RUSCICO (Russian Cinema Council)

[Kirkinson]

What's wrong with comparing Vazha-Pshavela to Shakespeare? Or Abuladze to Bergman and Kurosawa? They're world-class artists and they deserve to be recognized as such. People need to actively promote the achievments of "small nations," otherwise they'll just be ignored. Do we really need one more book on Bergman or Hitchcock when someone could write on Georgian instead?

Don't misunderstand me -- what I said has nothing to do with Abuladze or Vazha-Pshavela and everything to do with my own lack of confidence, the nagging notion at the back of my mind that I'm raving about things I don't have sufficient knowledge to be raving about. I very much agree with you.

[Lemmy Caution]

What's wrong with comparing Vazha-Pshavela to Shakespeare? Or Abuladze to Bergman and Kurosawa? They're world-class artists and they deserve to be recognized as such. People need to actively promote the achievments of "small nations," otherwise they'll just be ignored. Do we really need one more book on Bergman or Hitchcock when someone could write on Georgian instead?

Don't misunderstand me -- what I said has nothing to do with Abuladze or Vazha-Pshavela and everything to do with my own lack of confidence, the nagging notion at the back of my mind that I'm raving about things I don't have sufficient knowledge to be raving about. I very much agree with you.

Kirk:
At first I meant to just solicit an opinion on the film (Molba)... but ended up IMDb-ing it and poking over at the Ruscico site and then, with time rushing away, posted hastily. I should have made it clear that I was quoting your comment in appreciation of its high praise.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I enjoyed your review a lot, and that opening sentence is a great hook. Your Shake-Berg-Kuro comparison made me sit up and think I needed to see me some Abuladze (a director I'd heard of ... but probably mostly from here). Nothing wrong with a little enthusiasm and touting a little known (in the US) director.

[Kirkinson]

Kirk:
At first I meant to just solicit an opinion on the film (Molba)... but ended up IMDb-ing it and poking over at the Ruscico site and then, with time rushing away, posted hastily. I should have made it clear that I was quoting your comment in appreciation of its high praise.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I enjoyed your review a lot, and that opening sentence is a great hook. Your Shake-Berg-Kuro comparison made me sit up and think I needed to see me some Abuladze (a director I'd heard of ... but probably mostly from here). Nothing wrong with a little enthusiasm and touting a little known (in the US) director.

Oh, I didn't think you were trying to deride my comments! Not in the least. I was just...being a doofus, I guess. Misunderstandings all over the place in the last few posts of this thread, it seems.

Let's get back to the films. The Plea is magnificent and everyone should see it. Lemmy, do yourself a favor and move onto The Wishing Tree and Repentance! Or watch The Plea again -- that goes for everyone, as it helps to see it a second or even a third time. At first you're likely to be overwhelmed by all the cultural intricacies, and the film is dense enough even if you do understand them.

[Lemmy Caution]

Let's get back to the films. The Plea is magnificent and everyone should see it. Lemmy, do yourself a favor and move onto The Wishing Tree and Repentance! Or watch The Plea again -- that goes for everyone, as it helps to see it a second or even a third time. At first you're likely to be overwhelmed by all the cultural intricacies, and the film is dense enough even if you do understand them.

More misunderstanding. I haven't seen The Plea yet, only picked up the Dvd (and I am swamped with DVDs). Unfortunately The Wishing Tree was around, but unable to read the Cyrillic, I passed on it. Might still be able to find it if I search around some.

[videozor]

Is this the right thread/topic for Abuladze and (or) Georgian cinema in general?

Don't they (at least, the latter) deserve dedicated topics?

If they already exist, please, somebody, point me to them. Thank you.

If not, I'll invite members to post such new topics (my attempts to do this somehow always ends up on them being closed, moved, renamed, etc. - maybe I never bother search the Forum properly before doing so...)

[jsteffe]

For all you folks outside the US, it seems Ruscico has released a PAL version of Paradjanov's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.

One of the supplementary features, "Spivanochki," is directed by Alexander Antipenko, the noted cinematographer who shot the Paradjanov short "Kiev Frescoes." The latter film is a self-contained short edited from screen tests for the project that the authorities cancelled. Antipenko also did the brilliant photography for Tengiz Abuladze's The Plea/Vedreba.

This is essentially the same package as the Kino version, only with more subtitle options.

[Darth Lavender]

This probably deserves its own thread, but any thoughts on which is the better Dersu Uzalu?

Seems the original film was shot in 70mm (6 track (4.0) sound and 2.20:1 aspect ratio)

Kino has released the film in non-anamorphic 2.35:1 (a little extra on the sides, a little less on top and bottom) with mono sound.
Ruscico has released it in 2.20 with their infamous 5.1 sound

Also heard something about the Kino being a different edit.

Just wondering, which version do fans of the film prefer? (Personally, I'm leaning toward the Kino, although the AE is currently on special)

[jsteffe]

Have you seen Ruscico's Sun of the Sleepless? I've been wary of it since I can't find any descriptions that list a Georgian language track and I fear another Legend of Suram Fortress. (Then again, Sun of the Sleepless may be another fire casualty -- the copy I obtained from Georgia last year looked like it was transferred from a print rescued from the bottom of the ocean.)

I just received Sun of the Sleepless in the mail and can confirm that not only does it not have the original Georgian-language soundtrack, it has one of those deadly Russian shout-over translations. Also, the print is going pink and has very little color left in it. To Ruscico's credit, it appears that they at least attempted to make a decent transfer from what can only be a badly faded print.

I'm keeping my English-subtitled VHS that a Georgian friend gave me several years ago. It's a copy of a copy of a copy, but at least it has better color and, more importantly, a Georgian soundtrack.

[Kirkinson]

A heads-up for the one or two other Georgian film buffs on the forum who aren't me: Chermen is out. Unfortunately, both Ruscico and Ozon suggest that the original Georgian language track is missing. But strangely, this Dutch release, from a company whose Georgian films all appear to be Ruscico ports, lists only Georgian as a spoken language.

And jsteffe, I belatedly thank you for the info re: Sun of the Sleepless, which I missed somehow when you first posted it. Looks like I'll stick with my previous copy, especially as I'm on a limited budget and I still haven't even bought Magdanas Lurja yet.

[grey]

Don't know if anyone is still reading this forum, but has anyone seen the PAL version of Slave of Love? The NTSC (from Image Entertainment, I think) is almost unwatchable - the image shakes & trembles (possibly a bad PAL-NTSC transfer; telecine shake or both).
Is the PAL version better? If so, any thoughts where I might find it.
Thanks.

[DrBanan]

I used to own the RusCiCo version of Slave to Love in PAL format - and the picture had a heavy problem with combing, which was very annoying on a projector screen, maybe not so on "tube" viewing. Not a typical problem for RusCiCo where normally the NTSC transfers are the ones to avoid (due to improper PAL-NTSC transfers which causes "ghosting"), and not the PAL versions. Possibly there was a shaky picture also as you mention, but I really don't remember that.

[Lemmy Caution]

Don't know anything about that particular title, but Ruscico is fairly reliable with at least decent, watchable transfers in my experience.

Slave of Love sounds interesting, and has a cool cover:


FYI, once you post on a thread it will be bumped up to the top when people click on View New Posts. So it's easy to revive threads here.

I've picked up a number of Ruscico releases lately, but haven't watched much. Recently watched Come & See and Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears. Both were Kino releases, but I think Kino just licenses and uses Ruscico transfers.

[MichaelB]

I've picked up a number of Ruscico releases lately, but haven't watched much. Recently watched Come & See and Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears. Both were Kino releases, but I think Kino just licenses and uses Ruscico transfers.

The only thing to bear in mind with Kino is that their Ruscico ports will be PAL-NTSC conversions - which Ruscico do themselves, and apparently pretty badly. So it's always worth tracking down the PAL originals if at all possible - for instance, the new Artificial Eye discs of Paradjanov's Legend of the Surami Fortress and Ashik Kerib are PAL Ruscico ports, so are preferable to the Kino versions.

I might have the PAL version of A Slave of Love at home: I'll have a look tonight.

[jsteffe]

I have the NTSC disc of SLAVE OF LOVE, and the problem is not so much the PAL-NTSC transfer as it is less than ideal print elements. My general impression is that Ruscico doesn't have access to the really nice, digitally restored film transfers that the Russian company Krupnyi Plan gets from Gosfilmofond and NIKFI. (Compare Ruscico's transfer of Tarkovsky's THE MIRROR to the gorgeous, unsubtitled Krupnyi Plan disc on DVD Beaver.) They usually still look OK though, and it is the only way to see the films with subtitles.

SLAVE OF LOVE is one of Mikhalkov's better films, so I recommend seeing it regardless.

I have a mix of PAL and NTSC Ruscico titles, and to be honest the PAL-NTSC transfers suffer from the usual ghosting and maybe some loss of detail, but they're certainly watchable. Only in one case did I find the the conversion flat-out unacceptable: Alov and Naumov's THE FLIGHT, based on Bulgakov. In that case, the conversion method resulted in a weird stuttering in the video. What's awful is that there is apparently no PAL version from Ruscico!

MichaelB, I have one question about the Artificial Eye DVD of THE LEGEND OF SURAM FORTRESS: what soundtrack options does it have? Ruscico's older edition had only an obtrusive Russian overdub, whereas the Kino edition has mostly the original Georgian soundtrack with four minutes replaced by Russian overdubbing. (Part of the sountrack was lost in a fire.)

[MichaelB]

I do indeed have the PAL version of Slave of Love, and I'll give it a proper watch when I get a chance.

But a quick spin suggests that all the observations above are broadly correct: there is definitely a slight wobble inherent in the transfer (whether caused by the print, telecine or encoding I can't really tell), and I believe this is being exaggerated by some pronounced interlacing. It's also clear that the source print is in far from brilliant shape: it's very grainy, and I don't think this is intentional.

When my wife's stopped hogging the plasma screen, I'll try it out on my Oppo 983 and see if that can do a better job of ironing out the defects - but the interlacing is defeating my MacBook's normally pretty reliable deinterlace function!

[artfilmfan]

Does anyone know whether a PAL-version DVD of Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears is available? The page at the RUSCICO site highlights "PAL" for the "system". However, when I placed the item in the shopping cart, it indicated "NTSC".

[DrBanan]

The swedish company "Njutafilms" have released ports of 25 RusCiCo films in PAL format, including "Moscow....". It includes english subs, but of course have a swedish cover. Unfortunately I don't know of any retailer that ships outside of Sweden.

[Stefan Andersson]

Subdvd in Stockholm ships outside Sweden if I remember correctly. Their online site is easy to work.

[artfilmfan]

DrBanan and Stefan,

Thanks for the helpful information on "Moscow".

[jsteffe]

I just received two of Ruscico's recent releases, the Georgian films The First Swallow and Khareba and Gogi. As the catalog descriptions indicate, they are both Russian-language only; neither has the original Georgian soundtrack, possibly due to the fire at the Georgian film archive a few years ago.

The First Swallow is dubbed into Russian, but the dubbing looks OK. (Keep in mind that ALL Soviet films at that time had post-synchronized sound.) Despite the cover and website description the video is 16 X 9 'scope, and the color is nice considering it's a 70s Soviet film; it's made from a clean print.

Khareba and Gogi has one of those awful Russian shout-over translations which makes it virtually unwatchable. However, the print and the transfer look very nice. It's 4:3 letterboxed, somewhere between 1.66:1 and 1.85:1. If it weren't for the soundtrack, it'd be a good disc.

I hope that they can find the proper Georgian soundtracks for future Georgian film releases!

On the positive side, other new releases include Klimov's Farewell, Someone Else's White and Speckled, A Forgotten Tune for the Flute, and the cult favorite Kin Dza-Dza. Nice to see that they're still putting out some interesting titles.

[Bajaja]

jsteffe and kirkinson, count me in for the Georgian film club. I loved films like Ar daidardo (aka Don't Grieve, 1969), Sherekilebi (aka The Excentrics, 1973), Nergebi (aka The Saplings, 1972), or Kukaracha (1982; RUSCICO has had it in the "coming soon" bin for ages) for their esprit and humanism. They made me go as far as to idealize Georgians as a nation in my early years. Only later, when I saw Natvris khe (aka The Wishing Tree, 1976) or Monanieba (aka Repentance, 1984) I realized that there is/was cruelty and suffering in Georgia too. Indeed, Mikheil Kalatozishvili's (a grandson of Mikhail Kalatozov of the Cranes Are Flying fame) Rcheuli (aka The Chosen, 1991) almost made me cry when I saw it at the Montreal World Film Festival. It is a story about a boy and his father during the difficult times of the Russian Civil War in the early 20th century. I even sent an inquiry/suggestion to Mulvaney (I thought that after Before the Rain anything might be possible), but there has been no response... It is a vast understatement that an Eclipse of Georgian films would be a blind buy for me.
And thanks for the heads-up about the recent RUSCICO releases, which I am going to pick up soon.

[Kirkinson]

More interesting titles coming from Ruscico:

It looks like they've started a Tallinnfilm collection, which is a pretty substantial development considering Estonian cinema is pretty much non-existent on English-friendly DVD. Unfortunately, it looks like they're continuing their tradition of Russian-only soundtracks for non-Russian Soviet films, as the only release so far that actually has an Estonian language track is Grigory Kromanov's The Last Relic. The other titles out in the series so far are Kromanov's The Dead Mountaineer Hotel and Brilliants for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, Peeter Simm's Arabella, the Pirate's Daughter, Helle Karis' Wild Swans, and Marek Piestrak's Pilot Pirx's Test.

Does anybody know anything about any of these films? I've heard of precisely none of them. Brilliants and Pilot Pirx both have scores by Arvo Pärt, and the latter is based on a short story by Stanislaw Lem, so I'm certainly curious.

And on the Georgian film front, they've finally released Pirosmani! And it might even have the original Georgian language track, though I'm not entirely sure. In addition to the usual "RU," the web site's spoken language info lists "KA," an abbreviation I've never seen from them before. I'd like to presume it's short for kartuli -- i.e., Georgian -- but they usually use "GE" for that. I can't imagine what other language "KA" would stand for, though, especially if it's the only other sound option they're offering (it would be pretty weird if they had one random Georgian film with a Kazakh soundtrack.)

[Ashirg]

In Russia, they also released a boxset of Armenian films as The Best Movies of Armenfilm Volume 1. No English subtitles, but at least 3* films include Armenian soundtrack.

Movies included:

Parajanov's Sayat Nova*
Tghamardik*
Zinvorn u pighe
David Bek
Huso astgh*

[jsteffe]

Thanks, Ashirg, and greetings to a fellow Atlantan.

I also spotted that listing in Ozon--the release date is May 7. The set as a whole may indeed lack English subtitles, but their disc of THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES should definitely have them, since it's also being released as part of an English-friendly box set of Paradjanov's four major films, and that same box set is apparently getting released in Spain, too.

An informed source said that the Ruscico disc of THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES is a new transfer of the Yutkevich cut. Actually, I think that's a good thing since it will more than likely have better image quality than a transfer off the Armenian release version (the so-called "director's cut"), which only survives in as a duplicate negative.

If they're doing Armenian films now, I'd really like to see some titles by Henrik Malyan, Frunze Dovlatyan and especially more by Hamo Bek-Nazaryan. (David-Bek isn't his best work.) It's encouraging that it's only "Volume 1."

In Russia, they also released a boxset of Armenian films as The Best Movies of Armenfilm Volume 1. No English subtitles, but at least 3* films include Armenian soundtrack.

Movies included:

Parajanov's Sayat Nova*
Tghamardik*
Zinvorn u pighe
David Bek
Huso astgh*

And on the Georgian film front, they've finally released Pirosmani! And it might even have the original Georgian language track, though I'm not entirely sure. In addition to the usual "RU," the web site's spoken language info lists "KA," an abbreviation I've never seen from them before. I'd like to presume it's short for kartuli -- i.e., Georgian -- but they usually use "GE" for that. I can't imagine what other language "KA" would stand for, though, especially if it's the only other sound option they're offering (it would be pretty weird if they had one random Georgian film with a Kazakh soundtrack.)

"KA" stands for "Kartuli," or Georgian. It's one of the standard DVD language track abbreviations. I just received the disc, and it indeed has the original Georgian language track. (Yay!) The transfer looks OK, if perhaps a little contrasty. (I haven't seen it in 35mm in years, so I really can't judge.) But the film is one of THE masterpieces of Georgian cinema.

[solaris72]

Does anybody know anything about any of these films? I've heard of precisely none of them. Brilliants and Pilot Pirx both have scores by Arvo Pärt, and the latter is based on a short story by Stanislaw Lem, so I'm certainly curious.

I just put in an email to Ruscico to confirm if Pirx has english subtitles (the webpage seems to indicate no subtitles at all). If they respond in the affirmative I'll order it sight unseen and report back. I adore iron curtain scifi films. Also I'd forgotten Arvo Pärt scored this one; he's my favorite living composer.