Luis Buñuel on DVD

Discuss internationally-released DVDs and Blu-rays or other international DVD and Blu-ray-related topics.
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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#151 Post by zedz » Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:19 pm

I can see there's a lot of headroom in most shots, but it looks to me more like a case of the film being shot with two ARs in mind, and in that case I'd much rather the transfer erred on the side of openness. The shot with the truck in it would certainly suffer from a wider AR. The caps look pretty great to me.

Perkins Cobb
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#152 Post by Perkins Cobb » Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:19 pm

Actually, that is in the DVD Beaver review about the aspect ratio ... but you're right, I'm foolish to refer to it with that as my only source.

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Fiery Angel
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#153 Post by Fiery Angel » Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:32 pm

IMDB lists the aspect ratio as 1:37.1, FWIW.

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#154 Post by Michael Kerpan » Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:33 pm

Perkins Cobb wrote:Actually, that is in the DVD Beaver review about the aspect ratio ... but you're right, I'm foolish to refer to it with that as my only source.
As I recall the DVDB review calls the ratio used the proper one -- or did that get edited at some point?
Last edited by Michael Kerpan on Mon Oct 05, 2009 7:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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zedz
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#155 Post by zedz » Mon Oct 05, 2009 6:27 pm

Michael Kerpan wrote:
Perkins Cobb wrote:Actually, that is in the DVD Beaver review about the aspect ratio ... but you're right, I'm foolish to refer to it with that as my only source.
As I recall the DVDB review calls the ration used the proper one -- or did that get edited at some point?
Yes, it's been edited to add that somebody claims 1.66 is the correct ratio. To me it looks like a good instance of cinematographic bet-hedging, but I'm skipping town before another no-win aspect ratio argument arises.

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GringoTex
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#156 Post by GringoTex » Tue Oct 06, 2009 6:18 am

zedz wrote: Yes, it's been edited to add that somebody claims 1.66 is the correct ratio. To me it looks like a good instance of cinematographic bet-hedging, but I'm skipping town before another no-win aspect ratio argument arises.
Wasn't VistaVision the only format using 1:66 in 1956?

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GringoTex
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#157 Post by GringoTex » Tue Oct 06, 2009 6:59 am

Thanks, Dave.

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zedz
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#158 Post by zedz » Tue Oct 06, 2009 3:33 pm

The ever-reliable David Hare!

My understanding is that 1.66 was always much more common in Europe than the US, particularly through the 60s and 70s, and I've seen a lot of European films from the period misframed at 1.85 because projectionists were unwilling or unable to mask to 1.66.

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MichaelB
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#159 Post by MichaelB » Tue Oct 06, 2009 4:42 pm

zedz wrote:The ever-reliable David Hare!

My understanding is that 1.66 was always much more common in Europe than the US, particularly through the 60s and 70s, and I've seen a lot of European films from the period misframed at 1.85 because projectionists were unwilling or unable to mask to 1.66.
Barry Lyndon was famously/notoriously in 1.66 - and Kubrick made a point of ringing up cinemas in advance and sending them compatible 1.66 masks if they weren't already equipped to show it properly.

patricio00
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#160 Post by patricio00 » Sun Dec 27, 2009 11:06 pm

I'm amazed nobody has released a reputable copy of Él/This Strange Passion on DVD. For my money along with Exterminating Angel, it is among the greatest of Buñuel's Mexican period films, and yet it is one of his least known works. I saw it in 35mm in Mexico about 6 or 7 years ago, and the print was quite spectacular showcasing Gabriel Figueroa's crisp photography (it was a Figueroa festival); I think it was in even better shape than the Exterminating Angel dvd from Criterion.

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Ashirg
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#161 Post by Ashirg » Sun Dec 27, 2009 11:49 pm

It was released in France and Spain (NTSC and region 0), but is out of print now. Here's DVD Beaver review from the olden days.

patricio00
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#162 Post by patricio00 » Sun Dec 27, 2009 11:57 pm

I bought a copy that was released in Mexico two years ago by "Z Films", saw about four minutes of it and threw it away. Probably the worst dvd transfer I have ever seen.

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der_Artur
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#163 Post by der_Artur » Mon Dec 28, 2009 6:36 am

There's a good German DVD of Él, too. Alas, only subtitled in German.

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Documaniaque
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#164 Post by Documaniaque » Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:16 pm

Can anyone here comment on the newish French release of l'Age d'Or that the Centre Pompidou put out last year? Better than the BFI or not? Any impressions would be welcome...

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Documaniaque
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#165 Post by Documaniaque » Wed Jan 27, 2010 6:40 pm

I have the Film Sans Frontières DVD with Las Hurdes, and the copy used is definitely in pretty poor condition, so this sounds tempting...

Davidspector
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Los Olvidados

#166 Post by Davidspector » Thu Aug 05, 2010 12:41 pm

Speaking of Los Olvidados, has anyone gotten reports on the R4 version recently issued by Shock? I like the film very much but am not aware of any English-friendly good transfer of the film and am hoping this might be it.

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manicsounds
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#167 Post by manicsounds » Wed Aug 25, 2010 9:47 am

Los Olvidados UK DVD September 13th

60th Anniversary edition
Special Features include a specially commissioned interview with internationally renowned film critic, Derek Malcolm

Image

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Lemmy Caution
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#168 Post by Lemmy Caution » Wed Aug 25, 2010 12:10 pm

Would love to get a copy of Los Olvidados.
I saw a good quality restored print at the Shanghai Film Festival 3 or 4 years back.

The little seen La Fièvre Monte à El Pao (1959) just turned up here on dvd. Unfortunately, it's an Arthaus release and doesn't have English subs (German and Chinese only). It's originally part of a 10 film boxset of Bunuels which Arthaus released late last year. With the further exception of Gran Casino, the rest of the set consists of '60's and '70's Bunuels which are readily available from Criterion and elsewhere.
If anyone can manage German or Chinese subs, and wants a cheap copy of Fievre Monte a El Pao, let me know.
Last edited by Lemmy Caution on Thu Sep 16, 2010 5:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

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tojoed
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#169 Post by tojoed » Wed Sep 15, 2010 4:58 pm

I received the UK "Los Olvidados" today. It's DVD 9, Region 0.
Here are some caps.
Image
Image
Image
Last edited by tojoed on Wed Sep 15, 2010 5:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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tojoed
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#170 Post by tojoed » Wed Sep 15, 2010 5:26 pm

David, I've edited the above post with some caps. Looks serviceable, but I'd like to hear what you think, especially if you have seen a decent DVD of it yourself.

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tojoed
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#171 Post by tojoed » Thu Sep 16, 2010 8:59 am

Thanks David. I see what you mean.

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perkizitore
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#172 Post by perkizitore » Thu Sep 16, 2010 10:01 am

There was a French Films sans Frontieres release, does anyone own it?

Jonathan S
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#173 Post by Jonathan S » Thu Sep 16, 2010 11:17 am

Yes, I have the FSF release - the caps on Beaver show similar combing to the frame David posted. My main problem with it (at least when projected) is its softness, probably caused by the PAL-NTSC conversion Beaver mentions. Indeed, I have an off-air PAL VHS, apparently of the same transfer, which is sharper than the FSF DVD.

If anybody has the FSF and the new release I'd love to know how they compare, especially for definition. Also what is the running time of the new one? Some sources list 85 minutes but I think I've only seen an 80 minute print (shorter with PAL speed-up).

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tojoed
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#174 Post by tojoed » Thu Sep 16, 2010 12:51 pm

Jon, the new DVD running time is 77 minutes approx.

Jonathan S
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Re: Luis Buñuel on DVD

#175 Post by Jonathan S » Thu Sep 16, 2010 1:26 pm

Thanks. Most of my books actually list it as 88 minutes (before PAL speed-up) - almost a whole reel longer but both the BBC broadcast of 1983 (in a tribute season after Bunuel died) and the FilmFour one about 20 years later were approximately 77 minutes.

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