BFI: 32 Ozu Films

[Will Barks]

It's a hardware hack and the latest firmware. Every other Code B Blu-ray plays fine.
I had no problem with Late Spring either. But since Equinox Flower the region screen appears there too.

[perkizitore]

I have an modified Oppo and it plays just fine.

[Anthony]

Very interested. I recently loaded the recent firmware upgrade the other day... and just tried my Late Spring disc, and now it doesn't work either. Hmmmm, I'm going to send Oppo and email and let them know. My Late Sping BFI BD just won't work at all anymore... the wrong region screen won't go away. ](*,)

I asked Oppo about this problem, and this was their reply:

We have not changed anything in our firmware to affect this kind of interaction. We have not made any alterations to the way in which the player should interact with region modification kits.

If you rollback to a previous firmware, such as the 50-0424 Firmware) does the disc still fail to load?

Best Regards,

Customer Service

[MichaelB]

Full specs announced for the May 2011 releases:

More Yasujiro Ozu Dual Format Edition releases from the BFI on 23 May 2011

On 23 May the BFI adds more titles to its ongoing strand, The Ozu Collection with the release of Late Autumn (1960) and An Autumn Afternoon (1962). Presented in Dual Format Editions (a Blu-ray and a DVD disc in one box), each main feature is complemented by an early Ozu film that has never been made available in the UK before.

Late Autumn (Akibiyori) & A Mother Should be Loved (Haha O Kowazuya)

When college nostalgia inspires a group of middle-aged businessmen to match-make for the widow of a friend – played with measured dignity by Setsuko Hara (Tokyo Story) – and her daughter, they have no idea of the strife their careless interference will cause. Late Autumn’s examination of familial upheaval moves effortlessly from comedy to pathos and is amongst the finest of Ozu’s post-war films.

Also included here is surviving version of Ozu’s moving silent drama A Mother Should be Loved. Missing both first and last reels, the incomplete film nevertheless achieves a dramatic intensity in its portrayal of a young man struggling to deal with a disturbing family secret. It is presented with an alternative, newly commissioned, score by composer Ed Hughes.

Special features

• Standard Definition and High Definition presentations of Late Autumn (DVD & Blu-ray);
• Standard Definition presentation of A Mother Should be Loved;
• Optional score for A Mother Should be Loved by Ed Hughes, commissioned exclusively for the BFI;
• Illustrated booklet with a new sleevenote essay by Asian cinema expert Alexander Jacoby;
• New and improved English subtitles.

Technical information

Cat. No. BFIB1073, RRP £19.99, Cert PG Japan / 1960 + 1934 / colour & black and white / Japanese language, English subtitles / 129 mins + 70 mins / Original aspect ratio 1.33:1 Disc 1: BD25 / 1080p / 24fps / PCM mono audio (48k/16-bit) / Region B Disc 2: DVD9 / PAL / Dolby Digital mono audio (320kbps) / Region 2

An Autumn Afternoon (Sanma No Aji) & A Hen in the Wind (Kaze No Naka No Mendori)

Yasujiro Ozu’s elegiac final film An Autumn Afternoon charts the inevitable eclipse of older generations by irreverent youth. Revisiting the story of his earlier masterpiece Late Spring (1949), Ozu once again casts Chishu Ryu in the role of a concerned father, Hirayama, to unmarried daughter Michiko. Harangued on all sides to marry off Michiko, Hirayama reluctantly prepares to bid his old life farewell. A cast of tragi-comic characters weaves seamlessly through this gently satirical portrayal of life’s inevitable, endless cycle.

Ozu’s rarely seen post-war melodrama A Hen in the Wind is also included here. In a Japan recently devastated by World War II a devoted, near-destitute mother turns to prostitution to pay medical bills when her son falls dangerously ill.

Special features
• Standard Definition and High Definition presentation of An Autumn Afternoon (DVD & Blu-ray);
• Standard Definition presentation of A Hen in the Wind (DVD only);
• Illustrated booklet with a new sleevenote essay by Kyoko Hirano and Jonathan Rosenbaum;
• New and improved English subtitles.

Technical information

Cat. No. BFIB1072, RRP £19.99, Cert PG Japan / 1962 + 1948 / colour & black and white / Japanese language, English subtitles / 113 mins + 80 mins / Original aspect ratio 1.33:1 Disc 1: BD25 / 1080p / 24fps / PCM mono audio (48k/16-bit) / Region B Disc 2: DVD9 / PAL / Dolby Digital mono audio (320kbps) / Region 2

[ambrose]

Late Autumn (DVD Beaver)
An Autumn Afternoon

[Peacock]

Late Autumn (DVD Beaver)
An Autumn Afternoon

Late Autumn looks stunning, as have the previous BFI colour Ozu's. An Autumn Afternoon looks kinda noisy though judging by the caps, and my question is this: Why is the film only 14GB?

I think releasing anything on Blu-ray on single layer only is kinda cheapy for a company like BFI, but then not using 10 GB of space? Why not try and get the best PQ possible? Edge of the World is another BFI with a tiny file size; at least with the Ozu we know a Criterion will come along and do it properly. Disappointing, what with the quality of the other Ozu Blus.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Once again the comparison with Criterion shows a cyan bias in the grading compared to the magenta of the Criterion. Given this is also the case with Red Desert and the Melville's I'm wondering if some house style fetish is at play here?
I'm not personally so bothered as I always opt for BFI where possible and I have an aversion to magenta , but it seems to be consistent.

[triodelover]

Has a master list of the 32 films in this series ever been posted? I just went back through this thread and couldn't fine one. The BFI site itself is less than illuminating, too.

[ellipsis7]

This is the list of films in the recent BFI Southbank season, for which there were prints...

1. DAYS OF YOUTH
2. A STRAIGHTFORWARD BOY
3. WALK CHEERFULLY
4. THAT NIGHT’S WIFE
5. I FLUNKED BUT…
6. THE LADY AND THE BEARD
7. TOKYO CHORUS
8. WHERE NOW ARE THE DREAMS OF YOUTH?
9. I WAS BORN BUT…
10. DRAGNET GIRL
11. WOMAN OF TOKYO
12. PASSING FANCY
13. A MOTHER SHOULD BE LOVED
14. A STORY OF FLOATING WEEDS
15. KAGAMIJISHI
16. AN INN IN TOKYO
17. THE ONLY SON
18. WHAT DID THE LADY FORGET?
19. BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THE TODA FAMILY
20. THERE WAS A FATHER
21. RECORD OF A TENEMENT GENTLEMAN
22. A HEN IN THE WIND
23. LATE SPRING
24. THE MUNEKATA SISTERS
25. EARLY SUMMER
26. THE FLAVOUR OF GREEN TEA OVER RICE
27. TOKYO STORY
28. EARLY SPRING
29. TOKYO TWILIGHT
30. EQUINOX FLOWER
31. FLOATING WEEDS
32. GOOD MORNING
33. LATE AUTUMN
34. END OF SUMMER
35. AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON

Of these there are couple of short pieces (such as the 14 minute A STRAIGHTFORWARD BOY), medium length like the 65 minute THAT NIGHT'S WIFE and I FLUNKED BUT..., while KAGAMIJISHI is an 18 minute dance documentary.... I'm guessing there will be a bundled set to mop up these loose ends...

[Michael Kerpan]

Many of the loose ends are really quite wonderful (especially That Night's Wife).

[triodelover]

This is the list of films in the recent BFI Southbank season, for which there were prints...

Thank you.

[artfilmfan]

If the BFI indeed has the rights to release Floating Weeds, here's hoping for the cool look of the Japanese DVD, not the warm/hot look of the Criterion DVD.

[zedz]

Given that we're nearly halfway through BFI's release schedule (seven double features down; nine to go) we can speculate how this is going to play out. Since they've already squandered a number of sound films on the bottom-half of the bills, it seems as though they're going to have to headline some silents over the remaining releases, which suggests new HD transfers of them. However, the biggest title among the silents (I Was Born but. . .) has already been released.

The remaining late features seem like the most obvious contenders for headliners: The Flavour of Green Tea over Rice; Early Spring; Tokyo Twilight; Floating Weeds and End of Summer. I expect the remaining major sound title Record of a Tenement Gentleman will also make the grade, but would the BFI really go with The Munekata Sisters, which seems to be universally regarded as one of his weakest films?

Which means that two, maybe three silents will end up as headline features, if the BFI continue their present double-feature release format (the alternatives being packaging multiple silents with the remaining sound films, or opting for a SD silents box to mop up the leftovers). Of the unreleased silent features, A Story of Floating Weeds is arguably the highest-profile title, but I find it hard to believe they'd detach that film from its remake. As far as I know, there are no existing, usable HD masters for any of the silents (bearing in mind that the Criterion / Eclipse source for I Was Born, But. . . wasn't up to scratch).

Maybe they'll go with one of the remaining Eclipse titles (Tokyo Chorus or Walk Cheerfully), since that release would have presumably given the film some kind of recognition factor? And maybe Dragnet Girl or one of the other gangster movies, since it'd have novelty value?

[ellipsis7]

A STORY OF FLOATING WEEDS exists in a HD transfer from the Criterion release...

[Michael Kerpan]

Colorwise -- Autumn Afternoon seems just about perfect. The skippiness/glitchiness in the first reel has still not been completely tamed -- but this seems to be unavoidable, probably no un-flawed source survives.

[antnield]

The Digital Fix on Good Morning and Late Autumn.

[Michael Kerpan]

The Digital Fix on Good Morning and Late Autumn.

I especially liked the comments on Good Morning. Good Morning was my (and my family's) introduction to Ozu -- and (in retrospect) I am quite glad that it was. ;~}

[antnield]

The Digital Fix on An Autumn Afternoon.

[perkizitore]

I hope BFI announces the next titles soon, even if they are scheduled for November/December. It makes the anticipation more exciting!

[eerik]

Artificial Eye has removed Floating Weeds and The End of Summer from their webpage. Is it safe to assume that these will be released by BFI?

[Michael Kerpan]

Artificial Eye has removed Floating Weeds and The End of Summer from their webpage. Is it safe to assume that these will be released by BFI?

I hope so -- the AE releases were pretty poor ones -- and the Criterion DVDs (while decent) have some color issues (esp. Floating Weeds).

[MichaelB]

An Autumn Afternoon looks kinda noisy though judging by the caps, and my question is this: Why is the film only 14GB?

I think releasing anything on Blu-ray on single layer only is kinda cheapy for a company like BFI, but then not using 10 GB of space? Why not try and get the best PQ possible?

Sorry about the belated reply, but issues like this have to be thoroughly investigated before any public statement can be made. A good example being the saga over The Leopard, where three "flaws" were alleged - but only one turned out to be an authoring-stage glitch that demanded a repress.

Anyway, it seems that the same is true of An Autumn Afternoon, so here's an official statement from BFI DVD Publishing:

After the release of our Dual Format Edition of Yasujiro Ozu’s An Autumn Afternoon we became aware that the Blu-ray Disc was encoded at a lower bit-rate than we would normally insist upon. In response to this, we have re-authored and re-pressed the project, and replacement discs are now available. If you are dissatisfied with the quality of the original Blu-ray Disc and would like a replacement, please contact [email protected] giving details of your name and address and a new disc will be sent to you.

[Caligula]

I emailed about the disc exchange program, and am pleased to say that I've already had a reply to let me know that my disc will be dispatched today (I live in South Africa, BTW). No need to send in the original, which with the prohibitive shipping costs is also nice.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Yes I also had a reply by return. Full marks and thanks for the tip off MichaelB. Looking forward to the next batch and hoping we get Tokyo Twilight on blu soon.

[Peacock]

Wow, I'm really impressed by this, thanks MichaelB and the team at BFI! I didn't order the disk before but will now, any idea when Amazon will stock the new pressing?