484, 1203 Chantal Akerman Masterpieces, 1968–1978

[colinr0380]

I found this on the BFI page of the forum:
https://www.screendaily.com/news/bfi-di ... 78.article

(I'm surprised that BFI or any other distributor didn't release at least Jeanne Dielman on DVD in the UK at some point, but I'm looking forward to what BFI would do with a Blu-Ray release).

I do remember that Artificial Eye (as it was known then before it turned into what is now Curzon Home Entertainment) put La captive out on DVD in the 2000s, which I think was more due to the Proust connection than the Akerman one, given that it was around the time they also released Raul Ruiz's Time Regained. And Film4 did show No Home Movie a couple of times. But I think that was about it.

[sidetracked]

Since they mention it's using the same restoration than the Criterion BD, it's logical it's also sharing the same AR.
I'm not sure if they're comparing the Capricci BD that favorably to the Criterion BD, though. They're mostly observing the movie has a higher AVB (28.2 Mbps vs 20.4 Mbps), but they don't say if that yields a noticeably better encode.

At the risk of seeming quite dumb... I assume the 2023 Capriccci is the same restoration as the 2017 Criterion, since the 2024 Criterion wasn't available when the review was written? (Though both the
old and new Criterion have the same 20.4 AVB per blu-ray.com, making it all the more confusing... the old and new Criterion BDs are different, no?)

[tenia]

Yes indeed, it's all the same restoration, the 2024 Criterion also reusing the 2017 restoration.

[nicolas]

Since they mention it's using the same restoration than the Criterion BD, it's logical it's also sharing the same AR.
I'm not sure if they're comparing the Capricci BD that favorably to the Criterion BD, though. They're mostly observing the movie has a higher AVB (28.2 Mbps vs 20.4 Mbps), but they don't say if that yields a noticeably better encode.

At the risk of seeming quite dumb... I assume the 2023 Capriccci is the same restoration as the 2017 Criterion, since the 2024 Criterion wasn't available when the review was written? (Though both the
old and new Criterion have the same 20.4 AVB per blu-ray.com, making it all the more confusing... the old and new Criterion BDs are different, no?)

The new Jeanne Dielman BD is significantly worse than the 2017 one according to Chris: "Compression is more of an issue this time, and the image appears noisier than the previous one, with macroblocking more evident in places. It is ultimately subtle, but where I thought the original Blu-ray only looked iffy here and there, the buzzy texture is present throughout the whole film now. (...) They also didn't bother to fix the framing, with a boom mic still visible on the right edge of one sequence." No one would have complained had they just ported over the old encode as is but this is just ridiculous and disappointing.

[sidetracked]

Thanks so much to you both for the quick helpful replies! I'm just trying to find the best available version, the film has always meant a lot to me since I first saw it a lifetime ago...
Haven't found anything comparing the Criterion and the Capriccci other then the DVDClassik review which - as tenia rightly points out - confirms the higher bit rate, but not actually better PQ. No luck finding posts here or elsewhere, no reviews, no caps-a-holic, etc.
So if anyone has seen both -- I bet I'm not the only admirer of the film who'd be very curious to hear.

[swo17]

Maybe wait and see what BFI do with it

[therewillbeblus]

Or the inevitable UHD upgrade

[sidetracked]

I am very curious about the BFI. I feel like their batting average for transfer quality is up towards the top of the list.
As for a UHD - I'd be delighted... but with Criterion not adding one in their set, and no talk (at least that I've I've seen) of one from BFI or Capricci - who are both actively working on Akerman releases - I fear UHD may be a long way off... if ever...

But I hope I'm wrong!

[therewillbeblus]

The UHD was a half-joke, like if they did paired releases of My Dinner with Andre in 4K, but I do appreciate the attention to detail and it's actually possible considering some of their rando picks + topping the Sight and Sound poll..

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

The stumbling block there is that the existing restoration is only 2K.

[spectre]

Per Instagram, the Capricci Blu-ray set is out 1 October. Not much detail other than a date span of 1966–2015, which indicates it’s at least career-spanning if not comprehensive.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9UeNWmociO ... J0azY5amNq

I’d imagine it’ll contain the films screening in their retrospective along with some shorts:

https://capricci.fr/wordpress/product/r ... l-akerman/

25 septembre – Cycle 1 (1974-1993)
JE, TU, IL, ELLE (1974, 90min)
NEWS FROM HOME (1976, 90min)
LES RENDEZ-VOUS D’ANNA (1978, 127min)
TOUTE UNE NUIT (1982, 90min)
GOLDEN EIGHTIES (1986, 96min)
LETTERS HOMES (1986, 104min)
HISTOIRES D’AMÉRIQUE (1988, 92min)
D’EST (1993, 110min)

23 octobre – Cycle 2 (1996-2015)
UN DIVAN A NEW-YORK (1996, 104min)
SUD (1999, 70min)
LA CAPTIVE (2000, 107min)
DE L’AUTRE CÔTÉ (2002, 102min)
DEMAIN ON DÉMÉNAGE (2004, 112min)
LÀ-BAS (2006, 78min)
LA FOLIE ALMAYER (2011, 127min)
NO HOME MOVIE (2015, 115min)

[beamish14]

Oh, wow, A Couch in New York is there!

[jsteffe]

I wonder what is the deal with NUIT ET JOUR / NIGHT AND DAY (1991)? I saw the film in 35mm when it was released in the US and enjoyed it quite a bit. It was released on VHS, but it has basically disappeared. Are there rights issues holding it back?

[therewillbeblus]

The shorts still aren't posted? I wonder if Portrait of a Young Girl at the End of the 60s in Brussels will make the cut (my favorite Akerman)

[spectre]

Sadly I suspect that’s the least likely of her works to ever make an appearance on disc due to ongoing issues with that series around music rights. I hope I’m wrong though as it’s one of my favourites of hers too!

jsteffe, I’m also a big fan of Night and Day and will be disappointed if it’s not included.

[spectre]

Up on the Potemkine site now. Contents largely as expected, though one pleasing addition that wasn’t in the list posted above is L’homme à la valise. The listing also says that it contains “Intégrale des courts métrages de Chantal Akerman”, which is a big claim!

https://store.potemkine.fr/dvd/35450200 ... l-akerman/

No indication as to whether there will be English subtitles. On that note, Ben Stoddart of BFI posted this in the comments underneath a post about the set on Facebook:

English subs? Hoping not just so it doesn’t negatively impact our 2025 release

[jegharfangetmigenmyg]

Up on the Potemkine site now. Contents largely as expected, though one pleasing addition that wasn’t in the list posted above is L’homme à la valise. The listing also says that it contains “Intégrale des courts métrages de Chantal Akerman”, which is a big claim!

https://store.potemkine.fr/dvd/35450200 ... l-akerman/

No indication as to whether there will be English subtitles. On that note, Ben Stoddart of BFI posted this in the comments underneath a post about the set on Facebook:

English subs? Hoping not just so it doesn’t negatively impact our 2025 release

Here it says "Sans" subtitles: https://www.dvdfr.com/dvd/f165218-chant ... -2000.html

But I haven't been able to find any clear indication either.

[spectre]

Saw a post about this box set on Instagram from the Chantal Akerman Foundation:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C-qCpqFNRTm/?img_index=1

This edition is mainly French-speaking, details about international subtitles will be available later on

Not sure whether that means that some of the films on there will be English-subtitled – but only a minority – or whether "mainly French-speaking" is just referring to the audio (in which case this sounds a lot more promising).

BTW It also looks like the set will be broken up into four volumes by decade that can be purchased individually (for those who don't want the full set). So while I probably wouldn't be buying the full set if it's mostly unsubtitled, it could be that the '80s volume (if, say, only a couple of films on there have English subtitles) is worth getting on its own.

[tenia]

I suspect it might mean only some of the content will be English friendly. Possibly, only some movies will have English subs, because the others contractually couldnt.

[tenia]

Subs detailed here : https://capricci.fr/wordpress/product/c ... l-akerman/#

[MichaelB]

Does anyone have this release to confirm the picture quality and aspect ratio?

I have it, and can confirm that it's definitely 1.66:1 - I just double-checked by doing a screencap and cropping out the black bars; it's perfectly 1.66:1.

As for the picture quality, it looked absolutely fine to me - a slate at the start confirms that it's the Cinematek restoration.

I can also confirm that the main feature has English subtitles, although not the extras.

[spectre]

Subs detailed here : https://capricci.fr/wordpress/product/c ... l-akerman/#

Excellent, thanks! Here's what's English-subtitled and what isn't according to the link:

Subtitled:
Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
Je, Tu, Il, Elle
Les Rendez-vous d'Anna
Toute une nuit*
L'Homme à la valise*
La captive
La Folie Almayer
Dis-moi* (short)
Hôtel des Acacias* (short)
Lettre de Cinéaste: Chantal Akerman* (short)
Autour d'un marteau* (short)
Rue Mallet-Stevens* (short)
Trois Strophes sur le nom de Sacher* (short)
Les trois dernières sonates de Franz Schubert* (short)
Chantal Akerman par Chantal Akerman* (short)
Le jour où…* (short)

In English or without dialogue:
Hôtel Monterey
Histoires d'Amérique
D'est
Sud
4 films d'examen (short)
Saute ma ville (short)
Hanging Out Yonkers (short)
Family Business (short)

Not subtitled in English:
News from Home
Golden Eighties
Letters Home
A Couch in New York
Demain on déménage
From the Other Side
Là-bas
À l'Est avec Sonia Wieder-Atherton
No Home Movie
L'Enfant aimé ou Je joue à être une femme mariée (short)
La chambre (short)
Le 15/8 (short)
Un jour, Pina a demandé (short)
J'ai faim, j'ai froid (short)
La paresse (short)
Pour Febe Elisabeth Velasquez, El Salvador (short)
Le déménagement (short)
Avec Sonia Wieder-Atherton (short)
Tombée de nuit sur Shanghai (short)

* = available with English subtitles on home video for the first time (to my knowledge)

[MichaelB]

Saute ma ville should move to the "In English or without dialogue" section - literally the only spoken French in it is right at the end, and even non French speakers should be able to work out that it's merely a recitation of the production credits.

("You have just seen Saute ma ville. Cinematography by René Fruchter. Assistant, Richard Brechet. Edited by Geneviève Luciani. Sound by Patrice [sic]. Directed by Chantal Akerman.")

[spectre]

Good pick-up, thanks Michael! Have fixed that now.

[Matt]

Teenage Akerman’s first four films shot in Super 8, the “4 films d’examen” mentioned above, are featured on HENRI, the website of the Cinémathèque Française.