeping** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:28 pm

denti alligator wrote:Those look horrible. What went wrong?

That's the way Madame de... looks on DVD. When the frame is still, it is fine but as soon as there is motion in the frame, there is a slight blur that makes me think the DVD was sourced from a video. And you can see the cropping on 4 sides of the title card.

Gordon · #30 Post by **Gordon** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 4:05 pm

Oh, fucking hell.

Anonymous · #31 Post by **Anonymous** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:32 pm

These screenshots look far worse than what I projected with my Toshiba beamer. Maybe it's some kind of effect caused by the screenshot process or the pause of the picture, but I was quite pleased with the print. It's not Criterion niveau but far better than my horribly looking VHS copy.

Tom Peeping · #32 Post by **Tom Peeping** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 7:31 pm

The captures above are very similar to what I saw on my TV screen. Captures 2 & 3 might be just a little more fuzzy than on the running film, but not much. My first impressions (posted on p.1) were much better before than after I watched the whole movie. The definition of the film on the DVD is just not very good. A most beautiful scene (Madame de... walking on a misty beach in a black coat) is let down by the digital imperfections. And the noise on the soundtrack during the last 10 minutes is very intrusive. For the moment, as it is the only version of the film available on DVD, I'm keeping it but I will upgrade to a better one when it comes.

Now, for the subtitles, they are not burned on the film (they don't show when fast forwarding) but the are not removable none the less.

I don't know about the other titles of the Ophuls Collection since I haven't received Reckless yet. But I know I'm not buying Le Plaisir which I was looking forward to. The WildSide edition of Letter is technically great, nothing to compare with Second Sight's Madame de... That's all I can say.

Knappen · #33 Post by **Knappen** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 3:49 am

I have only taken some glances at Le plaisir that arrived some days ago but I thought the image looked great. The only annoying thing was the fact that the subs stayed when I tried to disable them, so I will probably watch it on my computer or extract the film to another disc without the subs. I could do some caps but I'm not sure how to proceed. With a vlc snapshot it gets too grainy. What program should I use?

Subbuteo · #34 Post by **Subbuteo** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 1:41 pm

Both Madame and Reckless up on the Beaver.
Madame looks sublime!
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... _de....htm

Tom Peeping · #35 Post by **Tom Peeping** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 1:43 pm

The Beaver put online today its review of Madame de... that is much more positive than mine. Bordering on Criterion-level ? Hum...
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview ... _de....htm

Anonymous · #36 Post by **Anonymous** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 1:52 pm

See, just what I said. The Beaver review represents exactly the quality I saw with my projector. The DVD looks very good and I'm extremely happy I bought it.

Hashi · #37 Post by **Hashi** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 6:27 am

I'm so confused about this fuzz over here, or are you just joking? When looking at Beaver review, the disc looks absolutely fine, not horrible by any standards. Work server blocks me from seeing those captures posted above so I'm judging only by Beaver caps. Of course the judgement should be made from moving picture. The bitrate doesn't suggest an analog source and Gary doesn't mention it to be interlaced either so I wonder what's the motion blur mentioned here... (s)low refresh rate on LCD/monitor or really present on the disc?

Tom Peeping · #38 Post by **Tom Peeping** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 8:29 am

Hashi wrote:I'm so confused about this fuzz over here, or are you just joking?

Not at all. This is quite serious matter and should be treated as such. I'm not 100% happy with my copy of Madame de... and thought I should tell. Besides, the Beaver doesn't mention the noise problem on the soundtrack at the end of the film either. Anyway, there's only one way to know the truth: go shopping. As we say in France (rough translation): "Serve yourself and youl'll be well served".

Anonymous · #39 Post by **Anonymous** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 1:27 pm

Hashi wrote:I'm so confused about this fuzz over here, or are you just joking? When looking at Beaver review, the disc looks absolutely fine, not horrible by any standards. Work server blocks me from seeing those captures posted above so I'm judging only by Beaver caps. Of course the judgement should be made from moving picture. The bitrate doesn't suggest an analog source and Gary doesn't mention it to be interlaced either so I wonder what's the motion blur mentioned here... (s)low refresh rate on LCD/monitor or really present on the disc?

Of course the image isn't perfect, but perfection in the DVD business is something only Criterion is capable of (and maybe MoC). The picture is cropped and there is some unpleasent noise towards the end, yet all in all it looks and sounds very good and get's my recommendation.

Tom Peeping · #40 Post by **Tom Peeping** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 4:05 am

davidhare wrote:Tom re the apparent cropping of the title card - I'm pretty sure that's the way it always looked on film.

David, if you watch the Gallagher essay, you'll see the full title card appearing on screen in the first minute or so. I have it that way on an old VHS of the film. It does has been cropped on the DVD, certain about that. It's not annoying really on a title card, but it is on the last frame of the movie that it destroys the effect and the beauty of the shot :

SpoilerShow

The plaque under the earings reads "Don de Madame" and not "Don de Madame de" as it was framed by Ophuls.

To me eyes, the full circle is not being complete. I know I'm being picky but I expected so much from that release that I feel somehow let-down. And I know there are fantastic masters of the film around... BTW, I'm going for Le Plaisir...

tryavna · #41 Post by **tryavna** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 11:19 am

So what's the final verdict? Everything safe to purchase except Madame de...?

#42 Post by **Matt** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 2:53 pm

Tom Peeping wrote:
SpoilerShow
The plaque under the earings reads "Don de Madame" and not "Don de Madame de" as it was framed by Ophuls.

SpoilerShow

It's there. Here's a screen cap (just got my discs at lunchtime).

#43 Post by **Matt** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 3:16 pm

Le Plaisir:

Keep in mind that Ophuls' camera is almost always moving, so it's very difficult to get a capture of the subjects and their surroundings while still (hence the blurring of faces in the last cap). Also, the weird jaggies in the title card do no appear on the DVD. I'm not using my own computer, so I don't know how the image got like that, but it actually looks fine while playing.

#44 Post by **Matt** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 3:18 pm

Letter from an Unknown Woman is a port of the French Wild Side transfer. I won't bother posting caps as they would be identical to the caps on Beaver.

#45 Post by **Matt** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 1:28 pm

The Beaver has a review up now for Le Plaisir and a comparison of the French and UK Letter From an Unknown Woman. Gary prefers the French, but based on the caps alone, I prefer the UK.

Wittsdream · #46 Post by **Wittsdream** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 5:20 pm

Does anyone have the R2 Wildside DVD of Ophuls' Caught? I have read the DVDBeaver review of it and it states that the French subtitles are NON-removable. It remains unclear whether or not that means it is player generated or if the titles are in fact burned into the print. DVD Shrink will take care of that problem if it is player-generated.

Can someone please comment?

Thanks!

Ashirg · #47 Post by **Ashirg** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 5:31 pm

It's player generated

Wittsdream · #48 Post by **Wittsdream** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 11:09 pm

Thanks for your enlightening and helpful responses. I have actually had Caught, Secret Beyond the Door, Bigger than Life and Dishonored in the Amazon.fr "My Cart" for over 2 months and have been waiting rather impatiently for UK or US versions to be released.

Alas, impatience won out!!!

Of course, sometime next week Paramount and/or Universal will announce a boxed set of Fritz Lang American noirs as well as the complete Ophuls American output. and I'll resort to using the existing ones as filler space.

But what the heck, I have 1,200 laserdisc titles doing the exact same thing for almost a decade.

Once again, I appreciate this forum's input, especially one Mr. Hare.

Tom Peeping · #49 Post by **Tom Peeping** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 4:48 pm

Thanks to Second Sight DVD and David's recommendation, I finally got to see The Reckless Moment tonight. What a formidable movie! The subtle amorality of the script is quite stunning considering the time period it was made. Joan Bennett, an actress I never really cared about (but that was before seeing her playing this part), delivers a fascinating performance. I believe Joan Crawford, as great as she was, would have made an over the top act of that role. Bennett is all in "retenue" and that makes the film all the more powerful and subversive. The evolution of all the characters involved is very well written & involving. The Reckless Moment really is, as Todd Haynes states in his fine introduction, the lost gem in Ophuls output of great movies. Here in France, it is almost never mentioned when discussing Ophuls (the dramatic translation of its title is Les Désemparés)...

The Second Sight DVD is very good indeed. I wish Madame de... would be the same.

What A Disgrace · #50 Post by **What A Disgrace** » Sat Oct 07, 2006 11:13 pm

Hats off to Second Sight for these releases. A second wave can't come too soon.

My Le Plaisir arrived deeply scratched, though, so I have to return it.