Theo Angelopoulos on DVD

[otis]

I've just checked my copy, and the AE is 143 minutes 21 seconds. The Spanish Intermedio DVD is listed on their website as 144 minutes, so presumably the AE is a port of that. Could it be that cuts were made for an international edition? The strange thing is that if the Greek DVD is 171 minutes, that actually makes it longer than the 165 minutes given on Angelopoulos's website (and in the filmography in the book Theo Angelopoulos: Interviews). Lubitsch, are you going by the timing listed on the cover, or have you checked it yourself?

[Perkins Cobb]

Does the Greek DVD have English subs, and does it look any good? It wasn't one of the New Star releases, and I didn't even realize there was one.

[lubitsch]

Sorry, I had remembered it as a Greek DVD, but it's from the Chinese Angelopoulos box (therefore the NTSC) and 171:50 long according to rip specs, I don't have the DVD myself. However the German TV transmission clocks undoubtedly at 163 minutes which accounts quite exactly for PAL speedup and this one I have and checked it. So 20 minutes must be missing on the AE, there's no way around it.

[otis]

According to this site, there is a Greek (New Star) DVD, but it's listed as 105 minutes! Of course, that may just be a mistake on the website.

[Perkins Cobb]

So 20 minutes must be missing on the AE, there's no way around it.

Morons. Wonder if maybe they'll recall and fix it....?

[ellipsis7]

It almost sounds like they left out a reel in error...

[otis]

Just spoken to a guy at Artificial Eye, who explained that their version of The Hunters comes from the same source as the Greek DVD (the transfer of which was supervised by Angelopoulos). He's going to make further enquiries about the difference in length and get back to me - I'll post any insights as and when I get them.

Artificial Eye have emailed me about The Hunters:

Further to our telephone conversation about the running time of The Hunters, I have contacted Theo Angelopoulos Productions.

As you may be aware, the difference in running times is partly accounted for by the PAL video system running at a faster frame rate than film (25 frames per second, rather than 24). In addition, the original negative was damaged slightly which means the remastered editions of the film run a little shorter. However, the version now available on DVD is approved by Theo Angelopoulos.

[isakborg]

I just got the same email. Glad to know that Angelopoulos approves of the release; but I wouldn't call damage slight that resulted in 20 minutes missing from a film. But perhaps the damage was distributed throughout the film so that no substantial single portion was that badly affected.

[Perkins Cobb]

Yeah, that's just BS that translates to "whatever's wrong, we're not redoing it."

Has anybody identified the section that's missing? I assume I'll end up buying the AE set and using some kind of bootleg to supply the extra 20 minutes.

[J Adams]

The Hunters exists in both Greek and Chinese editions. The Greek one per eBay is 168 minutes. It also exists in a subtitled 35mm print which was shown at the MoMA retro a gazillion years ago but I doubt the running time for that screening is available online.

[jegharfangetmigenmyg]

If anyone could identify the missing scenes in The Hunters, it would be very helpful. If the cut portion's continuous, then one could, as Perkins Cobb pointed out, just switch between the remaster and the longer bootleg version for twenty minutes. This, along with Alexander the Great, is one of the few Angelopoulos films I have yet to see, mainly due to the fact that the quality of the bootleg dvd is very underwhelming with washed out, dull colors and a murky picture that would be very hard to ignore for 3+ hours.

A comparison would indeed be very appreciated.

I got my box yesterday, and apart from the disappointingly total lack of extras, the quality is great. Wonderful transfer of Recontruction with visible film grain. Days of 36 and The Traveling Players look to be the exact same transfers used for the greek DVDs which I already own, so there's not so much to be excited about there. Before I noticed the running time, I was very excited about the crisp look of The Hunters too, but now I'm beginning to fear that Alexander the Great will also be cut when AE release the next Angelopoulos volume in January.

[GaryC]

I hadn't seen The Hunters before I watched the DVD, and as the film is nonlinear it wasn't obvious what was missing. I left the runtime discrepancy as an unanswered question in my review.

The runtimes of the films in Volume 2 are as follows (from checkdiscs):

Alexander the Great 199:35
Voyage to Cythera 133:47
Landscape in the Mist 119:32
The Suspended Step of the Stork 136:19

I wasn't sent a checkdisc for The Beekeeper as it was previously released separately. I don't know if it has been reauthored or not, as the other discs all have a uniform menu design.

Alexander the Great runs 210 minutes according to Angelopoulos's site, which would lose about eight and a half minutes to PAL speed-up, which leaves a discrepancy of about two minutes. With a film of that length, that may simply be accounted for by a built-in intermission which isn't on the DVD.

The other films' running times seem to be correct, given PAL speed-up.

[Psicosis]

I received my copy of Vol. 1 several days ago at which point I went to return it. Instead I discovered I couldn't because it no longer exists in the Amazon.co.uk database.

[Perkins Cobb]

Indeed, they seem to have zapped it completely -- it was in my Amazon cart and now it's gone. I'll bet AE caved and is going to fix it.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

I received my copy of Vol. 1 several days ago at which point I went to return it. Instead I discovered I couldn't because it no longer exists in the Amazon.co.uk database.

Then how are you supposed to return it?

[perkizitore]

Optimum is still 'fixing' their early Renoir boxset, so I wouldn't hold my breath for a quick resolution!

[Perkins Cobb]

Optimum is still 'fixing' their early Renoir boxset, so I wouldn't hold my breath for a quick resolution!

Well, it's hard to believe that AE will just pulp these and release Volumes 2 & 3 without a Volume 1. That'd be a major embarrassment and a lot of money down the drain. But then, what do I know....

[Psicosis]

I received my copy of Vol. 1 several days ago at which point I went to return it. Instead I discovered I couldn't because it no longer exists in the Amazon.co.uk database.

Then how are you supposed to return it?

I guess I'll need to hold onto it. I intended to return it before I read of the missing footage, as the case is a mess due to improper packing.

I ordered several CD's which were placed on top of the DVD set, and since it comes in a thin slipcase with slim case packaging, it was really roughed up.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Volume 1 is also off the radar at Moviemail which is a far more reliable source ,so clearly something is afoot.

[TMDaines]

Timeout's best DVD release of the year accolade sure holds a lot of weight then... #1 The Theo Angelopoulos Collection: Volumes 1/2/3

[jegharfangetmigenmyg]

Damn... Any news from the horse's mouth? If they pulled volume 1 to fix the cut version of The Hunters, then that'd be great, but it would also be nice to have some additional information on this subject, since I haven't seen the movie and very much would like to. Usually one can return the "bad" disc to AE to get replaced by a new one, right?

[Perkins Cobb]

I wouldn't be panicked by AE's silence until after the holidays, at least. Although as it stands now we have a worst-case scenario: Volume 1 is a botch AND a collector's item.

[zedz]

Another possible glitch on Volume One (and this is something they're far more likely to be fixing than the missing part(s) of The Hunters) - my disc of Reconstruction ceased playing after the end of the first chapter (end of the credits). Had to restart the disc and sit through all the logos again, then access the film from the chapter selection menu to see the rest of the film. This sounds similar to the problem some people had with The Beekeeper.

Oh, and some very exciting news regarding the third volume of the collection: according to the cover art reproduced in Sight and Sound and on Amazon, it will include Angelopoulos' little-seen Robert Ludlum adaptation, The Ulysses Gaze.

(Actually, nonsensically, it seems to be The Ulysses' Gaze, with apostrophe intact. Maybe The Ulysses were a Greek prog band from the sixties that Harvey Keitel was trying to track down?)

[perkizitore]

Should I buy the first set for £30, or wait for further announcements?

[YnEoS]

Just got a notification that Vol. 2 is shipping to me today.