1191 The Trial

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Dante Vescio
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Re: The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)

#26 Post by Dante Vescio » Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:14 pm

A few weeks ago I got a response from Mulvaney and it said "NO".

Terrible news since this is, for me, Welles' greatest movie.

JanPB
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Re: The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)

#27 Post by JanPB » Sat Feb 21, 2009 3:33 am

bigP wrote:
cinemartin wrote:The Studio Canal disc is great, though it may be out of print.
I believe the UK R2 Optimum Releasing disc uses that same Studio Canal transfer and is generally very good all round. I've posted screencaptures here including the bonus features menu capture (as Optimum failed to mention on the cover that this release carried a 30 minute Documentary and a 23 minute Interview with the DOP). As far as the film goes, the Optimum disc is apparently missing the short 'Parable of Law' opening sequence,
This is the 1984 re-edit (by Welles himself?) Not only it omits the Alexeieff's pin-screen introduction, it's also reedited. E.g. after K. meets his cousin Irmie, he is seen visiting Elsa Martinelli (in the original version he goes back to see the Advocate and meets Bloch there). Another omission is Paola Mori's "I'm not used to fresh air".

The Canal Plus 2-disc set from France includes both versions but for some reason the 1963 version features totally unidiomatic "videofied" opening and closing credits. So in order to watch this film in its original state with the top-notch quality of this release one needs to do some computer editing on this set:

1. The original scrolling titles from Disc 2,
2. The Alexeieff opening through the last scene from Disc 1,
3. The closing (Welles reading the credits off-screen) from Disc 2.

What a mess.

BTW, as an experiment in YouTube "Annotations" feature, I attempted to reconstruct the deleted scene with Katina Paxinou (read the clip info on YouTube for the gory details).

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hearthesilence
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Re: The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)

#28 Post by hearthesilence » Sat Jul 30, 2011 11:31 am

cinemartin wrote:The Studio Canal disc is great, though it may be out of print.
If you mean this two-disc edition that was made available in France...

Image

...then "yes." Not perfect, there's some artifacting, but in terms of source material and transfer (particularly in the detail and contrast levels), it's the best version on home video by a country mile. Unfortunately, it is out-of-print but not particularly rare.

Please note, the second disc with the 'recut' version is garbage. A complete waste of space with absolutely no value, historical or otherwise. Welles had nothing to do with it.
Last edited by hearthesilence on Sat Jul 30, 2011 11:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

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hearthesilence
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Re: The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)

#29 Post by hearthesilence » Sat Jul 30, 2011 11:34 am

Felix wrote:To muddy the waters further, the UK Studio Canal release, from 2004, has the prologue and presumably the same transfer, but not the extras, damn and blast it. This one was being sold VERY cheaply in FOPP before their untimely demise but is now commanding higher prices on Amazon UK.
No, this is NOT the same transfer. Looks horrible, avoid at all costs.

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MichaelB
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Re: The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)

#30 Post by MichaelB » Sat Jul 30, 2011 2:28 pm

Jarpie wrote:I'm actually surprised that Criterion haven't released The Trial on DVD since Studio Canal have master/print in great condition, The Trial is public domain and they have been co-operating in the past.
But not any more.

It's also not public domain in Europe, where Studio Canal is based.

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SamLowry
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Re: The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)

#31 Post by SamLowry » Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:13 pm

Dante Vescio wrote:Has anyone ever e-mailed Mulvaney about this movie getting a Criterion release? Do you suppose there's a chance?
I've requested it numerous since seeing it at The Castro Theater in SF in the 90s. Because it was so similar to Brazil (which I had seen when it was released & therefore 1st) & clearly was an inspiration for Gilliam, it became my favorite Welles film.

I'd love to see the documentary & extras. I picked up the Milestone years ago & was rather dissatisfied with it. Since no one has compared the newer releases, I thought I'd wait for Blu-ray, but those extras are enticing.

The only improvements would have been Cinemascope (many of my favorite films are European 60s b&w Cinemascope) & if he had just used the prologue with a black screen rather than the pin screen (which I found blurry & not very effective even in 35 mm). I think allowing the viewer to come up with their own dream image would have been a better lead in to Josef K. waking up rather than having a (rather shoddy) image provided for you.

It's discouraging to hear the reply & that it might not be public domain any more (and under the control of his estate).
The Trial, Night Of The Living Dead & Corrupt (aka Copkiller w/ Harvey Keitel & Johnny Lydon) are the 3 public domain films I thought would make successful Criterion releases in spite of being in public domain (an idea for a new thread).

Jarpie
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Re: The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)

#32 Post by Jarpie » Fri Sep 02, 2011 1:35 am

Studio Canal/Optimum release is best one available. Optimum's UK release of The Trial should be basicly the same as Studio Canal french DVD, except for french version having 1984 cut. I can take screenshots later if you want.

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Julz
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Re: The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)

#33 Post by Julz » Sat Sep 08, 2012 5:29 pm

Yeah, just found a short German review of the upcoming Studio Canal Blu (the UK-edition is out on September 10). Apparently it's gonna be the original cut (119 min.) with some decent supplements on top as well. According to amazon.co.uk we're talking about the following:

- Welles, Kafka and The Trial documentary
- Welles, Architect Of Light documentary
- Orson Welles, Tempo interview
- Interview with Steven Berkoff (actor, playwright) – adaptations of Kafka’s The Trial and Metamorphosis
- Deleted scene
- Trailer
- Booklet on the movie written by Jonathan Rosenbaum, film critic and author of Discovering Orson Welles (2007), the editor of This Is Orosn Welles (1998) and consultant on the 1998 re-edit of Touch Of Evil

Doesn't sound too bad, does it?

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manicsounds
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Re: The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)

#34 Post by manicsounds » Tue Sep 11, 2012 4:37 am


Mike_S
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Re: The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)

#35 Post by Mike_S » Sun Sep 23, 2012 6:14 pm

I enjoyed watching the Studiocanal Blu-Ray yesterday. It's a detailed and crisp image on the whole although there is certainly too much edge-enhancement in places and overall it's rather brighter than I had expected. The lossless audio is excellent. Great supplements, especially the Tempo interview with Welles and a brief but insightful bit from Steven Berkoff. The film is, of course, sublime.

Glowingwabbit
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Re: The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)

#36 Post by Glowingwabbit » Sun Jan 20, 2019 1:00 pm

I don't know the rights history of this but if Criterion is doing a new deal with Studiocanal wouldn't this be high on their list of titles they'd ask for?

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Drucker
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Re: The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)

#37 Post by Drucker » Sun Jan 20, 2019 1:22 pm

There is definitely a bunch of crap happening on the blu-ray which fortunately wasn't present in the DCP I saw of the film, so it's pretty safe to assume the restoration/current master is fine, and just the disc was messed with.

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Big Ben
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Re: The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)

#38 Post by Big Ben » Sun Jan 20, 2019 2:10 pm

Glowingwabbit wrote:
Sun Jan 20, 2019 1:00 pm
I don't know the rights history of this but if Criterion is doing a new deal with Studiocanal wouldn't this be high on their list of titles they'd ask for?
I am under the impression for some reason that The Trial is in the public domain in the United States so Criterion doesn't need to deal with StudioCanal at all on certain fronts. A restoration however is another story as I'm under the impression that a company's restoration is something you can copyright? I don't know how much that hinders things but I imagine the rumored Citizen Kane release is much higher on Criterion's list than The Trial.

I saw The Trial maybe ten years ago on a cheap DVD whose quality could only be described as something worse than horrendous. That being said I loved what I saw and I'd love to see it again.

Calvin
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Re: The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)

#39 Post by Calvin » Sun Jan 20, 2019 3:00 pm

Big Ben wrote:
Sun Jan 20, 2019 2:10 pm
Glowingwabbit wrote:
Sun Jan 20, 2019 1:00 pm
I don't know the rights history of this but if Criterion is doing a new deal with Studiocanal wouldn't this be high on their list of titles they'd ask for?
I am under the impression for some reason that The Trial is in the public domain in the United States so Criterion doesn't need to deal with StudioCanal at all on certain fronts. A restoration however is another story as I'm under the impression that a company's restoration is something you can copyright? I don't know how much that hinders things but I imagine the rumored Citizen Kane release is much higher on Criterion's list than The Trial.
Though who knows why - we need a release of The Trial with a restored Filming The Trial much more than another Kane release!

FlickeringWindow
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Re: The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)

#40 Post by FlickeringWindow » Sun Jan 20, 2019 6:00 pm

Big Ben wrote:
Sun Jan 20, 2019 2:10 pm
Glowingwabbit wrote:
Sun Jan 20, 2019 1:00 pm
I don't know the rights history of this but if Criterion is doing a new deal with Studiocanal wouldn't this be high on their list of titles they'd ask for?
I am under the impression for some reason that The Trial is in the public domain in the United States so Criterion doesn't need to deal with StudioCanal at all on certain fronts. A restoration however is another story as I'm under the impression that a company's restoration is something you can copyright? I don't know how much that hinders things but I imagine the rumored Citizen Kane release is much higher on Criterion's list than The Trial.

I saw The Trial maybe ten years ago on a cheap DVD whose quality could only be described as something worse than horrendous. That being said I loved what I saw and I'd love to see it again.
Even if it's public domain, Criterion always goes to the current rights owners for licensing. I have the UK edition and while it looks good, obviously way better than the Milestone DVD (or the knock-offs from their transfer), it looks overly digital. Typical decent HD transfer that was likely created for DVD/SD downsampling.

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Roger Ryan
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Re: The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)

#41 Post by Roger Ryan » Mon Jan 21, 2019 10:10 am

What absolutely has to happen with this title (as it appears on the French Blu-ray) is the removal of the superimposed credits at the film's end. In the original, Welles narrated the credits (as he did in Ambersons and the first version of Othello) over two freeze-frames: the mushroom-like cloud and the slide projector. On the Studio Canal release, Welles' narration remains, but the names of the actors appear as text on the screen. The problem is the names do not appear in synch with the narration and the effect is very jarring.

SSF
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Re: The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)

#42 Post by SSF » Mon Feb 11, 2019 6:52 pm

Today on the Kino Blu-Ray.com thread, when asked about "The Trial" KL Insider says:

"We asked for it, but it was already promised to another label."

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swo17
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Re: The Trial (Orson Welles, 1962)

#43 Post by swo17 » Thu Jun 15, 2023 11:49 am


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FrauBlucher
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Re: 1191 The Trial

#44 Post by FrauBlucher » Thu Jun 15, 2023 11:59 am

Very excited for this release. Happy there’s a McBride commentary!

beamish14
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Re: 1191 The Trial

#45 Post by beamish14 » Thu Jun 15, 2023 12:05 pm

FrauBlucher wrote:
Thu Jun 15, 2023 11:59 am
Very excited for this release. Happy there’s a McBride commentary!
Same. No Jonathan Rosenbaum, though, which is puzzling. More Simon Callow insights would be cool as well, and I would have enjoyed something from a Kafka scholar

I wonder if they reached out to Anthony Perkins’ sons

onedimension
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Re: 1191 The Trial

#46 Post by onedimension » Thu Jun 15, 2023 12:10 pm

My Studio Canal came in the mail yesterday lol

Wonder if there'll be any image improvement

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Roger Ryan
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Re: 1191 The Trial

#47 Post by Roger Ryan » Thu Jun 15, 2023 12:24 pm

Very happy Filming "The Trial" is included. Although it wasn't finished, the Q and A footage between Welles and an audience is a lot of fun.

It's slightly disingenuous for the back cover blurb to state that The Trial is "the film that he himself [Welles] considered his greatest" when that opinion was only rendered immediately following the film's release. For the rest of his life, Welles would point to his next film, Chimes At Midnight, as his greatest work. Still, I guess you gotta sell this one the best you can.

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EddieLarkin
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Re: 1191 The Trial

#48 Post by EddieLarkin » Thu Jun 15, 2023 12:47 pm

No HDR?

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hearthesilence
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Re: 1191 The Trial

#49 Post by hearthesilence » Thu Jun 15, 2023 2:49 pm

I saw the DCP of the same 4K restoration screened at the Rialto retrospective at MoMA - as long as they don't mess up the encoding, it should look amazing.

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Drucker
Your Future our Drucker
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Re: 1191 The Trial

#50 Post by Drucker » Thu Jun 15, 2023 2:53 pm

Almost pulled the trigger on the SC last weekend and decided to hold off. Glad I did.

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