35 / BD 27 Valerie and Her Week of Wonders

Discuss releases by Second Run and the films on them.
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MichaelB
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#26 Post by MichaelB » Sun Jun 29, 2008 9:17 pm

Hopscotch wrote:A little ways up MichaelB says 13.
Yes, she was definitely thirteen when the film was shot (in summer 1969), as confirmed by her birthdate and her interview.

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Bikey
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#27 Post by Bikey » Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:49 am

It is a shot from the film (early on when Valerie exits a horse-drawn carriage).

BTW the DVD will feature an interview with Valerie herself Jaroslava Schallerová.

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Bikey
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#28 Post by Bikey » Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:50 am

VALERIE will have a special screening at this year's Green man Festival.

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MichaelB
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#29 Post by MichaelB » Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:50 am

Bikey wrote:BTW the DVD will feature an interview with Valerie herself Jaroslava Schallerová.
The impression I'm under is that this is the same interview that's on the Czech DVD - only with English subtitles this time round, so it's still a premiere of sorts to those who don't understand Czech.

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Skritek
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#30 Post by Skritek » Sun Jul 13, 2008 9:06 am

Bikey wrote:It is a shot from the film (early on when Valerie exits a horse-drawn carriage).
This also reflects the Czech release. Although I'm still hoping for the cool design work SR has done lately. :)

rs98762001
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#31 Post by rs98762001 » Mon Jul 14, 2008 8:00 pm

Bikey wrote:VALERIE will have a special screening at this year's Green man Festival.
Just the film? Or is this the Valerie Project? Are Second Run involved?

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Bikey
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#32 Post by Bikey » Thu Jul 24, 2008 7:47 pm

Yes, Second Run are involved.
Unfortunately Valerie Project are not able to make Green Man this year but UK outfit Monkey See Monkey Do will play a live accompaniment to the film - August 16 for your diaries!!

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What A Disgrace
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#33 Post by What A Disgrace » Fri Aug 01, 2008 12:20 pm

Otis' post on the first page has the brand new artwork.

I like it.

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MichaelB
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#34 Post by MichaelB » Fri Aug 01, 2008 3:08 pm

So do I - but then again, I like Second Run covers generally (and have just uploaded an illustrated blog piece on the subject).

And I've found out that my contribution lasts about 20 minutes in its edited form, and, as I hoped, they've cut in stills and video clips so you don't have to look at me for all that time. Which I'm sure will be a relief to everyone.

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luridedith
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#35 Post by luridedith » Fri Aug 01, 2008 9:21 pm

Oh wow. That pale blue colour isn't what I'd usually associate with this film but its a really impressive cover all the same.

Cannot WAIT for this release. Hope there's no delays.

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otis
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#36 Post by otis » Mon Aug 04, 2008 12:02 pm


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jbeall
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#37 Post by jbeall » Mon Aug 04, 2008 2:38 pm

New transfer, good extras... this may well be one of SR's best releases to date, if not the best.

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Hopscotch
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#38 Post by Hopscotch » Mon Aug 04, 2008 4:12 pm

I like the second half of the trailer. Really pumped to see this again with an even better transfer.

rs98762001
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#39 Post by rs98762001 » Mon Aug 04, 2008 6:28 pm

I assume that SR cut this trailer together themselves. If so, they've done an excellent job. Looks like a beautiful film in a great transfer (although the outdoor scene with Valerie running through the grass is noticeably softer than the rest...but then, given the era, I wouldn't be surprised if the soft focus look was intentional).

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MichaelB
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#40 Post by MichaelB » Wed Aug 06, 2008 12:09 pm

A pre-release copy turned up in the post today, and here are my initial findings based on a quick spin through it.

Transfer: As the trailer already suggested, this is such an improvement on both Facets and Redemption that there's no comparison, and it's certainly one of the best presentations that Second Run have put out to date. That said, it would be unrealistic to expect a nearly 40-year-old Czech colour film to have been preserved in absolutely pristine condition, and there are occasional blemishes on the print - but absolutely nothing that's likely to lead to any serious complaints (especially given the alternatives!). It looked pretty similar to my memories of the Czech DVD (a giveaway was the fact that the credits seemed a little overbright), and so I made enquiries - apparently it was indeed sourced from exactly the same Digibeta master, but the final Second Run disc will be encoded at a higher bitrate, so should do a better job of resolving some of the finer details (especially in the more crepuscular scenes). The 4:3 aspect ratio is correct, and so anamorphic enhancement isn't necessary. The mono sound was absolutely fine - better than expected, in fact, with the music coming across particularly well. The subtitles are typical Second Run - small, white, properly synchronised and apparently thorough. In short, it's hard to see anyone being seriously disappointed with this.

Jaroslava Schallerová interview: as predicted, this is exactly the same interview that's on the Czech DVD, only with subtitles. I've already commented on it earlier in the thread: it's fairly insubstantial (but how many of the rest of us would have perfect recall of something that happened four decades ago at the age of thirteen?), but charming nonetheless, and with a couple of memorable anecdotes from the filming, including the incident when she nearly burned to death.

My intro: Richard Burton apparently had a pathological aversion to watching himself on screen, and I know exactly how he felt, so when I say "God this was painful", it's an entirely personal reaction that hopefully won't be shared by anyone else. Certainly, the two people I watched it with were much more complimentary (as, later, was my wife - surprisingly so, as I was expecting wall-to-wall mockery from her), and the editing has neatly smoothed over what I recall being some pretty cavernous cracks - there are literally dozens of illustrative clips (far, far more than I was expecting), and one juxtaposition made me laugh out loud - when I talk about how Jireš claimed to have had more scripts rejected than any other New Wave director, the accompanying image is of Valerie burning Eagle's letter with a magnifying glass. (UPDATE: On my second viewing, I ran a stopwatch on the clips, and they're on screen for eight and a half out of 20 minutes. Personally, I'd prefer eighteen and a half, but that's not too bad)

The trailer: already published online.

Booklet: Still in production, but I imagine the Peter Hames piece will bear a very strong resemblance to the section on Valerie in The Czechoslovak New Wave - which was more than up to the job, so why reinvent the wheel? Anyway, I used that as a guide to what to leave out of my contribution, so hopefully there aren't any annoying overlaps.

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Luke M
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#41 Post by Luke M » Tue Aug 12, 2008 5:22 pm

I was checking through Amazon.co.uk and this came up as a recommendation. Did some snooping and wow...MichaelB is a big star! Sounds intriguining, plus the positive reviews have me placing an order.

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Bikey
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#42 Post by Bikey » Wed Aug 20, 2008 6:08 am


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godardslave
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Location: Confusing and open ended = high art.

#43 Post by godardslave » Thu Aug 21, 2008 2:57 am

thats a great cover.

beckmann_max
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#44 Post by beckmann_max » Thu Aug 21, 2008 7:27 am

Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders was posted today by play.com

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Bikey
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#45 Post by Bikey » Fri Aug 22, 2008 8:01 am

For any of you lucky enough to be at London's FrightFest this weekend, the all-new VALERIE trailer will get a big-screen airing over the weekend!
We'd be interested to hear from anyone there who sees it ...

www.frightfest.co.uk

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MichaelB
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#46 Post by MichaelB » Fri Aug 22, 2008 3:20 pm

Beaver - a comparison with the Facets and Redemption, though there was never any serious contest!

Incidentally, I agree with Gary's points about the sound mix on my intro - I'm a fair bit quieter than the soundtrack of the illustrative clips, and while I can't offer subtitles, I can offer a transcript, so if anyone would like one, just PM me.

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Awesome Welles
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#47 Post by Awesome Welles » Fri Aug 22, 2008 3:34 pm

Whilst I love the SR cover that really is a great poster!

Daze73
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#48 Post by Daze73 » Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:17 pm

MichaelB wrote:Beaver - a comparison with the Facets and Redemption, though there was never any serious contest!
Unfortunately they seem to have used the exact same master as the Czech release, which means WAY too contrast-boosted. If you compare it with for instance the japanese release you notice how much detail is lost because of the clipping whites, especially noticable in the curtains which have turned into a white blob:

Second Run
Image

Japanese release
Image

And the following screenshot from the Czech release (same as Second Run) is so dark that it looses a lot of detail, especially in her hair and also making her right hand and the gun near her head hardly noticeable:

Czech release/Second Run
Image

Japanese release
Image

While I'm happy Second Run has solved some of the problems of the previous releases I'm also a little dissapointed because I was hoping to finally have a definitive release...

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tryavna
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#49 Post by tryavna » Fri Aug 22, 2008 5:20 pm

MichaelB wrote:Incidentally, I agree with Gary's points about the sound mix on my intro - I'm a fair bit quieter than the soundtrack
On the other hand, Gary's review also gives any of us the wonderful option of choosing you for our next avatar.

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MichaelB
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#50 Post by MichaelB » Sat Aug 23, 2008 6:01 am

Lead review in today's Guardian Guide.

(And a much more positive review than Charlie Brooker's take on Channel 4 makeover show Make Me A Christian, if admittedly less laugh-out-loud funny)

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