392-395 Three Films by Hiroshi Teshigahara

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Morbii
Joined: Sat Nov 27, 2004 3:38 am

#126 Post by Morbii » Thu Feb 14, 2008 12:00 am

Having watched my first Teshigahara film ever last night, all I have to say is "wow!" (I watched Pitfall). Still have two more to go in the set and looking forward to it!

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denti alligator
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#127 Post by denti alligator » Mon Feb 18, 2008 1:10 am

Anyone know if the amazing soundtrack to Pitfall is available on CD or LP?

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Lino
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#128 Post by Lino » Mon Feb 18, 2008 7:57 am

denti alligator wrote:Anyone know if the amazing soundtrack to Pitfall is available on CD or LP?
Don't know but I have this compilation here and while it doesn't include Pitfall's music, what is has it's still amazing and a great buy.

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Zazou dans le Metro
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#129 Post by Zazou dans le Metro » Mon Feb 18, 2008 9:15 am

denti alligator wrote:Anyone know if the amazing soundtrack to Pitfall is available on CD or LP?
There's ten minutes of it on volume 4 of the JVC 6 volume set.

PM me if you can't get it .

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Fan-of-Kurosawa
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#130 Post by Fan-of-Kurosawa » Wed Feb 27, 2008 12:49 pm

The films are really magnificent. And I have to say that the booklet that comes with the films is the most "classy" that I have ever seen. I just love the white and silver look of the booklet and of the whole set in general. It fits perfectly with the cinematography of the films.

However, I had some difficulty in getting out the discs from their cases. The cases may look nice but because the center is inflexible you have to slightly bend the discs to get them out. Did anyone else have this problem or just me?

P.S. I have the same problem with the 8-figure cases. I wish Criterion would revert back to their old cases for their 2-disc releases. (Even if they take more space on the shelf.)

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Darth Lavender
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#131 Post by Darth Lavender » Wed Feb 27, 2008 1:55 pm

Has there been much talk about the accuracy of the images on this release?

I know that the MoC (like most Japanese releases) is much softer. Is the Criterion closer to how the film should look (based on better source materials, etc.) or is it a result of too much digital tweaking?

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miless
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#132 Post by miless » Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:14 pm

more than digital tweaking, I bet it has to do with a higher quality Telecine and better compression.

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TheRanchHand
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#133 Post by TheRanchHand » Tue Mar 04, 2008 11:55 pm

Just watched Pitfall.... what a wild film.

I liked aspects of the filmmaking a lot, but have to admit was not very happy with the story. Or more appropriately, the wrap up. I will try and stay away from giving much away, but felt there are open ended finales and then there are WIDE OPEN finales.

I can imagine there are those who will want to defend the "obvious" symbolism of the acts and repurcussions in the film, but I think there are times when you take a ride in a certain direction, you still have to have it end up somewhere. If not, you might as well end the film five, ten minutes earlier with the same effect.

I enjoyed the local and the style of filmmaking though. Look forward to Face later this week.

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Jean-Luc Garbo
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#134 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Wed Jul 16, 2008 11:50 pm

HerrSchreck wrote: "Now how about *cough* Woman In The Dunes?"
Maybe they'll save that for a later solo Blu Ray release. Or one of those Essential Cinema boxes. :? Believe me, I've got friends wondering the same thing.

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#135 Post by mikeohhh » Thu Jul 17, 2008 1:50 am

HerrSchreck wrote:And I'll accidentally choke it out again:

"Now how about *cough* Woman In The Dunes?"
dude, The Face of Another is every bit as good. Pitfall ain't bad either.

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domino harvey
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#136 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jul 17, 2008 2:25 am

He already has the MOC discs and doesn't want to double dip on a boxed set for one title.

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#137 Post by mikeohhh » Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:18 am

ahh

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jt
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#138 Post by jt » Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:30 am

What's wrong with the bfi Woman in the Dunes for those that have the MoC's?
It doesn't have the four short films that the CC set has, but a future CC single isn't likely to have them either.
No digital extras on it but the linear notes are good.

Queiroz
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#139 Post by Queiroz » Thu Jul 17, 2008 12:27 pm

jt wrote:What's wrong with the bfi Woman in the Dunes for those that have the MoC's?
It doesn't have the four short films that the CC set has, but a future CC single isn't likely to have them either.
No digital extras on it but the linear notes are good.
Isn't the BFI release not the complete 147 minute version?

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Cronenfly
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#140 Post by Cronenfly » Thu Jul 17, 2008 9:42 pm

The CC Teshigahara boxset has the best transfers of all three films to my knowledge (even though all three are pictureboxed), and even though the CCs of Pitfall and Face lack the Rayns commentaries, the Quandt video essays (and other goodies/better transfers) more than make up for it. IMO the Criterion boxset is good enough to just sell the MoCs (or keep them as supplements to the CCs). It would have been a nice gesture on Criterion's part to release Woman in the Dunes seperately (especially if they'd done it right off the top instead of waiting a few years to do it as they may), but for that extra $40-50 you're getting significantly improved transfers of the other two films and a bunch of very good extras, which I think is pretty fair.

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reno dakota
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#141 Post by reno dakota » Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:12 pm

Queiroz wrote:Isn't the BFI release not the complete 147 minute version?
The runtime of the BFI disc is 140m55s. Accounting for the 4% PAL speedup, the total runtime (at 24fps) would be 146m47s. The runtime of the Criterion is 147m09s, so there is a 22 second difference between the BFI and Criterion runtimes. I have not seen the BFI presentation, but I doubt anything has been cut from the film. My guess would be that the time difference is due to the Criterion and BFI opening logos being displayed for different lengths of time.

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Cronenfly
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#142 Post by Cronenfly » Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:31 pm

According to this Beaver review the BFI is indeed the longer director's cut, same as the Criterion (though as with the MoCs the transfer is significantly improved on the CC despite the pictureboxing). The old R1 Milestone release is the shorter version, however.

Toxicologist
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#143 Post by Toxicologist » Fri Jul 18, 2008 9:45 am

Cronenfly wrote:The CC Teshigahara boxset has the best transfers of all three films to my knowledge (even though all three are pictureboxed)
In actual fact, I've just got the R2 French Carlotta set... being quite fluent in French etc... and already own the CC set... coupled with the fact i seem to have problems in loading the discs from the CC set using my player... I must say I'm likely to keep the R2 set which IMHO surpasses the CC and trade/sell my R1.

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Tootletron
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#144 Post by Tootletron » Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:34 pm

The only thing that bothers me about this set is that they could've cleaned up a few minor instances of debris on the film, as there are instances in each film.

That being said, the speckles of dirt all over the print of Pitfall is intentional, right?

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HerrSchreck
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#145 Post by HerrSchreck » Sat Jul 19, 2008 12:40 am

mikeohhh wrote:ahh
In a perfect world I actually wouldn't mind having the full CC box for the extras. But yes as Domino said I've had those MoC's since they came out, or roundabouts. And yes they're all equally incredible.

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skuhn8
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Re: 392-395 Three Films by Hiroshi Teshigahara

#146 Post by skuhn8 » Thu May 07, 2009 11:26 am

I certainly don't mean to make light of what will most likely be a tragic outcome but did anyone else think of Woman in the Dunes when hearing about this story.

jojo
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Re: 392-395 Three Films by Hiroshi Teshigahara

#147 Post by jojo » Fri May 08, 2009 1:18 pm

My first thought upon reading the plot outline for Woman in the Dunes was that it didn't sound so bad to be trapped in a house in the middle of a desert with a hot, horny woman. But then I watched the movie and yes, it actually is a pretty crappy experience. Kudos to Teshigahara for turning a potential porn movie concept upside down! =D>

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Lemmy Caution
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Re: 392-395 Three Films by Hiroshi Teshigahara

#148 Post by Lemmy Caution » Fri May 15, 2009 3:44 am

Skuhn, good call.

Jojo, Japan doesn't have any deserts (at least not that I've ever heard of).
Just sand dunes at the coast, I'm pretty certain.

Isn't Woman of the Dunes just an allegory for marriage -- which also sounds like a potential porn movie but can be a pretty crappy experience?

jojo
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Re: 392-395 Three Films by Hiroshi Teshigahara

#149 Post by jojo » Fri May 15, 2009 5:28 pm

Yeah, maybe "desert" isn't the right term, but the film does show Okada getting lost for hours and seeing nothing but sand around him when he "escapes" the dune. There seems to be nowhere for him to really go but more sand, and I think he was trying to look for the coastal area to see the ocean? So the film depicts it as a pretty wide area full of sand.

Even if the film exaggerates the expanse of this area full of sand dunes, I doubt Teshigahara really cared for authenticity.

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dad1153
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Re: 392-395 Three Films by Hiroshi Teshigahara

#150 Post by dad1153 » Wed Jun 10, 2009 12:50 am

My darn luck! My local library had the Teshigahara Box Set but only two discs, "Woman in the Dunes" and "The Face of Another." No "Pitfall" and no bonus disc with Teshi's shorts and documentaries. Oh well, two out of four ain't bad. :roll:

Knew nothing about Hiroshi Teshigahara or his movies going in (library case had no linear notes) but HOLY S#*^!!! Even without a commentary track (though there's a half-hour video diary of sorts that doubles as one) I had to see "Woman of the Dunes" twice in one weekend to get the full impact of Teshigahara's vision. It's tough to make any movie involving only two characters (played perfectly by Eiji Okada and Kyôko Kishida) on a single location with very little actually happening (besides conversation and minimal, spread-apart action) interesting for two-and-a-half hours. Taken as either symbols of modern society or as audience surrogates (putting yourself in either Niki's shoes or the nameless woman's) "Woman in the Dunes" soaks one in with as cinematic an exploration of existentialism in its rawest, deepest form (symbolized perfectly by the mountains of sand surrounding the little hut, then erotic but tasteful sexual scenes) as I've ever seen. The movie forces one to walk miles in circles along with its characters and then carry those emotions/feelings into real life hypotheticals. With forced imprisonment situations not unlike those in the movie still taking place in the world (slavery, forced prostitution, diamond trade, etc.), how would you react if what happened to Niki happened to you? If the ending is any indication then the bad guys are going to win by the sheer strength of their inhumanity extinguishing existing remnants of someone's humanity, which itself might cause the growth of humanity within the battered psyche of its victims. ](*,) Hey, you try to watch this movie and not have deep thoughts running through your head all night long. :wink:

Though not quite Malick-like in visual majesty and exquisiteness (that's not the way Teshigahara rolls since he's out to reveal the psychology beneath the human veneer of controlled behavior in his characters) the combination of Hiroshi Segawa's cinematography (how did they make sand look as if it was alive?), Tôru Takemitsu's spooky soundtrack (from which "There Will Be Blood" stole mercilessly) and Kôbô Abe's screenplay (based on his book), in the hands of Teshigahara and his capable actors, results in a timeless flick for the ages. It's not for everybody (serious patience and a taste for the abstract are required just to make it through the first hour) but for those that appreciate a little existentialism in their movie diet "Woman of the Dunes" is a gift that will keep on giving. And it all looks so cinematic and enthralling in 4:3 black & white.

Then it was time for "The Face of Another." Even if I hadn't seen "Woman in the Dunes" (clearly the better of the two films, although not by much) this movie would stand out as a superior work of science fiction, a "Darkman/Face Off"-meets-"The Twilight Zone" thinking man's psychological thriller. It even has a crazy movie scientist (Mikijiro Hira) and a cool laboratory (unlike anything I've ever seen in these types of movies) to anchor the movie to a recognizable genre (horror), then turns the proceedings on its head by giving us in Mr. Okuyama (Tatsuya Nakadai) someone as far removed from a cliché lead protagonist as they come. Equal parts desperate, mean, selfish, hurt, opportunist and enigmatic (which is why he and his psychiatrist/scientist decide to go ahead with the facial transplant experiment) Okuyama puts himself and his wife (Machiko Kyô) through emotional torments and psychological bouts that feel as lacerating on the viewer as a slasher's knife is to an innocent victim's throat. Even though the secondary story about a deformed woman living with his brother (characters that never cross paths with Okuyama or the crazy doctor) never lives up to its potential (save for that out-of-nowhere final shot that is staggering in its visual poetry, common sense be damned) "The Face of Another" resonates strongly today because it asks questions about self-identification for which there are no easy answers, both in real-life as well as in the movie's far-fetched premise. It lives and exists in its own warped timeline, one of perpetual confusion and unanswered doubt about man's ability to cope with his own lack of meaning in a world constantly evolving beyond his means (or ability for personal connection). Masterful stuff.

Now to try and get "Pitfall" and the bonus disc from Netflix. :?
Last edited by dad1153 on Wed Jun 10, 2009 9:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

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