BD 71 Pearls of the Deep

[What A Disgrace]

Coming soon on Blu-ray. Three Eclipse titles down, three to go.

[What A Disgrace]

October 23.

• Pearls of the Deep (Perličky na dně, 1965) presented from an HD transfer from the new 4K restoration created by the Czech National Film Archive.
• The two additional films based on stories by Bohomil Hrabal that were originally intended to be included in Pearls of the Deep:
Ivan Passer's A Boring Afternoon (Fádní odpoledne) and Juraj Herz's The Junk Shop (Sběrné surovosti) - all seven films presented together for the very first time.
• About Cats, Beatniks and All Sorts of Other Things (O kočkách, beatnicích a všeličems jiném): Rudolf Růžička’s 1967 short film on writer Bohumil Hrabal.
• Restoration trailer.
• Booklet featuring a substantial new essay by Peter Hames.
• New and improved English subtitle translation.
• World premiere release on Blu-ray.
• Region free Blu-ray (A/B/C)

[Bikey]

Amazon UK pre-order
Second Run webstore
Diabolik

[MichaelB]

The spine number is 71, for those who track such things.

And it's also well worth noting that in addition to being the first Blu-ray release of Pearls of the Deep, it's also the first English-friendly home video release in any format that includes all seven of the original shorts. The Facets and Criterion DVDs only included the five that made the feature cut, and while the Czech Filmexport DVD included all seven, that disc was strictly Czech-only. (So one could quibble that Second Run isn't presenting all seven shorts together "for the very first time", but it's certainly the first time as far as English speakers are concerned.)

Second Run has released the two excised shorts separately, of course (accompanying Intimate Lighting and The Cremator), but I doubt that anyone will mind a repeat appearance here as they're so obviously firmly on topic.

[MichaelB]

Second Run has released the two excised shorts separately, of course (accompanying Intimate Lighting and The Cremator), but I doubt that anyone will mind a repeat appearance here as they're so obviously firmly on topic.

...and although they appear to have been sourced from the same masters as before, they've been transferred here with a substantially higher bitrate. On the older discs, A Boring Afternoon and The Junk Shop were 27.3mbps and 16.2mbps, but here they're 36.3mbps and 26.3mbps respectively.

Also, the main feature is a full-blown original camera neg-sourced 4K restoration, not merely a scan of existing materials, and it looks absolutely gorgeous - the colours in the Evald Schorm section really pop in a way that they've never done on DVD.

[Peacock]

Thanks MichaelB! Not personally a huge fan of labels repeating the same shorts they already have out there when there are so many still to be released but the increased bitrate compensates in my opinion.

[MichaelB]

Replacing two shorts that were part of the original Pearls of the Deep project with different shorts just on the off-chance that people had bought the earlier releases would have been perverse, and I suspect would have annoyed rather more people than otherwise. Especially since this is the first English-friendly release of all seven short films in the same package, a significant selling point in itself.

It's not common for labels to duplicate extras across releases, but it's usually justified when it happens. For instance, putting A Boring Afternoon on Intimate Lighting means that that disc contains everything that Ivan Passer directed in his native language - but it's also an essential component of Pearls of the Deep, as it was originally made for inclusion in that film. Drop the short from either release, and you diminish it.

Similarly, there are two Indicator releases that feature the same extra, but as the films (The Criminal Code and Convicted) were adapted from the same source material and the extra draws detailed comparisons between all three, it made sense. And although the release was ultimately cancelled for different reasons, Indicator's Ishtar was going to feature a conversation between Mike Nichols and Elaine May that had already been included on their disc of The Fortune, but as it was heavily about Ishtar it made sense to include it there as well.

(At the time The Fortune was put together, Indicator didn't know that they'd be licensing Ishtar later. And I've no doubt the same is true for Second Run about the Intimate Lighting/The Cremator situation and Pearls of the Deep.)

[Peacock]

There’s also It's Not Always Cloudy repeated across two releases. I understand it, not everyone will buy both blu-rays. It’s just one of those things.

I was hoping Hag in a Black Leather Jacket would get that slot instead.

[Bikey]

Full details now at our website

[Bikey]

"The new 1080P shows more information in the frame, is a shade darker, has richer black levels, deeper colors (in House of Joy) that are more balanced and achieves finer film grain. It's a highly pleasing advancement. Bravo. [...] It was wonderful to revisit on this Second Run Blu-ray that made it feel like a new viewing. Strongly recommended!"
Beaver

[Bikey]

"This very welcome package [...] This is the first truly comprehensive English friendly edition... [a] very welcome HD upgrade showcasing the Czech National Film Archive's spotless 4K restoration from the original camera negative."

Michael Brooke reviews in Sight and Sound

[Bikey]

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