392-395 Three Films by Hiroshi Teshigahara
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- Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2006 2:39 am
I kind of knew to expect this from Criterion. They look absolutely marvellous =D> Gary's initial reviews of the MoC discs' picture quality had huge overpraise like "amazingly sharp" etc. which they really weren't in the first place - at least according to my eyes - thank God for screencaptures. I was also similarly disappointed with the even softer Naruse discs. But anyway, such a shame with the Crit pictureboxing... it's almost a dealbreaker.
- daniel p
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:01 pm
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
Criterion always have a sharper more detailed image than MoC, but they also have a lot more money to put towards restorations.
This instance though, is an incredible improvement, according to those screen caps. The amount of extra detail compared to the R2 discs is going to make it feel like watching the films for the first time again, well almost... it looks like a Blu-ray/HDDVD vs SDDVD comparison.
This instance though, is an incredible improvement, according to those screen caps. The amount of extra detail compared to the R2 discs is going to make it feel like watching the films for the first time again, well almost... it looks like a Blu-ray/HDDVD vs SDDVD comparison.
- colinr0380
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
- Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK
- criterionsnob
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:23 am
- Location: Canada
- miless
- Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2006 9:45 pm
Yeah, and because of his video essay, I really gained an appreciation for Pitfall.criterionsnob wrote:I'm really enjoying the James Quandt video essays. He really packs a lot of information into a short period of time. I hope Criterion continues this trend in other DVD packages. They're a nice alternative to full length commentaries and they offer concise comments on the films.
I see quite a few similarities between this set and the Wajda one... where there was a marked improvement from the first film to the second. And there are some similar qualities between A Generation and Pitfall (the way it's shot, and how not everything really comes together)
- pauling
- Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2005 3:04 pm
- Location: St. Paul, MN
I also enjoyed the Quandt video essays but there seemed to be a lot of information overlap with the written essay in the booklet and the video essay of Face of Another. Good stuff, though.
I'd seen Woman in the Dunes years ago and absolutely loved it. I picked up the MoC edition of Pitfall and found it to be interesting as well. but Face of Another was absolutely fantastic. What a great set.
I'd like to learn more about Teshigahara and have orderd Ashton's, The Delicate Thread: Teshigahara's Life in Art. I'm wondering if there are any other English-friendly books that I might be able to find that could enlighten me. Any suggestions?
I'd seen Woman in the Dunes years ago and absolutely loved it. I picked up the MoC edition of Pitfall and found it to be interesting as well. but Face of Another was absolutely fantastic. What a great set.
I'd like to learn more about Teshigahara and have orderd Ashton's, The Delicate Thread: Teshigahara's Life in Art. I'm wondering if there are any other English-friendly books that I might be able to find that could enlighten me. Any suggestions?
- blindside8zao
- Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2005 4:31 pm
- Location: Greensboro, NC
Good god, I just watched pitfall and I thought my eyes were going to melt out of my face. The high contrast is beautiful. Seeing the detail of the wood as it rushes by in close up was beautiful. I'm not sure I was even aware that a movie could look so real. I felt like I was going to fall into the screen at any moment.
I made the mistake of watching the BFI's WitD several months ago with a small TV. It didn't have nearly the impact that Pitfall had. I can't wait to rewatch Woman on a bigger screen, now.
There are now on the top of my list for seeing in a retrospective. I can't imagine surviving that big of an image. Edit: I'd love to see those animal shots, like the ants, blown up to such a gigantic size, maybe that's just the american in me getting excited.
I made the mistake of watching the BFI's WitD several months ago with a small TV. It didn't have nearly the impact that Pitfall had. I can't wait to rewatch Woman on a bigger screen, now.
There are now on the top of my list for seeing in a retrospective. I can't imagine surviving that big of an image. Edit: I'd love to see those animal shots, like the ants, blown up to such a gigantic size, maybe that's just the american in me getting excited.
- kinjitsu
- Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2005 1:39 pm
- Location: Uffa!
Not in my copy. You should write to Criterion and ask for a replacement.you gotta be kidding me wrote:Does anyone else's book from the set suffer from printing errors? My copy has about a dozen pages printed so off center (vertically) that several lines of text are missing. Specifically pages 17, 20, 21 (pic only), 24, 25 (pic), 28, 29 & 32.
It's surprising that no one has commented on the appearance of a very young Donald Richie in the first scene of Tokyo 1958.
- miless
- Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2006 9:45 pm
not in mine... but my book from the Cassavetes set has 20 pages inserted upside down.you gotta be kidding me wrote:Does anyone else's book from the set suffer from printing errors? My copy has about a dozen pages printed so off center (vertically) that several lines of text are missing. Specifically pages 17, 20, 21 (pic only), 24, 25 (pic), 28, 29 & 32.
It always sucks when stuff like that happens.
that was Donald Richie?!kinjitsu wrote:It's surprising that no one has commented on the appearance of a very young Donald Richie in the first scene of Tokyo 1958.
- Nihonophile
- Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:57 am
- Location: Florida
- Contact:
- filmghost
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 5:15 pm
- Location: Athens, Greece
Mine has a completely different problem. I just received it and half of the pages are repeated and others are totally missing... The first essay is printed twice, while the one about Woman in the Dunes, is not at all there! It's a pity since the hole package is fantastic. From your experience, does anybody know if they send replacements outside the USA. I live in Greece...you gotta be kidding me wrote:Does anyone else's book from the set suffer from printing errors?
- Paul Moran
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 1:06 pm
- Location: UK
- Steven H
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:30 pm
- Location: NC
Music for the Movies: Toru Takemitsu just came out on DVD in the US (amazon.com, dvdasian) from Kultur. No word on the quality, but this would still be an interesting purchase for fans of these films and others from this period.FilmFanSea wrote:That would be the hour-long documentary, Music for the Movies: Toru Takemitsu (1994), which will make a nice supplement for the DVD.Preceded by filmmaker Charlotte Zwerin's behind-the-scenes look at the celebrated composer, focusing on his film work and intercutting excerpts from his films with interviews with Takemitsu and many of the Japanese directors he worked with (including Masaki Kobayashi, Nagisa Oshima, Masahiro Shinoda and Hiroshi Teshigahara).
- GringoTex
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 5:57 am
- blindside8zao
- Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2005 4:31 pm
- Location: Greensboro, NC
This set was my introduction too and I'm blown away by each film. I think they're some of the best adaptation films I've ever seen (though I've only read Woman in the Dunes so I guess I can't comment on the others as literary adaptations). I haven't been this enthralled by a filmmaker's style in a long time, this along with M's Sansho Dayu, which I watched around the same time. I haven't gotten this much excitement/joy from films in a long time. Maybe I just need a break, though.
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- Joined: Wed Oct 17, 2007 1:13 pm
I'm with you blindside8zao, few unknown filmmakers have been such a raw punch in the face as Teshigahara. All three films have such artistic and thematic ambition that they're on the verge of overflowing, and I think The Face of Another is the only one that does-- but it's a masterpiece all the same. How insightful Abe/Teshigahara were to pick up on all those subtleties of identity, and the infrangible relationship between surface and inner realities using the best possible symbol, the face. In the end the two artists don't draw any conclusions about how the man can be reintegrated into society, the pretty scarred girl is a red herring in this sense; but they're content to show the worst of what can happen in his circumstances. I was disappointed with the ending until that reasoning came to mind, that this film's only vector is toward self-destruction, and what good arises throughout only serves to accelerate the downward motion. The increasing use of self-conscious 'avant-garde' techniques toward the end would make sense; to me it feels as if the film is collapsing into itself as much as the character is. Everything from the start supports this, there's no peaceful interim showing the character before the accident-- and any objects of hope, his wife, and the doctor with his bizarre lab, promise more misfortune than anything.
Pitfall I actually enjoyed most, but all three are so consistent. Truly this is one of the great cinematic artists, and this box is the best criterion has produced-- I'm stunned that it didn't arrive until 2007.
Pitfall I actually enjoyed most, but all three are so consistent. Truly this is one of the great cinematic artists, and this box is the best criterion has produced-- I'm stunned that it didn't arrive until 2007.
- colinr0380
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
- Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK
Jeremy Richey's response to seeing Woman In The Dunes is up on his Moon In The Gutter blog.
- godardslave
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:44 pm
- Location: Confusing and open ended = high art.
- Steven H
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:30 pm
- Location: NC
- TheRanchHand
- Joined: Fri Nov 17, 2006 3:18 am
- Location: Los Angeles