Abel Ferrara

[hearthesilence]

Horrendous label. They're selling ancient DVD / VHS masters as HD and use DNR to death as soon as a hunch of grain is on their masters. Sound is also never lossless, which is telling. I (unfortunately) fell for a few of their releases some years ago and it was horrible even before I knew what DNR was. I don't know for this film in particular but from past memories, I wouldn't give them a cent.

Ugh. Thanks for the warning.

[Adam X]

I could swear I read a negative review of the disc on this very forum, but I can’t find anything. But nicolas’ words sound about right. I really hope someone can see it released in a decent state.

[kubelkind]

I have this disc and it looked OK to me, a vast improvement from the DVD I saw, at least. I need to dig it out for a full appraisal, and I never saw it on a film print (who has?). I can't see this being a film that will ever look pristine. Not only is there a lot of use of low grade video and 90s standard digital, but also digital processing of the sections shot on film to achieve those dissolves, I believe. I assume the masters aren't too high definition. I'd hate to see it upscaled a la Inland Empire. It is what it is, that's the time period and the aesthetic. One of my favourite films ever.

[swo17]

Oh look, Fear City for a reasonable price

[beamish14]

Oh look, Fear City for a reasonable price

If only China Girl would finally get a decent release

[therewillbeblus]

Fear City is the only Ferrara I can think of offhand that I appreciated on a visual level but otherwise got nothing out of. And yet its aesthetic is so attractive that I may pick this up simply to look at it, volume optional.

[sabbath]

Oh look, Fear City for a reasonable price

Wrong aspect ratio alert from the other site (confirmd by another user):

I got the 101 films disc today. Think the movie is likely the same versions Shout put out - however, while the uncut version plays in the correct aspect ratio, on my set up the main theatrical cut plays full 16x9, which is to say the 1.57 ratio is stretched to fill the whole image, so everything looks fat and distorted. The uncut version is my preferred choice so it’s not a big deal to me, but it seems like someone ****ed up somewhere.

And suspicious gamma setting as well: Caps-a-holic.com

[Matt]

Any recommendations for writing on Ferrara? Jonathan Rosenbaum recommends Nicole Brenez’s entry in the Contemporary Film Directors series and sort of halfheartedly recommends Brad Stevens’ Abel Ferrara: The Moral Vision, but I don’t really want something scholarly or something that focuses too heavily on “themes.” I’d love a career-spanning collection of interviews or something like an oral biography (like Mitchell Kuckoff’s book on Altman) but neither of these seems to exist. Anything else out there worth reading?

EDIT: Oh, I see from my searching that he’s writing his own book, due in 2025! Now that’s what I want.

[nowhereisaplace]

Just to note, I find the Stevens book to be excellent. My only gripe is it ends after R'Xmas.

[oh yeah]

^Speaking of 'R Xmas, somehow I didn't realise until last week that that film was released on Blu-Ray in 2022 by Shout Factory.. Limited to 1500 units. I just got a copy and will take a look soon; from the little I can find online it sounds like it's a decent enough transfer, but I dunno. Special features are minimal but at least they did port over Ferrara's commentary from the old Artisan DVD. Now we just need The Funeral, The Blackout and New Rose on blu.

[John Cope]

And Mary (possibly my own favorite film of his from the last 25 years).

[beamish14]

And Mary (possibly my own favorite film of his from the last 25 years).

Go Go Tales is extraordinary. Like Mary, it was co-financed by the late Silvio Berlusconi

[therewillbeblus]

And Mary (possibly my own favorite film of his from the last 25 years).

It's mine too (perhaps surpassed by the brilliant Tommaso, which is very esoterically appealing to AA affiliates)

[oh yeah]

Mary is a beautiful film, need to rewatch that one but I recall being pretty bowled over by it all, especially Forest Whitaker's character & Ferrara's use of cross-cutting and lap dissolves which is as elegant as ever. I guess I just have a soft spot for the 1990s "New York"/pre-Rome Ferrara -- I've seen everything from KoNY to R Xmas like dozens of times -- but starting with Mary he arguably became a more mature filmmaker.