Essential Fellini

[criterionsnob]

Sorry about that. I just quickly looked to see if there was a separate audio track, but it just said Italian. I haven’t actually watched it yet.

[andyli]

Does 8 1/2 on this set use the same restoration as the one on the Italian Mustang blu-ray?

[ellipsis7]

I believe the answer is no...

Otto e mezzo in the Essential Fellini set is a new restoration for Fellini 100 carried out 2019 with further audio work done in 2020... Watching it yesterday afternoon, I can confirm it is a really lovely rendering of the film and a marked improvement on the previous Criterion BR...

The Mustang BR draws on an earlier version, having been released in 2014...

[andyli]

Thank you. What about Amarcord? Same 4K restoration as the Italian BD?

[ellipsis7]

The 4K restoration of Amarcord included in the Essential Fellini set was carried out by L'immagine Ritrovata @ Cineteca di Bologna in 2015 and featured in the Venice Classics programme that year...

As the Italian BR was released in November 2016 & billed as Nuova Versione Restaurata it is reasonable to conclude they are one and the same restoration...

The previous Criterion Amarcord BR was released in 2011 & was drawn from earlier materials only in a restored high-definition digital transfer. The new Criterion version is thus a significant improvement on that, although you'd want to hold onto the booklet with Fellini's My Rimini featured.

[tenia]

As the Italian BR was released in November 2016 & billed as Nuova Versione Restaurata it is reasonable to conclude they are one and the same restoration...

Yes, the 2016 Italian BD definitely uses the 4K Ritrovata restoration, though it could be that Criterion have not ported it directly but have performed/requested additional color corrections (the screencaps I've seen from the Criterion disc look a tad less Ritrovata'd than the Italian BD, but I haven't done A/B comparisons).

[jsteffe]

I believe the answer is no...

Otto e mezzo in the Essential Fellini set is a new restoration for Fellini 100 carried out 2019 with further audio work done in 2020... Watching it yesterday afternoon, I can confirm it is a really lovely rendering of the film and a marked improvement on the previous Criterion BR...

The Mustang BR draws on an earlier version, having been released in 2014...

I have the Mustang BR and find this new restoration even better. The restoration work is meticulous and the black-and-white tonalities are rendered beautifully, as ellipsis7 notes. This new grading brings out the faces and details so that there is always some marvelous distraction in the image. It made rewatching the film, which I have seen MANY times over the years, a captivating experience. I hope that someday Criterion makes this Otto e mezzo a stand-alone release.

[TMDaines]

My copy arrived to the UK yesterday. Outer Amazon package was a bit compromised, and even the Criterion cardboard box had signs of the journey, but I've been assured the boxset inside is perfect. I won't find out until the 25th!

[TheKieslowskiHaze]

I'd be curious to hear others' reception of the transfer for I Vitelloni.

It mostly looks great, but I noticed what seemed like a pulsing contrast level on some scenes. Blurry to sharp to blurry to sharp. I can't remember any other transfer I've seen with quite that effect, and I was wondering if the more knowledgable on this forum know what that is.

[CSM126]

I'd be curious to hear others' reception of the transfer for I Vitelloni.

It mostly looks great, but I noticed what seemed like a pulsing contrast level on some scenes. Blurry to sharp to blurry to sharp. I can't remember any other transfer I've seen with quite that effect, and I was wondering if the more knowledgable on this forum know what that is.

Just watched this yesterday and definitely noticed it. I’m no expert but based on the restoration text before the film, I get the impression that the source elements were struck from a compromised negative (which is now unusable for creating new elements) and this problem was “baked in” from the start. I don’t know if those scenes were just worn from use or if the negative was too unstable to copy it cleanly.

[TheKieslowskiHaze]

Just watched this yesterday and definitely noticed it. I’m no expert but based on the restoration text before the film, I get the impression that the source elements were struck from a compromised negative (which is now unusable for creating new elements) and this problem was “baked in” from the start. I don’t know if those scenes were just worn from use or if the negative was too unstable to copy it cleanly.

Thanks much. I'm glad to hear it's not just me. I'm also glad the restoration process didn't mess with sourced elements too much. On the whole, it looks natural and filmic.

[FrauBlucher]

wrong post

[wattsup32]

Checking back through this thread it appears there is no real reason to hold on to previous releases of any of these films. Is that right?

I got some help on the Bergman set and it looks like I should hold on to all my old Wong Kar-Wai blus, so I thought I'd confirm here about this set.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[swo17]

Holding onto my MoC of Satyricon for the English dub

[dwk]

You might want to hang on to Criterion's earlier Amarcord Blu-ray for the non-Ritrovata color and the booklet.

[wattsup32]

Thanks to both of you. Sadly, I don't have the MoC and I never upgraded from DVD to Blu for Amarcord.

[TheKieslowskiHaze]

Since this boxset has me in a Fellini mood, I wrote about La Strada (in 250 words or less) in my blog. I'll share here too (with minor spoilers):

SpoilerShow

La Strada’s first act sets it along a narrative path similar to ones you’ve seen before, ones that are too forgiving of abhorrent men—too eager to celebrate their downfall and redemption—as long as their struggles have the drama and gravitas appropriate for “important art.” After the first thirty minutes, you may find yourself thinking: “A rape victim who acts as a mere vehicle for her rapist’s absolution? I’ll pass, grazie.” But La Strada turns out to be less a depiction of redemption than of redemptio interruptus, choosing to leave its central sinner at his absolute lowest point. Zampano does a lot of bad things, but his worst is clearly his abandonment of Gelsomina, an act filmed breathtakingly by a backwards-facing camera that recedes from her sleeping body. Years later, we find Zampano writhing alone on a beach, racked with guilt and despair over the people he’s killed and abused, just as the credits tell us “The End” (or “Fine” in Italian, which, since I see it as the english “fine,” never fails to strike me as darkly funny). In this way, La Strada puts the onus on us to consider what Zampano’s redemption could look like post-film—if, that is, we imagine such redemption is even possible. La Strada may feel like a folk tale, but don’t let that fool you into expecting pat lessons or tidy themes; it’s clearly more interested in assessing human behavior in all its messiness, complexity, horror, and beauty.

[billy feldman]

Re the pulsing in Vitelloni - it only happens in the opticals - so I'm guessing that's where the replacement footage comes into play for the most part. It's unfortunate, but mostly in the second half of the film and it comes and goes as the opticals come and go.

[TheKieslowskiHaze]

Il Bidone, which I watched last night, is the real pleasant surprise of the set so far. I probably went in with too low expectations, knowing its fraught history, but I thought it was legitimately great. Like La Strada, it clearly has a catholic preoccupation with sinning and redemption, but the redemption is, again, ambiguous and complicated. I liked its genre-hopping style, and the remaster is gorgeous.

[schellenbergk]

So many great films in this set - a few I've never seen and many I've not seen in years.

Does anybody have any thoughts on approaching the set? Chronological?

[therewillbeblus]

I don't think it matters, though I would hesitate on the post-Juliet works to start, because some of their fantastical natures are helped by the more grounded fantasy elements in the first half of his career. My first was La Dolce Vita, and I still think it's his best and not too similar to the others (it hardly works for me for any auteurist-theme reasons), so that's always my recommendation.

[knives]

On the other hand I watched the later stuff first and still prefer them to the earlier works for the most part. Just pick out what looks interesting.

[Drucker]

8 1/2 is a great place to start.

[domino harvey]

La dolce vita was not my first, but if it had been I would have not waited so long to watch more

[swo17]

I'd begin with the run between when he started and ended working with Masina (La strada through Juliet, including non-Masina films)