If I were a DVD boutique such as MoC or Criterion I would try and do things that are ultimtely going to sell well and be of the best possible quality. In the case of the Criterion and MoC F For Fake DVDs I own the Criterion, this is not because it came out first, it is simply because I found the features on the DVD to be more suited to my own preferences. In this case, Internationally (I am from the UK) Criterion have gained custom and MoC lost it.Darth Lavender wrote:My question, though, is how strongly does the presence of a Region 2 (or 4, or 5, etc.) release figure into Criterion's decision to produce a DVD?Is it completely unimportant (given the strong US-based rental-market, etc.) Does Criterion only 'double up' on Special Editions when you feel there's opportunity for improvement? (as in the case of Ivan's Childhood which, I understand, will be the first DVD release to use the original Mono soundtrack, or Vengeance Is Mine which uses a significantly different (more accurate?) transfer to the Region 2 release).
On a related note, can we look forward to any improvements in Criterion's upcoming Pitfall and Face Of Another? (Superior elements, etc.?)
Question: With the new Eclipse line providing the option of releasing a number of previously unavailable titles simultaneously, a number of the recent releases have taken the form of single releases by directors who might not have numerous other titles available to Criterion for release. How is the decision made to release multiple related titles via an Eclipse box vs. separate Criterion releases? For example, the two Ermanno Olmi titles (Il Posto and I Fidanzati) or Milos Forman titles (Loves of a Blonde and The Firemen's Ball) were separate Criterion releases; would they have been paired as an Eclipse boxset if they were released today?
As a lover of cinema I agree that it would be wonderful if the world's leading distributors worked together to achieve a definitive release of films within each region, it is sort of happening, Nick at MoC has said that they licenced Criterion's master of FFF for their release, I've not seen it but I am sure it's great, but the idea of labels splitting the cost on licensing and development, I seriously doubt it. In the case above of Criterion winning me as a customer, of course MoC wouldn't want tp have subsidised Criterion's DVD if they were only going to run the risk of having their core market buy outside of it. I think this can only mean increased quality in DVD production from the major markets. As non-English speaking regions gradually realise that it is a world market and subtitles begin to appear more frequently selling DVDs is going to become more difficult, it is going to be up to the labels to become more inventive and more specialised in their release material. I think MoC are the leaders at the moment for their selection of releases, Criterion seem to be a few months behind and are now releasing films which we have already seen. However another factor comes into play here. I had been waiting to purchase the MoC Teshigahara titles (I can't buy everything at once, so I rented first) but once I saw that Criterion were releasing their Teshigahara boxset I snapped it up with the insane exchange rate I was able to pick up three Teshigahara films plus shorts for the price of two MoC's. With the UK experiencing some chronic price erosion on DVDs anyway this surely doesn't bode well for the UK labels. I wish I could do more to help maintain the UK solidarity but after all it is a buyers market and I have to watch my own pocket as well. I hope that we will see more variety in the release schedules of the labels in the future, this is surely the only way forward.