Dekalog and Other Television Works

Discuss releases from Arrow and the films on them.

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shostakovich1
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#126 Post by shostakovich1 » Fri Nov 04, 2016 10:13 am

Have just started working my way through the DVDs in the box (no Blu ray yet!). Even the DVD quality is superb. A great effort by all concerned. However, just wondered why, as the box is Region 2 coded, the subtitles are in US English instead of British English?

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Ribs
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#127 Post by Ribs » Fri Nov 04, 2016 10:27 am

I also think it's a different set of subtitles than was used for the Criterion release - this one does most of the credits at the beginning of each episode, and there's a typo in the first episode that I don't recall from the Criterion (A character says "when is" instead of the correct "is when" or something along those lines).

It's frankly staggering how much better this looks than the Criterion set; it's so night-and-day that I'm even more frustrated that Criterion didn't bother to try adding another disc to help alleviate the compression a bit more. Criterion's looks very good but this release makes it clear this restoration could look simply excellent.

I was a little surprised that the book is perfect-bound but it similarly looks insanely comprehensive.

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cdnchris
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#128 Post by cdnchris » Fri Nov 04, 2016 10:58 am

I've been going through it slowly as well and it indeed does look better, quite a bit actually. The black levels, though still not perfect, are also better which I think helps a lot (it's not as grayish).

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MichaelB
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#129 Post by MichaelB » Fri Nov 04, 2016 11:28 am

One of the reasons for the slight delay to the release was that Arrow did a regrade - nothing particularly drastic (they were mindful of the fact that these masters were cinematographer-approved, so revisionism was out of the question), but there were some issues like the black levels that clearly needed fixing.

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dda1996a
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#130 Post by dda1996a » Fri Nov 04, 2016 1:01 pm

MichaelB wrote:
dda1996a wrote:Are you insinuating that they might release the rest of Kieslowski films on Blu?
I've said literally all that I know. You'll have to ask them directly.
I was hoping with your connections you might know more...

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MichaelB
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#131 Post by MichaelB » Fri Nov 04, 2016 1:15 pm

I don't know anyone at Curzon Artificial Eye - and even if I did, I wouldn't reveal anything that isn't already in the public domain.

Literally all I know comes from the same sources that are available to anyone else.

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MichaelB
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#132 Post by MichaelB » Fri Nov 04, 2016 6:24 pm

The Digital Fix has published part two of their disc-by-disc survey.

This one covers Dekalog Three, Dekalog Four, First Love and KKTV.

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Ribs
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#133 Post by Ribs » Sun Nov 06, 2016 9:08 pm

Still Alive is thoroughly confusing, speeding through all the TV work in what to me was incomprehensible fashion. Once it gets to covering the features it's fantastic, though - it'd kind of make a more logical fit on a Three Colors disc given how a good chunk of this is focused on these as his last films. I'm glad to see this here but more straightforward Interview-style features is the one area this set is bested by the Criterion.

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ikms
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#134 Post by ikms » Sun Nov 06, 2016 10:33 pm

Ribs wrote:Still Alive is thoroughly confusing, speeding through all the TV work in what to me was incomprehensible fashion.
Good then that Michael B handles the TV work in his KKTV piece - fantastic work there - and on a topic I had never seen covered, meaning it was all new to me! With Dekalog as a starting off point this set gives us a great overview of Kieslowski's career, and I can see it serving as the centerpiece to collections as more of his theatrical output finds its way to blu (hopefully) through a variety of labels. Great job all around, and probably only second to Alan Clarke for my favorite release of 2016.

Though given what has transpired, I also get the impression this release will suffer the same "review limbo" fate as the BFI Herzog and Alan Clarke sets over at BR.com...

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MichaelB
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#135 Post by MichaelB » Mon Nov 07, 2016 4:52 am

Thanks for that - and yes, there wasn't much previously available in English!

Kieślowski discusses the TV work in some detail in Kieślowski on Kieślowski, but I knew upfront that this would all be reprinted in the Arrow book, so I couldn't draw too heavily on it, and while some other critics (Marek Haltof, for instance) have certainly discussed it, it hasn't been in that much detail. Which isn't that surprising given that I believe this is the first English-friendly commercial video release of four out of five of the 1973-81 TV pieces (First Love was on PWA's Kieślowski documentaries compilation). I daresay they've had occasional English-friendly screenings here and there - I myself saw Short Working Day a few years ago at the Imperial War Museum, of all places - but they're generally the least known of Kieślowski's films apart from the two industrial documentaries. And they're obviously of far greater interest than those. (Caveat: I've only seen the industrial docs without subtitles, but I'm very familiar with the form thanks to all my BFI postwar documentary research, and they don't appear to break any new or even especially interesting ground. Kieślowski himself seems to have regarded them as worthless rent-paying chores.)

I love Still Alive, but I readily concede that it's obviously made for a Polish audience and assumes a fair amount of prior knowledge - which is why Arrow decided to commission two more English-friendly context-setting pieces.

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ikms
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#136 Post by ikms » Mon Nov 07, 2016 6:33 am

MichaelB wrote:(Caveat: I've only seen the industrial docs without subtitles, but I'm very familiar with the form thanks to all my BFI postwar documentary research, and they don't appear to break any new or even especially interesting ground. Kieślowski himself seems to have regarded them as worthless rent-paying chores.)
Just seeing moving clips from those was great, and going that deep really brought home the comprehensive nature of the piece. I just wish there were more career-spanning IMBD-diving compilation docs on director focused sets, but getting permission across a number of rights holders must be a showstopper. It was especially strange as I had just watched the Fireman's Ball disc last week and accidentally stumbled upon my first ever Michael Brooke piece (it looks like I have another waiting for me on Closely Observed Trains)! Not to derail this Dekalog thread too much, but I haven't bumped into (English friendly) classic Czech films on Blu outside of the two from Arrow and two from Criterion. Do you happen to know if there is a list of releases or recommended overview site out there? Thanks.

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MichaelB
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#137 Post by MichaelB » Mon Nov 07, 2016 12:07 pm

The Digital Fix has reached disc three, which contains Dekalog Five, Dekalog Six, Personnel and the 78-minute Tony Rayns appreciation.

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rapta
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#138 Post by rapta » Fri Nov 11, 2016 2:39 pm

Any idea why the set isn't showing up on the Arrow Store anymore?

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fdm
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#139 Post by fdm » Fri Nov 11, 2016 2:45 pm

"unfortunately we are now out of stock of this title. We are expecting more stock though"

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hearthesilence
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#140 Post by hearthesilence » Sun Nov 13, 2016 8:43 pm

What an incredible series, and what marvelous looking transfers too.

It's been years since I've seen the series in its entirety, and it's incredible how it builds in momentum. The first two episodes are solid, but beginning with the third, the series gets better and better, peaking with five and six and pretty much staying in the stratosphere for the remaining episodes. The moral dilemmas seem to grow richer and more complex, and the filmmaking becomes more intricate and more stylistically complex, whether it's the editing or the cinematography (and I'm almost tempted to chalk this up to money - as if after the first two were done, the producers were so pleased that they poured even more money into the budget, freeing them to get more ambitious.) It's also remarkable how episode nine alone contains the seeds for Three Colors - particularly Red but bits of all three films can be found here.

At home, I've only seen these on VHS tapes (never even saw the previous DVDs), and to see it looking so crisp and new, it's quite an experience.

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dda1996a
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#141 Post by dda1996a » Mon Nov 14, 2016 1:47 am

And that's the brilliant essence of Kieslowski, that everyone will rank the series differently. I think everything is brilliant, but one, three, four, and eight are my favorites. I can't begin to explain how happy I am to have this set, with many Kieslowski films yet unseen. This series along with the Colors and Veronique truly changed my life, and this is no hyperbole.

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tenia
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Re: 837 Dekalog

#142 Post by tenia » Mon Nov 14, 2016 11:18 am

Looks like it's actually sold out at Arrow : http://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p ... tcount=232" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
from arrow on twitter: "Dekalog is looking like it's sold out with us, sorry. You can still get it at Amazon UK, if it helps"

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fdm
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Re: 837 Dekalog

#143 Post by fdm » Mon Nov 14, 2016 11:30 am

There goes my undamaged replacement copy...

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domino harvey
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Re: 837 Dekalog

#144 Post by domino harvey » Mon Nov 14, 2016 11:35 am

What good are those inventory bar graphs if this never even showed up on one?

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Ribs
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Re: 837 Dekalog

#145 Post by Ribs » Mon Nov 14, 2016 11:38 am

I am very happy I reluctantly bit the bullet during the last sale, though I didn't begin to imagine the possibility it would actually sell out before the December sale.

(Also, shouldn't this be in the other thread?)

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tenia
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Re: 837 Dekalog

#146 Post by tenia » Mon Nov 14, 2016 11:46 am

domino harvey wrote:What good are those inventory bar graphs if this never even showed up on one?
I've been told only last Saturday that my order was "a little delayed due to overwhelming demand but will be shipped soon", so I guess even Arrow didn't see that one coming.

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swo17
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Re: 837 Dekalog

#147 Post by swo17 » Mon Nov 14, 2016 11:51 am

domino harvey wrote:What good are those inventory bar graphs if this never even showed up on one?
Seriously.

Going to have to wait a month for mine to ship with the second Woody Allen box.

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tenia
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#148 Post by tenia » Mon Nov 14, 2016 12:04 pm

I asked for my order to be cancelled altogether. It seems so unexpected on Arrow's side (or is this a miscommunication ?) that I'm unsure if they will be able to honor the most recent orders.
I'll buy it from Amazon instead and will re-order To Live and Die in LA at some point.

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Ribs
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#149 Post by Ribs » Mon Nov 14, 2016 12:15 pm

So if this *is* a surprise huge hit mega-seller, are there any obvious "sequel sets" that Arrow might be pursuing? I'm hard-pressed to think of anything similar they could theoretically follow this up with.

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Dr Amicus
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Re: Dekalog and Other Television Works

#150 Post by Dr Amicus » Mon Nov 14, 2016 12:17 pm

Svet has bought them all in order to stop everyone comparing frame rates...

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