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Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2020 6:40 am
by tenia
I did and have been told that the info has been passed to the relevant person. :wink:

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2020 9:21 am
by Orlac
Oh good, thank you!

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2020 10:10 am
by MichaelB
As a general rule, it's very safe indeed to assume that if anything gets mentioned here, a member of the BFI Video production team will read it. If it seems particularly important to draw their attention to it, you can also rest assured that the man at the top will have been personally contacted by me.

Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that anything will come of it, as there may be contractual and/or technical barriers in the way - but I stress that I don't know either way.

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2020 12:19 pm
by Orlac
Good to know, thank you :)

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Fri May 15, 2020 7:45 am
by MichaelB
Full specs announced for the new edition of Tokyo Story:
Tokyo Story
Directed by Yasujirô Ozu


Blu-ray release on 15 June 2020

Currently available to stream on BFI Player’s Subscription service in a small collection of Yasujirô Ozu films that will be expanded to 25 films from 5 June 2020 as part of JAPAN 2020, a major new BFI season celebrating Japanese cinema.

A constant fixture in critic’s polls, Tokyo Story is Yasujirô Ozu’s most enduring masterpiece and a beautifully nuanced exploration of filial duty, expectation and regret. From the simple tale of an elderly couple’s visit to their grown-up children in Tokyo, Ozu draws a compelling contrast between the measured dignity of age and the hurried insensitivity of a younger generation.

Also included on the release is Ozu’s incisive satire, Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family (1941), which explores similar themes, as, following the death of her husband, Mrs Toda and her youngest daughter receive a frosty reception from the extended family.

Special features
• Re-mastered in 4K with an uncompressed monaural soundtrack;
• An Introduction to Tokyo Story (2020, 26 mins): Asian-cinema expert Tony Rayns provides an introduction to Ozu’s most acclaimed film;
• Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family (1941, 105 mins): following the death of her husband, Mrs Toda realises she has been left with sizeable debts and an extended family reluctant to support her;
• Talking with Ozu (1993, 40 mins): a tribute to the legendary director featuring filmmakers Lindsay Anderson, Claire Denis, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Aki Kaurismäki, Stanley Kwan, Paul Schrader and Wim Wenders;
• Furnival and Son (1948, 19 mins): recounts the difficult choice a recently demobbed serviceman has to make between an unexpected job offer elsewhere, and resuming his pre-war position as his father's right-hand man in their small cutlery firm, Furnival and Son;
• Image gallery
• ***FIRST PRESSING ONLY*** Fully illustrated booklet including an essay by Professor Joan Mellen, archival writing by John Gillett and Lindsay Anderson and a biography of Yasujirô Ozu by Tony Rayns

Product details
RRP: £19.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1383 / U
Japan / 1953 / black and white / 136 mins / Japanese language, with English subtitles / original aspect ratio 1.33:1 / BD50: 1080p, 24fps, PCM 1.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit)

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Fri May 15, 2020 2:04 pm
by Cash Flagg
Is this the same 4K restoration used for the 2013 Criterion release, or the newer 2017 one noted by Tenia on previous page? I’m wondering if I should keep my double-dip pre-order.

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Fri May 15, 2020 6:02 pm
by Michael Kerpan
Biggest question -- will this also have badly restored sound?

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Sat May 16, 2020 12:59 am
by fiddlesticks
I confess I have never heard of Furnival and Son, and Googling turned up nothing. Is this an Ozu short I've overlooked? If not, what accounts for its inclusion, as it doesn't sound to be thematically closely related? I'm already on the fence about triple-dipping for this, and an unseen Ozu short would certainly push me over.

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Sat May 16, 2020 1:00 am
by domino harvey
I imagine it’s one of the many tangential British shorts included by BFI in the same spirit of the old Warner Brothers Night at the Movies DVD extras

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Sat May 16, 2020 4:31 am
by MaxCastle
domino harvey wrote:
Sat May 16, 2020 1:00 am
I imagine it’s one of the many tangential British shorts included by BFI in the same spirit of the old Warner Brothers Night at the Movies DVD extras
So it seems.

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 7:43 pm
by yoshimori
Cash Flagg wrote:
Fri May 15, 2020 2:04 pm
Is this the same 4K restoration used for the 2013 Criterion release, or the newer 2017 one noted by Tenia on previous page? I’m wondering if I should keep my double-dip pre-order.
Curious too. It's apparently available now, but I couldn't find any evidence one way or the other. Anyone?

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2020 7:52 pm
by modernmalaise
yoshimori wrote:
Mon Jul 06, 2020 7:43 pm
Cash Flagg wrote:
Fri May 15, 2020 2:04 pm
Is this the same 4K restoration used for the 2013 Criterion release, or the newer 2017 one noted by Tenia on previous page? I’m wondering if I should keep my double-dip pre-order.
Curious too. It's apparently available now, but I couldn't find any evidence one way or the other. Anyone?
This was posted on the other forum. Went ahead and ordered it but still waiting so can't confirm myself.

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 5:00 am
by A man stayed-put
The booklet states- "The restoration was conducted by IMAGICA Corp. and Shochiku MediaWorX Inc. in 2017 from a 35mm interpositive...."

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:49 am
by yoshimori
Thanks much, Misters Malaise and Put. I don't want to think about the ratio of number of times I've bought the film to the number of times I've watched it is, but here we go again.

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2020 5:52 pm
by MB17
Hi,

This is a great thread, thank you for all the good info on the latest Ozu restorations. I have two questions:

- Did anyone have the opportunity to compare the newer BFI/Carlotta Tokyo Story to the Criterion? Could elaborate on the differences?
- Does anyone know if there is going to be a CC or a new BFI on Late Autumn using the Imagica restoration used in the Carlotta?

I only ask this because I bought the Carlota coffret, but it ended up getting lost in the Brazilian mail (or Customs, most likely)... very sad. So buying a separate film should be less risky, I guess. And many films I already own anyway.

Thanks.

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2020 7:20 pm
by Michael Kerpan
Not certain I can convince myself to buy yet another copy of Tokyo Story (much as I love it). ;-)

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2020 12:32 pm
by L.A.
DVD Compare reviews the new release of Tokyo Story.

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 5:54 pm
by MB17
L.A. wrote:
Sun Jul 19, 2020 12:32 pm
DVD Compare reviews the new release of Tokyo Story.
Thank you. Very nice explanation on the film versions.

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2020 10:44 pm
by Drucker

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2020 11:11 pm
by Michael Kerpan
Grain scrubbed -- or just "artifacts" removed?

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2020 11:29 pm
by kcota17
Michael Kerpan wrote:
Sat Aug 01, 2020 11:11 pm
Grain scrubbed -- or just "artifacts" removed?
It looks like there is still grain apparent. Looks like a better scan and more artifacts removed.

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2020 11:41 pm
by swo17
BFI looks more detailed to me

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2020 11:59 pm
by Drucker
kcota17 wrote:
Sat Aug 01, 2020 11:29 pm
Michael Kerpan wrote:
Sat Aug 01, 2020 11:11 pm
Grain scrubbed -- or just "artifacts" removed?
It looks like there is still grain apparent. Looks like a better scan and more artifacts removed.
A better scan not likely, right? That would mean that two different 4k scans of whatever elements remain? Seems unlikely, but that they both had access to the same scan and BFI did a better job on some additional work?

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:20 am
by senseabove
I dunno, this does not look like Criterion over-did something and the BFI didn't: https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&a=0 ... 23&i=1&l=0

I'm no expert reviewer, but I don't see how you could start with something in between those two and end up at one or the other with just some more or less extensive tweaking... Those really look like two different scans. (Also wow that's some horrendous macroblocking on the Criterion)

Re: BFI: 32 Ozu Films

Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:24 am
by The Fanciful Norwegian
Drucker wrote:
Sat Aug 01, 2020 11:59 pm
A better scan not likely, right? That would mean that two different 4k scans of whatever elements remain? Seems unlikely, but that they both had access to the same scan and BFI did a better job on some additional work?
It's a different scan. Shochiku/Imagica have done two 4K restorations, the first in 2011 and the second in 2017.