World of Wong Kar Wai

[reaky]

Michael, what’s the situation with Indicator’s upcoming Dracula? I believe John Badham mandated the current desaturated release, but you’re putting out both versions, aren’t you? Is Badham involved?

[hearthesilence]

The problem is that when you work directly with the filmmaker, as Criterion did, you basically have to go along with what s/he wants. Similarly, because Criterion worked directly with Michael Mann, they were only able to include the revisionist Thief, whereas Arrow (deliberately) chose not to involve him, licensed the revisionist version from Criterion *and* included the rightsholder-supplied master, as they were contractually entitled to do.

Indicator usually tries to include multiple versions where available (Eve being a particularly good recent example, with no fewer than four cuts), but their hands occasionally get tied too - at Ken Loach's request, their version of Carla's Song is the revamped version from 2005, although at least all the deleted footage from the 1996 theatrical release is also included (and it's arguably all too clear why it was deleted) and there's no reframing or regrading.

As for The French Connection, one of the most vocal opponents of William Friedkin's revamp was cinematographer Owen Roizman, who (reasonably) believed that he should have been consulted. So that was ultimately reissued in something far closer to the 1971 version.

I'm not sure if it's still up - and I believe someone here posted a link to it when it first appeared over a decade ago - but for anyone who wants to hear it, Roizman sat in on a podcast where that color timing came up, and he did not hold back his criticism. When they re-timed the film correctly, I think you see his name with Friedkin's under the supervision credit.

Anyway, it's unfortunate how often this happens, and not just in films. Plenty of audiophiles have been pleading for reissues of Jackson Browne and Peter Gabriel's Genesis - a few were done ages ago, but it's been pointed out that the original mixes (or versions, whatever you like to call it), have been replaced with modern-day remixes, and it would be impossible to license the originals without artist approval. In Browne's case, I think the new mixes weren't necessarily required, but Browne had to approve the final result, and it was almost a given that he would either request a remix or at least process the master with reverb,

[MichaelB]

Michael, what’s the situation with Indicator’s upcoming Dracula? I believe John Badham mandated the current desaturated release, but you’re putting out both versions, aren’t you? Is Badham involved?

As a freelancer, I can't reveal any information about future projects that isn't already in the public domain - sorry!

(It is still happening, though.)

[Drucker]

Just blink twice if you're going to fix all of the problems we have with colors, Michael.

[MichaelB]

I can confirm that current plans are to include both versions.

[FrauBlucher]

Days of Being Wild...bluray.com

[FrauBlucher]

In the Mood for Love..... bluray.com