Koch Lorber: Chinese Classic Collection

[Steven H]

I just saw an announcement on DVDPlanet for a few new releases of classic Chinese cinema on May 8th. All will have English subtitles, or English intertitles on the silents (no clue whether they'll be subs over original intertitles or not.) The price is *definitely* right, however, as the double films are retailing for about $25, and single film $20. Here are the films:

Crossroads (Sun Yu, 1937) and Daybreak (Sun Yu, 1937)

Street Angels (Yuan Mu-jih, 1937) and Twin Sisters (Zheng Zhengqiu, 1934)

The Big Road (Sun Yu, 1934) and Queen Of Sports (Sun Yu, 1934)

And probably my favorite Chinese film ever, which means I'll have high expectations for the disc (though with my unsubbed VCD copy worn thin, I might have to give it some leeway), Spring in a Small Town (Fei Mu, 1948)

Shot in 1948, SPRING IN A SMALL TOWN has endured a difficult history after being heavily censored by the Chinese government. Fortunately, the favorable tide of opinion from critics and those lucky enough to have seen the film has swept SPRING IN A SMALL TOWN into release once more, and the tale of a woman caught up in myriad relationships is presented here in an uncut version.

I can only imagine these will be an improvement over the HK discs (discussed here).

[What A Disgrace]

I have a sinking sensation that these will be exact ports of the HK discs.

[ltfontaine]

For a delirious split second, opening Steven's post and seeing Crossroads, I momentarily forgot the thread title and mistook this for the Kinugasa film by that title; but then, does a copy of the Japanese film even survive?

The release of Spring in a Small Town is just as exciting, though, even if it's presented in less than pristine condition. Can anyone provide information about the other six titles?

[leo goldsmith]

This is huge -- thanks for posting. These are all major films from the "golden age" of Shanghai filmmaking. You might check out this page for more info from Zhang Yingjin, or, better yet, this book.

[ltfontaine]

You might check out this page for more info from Zhang Yingjin, or, better yet, this book.

Great website, thanks for posting!

[htdm]

Who cares if they're ports? These films have never been very easy to find in English-friendly editions and this is a huge benefit to Universities!

This is fantastic news - Thanks, Steven!

P.S. Sun Yu didn't direct Crossroads, it was Shen Xilin. And Daybreak, which Sun did direct, was produced in 1933.

[leo goldsmith]

True enough, but if they're charging $20-25 for each DVD (not the right price as far as I'm concerned), these things ought not to look like shit. And maybe -- just maybe -- if they put a little effort into these (good subtitles, a nice essay by Zhang Zhen, for example), they might not sink like stones when they're up for sale. Compared to a seemingly sexier variety of world cinema like Japanese art films, 1930's Chinese cinema needs all the edge it can get.

[PhilipS]

For a delirious split second, opening Steven's post and seeing Crossroads, I momentarily forgot the thread title and mistook this for the Kinugasa film by that title; but then, does a copy of the Japanese film even survive?

Yes, it survives from a nitrate print in good condition apparently.

[seferad]

Thank you sooooooo much for this news, for me this is possibly the most exciting releases EVER!

[Steven H]

For a delirious split second, opening Steven's post and seeing Crossroads, I momentarily forgot the thread title and mistook this for the Kinugasa film by that title; but then, does a copy of the Japanese film even survive?

Not only does it survive, as PhilipS indicated, but it's been indicated that a new Japanese DVD company interested in early Japanese classics, called Digital Meme (discussed in this thread), that always includes at least english subtitles on their releases, has Kinugasa in their pipeline.

True enough, but if they're charging $20-25 for each DVD (not the right price as far as I'm concerned), these things ought not to look like shit.

There appears to be a massive discount if you order through DVDPlanet. You could probably get all the DVDs for $57, and considering there are 7 titles in all, I would've expected to pay more, no matter the quality (wouldn't doing subtitles alone raise the price?).

Are these films public domain?

[htdm]

Cover art:

Big Road/Queen of Sports
Crossroads/Daybreak
Street Angels/Twin Sisters
Spring in a Small Town

And there's a fifth title in this series set for release the same day: the very rare Song at Midnight (yeban gesheng, 1937). A truly bizzarre sequel was produced in 1941 (with the monster looking incredibly like Frankenstein this time) and in 1995 Leslie Cheung remade the original film as Phantom Lover.

[ftsoh]

They better fixed the Spring in a Small Town cover. The Chinese characters are the title for Song at Midnight.

[Lemmy Caution]

Wondering about the quality. Because almost all of those are available in China in mediocre quality editions with Chinglish subtitles ... but at a far cheaper price. For such marginal qualtiy, these discs would be way overpriced. But for good subs and cleaned up picture, it could be worth it.

[mogwai]

Has anyone gotten a hold of these yet, and can comment on their quality?

[jguitar]

I should be getting mine any day now and will report back.

[Ashirg]

Meanwhile, they added a new title to be released on July 17 in 2-disc set - The Spring River Flows East

[ltfontaine]

Romance of the Western Chamber (1927) has also been released by Cinema Epoch, but it is not identified as part of the Chinese Film Classics series and the cover art is different than for the other titles. The blurb at amazon says:

A filmed version of one of the great Chinese folklore tales - on par with "Gone with the Wind" - this rare silent film is presented for the first time ever on any home video format and restored from the only known existing 35mm print.

This latter bit, and the fact that the manufacturer has avoided including an image from the film on the cover, makes one wonder about picture quality, even if amazon does toss out the term, “restored.â€

[Gigi M.]

First reports from Beaver

Initial reports of Cinema Epoch film transfers, Big Road & Queen of Sports, Crossroads & Daybreak, Song at Midnight, Springtime in a Small Town and Street Angel/Twin Sisters are very sub-standard

sample screenshot

[Matt]

Initial reports of Cinema Epoch film transfers, Big Road & Queen of Sports, Crossroads & Daybreak, Song at Midnight, Springtime in a Small Town and Street Angel/Twin Sisters are very sub-standard

I am completely unsurprised.

[Michael Kerpan]

On the other hand -- these releases could be quite sub-standard -- and still be a big improvement over what has been available. (I've seen some of the existing releases -- and they are quite dire -- nowhere near the level of a minimally passable VHS tape).

[jguitar]

So I got these yesterday. I didn't get home until late last night, so I haven't watched a film all the way through yet. I looked at parts of Spring in a Small Town, The Big Road, and Queen of Sports. I watch DVDs on a tube, so I can't do any very detailed analysis of the transfer; and in any case, my understanding of and vocabulary for the finer points of DVD transfers is slim. However, what I mostly noticed was how damaged the prints were. In watching a scene, you'll see a flicker, sometimes white and sometimes black. When you do a frame advance on the same scene, you can see that there are missing frames from the print. Also, some frames are darkened or washed out. These all contribute to the flickering effects. There's an extraordinary amount of dirt and scratches etc. throughout. I've never seen these films before, either on a big screen or a VHS copy, so I have nothing to compare these to.

If I knew all this before I bought them, would I still get them? Absolutely. The chance to be able to watch these films far outweighs the quality of the prints for me. (Of course, I could have simply rented them--plus I've ordered them for my library. But I'm fairly certain that these are films that I will want to study in some detail).

By the way, in terms of extras, there are no booklets and the only real extra is a brief essay on the DVDs about the films. I hope that this helps out with decisions any of you might be making.

[Don Lope de Aguirre]

I hope that this helps out with decisions any of you might be making.

It helps a great deal! Thanks for reporting back. It's a shame it couldn't be better news...

[Gigi M.]

DVDTimes reviews Spring In A Small Town:

There would appear to have been no real restoration done on the film, which is presented here in a quite poor quality print. There are numerous tiny scratches as well as quite a few larger marks, blots and damage throughout, including missing frames replaced by black inserts. Although there is a surprising amount of detail available in interior shots, contrast isn't good, and exteriors show that the brightness has been boosted to such an extent that it washes out any whites, and particularly skies and faces. The image is inevitably very soft, almost blurred in places, and certainly doesn't look well when projected onto a large screen. It might still have been acceptable in this state, since it is largely intact and the only means of viewing an important piece of Chinese cinema history, however, the problems with the print are only compounded by issues with the transfer, which does appear to be poorly authored. Interlaced, the already soft image bobs and blurs further to become almost unwatchable on a progressive display. Pixilation is also barely contained during normal playback, and is clearly evident on scene transitions. In reality, this looks about as good as the average VCD transfer and if you are content enough with that, the unrestored Spring In A Small Town is still watchable. If you have any higher expectations than that – and considering the importance of the film, you have every right to expect more - you are likely to be severely disappointed by what is presented here.

[Matango]

If you're looking for a great, well-restored 1930s Shanghai film, you might want to check out this excellent package containing a DVD of The Goddess (1934) with Ruan Ling-yu, which comes with the book Ruan Ling-yu — The Goddess of Shanghai, by Richard J. Meyer (who was also responsible for the film's DVD restoration). It's produced by the Hong Kong University Press, but you can order from the US or Europe. See relevant notes on this web page:

http://www.hkupress.org/asp/bookinfo.as ... 9622093959

[otis]

Sounds interesting. Could you post screen caps?