Jerzy Skolimowski

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MichaelB
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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#51 Post by MichaelB » Fri Feb 27, 2009 5:19 am

I'm delighted - and relieved! - to confirm that Gutek Film's release of Four Nights With Anna does indeed have English subtitles, and it looks like a perfectly decent 16:9 anamorphic transfer too.

(I know one should expect nothing less for a 2008 release, but Polish labels can be somewhat idiosyncratic!).

No extras whatsoever, though they probably wouldn't have been English-friendly anyway.

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MichaelB
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Jerzy Skolimowski

#52 Post by MichaelB » Sun Mar 08, 2009 6:56 am

Jerzy Skolimowski (1938-)

"For me, the most important thing is the story. I'm telling the story. And I'm not speculating on what it means more than it is. It's a story. And of course, one can always find some additional interpretation and some theoretical sightseeing into it."

FEATURE FILMOGRAPHY
  • Identification Marks: None (Rysopis, 1964) - IMDB
    DVD: included in Telewizja Kinopolska's Jerzy Skolimowski box (Region 0 PAL, Polish with optional English subtitles)

    Walkover (Walkower, 1965) - IMDB
    DVD: included in Telewizja Kinopolska's Jerzy Skolimowski box (Region 0 PAL, Polish with optional English subtitles)

    Barrier (Bariera, 1966) - IMDB
    DVD: included in Telewizja Kinopolska's Jerzy Skolimowski box (Region 0 PAL, Polish with optional English subtitles). Second Run DVD announced (probably also Region 0 PAL).

    Le DÉpart (1967) - IMDB

    Hands Up! (Ręce do góry, 1967/81) - IMDB
    DVD: included in Telewizja Kinopolska's Jerzy Skolimowski box (Region 0 PAL, Polish with optional English subtitles). Second Run DVD announced (probably also Region 0 PAL).

    Deep End (1970) - IMDB
    Blu-ray/DVD: coming out as a BFI Flipside release in June 2011, region coding tbc (Region B likely due to international rights issues)

    The Adventures of Gerard (1970) - IMDB

    King, Queen, Knave (Herzbube, 1972) - IMDB

    The Shout (1978) - IMDB
    DVD: Network (Region 2 PAL). An earlier British DVD release on Prism is vastly inferior - the Network disc contains a decent transfer (reproducing the artistically crucial Dolby Stereo effect), a commentary and a substantial PDF section including the complete script.

    Moonlighting (1982) - IMDB
    DVD: Trinity Entertainment (Region 1 NTSC)

    Success Is The Best Revenge (1984) - IMDB
    DVD: Reputedly out in Greece

    The Lightship (1985) - IMDB
    DVD: Paramount (Region 1 NTSC)

    Torrents of Spring (Acque di primavera, 1989) - IMDB
    DVD: Miramax (Region 1 NTSC)

    30 Door Key (Ferdydurke, 1991) - IMDB
    DVD: Vision (Region 0 PAL, in English)

    Four Nights With Anna (Cztery noce z Anną…, 2008) - IMDB
    DVD: Gutek Film (Region 0 PAL, Polish with optional English subtitles)

    Essential Killing (2010)
    Separate Blu-ray/DVD releases from TiM Film Studio (Poland). English subtitles claimed but not verified (though the film has so little spoken content that this may not matter).
SHORT FILMOGRAPHY
  • The Menacing Eye (Oko wykol, 1960) - IMDB

    Little Hamlet (Hamles, 1960) - IMDB
    Available on YouTube (doesn't need subtitles).

    Erotic (Erotyk, 1960) - IMDB
    Available on YouTube (in unsubtitled Polish).

    Your Money Or Your Life (Pieniądze albo życie, 1961) - IMDB

    Sculpture (Rzezba, 1961)

    Boxing (Boks, 1962) - IMDB

    Dialogue (Dialóg 20-40-60, 1968) - IMDB
    Skolimowski directed the first segment (The 20-Year-Olds of this three-part portmanteau film.
ADDITIONAL FILMOGRAPHY
  • Con Bravura (aka The Nun/Zakonnika, d. Andrzej Munk, 1958)
    Skolimowski played a small acting role.

    Innocent Sorcerers (Niewinni czarodzieje, d. Andrzej Wajda, 1960)
    Skolimowski co-wrote the screenplay and played a small role as an ineffectual boxer named Hamlet.
    DVDs: Polart (Region 0 NTSC, Polish with English subtitles)

    Tariff Two (Drufa taryfa, d. MichaŁ Elster, 1962)
    Skolimowski co-wrote the screenplay.

    Knife in the Water (Nóż w wodzie, d. Roman Polanski, 1962) - IMDB
    Skolimowski co-wrote the screenplay.
    DVDs: Criterion (Region 1 NTSC, Polish with English subtitles), Anchor Bay (Region 2 PAL, Polish with English subtitles)

    A Frame of Mind (Sposób bycia, d. Jan Rybkowski, 1967)
    Skolimowski played Leopold.

    A Slip-Up (Poslizg, d. Jan Łomnicki, 1972) - IMDB
    Skolimowski wrote the screenplay and played the garage owner.

    Circle of Deceit (Die Fälschung, d. Volker Schlöndorff, 1981) - IMDB
    Skolimowski played Hoffmann.

    Mesmerized (d. Michael Laughlin, 1984) - IMDB
    Skolimowski co-wrote the screenplay

    White Nights (d. Taylor Hackford, 1985) - IMDB
    Skolimowski played Colonel Chaiko.

    Big Shots (d. Robert Mandel, 1987) - IMDB
    Skolimowski played Doc.

    The Hollow Men (Motyw cienia, d. Joseph Kay/Michael Lyndon, 1993) - IMDB
    Skolimowski produced the film (directed by his sons)

    Mars Attacks! (d. Tim Burton, 1996) - IMDB
    Skolimowski played Dr. Ziegler.

    LA Without A Map (d. Mika Kaurismäki, 1998) - IMDB
    Skolimowski played the Minister.

    Operacja samum (d. Władysław Pasikowski, 1999)
    Skolimowski played Hayes (the CIA chief)

    Before Night Falls (d. Julian Schnabel, 2000) - IMDB
    Skolimowski played the Professor.

    Eastern Promises (d. David Cronenberg, 2007) - IMDB
    Skolimowski played Uncle Stepan.
CRITERION FORUM DISCUSSIONS
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titanium
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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#53 Post by titanium » Sun Mar 08, 2009 2:20 pm

ADDITIONAL INFOS

LE DEPART : there's a OOP Japanese dvd release (can still be ordered - expensive - from amazon.jp)

DOCUMENTARIES ON SKOLIMOWSKI

Skolimowski à la table (1990) Directed by André S. Labarthe. 13 minutes
At the editing table, JS is analyzing a daring sequence of his film "Walkower": the long tracking shot where he jumps out of a train.

Rysopis Skolimowskiego (1992) directed by Jerzy Kolat. 40 minutes
Behind the scenes of Ferdydurke + lots of excerpts of his polish outputs

Against the clock: Jerzy Skolimowski, painter, poet, filmmaker (2003)
Directed by Damien Bertrand. 52 minutes
Include a long interview in Polish with JS, led by french critics Jean Narboni and Noel Simsolo, excerpts from Rysopis, Walkower, Hands Up, le Depart, shots from his painting exhibitions, poetry read in voice over.

Introwizje Skolimowski (2005) directed by Leszek Orlewicz. 25 minutes
No film excerpts, but a rare occasion to see the the painter at work

ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACKS AVAILABLE

Bariera (Krzysztof Komeda)

Le Départ (Krzysztof Komeda)
A french EP and a Japanese CD (both OOP but the CD can still be found at times around the www) Musicians include : Don Cherry, Gato Barbieri, Philippe Catherine, René Urtregger, Christiane Legrand

Walkower (Andrzej Trzaskowski) the main piece used in the film is the 3 movements suite called "Synopsis" and can be found on the following CD

*Taking about film scores, polish tv made an interview with Polanski and Skolimowski about their work with Komeda, just after he passed away in 1969

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MichaelB
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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#54 Post by MichaelB » Wed Mar 18, 2009 11:29 am

dmk_world wrote:Has anyone here seen Success Is the Best Revenge? It doesn't seem to be available on DVD, however a VHS is being sold on eBay for not exactly peanuts. Was wondering if it was worth it.
Having now seen it, I'd say a guarded yes. Guarded because while I loved it, it's certainly not one for Skolimowski beginners. In fact, it ranks with the 1981 prologue of Hands Up! as just about the most personal film he's ever made: although he doesn't act in it, the central character (played by Michael York) is clearly based on him, his troubled teenage son is played by Skolimowski's real son (under the name Michael Lyndon), and the film revolves around numerous questions of nationality, nostalgia and exile that Skolimowski himself must have been thinking about for some time, especially after martial law was declared in Poland.

Of his two Anglo-Polish films, Moonlighting is a lot more accessible, but this one is more characteristically Skolimowskian: it's fizzing with ideas in a way that's strongly reminiscent of his great 1960s films (especially Barrier and Hands Up!). Which is presumably why it vanished from sight almost as soon as it was made - I had to rely on a VHS off-air recording from 1986.
Zazou dans le Metro wrote:
MichaelB wrote:March 18, BFI Southbank
7pm: UK premiere of Four Nights With Anna, followed by Jerzy Skolimowski Q&A (hosted by yours truly).
A very prominent French producer, a very sincere and mild mannered man not given to invective or exaggeration, once told me that Skolimowski was the most difficult and abject **** that he ever had to deal with... and who made Polanski look like a pussy cat. Let's hope he has mellowed with age. Good Luck!.
He was an absolute pussycat. Seriously, this was one of the easiest, most relaxing and most entertaining live interviews I've ever done in my life - Skolimowski was in a wonderfully genial, delightfully anecdotal mood, and although I only managed to ask about 5% of the questions I'd planned to ask him and could very happily have gone on for at least another hour, I got the impression that the audience had a great time. (The fact that they applauded all three of the clips that I screened - from Walkover, Barrier and Hands Up! - was a very good sign).

I particularly liked the way he gleefully latched onto the "Polish films only" brief (this was part of the Kinoteka Polish Film Festival) to dismiss his entire career between Hands Up! (1967) and Four Nights With Anna (2008) as "a load of dreadful films I made in the West". In fact, before we went on stage he asked me what I hadn't seen, and I said King Queen Knave ("worst film I ever made"), The Adventures of Gerard ("also terrible"), Torrents of Spring ("you clearly have excellent taste in avoiding my bad films"), though I rather let the side down after that by owning up to not seeing Le Départ and The Lightship, both of which he still rates highly.

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menthymenthy
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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#55 Post by menthymenthy » Thu Mar 19, 2009 2:11 am

MichaelB wrote:Having now seen it, I'd say a guarded yes. Guarded because while I loved it, it's certainly not one for Skolimowski beginners. In fact, it ranks with the 1981 prologue of Hands Up! as just about the most personal film he's ever made: although he doesn't act in it, the central character (played by Michael York) is clearly based on him, his troubled teenage son is played by Skolimowski's real son (under the name Michael Lyndon), and the film revolves around numerous questions of nationality, nostalgia and exile that Skolimowski himself must have been thinking about for some time, especially after martial law was declared in Poland.

Of his two Anglo-Polish films, Moonlighting is a lot more accessible, but this one is more characteristically Skolimowskian: it's fizzing with ideas in a way that's strongly reminiscent of his great 1960s films (especially Barrier and Hands Up!). Which is presumably why it vanished from sight almost as soon as it was made - I had to rely on a VHS off-air recording from 1986.
Nice review, and I agree that it had a lot of similarities to Hands Up. I went a head and bought the Greek DVD release. The film itself actually didn't do much for me, and I think it's probably my least favourite out of the 10 I've seen. I found it quite confused, though I probably need to give it another view.

As for the Greek DVD release:: it's by the distributor Artfree, and it's quite fine. The transfer is quite clear throughout, grain is minimal, and detail is normal. Greek subtitles are optional, and the only extra is a photo gallery.
It's presented in Full frame, and doesn't look like there's any cropping on the sides. If your DVD Player can crop the image, the film looks better cropped to 1.78:1, or whichever, then it does in 1.33:1. I'm guessing it was originally shown in theatres in 1:85.1 or the like, so that's the best way to watch it - I found.

It worked out to about AUD$30, so it really wasn't too bad, considering a VHS was being sold for not a lot less.
I particularly liked the way he gleefully latched onto the "Polish films only" brief (this was part of the Kinoteka Polish Film Festival) to dismiss his entire career between Hands Up! (1967) and Four Nights With Anna (2008) as "a load of dreadful films I made in the West". In fact, before we went on stage he asked me what I hadn't seen, and I said King Queen Knave ("worst film I ever made"), The Adventures of Gerard ("also terrible"), Torrents of Spring ("you clearly have excellent taste in avoiding my bad films"), though I rather let the side down after that by owning up to not seeing Le Départ and The Lightship, both of which he still rates highly.
That would've been a great interview. Hmm, I am quite saddened that he didn't like Moonlighting, since I absolutely *love* that one. It's in my Top 20 of all time, so I think very highly of it - it's the film that made me want to madly get to the rest of his filmography.

I have not seen The Lightship, but that one has been released on DVD, and so I must get my hands on it.

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Zazou dans le Metro
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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#56 Post by Zazou dans le Metro » Thu Mar 19, 2009 2:13 am

MichaelB wrote:
Zazou dans le Metro wrote:
MichaelB wrote:March 18, BFI Southbank
7pm: UK premiere of Four Nights With Anna, followed by Jerzy Skolimowski Q&A (hosted by yours truly).
A very prominent French producer, a very sincere and mild mannered man not given to invective or exaggeration, once told me that Skolimowski was the most difficult and abject **** that he ever had to deal with... and who made Polanski look like a pussy cat. Let's hope he has mellowed with age. Good Luck!.
He was an absolute pussycat. Seriously, this was one of the easiest, most relaxing and most entertaining live interviews I've ever done in my life -........... though I rather let the side down after that by owning up to not seeing Le Départ and The Lightship, both of which he still rates highly.
Well I'm very relieved for you...maybe my source's experience may have been as a result of the chemically fuelled 80's or something. Anyway I wish I had the opportunity of being there.Was it recorded for use by any chance?
Also do get to see Lightship if only for Robert Duvall's scenery chewing villain. A sort of Dick Dastardly by way of Tennessee Williams.

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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#57 Post by mario gauci » Thu Mar 19, 2009 2:40 am

MichaelB wrote:He was an absolute pussycat. Seriously, this was one of the easiest, most relaxing and most entertaining live interviews I've ever done in my life - Skolimowski was in a wonderfully genial, delightfully anecdotal mood, and although I only managed to ask about 5% of the questions I'd planned to ask him and could very happily have gone on for at least another hour, I got the impression that the audience had a great time. (The fact that they applauded all three of the clips that I screened - from Walkover, Barrier and Hands Up! - was a very good sign).

I particularly liked the way he gleefully latched onto the "Polish films only" brief (this was part of the Kinoteka Polish Film Festival) to dismiss his entire career between Hands Up! (1967) and Four Nights With Anna (2008) as "a load of dreadful films I made in the West". In fact, before we went on stage he asked me what I hadn't seen, and I said King Queen Knave ("worst film I ever made"), The Adventures of Gerard ("also terrible"), Torrents of Spring ("you clearly have excellent taste in avoiding my bad films"), though I rather let the side down after that by owning up to not seeing Le Départ and The Lightship, both of which he still rates highly.
It’s great to know that you interview with Jerzy Skolimowski went so well. I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t manage to get your hands on some of his movies prior to that meeting because, as it happens, I have LE DEPART (1967), THE ADVENTURES OF GERARD (1970) and TORRENTS OF SPRING (1989) on VHS and, having just acquired a DVD recorder, I guess I could have easily supplied you with them. But, frankly, it didn’t even occur to me that somebody in Great Britain with the right connections (the BFI) couldn’t have had access to something that was easily available in tiny, godforsaken Malta!

Actually, I don’t know if the condition of LE DEPART (in French but with superimposed Italian subtitles) and TORRENTS OF SPRING (in its ‘official’ Italian language only) would have been of any real use…but, I believe that watching foreign stuff unsubtitled isn’t new to you. At any rate, drop me a PM if you’re still interested in catching up with these 3. For the record, here’s a foretaste of what to expect:

LE DEPART
THE ADVENTURES OF GERARD
TORRENTS OF SPRING

Incidentally, I was equally surprised to learn that you’ve managed to see BARIERA (1966) and the 1981 re-issue version of HANDS UP! (1967) only recently since, again, I’ve been familiar with these (and the original 1967 version of HANDS UP! as well) for the last 10-15 years via VHS recordings off Italian TV (in Polish with hard Italian subs); although I got to see DEEP END through the same channel, that was a much more recent 'acquaintance'. It’s fantastic that those early Polish masterpieces are coming to DVD from Second Run and, hopefully, the same fate will befall DEEP END before long…

P.S. Having traveled to the NFT/BFI Southbank extensively in the last 10 years (most recently in January 2007 for that indispensable Luis Bunuel retrospective), I would gladly have done so again to catch your Jerzy Skolimowski interview of yesterday (or, for that matter, last year’s meeting with Miklos Jancso`) but, in his infinite wisdom, the Good Lord has seen fit to bring about bereavements (one very tragic and traumatic) in my family on the eve of both these events!!

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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#58 Post by MichaelB » Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:07 am

dmk_world wrote:Hmm, I am quite saddened that he didn't like Moonlighting, since I absolutely *love* that one. It's in my Top 20 of all time, so I think very highly of it - it's the film that made me want to madly get to the rest of his filmography.
Don't worry - it was a joke! He has mixed feelings about some of his films, but Moonlighting is firmly on his list of favourites (as are Deep End and The Shout). He said that what he was particularly proud of was that he didn't go over the top - like many Poles, he was absolutely outraged when martial law was declared in December 1981, but he knew that if he made an angry film, it would generate more light than heat and date very rapidly.

Which is why, despite the ultra-speedy production (less than five months from inspiration to premiere for a professional 35mm feature with a major star must be some kind of record), it's an extremely controlled, contemplative film - he said that Bresson was one of his inspirations, and it's a great tribute to the film that it shows.
Zazou dans le Metro wrote:Anyway I wish I had the opportunity of being there.Was it recorded for use by any chance?
I don't know for certain, but the big set-piece BFI Southbank interviews usually are.
mario gauci wrote:but, in his infinite wisdom, the Good Lord has seen fit to bring about bereavements (one very tragic and traumatic) in my family on the eve of both these events!!
I deeply sympathise - not least because my only two serious opportunities to see Satantango on the big screen were stymied by my brother's wedding and my grandmother's funeral respectively.

But I wrote up the Jancso interview here if that's any help (albeit from memory).

titanium
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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#59 Post by titanium » Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:19 am

Le Départ
If that can help you, I should add, Michael, besides the OOP japanese dvd, (see additions on the Skolimowski topic in filmmakers section of the forum). It can be legally downloaded legally in a decent copy from the following website.

Also, the rights are owned by the belgium distributor Belfilm, who starts releasing its own dvd catalogue.

Let's hope...

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menthymenthy
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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#60 Post by menthymenthy » Fri Mar 20, 2009 1:45 am

titanium wrote:Le Départ
If that can help you, I should add, Michael, besides the OOP japanese dvd, (see additions on the Skolimowski topic in filmmakers section of the forum). It can be legally downloaded legally in a decent copy from the following website.
Wow, I thought the film would be impossible to see. Titanium, do you know if either the DVD or the download includes English subtitles?

I'd love to see the film, but I don't think I could sit through it subtitle-less.

Thanks.

titanium
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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#61 Post by titanium » Fri Mar 20, 2009 3:51 am

dmk_world wrote:Wow, I thought the film would be impossible to see. Titanium, do you know if either the DVD or the download includes English subtitles?

I'd love to see the film, but I don't think I could sit through it subtitle-less.
No subs, neither on the dowload nor, afaik, on the dvd but you should try it all the same: Remember that when JS shot this one, he didn't speak french neither. He used to talk russian with the director of photography, polish with his crew, and thus, only body and eyes with Leaud. Hence, the main manner of expression of the film is slapstick, in a most incredible way, fuelled with high energy (underlined by Komeda's score) Also, it's perhaps the most beautiful film ever made on the end of teen age.

Admit that 5 euros is not much of a bet and you won't regret it.

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menthymenthy
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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#62 Post by menthymenthy » Fri Mar 20, 2009 6:33 am

titanium wrote:Admit that 5 euros is not much of a bet and you won't regret it.
OK, I'll do it. Thanks a lot.

I've never watched a film from a language I don't understand without subtitles, so this may be either interesting, or I may lose interest very quickly. :-k

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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#63 Post by MichaelB » Fri Mar 20, 2009 10:15 am

I was chatting about this very subject to Skolimowski last night, and he told me that dialogue is one of the least important elements in his films as far as he's concerned.

He said that he learned this from Roman Polanski - when they wrote Knife in the Water together, they pared the dialogue down to what they thought was an absolute bare minimum, and he was highly amused when I told him about the Polanski-approved DVD subtitles on both the Criterion and Anchor Bay editions, which pared them down even further by calculated omission! And since Skolimowski frequently makes films in a foreign language (to him), he has little time for linguistic subtlety, because he recognises that he probably won't appreciate the nuances himself.

In fact, he told me that he has ambitions to make a feature film with even less dialogue than Four Nights With Anna - which has so little itself that it's almost entirely comprehensible even without subtitles. (The interrogation and courtroom scenes are probably the only ones that really need translation).

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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#64 Post by titanium » Fri Mar 20, 2009 10:38 am

It's of course true for his "foreign film" and, quite intentionally, for "Anna" as well, but it should be noted how wonderful dialogs writer JS is in his polish outputs: in a very concise style, but full of meanings and poetry at the same time...

These 4 films sure show a lot of nuances in their dialogs! But he likes to underlines how withdrawing unuseful words one by one on the "Knife" script became a sort of game.

He's a man of challenges!

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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#65 Post by MichaelB » Fri Mar 20, 2009 11:06 am

titanium wrote: ... but it should be noted how wonderful dialogs writer JS is in his polish outputs: in a very concise style, but full of meanings and poetry at the same time...

These 4 films sure show a lot of nuances in their dialogs!
Yes, that's an absolutely fair point, and he said he's been very unhappy with the quality of the English subtitles, both in the 1960s (I uncovered a contemporary review of Walkover that raised the issue) and on the recent box set - which may well feature the same translation. By contrast, he says the French subtitles on his Polish films are far superior.

That's why the Second Run DVDs will hopefully be an enormous improvement almost regardless of transfer quality, because they should effectively feature the world premiere of a decent and conscientious English translation. For a good parallel example, their release of The Party and the Guests was far superior to the old BBC2 broadcast (which I assume reflected the original British theatrical print). Unlike the Polish box set of the Skolimowski quartet, there were no typos or grammatical infelicities in the BBC's version, but the Second Run subtitles translated significantly more of the original dialogue.

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menthymenthy
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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#66 Post by menthymenthy » Fri Mar 20, 2009 11:26 am

titanium wrote: ... but it should be noted how wonderful dialogs writer JS is in his polish outputs: in a very concise style, but full of meanings and poetry at the same time...

These 4 films sure show a lot of nuances in their dialogs!
This is so true. I absolutely loved the dialogue in his first two films, and I think his writing in Innocent Sorcerers probably has the best dialogue in any Polish film I've seen. I really love it. I found it very Woody Allen-standard.

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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#67 Post by MichaelB » Sun Mar 22, 2009 5:29 am

MichaelB wrote:I'm delighted - and relieved! - to confirm that Gutek Film's release of Four Nights With Anna does indeed have English subtitles.
A trivial footnote: I've since discovered that the English subtitles on both the 35mm and DVD versions were personally supervised by Ewa Piaskowska, the film's co-screenwriter and Skolimowski's wife. Which explains why the standard is way above average for a Polish release - it's hard to see how they could be more authoritative!

titanium
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DEEP END (2010 DVD ???)

#68 Post by titanium » Sat May 16, 2009 4:20 am

According to Hollywood reporter, a full HD restoration of Deep end is in the works

I guess dvd should come soon after...

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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#69 Post by kneelzod » Mon Jan 04, 2010 1:33 am

DVR Alert: DEEP END will be airing on TCM on 1/16/10 at 2:30 EST as part of TCM Underground.

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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#70 Post by Cold Bishop » Mon Jan 04, 2010 3:24 am

And while its not nearly as hard to see, there also showing The Shout right after. (In fact, after initially ignoring it for making obvious choices, TCM Underground has really come into its own recently.)

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Cold Bishop
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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#71 Post by Cold Bishop » Sat Jan 16, 2010 5:02 am

Looks like it is in pan-and-scan unfortunately.

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knives
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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#72 Post by knives » Sat Jan 16, 2010 7:02 am

Even with the pan and scan I was blown away by this, The Shout less so even if it was also very good. There's just some sort of essence to it that captured for me the insaneness of adolescence. A lot more going on than that I realize, but I have my obsessions in viewing.I really hope that criterion, or anyone really releases these as not only would I love to own a good copy of both of these, but I'm sure the rest of his output is great.

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Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#73 Post by kneelzod » Sat Jan 16, 2010 2:21 pm

Cold Bishop wrote:Looks like it is in pan-and-scan unfortunately.
I think this was more likely open matte rather than pan-n-scan. At least it wasn't cut as TCM's recent broadcast of THE STRAWBERRY STATEMENT was. There was some hope that TCM's print would reflect Bavaria's recent restoration work, but it wasn't to be. I have a feeling that this print came from Paramount, judging by the opening and closing Paramount cards and it makes me wonder what, if any, role Paramount has with the restoration. This print looked like it must be the same one that has shown on U.S. television whenever it's aired in the past.

Based on the information on its website, Bavaria holds world sales rights so where exactly does that put Paramount with regards to a possible Criterion DVD? We know that Paramount struck a new print of the film recently, but still before Bavaria announced its own restoration at Cannes in '09. Can anyone here who saw the new print when it played at Anthology Film Archives and other U.S. repertory houses in '08, comment on its quality?

As for TCM's broadcast, I was more upset that it didn't link up accurately with the time block on the cable guide so that DEEP END was cut off at the end of its allotted time slot. I DVR'ed with the intention of burning a new DVD-R and replacing the low-quality dub I had in my collection. Luckily, I also recorded THE SHOUT, which followed DEEP END. The end of DEEP END appears at the beginning of the SHOUT slot. I'll do my best to make a continuous recording, but it's not going to be perfect. Oh, well. I hope that rumored Criterion edition is actually coming and sometime soon...

Wittsdream
Joined: Tue Sep 13, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Chicago

Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#74 Post by Wittsdream » Mon Jan 18, 2010 2:28 pm

kneelzod wrote:
Cold Bishop wrote:Looks like it is in pan-and-scan unfortunately.
As for TCM's broadcast, I was more upset that it didn't link up accurately with the time block on the cable guide so that DEEP END was cut off at the end of its allotted time slot. I DVR'ed with the intention of burning a new DVD-R and replacing the low-quality dub I had in my collection. Luckily, I also recorded THE SHOUT, which followed DEEP END. The end of DEEP END appears at the beginning of the SHOUT slot. I'll do my best to make a continuous recording, but it's not going to be perfect. Oh, well. I hope that rumored Criterion edition is actually coming and sometime soon...
Unfortunately, the same fucking shit happened to the ending of The Shout, cutting off the finale completely. I already have a copy of Deep End through another source, but it looks like I'm gonna have to order the Region 2 Network edition of The Shout, since I couldn't even watch the ending intact.

It's one thing if something like this happens during your normal waking hours, as it's likely I would have at the very least watched the film in its entirety, but who in the heck's going to stay up until 4:30 in the morning to catch the ending of both these films?

Hard to imagine that cable programmer's are still so ass-backwards in their inexactitude here in the year 2010, but I'm not entirely certain it isn't an unintentional gaffe on the programming department's part, considering both films are currently unavailable in the North American DVD market! [-(

Perkins Cobb
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 12:49 pm

Re: Jerzy Skolimowski

#75 Post by Perkins Cobb » Mon Jan 18, 2010 6:03 pm

Of course it's not because the movies are rare. TCM just didn't want to waste 29 minutes on junk because they had a 91- instead of 90-minute movie. Somebody over there has an (excessively) orderly mind.

The question is, why aren't you guys setting your recorders manually to avoid this kind of foul-up? Never put your trust in anyone on the other end of your cable.

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