BFI: 32 Ozu Films

[Vito]

Ah, I did not know that, thanks for the info! An Autumn Afternoon seems to be unavailable both on Amazon and TheHut (it was first unavailable at thehut), HMV indicates that they still have them albeit at the old 16 gbp price, weird.

[Cash Flagg]

Amazon's price for The Student Comedies has increased from £11.99 to £21.47.

[Michael Kerpan]

Amazon's price for The Student Comedies has increased from £11.99 to £21.47.

Will cancellations of early orders soon follow?

[triodelover]

How can they? Wasn't it up at the lower price for several days?

[ellipsis7]

Amazon's own policy statement applies...

Pre-Order Price Guarantee

For items with a future release date, the Amazon.co.uk price may change between the time of order and the date the item is dispatched. We do not charge you until we dispatch an item; therefore, when you pre-order selected books, CDs, videos, DVDs, pieces of software or video games, you will be charged the lowest price offered by Amazon.co.uk between the time the order was placed and the item's release date.

However...

Pre-order Price Guarantee does not apply in the case of mispricing, described earlier on this page.

Which is...

What we do about mispricings

Despite our best efforts, a small number of the more than 1.5 million items in our catalogue are mispriced. Rest assured, however, that we verify prices as part of our dispatch procedures.

If an item's correct price is lower than our stated price, we charge the lower amount and send you the item.

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Please note that this policy applies only to products sold and fulfilled by Amazon.co.uk.

It all depends if they treat it as a mispricing or a generous early order discount...

[MichaelB]

Full specs announced:

The Ozu Collection
The Student Comedies
Four silent comedies by Yasujiro Ozu

The BFI is adding four rare films by Yasujiro Ozu to its ongoing collection of the Japanese master’s work, which will eventually include all 32 of the surviving films he made for the Shochiku Studio. This handsome 2-disc box set brings Ozu’s student-themed silent comedies to DVD for the first time, and includes newly commissioned scores by Ed Hughes as well as the rare surviving fragments of his 1929 film I Graduated, But...

Disc One:

Days of Youth (Wakaki Hi)
Ozu’s earliest surviving film, from 1929, follows students Watanabe and Yamamoto as they unknowingly compete for the affections of the same girl.

I Flunked, But... (Rakudai Wa Shita Keredo)
With exams looming, Takahashi finds a creative way to avoid doing his revision in this roguish comedy reminiscent of Harold Lloyd’s The Freshman.

Japan / 1929 + 1930 / black and white / silent, Japanese intertitles with English subtitles / DVD9 / 99 mins + 63 mins / Original aspect ratio 1.33:1

Disc Two

The Lady and the Beard (Shukujo To Hige)
Graduate Okajima finds that his impressive beard, worn in traditional style, makes it impossible to find a decent job or make a good impression. Ozu’s cheerful comedy focuses on the tension between tradition and modernity, a theme he revisited in some of his most profound post-war work.

Where Now are the Dreams of Youth? (Seishun No Yume Ima Izuko)
Hirano and his friends are happily enjoying a carefree college life, but when tragedy strikes everything changes. Scripted by Ozu’s long-term collaborator Kogo Noda, this film subtly moves from light to dark and questions the durability of friendship.

Japan / 1931 + 1932 / black and white / silent, Japanese intertitles with English subtitles / DVD9 / 72 mins + 82 mins / Original aspect ratio 1.33:1

Special features
• I Graduated, But... (Yasujiro Ozu, 1929, 11 mins): surviving fragment of Ozu’s early student comedy about a recent graduate struggling to find a job
• Exclusive, newly-commissioned scores for all films by Ed Hughes, featuring the Camilleri Trio and Richard Casey (Dolby Digital stereo 320kbps)
• Ozu: Emotion and Poetry (2011, 20 mins): Tony Rayns discusses Ozu’s early work and influences
• 38-page illustrated booklet with newly commissioned essays from Asian cinema experts Tony Rayns and Alexander Jacoby

Release date: 20 February 2012
RRP: £29.99 / cat. no. BFIVD927 / Cert PG

[knives]

Actual extras on one of these releases, sweet.

[Michael Kerpan]

Set now pushed back to March, according to amazon UK.

[matrixschmatrix]

Really? It looks like it's still saying February 20th to me.

[ellipsis7]

The Ozu Student Comedies set is also reviewed in the March edition of Sight and Sound just out, implying it's on target for scheduled release... My Amazon order is still slated for February 20th too... But I stand to be corrected on both counts...

[MichaelB]

My advance copy turned up yesterday, and I usually get them hot off the press. So I can confirm that shrinkwrapped final copies exist, and so there should be no logistical hurdles in terms of meeting the original release date, as I imagine copies are on their way to Amazon, Play, HMV etc. right now.

UPDATE: BFI DVD Publishing has confirmed that this is indeed the case, that the release date is still February 20 (which in practice means that pre-ordered copies should start arriving by the end of next week), and that they have no idea where Amazon got the alternative date from.

[antnield]

The Digital Fix on The Student Comedies: Four Silent Films by Yasujiro Ozu.

[Oedipax]

My £9.99 pre-order still seems to be holding up at this point. Fingers crossed!

[MichaelB]

I imagine it's due to ship any day now, so you'll find out soon enough.

[richard_t]

Just had confirmation from Amazon that my copy of The Student Comedies has shipped at the £9.99 price point (£11.99 here in the UK when you include VAT).

[Jonathan S]

Mine arrived yesterday from HMV - also £11.99.

[perkizitore]

Ditto

[Michael Kerpan]

Amazon UK says my Ozu set won't be mailed out until Feb 27.

Update -- actually sent today (2-20), regardless of the above-mentioned notification. ;~}

[knives]

Sucks to be you. Though considering my luck it will be lost in the mail.

[bigP]

Ozu: The Melodrama Collection on release June 18th

Ozu: The Melodrama Collection (2 Discs)

The BFI presents three films by Japanese master director Yasujiro Ozu.

Melodrama is not a word usually associated with Ozu's quietly poetic oeuvre but his post-war Early Spring (1956) and Tokyo Twilight (1957) combine darker elements with his idiosyncratic style to create powerful dramas.

Also available for the first time on DVD in the UK is Ozu's rare silent Woman of Tokyo (1933), a tragic tale of misunderstood sacrifice. Woman of Tokyo features a newly commissioned score by Ed Hughes.

[perkizitore]

DVD ONLY? ](*,)

[Calvin]

DVD ONLY?

+1

Tokyo Twilight is my favourite post-war Ozu and judging from previous releases, the elements are in good enough shape for a Blu-Ray.

[Finch]

I'd have thought that Tokyo Twilight's elements would have merited a 1080p upgrade as well. On the plus side, no need to double-dip or sell the Eclipse set.

[Cash Flagg]

On the plus side, no need to double-dip or sell the Eclipse set.

Unfortunately I sold my Eclipse sets in anticipation of Blu-ray upgrades, so looks like I'll be buying DVDs a second time.

[perkizitore]

After the Ozu project was announced, I sold both Eclipse sets. On the plus side, I get Woman of Tokyo!