Hou Hsiao-hsien

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Michael Kerpan · #26 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:42 am

Yes -- "Green Green Grass of Home" is the third film. The first two films were basically romantic comedies. This has vestiges of romantic comedy, but is focused more on the kids. It is marred a little by a sort of arbitrary plot development near the end -- but not enough to bother me much.

The (burned-in, I think) subtitles (dual Chinese and English) are funky on the release -- they seem to disappear for a reel or so in the middle-- and then come back:

Green Green Grass Of Home (Taiwan Version)

My versions of the first two:

Lovable You (China Version)

Play While You Play (China Version)

A steal at their current price of $4 -- despite the lack of subs. ;~}

alfons416 · #27 Post by **alfons416** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 10:38 am

i really love Hou, i've seen 9 movies so far. and my top 3 would be something like this:

1. The Boys from Fengkuei
2. City of Sadness
3. Café Lumière

haven't seen any of his movies from the 90's yet since all dvd's look poor on dvdbeaver, is any of them worth watching (i'm talking about the picture quality, NOT the films)

Michael Kerpan: is it the Green Green Grass of home DVD you talkin about wich have english subtitles? i bought lovable you from yesasia earlier this year and it had not even thou yesasia said that so im trying to be sure for the future.

Michael Kerpan · #28 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:37 pm

alfons416 wrote:Is it the Green Green Grass of home DVD you talkin about wich have english subtitles? i bought lovable you from yesasia earlier this year and it had not even thou yesasia said that so im trying to be sure for the future.

The GGGoH DVD I link to has subtitles (as mentioned above).

YesAsia is not to blame for their listing forthe "Lovable You" DVD -- the back of the box says (in Chinese) that the DVD has English subtitles.

hearthesilence · #29 Post by **hearthesilence** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 2:57 pm

Michael Kerpan wrote:The best looking US DVD could be"Good Men, Good Women" -- but that might be a difficult starting point. "Flowers of shanghai" is lovely -- but rather atypical.

It was awhile ago, but I seem to recall the DVD being letterboxed, not anamorphic. Regardless, you should at least rent it, if not own it.

alfons416 · #30 Post by **alfons416** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 5:57 pm

ordered and seen Green, Green Grass of Home now. it's on the bottom of my hou-list. but it's always nice to see a movie from HHH.

Jun-Dai · #31 Post by **Jun-Dai** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 6:13 am

I don't really feel I can rank Hou's films in terms of how much I prefer them, but I feel like Cafe Lumiere is about the most approachable one that I've seen. Perhaps "approachable" isn't the best term for it (some of my friends with whom I saw it at the Castro found it anything but approachable), but I feel it distills more than any other of the ones I've seen those aspects of his approach to filmmaking that I most enjoy watching. Thus, while it is probably the film of his that I feel most comfortable and enjoyable, it is also perhaps the least interesting for the same reasons. Millennium Mambo, which I found the least approachable (save perhaps the final segment of Three Times), is thusly the most interesting and also the hardest for me to sit through. But I guess that says more about my contradictory approach to watching films than it does about his films. I feel the same way about WKW and In the Mood for Love (which I could watch a hundred times, and yet I probably wouldn't get anything out of watching it again that I didn't get the previous time). Before I'd seen Cafe Lumiere I would have said the same thing about Flowers of Shanghai (which I enjoy watching so much that it's easy for me to forget to read the subtitles or pay attention to the story).

foggy eyes · #32 Post by **foggy eyes** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 2:19 pm

I revisited Three Times at the cinema again yesterday. It is exquisite, and a good starting point (in terms of aesthetic and accessibility, if not chronology). Otherwise, I would aver that Boys from Fengkuei is a great, and convenient, place to begin. Now, if only someone would release A City of Sadness...

gubbelsj · #33 Post by **gubbelsj** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:34 pm

Just watched The Puppetmaster last night, courtesy of Netflix. What a beautiful film, but what a horrible transfer. Often, I can make it through a film and appreciate the images even with shoddy DVD treatment, but this was a travesty. Fox Lorber's pan and scan didn't even have the energy to pan - scene after scene featured disembodied voices whose location was only given away by puffs of smoke from screen right. Even worse were the colors - washed out and dreadful, and the interior scenes were swamped in a murky, awful darkness that rubbed out all detail and hid the actors' faces. I feel I haven't yet "seen" this movie because of the transfer, and yet I was still moved and drawn into the film. Is this really the best we can get for region 1?

Michael Kerpan · #34 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 5:41 pm

One of the worst ever --- the US "Puppetmaster" DVD is inexplicably awful. I also feel I can't really assess this film until I see a more credible representation of it.

As to "Three Times", I think I am growing fonder of "Part 3" -- much more complicated than I first thought -- and also less dour.

Steven H · #35 Post by **Steven H** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:58 pm

Can anyone comment on the picture quality of the Taiwanese release of Hou's Puppetmaster? I know it doesn't have english subs (or maybe it does?), but I'd be curious to see it at $7.99 if it's at least OAR.

tavernier · #36 Post by **tavernier** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:12 pm

Michael Kerpan wrote:One of the worst ever --- the US "Puppetmaster" DVD is inexplicably awful. I also feel I can't really assess this film until I see a more credible representation of it.

I saw PUPPETMASTER at the 1993 Toronto Film Festival on the huge Uptown Theater screen and it was absolutely exquisite....easily one of the most beautiful films ever made.
When I saw the Fox Lorber DVD some years ago, it looked like it was one of those bootlegs you buy from the sidewalk in Times Square....ugliest-looking transfer yet.

John Cope · #37 Post by **John Cope** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 9:44 pm

Steven H wrote:Can anyone comment on the picture quality of the Taiwanese release of Hou's Puppetmaster? I know it doesn't have english subs (or maybe it does?), but I'd be curious to see it at $7.99 if it's at least OAR.

I don't think it is OAR.

jon · #38 Post by **jon** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 10:03 pm

The opening of Millenium Mambo is one of my favorite moments in recent cinema.

Michael Kerpan · #39 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 11:59 pm

jon wrote:The opening of Millenium Mambo is one of my favorite moments in recent cinema.

You and me, bro.

;~}

miless · #40 Post by **miless** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 12:19 am

man, I'm really bummed out because the DVD release of Three Times is non-anamorphic... what's with that? I didn't even know they put out non-anamorphic DVD's anymore.

Michael Kerpan · #41 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 3:37 am

miless wrote:man, I'm really bummed out because the DVD release of Three Times is non-anamorphic... what's with that? I didn't even know they put out non-anamorphic DVD's anymore.

YesAsia indicates the Taiwanese release is subbed and anamorphic.

(No mention of the HKDVD specs).

The Fanciful Norwegian · Wed Nov 01, 2006 5:23 am

HK DVD review

One of the YesAsia customer reviews indicates the Taiwanese version is superior, although I don't know how either compares to the U.S. release.

nick · #43 Post by **nick** » Wed Nov 01, 2006 5:22 pm

I'd like to add that the TF1 Three Times from France looks pretty good and has english subtitles on the film itself, I havn't checked for subs on any of the extras but I don't think TF1 usually does those.

Anonymous · #44 Post by **Anonymous** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 12:22 pm

Does anyone know whether this Taiwanese DVD of THE PUPPETMASTER is in its correct aspect ratio?

Well, if no one knows about the aspect ratio of the THE PUPPETMASTER DVD, could anyone tell me where to find out? It's a very inexpensive disc and if the film is in it's correct aspect ratio, then I will buy even though it has no subtitles.

Stefan Andersson · Thu Feb 07, 2008 7:59 am

Has anyone seen this R2 DVD of GOODBYE SOUTH GOODBYE? It´s in 1.85 with Eng subs, from Trigon-Film.

Trigon-Film also sells THE PUPPETMASTER, 1.85, no Eng subs, only French and German. I think there are screencaps in the caps thread. Same thread has caps from Trigon´s BALLAD OF NARAYAMA (1958). Looks like classy product to me.

Trigon´s DVD´s seem well worth checking out. Some have Eng subs.
Should maybe have its own Boutique Labels thread.

Skritek · #46 Post by **Skritek** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 9:51 am

I could try and check it out, although I have no idea where I can borrow Trigon-DVDs here in Switzerland. I suppose some of my friends could know that.

yoshimori · #47 Post by **yoshimori** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 4:44 pm

Stefan Andersson wrote:Has anyone seen this R2 DVD of GOODBYE SOUTH GOODBYE? It´s in 1.85 with Eng subs, from Trigon-Film.

Hmmm. The cover shown at the linked page and the list of extras there are the same as those of the french mk2 Goodbye, South Goodbye, which I have, which looks a million times better than the r1, and which unfortunately does NOT have subtitles. Anyone have the linked disc? Does it really have English subs?

foggy eyes · #48 Post by **foggy eyes** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 7:37 pm

Without the budget for a blind-buy, I'd also like to find out whether this does actually have English subs (and is a port of the MK2). If anybody comes across it, please let us know!

alfons416 · #49 Post by **alfons416** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:09 am

wow, a release of The Puppetmaster with the correct framing, finaly ?

but the text"1:1.85 / 4:3 " makes me confused. is it 1.85:1 or 4:3? perhaps they mean it's a non anamorphic 1.85? anyone knows for sure?

denti alligator · #50 Post by **denti alligator** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 4:04 pm

Stefan Andersson wrote:Trigon-Film also sells THE PUPPETMASTER, 1.85, no Eng subs, only French and German. I think there are screencaps in the caps thread.

I can't find these. Can you point me the way?

And where in jhwh's name is an English (or French or German) subbed version of City of Sadness????

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