Raro Video

[yoshimori]

Long shot, but ...

Anyone know whether Masao Adachi's Gushing Prayer has English subs? No indication on the box, but Jasper Sharp indicated (pre-release?) that he thought they were present.

[Saimo]

Sorry, according to the cover, Italian subs only.

[yoshimori]

... according to the cover, Italian subs only.

Yes. That's what I tried to imply, but others have suggested it does have English subs. Do you have the disc so as to confirm one way or the other?

[perkizitore]

TMDaines is right, the Conversation Piece blu looks like the Don't Look Now and Cat O Nine Tails blu-rays, simply dreadful...

[ellipsis7]

Be a little fairer, chaps... Adjust your sets also... it's not the finest BR ever , but it's not out of the park either in terms of quality... And it's certainly better than any DVD... Nothing on this release prevented my/our enjoyment of a considerable film, it looked appreciably good... It's all gone a little anal where bashing down a release gets more airtime than appreciating its flawed virtues...

[perkizitore]

I am perfectly fair, I didn't say it looks like Patton or The Predator blus but it suffers from 'murkiness' to put it mildly.

[ellipsis7]

Not the sharpest sometimes I concede, but perfectly within limits when HD projected... Remember TMD's complaint was excessive DNR, not image softness...

[TMDaines]

Adjust your sets also...

I don't understand this comment. If your set is already calibrated (within reason) then what else should you do?

It looks an oil painting in motion at times. It's the worst Blu-ray I own to be frank. Look at books on the bookshelf in any wide shot of the study: awful.

[perkizitore]

Hmm, I am not positive it's just DNR, check the thread about the Don't Look Now blu, this looks exactly like it!

[ellipsis7]

More interesting, critically is CONVERSATION PIECE a comedy or a tragicomedy, as it seemed to me watching it now, although it is seldom reviewed as such?... Note my previous comment that AS GOOD AS IT GETS draws heavily on Visconti's film, with Nicholson taking not a little from Lancaster's performance...

[David M.]

Just had a look at screen grabs of CONVERSATION PIECE from Blu-ray.com, who are a good source for accurate screen grabs.

I wouldn't call it awful by a long shot but it's not a very good example of an HD film scan. It looks like another CRT/vacuum tube telecine transfer which noise reduction applied to try and reduce the video noise. The noise is less than on some other scans I've seen that come out of Italy though, some of which have been appalling.

The highlights (bride's veil here: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/screensho ... osition=32" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) have that tell-tale "stucco" look.

I'm an ISF tech so every display I'm looking at has been calibrated to within an inch of its life so rule out inaccurate monitoring. A bad setup will exacerbate the problems of course.

[TMDaines]

Note: I'm not blaming Raro US here. From what I understand they are just finishing and distributing the products for the US market. I've only looked at Milano calibro 9 from the Di Leo boxset and that has similar issues, although not to the same degree I'd say, so it definitely looks like the problems are stemming from Raro in Italy. It's strange how there's all these problems with Italian colour films in HD because the transfers for Italian films on the whole are fantastic from the likes of Raro/Minerva, RHV and Dolmen/Cristaldi.

[TMDaines]

Here's a couple of caps illustrating what I'm seeing that's undesirable:

http://www.rockshockpop.com/screencaps/ ... u/03-1.jpg

http://www.rockshockpop.com/screencaps/ ... u/04-1.jpg

[David M.]

Yep, CRT telecine all right. Not a very filmic look. A pity.

[Adam X]

And for more information than you may think you'd need on the subject, see here:
http://www.kentaiblog.com/2011/08/kenta ... e.html?m=1
And here:
http://www.kentaiblog.com/2011/08/grain ... d.html?m=1

It's intereseting, and sad at the same time, to see how easy it might be to avoid all these underwhelming BD releases of Italian films, when you know they're not going to get re-released with a different transfer anytime soon

[TMDaines]

Very interesting post on Raro US's Facebook page:

Last we checked we thought this was a free market economy. However, due to the pressures of market forces (no names mentioned) we had to list all our films on our website at the SRP (suggested retail price). To offset the hike in prices we will be offering special offers weekly such as buy one get one free, free WORLDWIDE shipping and shipping guaranteed within 24hours from the time of order.
First offer: Buy the Dileo blu-ray box set and get any other dvd free.
We appreciate your support and understanding in this matter.

I can only imagine that Amazon would have this kind of influence?

--

That completely sucks, because after writing them an e-mail suggesting that they could use cardboard packaging to protect slipcases in the future, they did start packing items this way and it's the only way of getting items across the Atlantic in one piece.

[ellipsis7]

Sight and Sound on Raro's CONVERSATION PIECE BR...

Raro's transfer does justice to the cinematography by Pasqualino De Santis - subtly modulated when slipping into lovely flashback sequences.

[TMDaines]

I can't understand the reviews this disc has received at all, especially from the more technically savvy sites. S&S is another matter entirely when it comes to technical aspects as usually it's just touched upon.

[David M.]

I can't understand the reviews this disc has received at all, especially from the more technically savvy sites. S&S is another matter entirely when it comes to technical aspects as usually it's just touched upon.

Agreed on S&S. They don't claim to be technical experts, and I respect them for that.

As for other reviews, most reviewers sadly are not really well versed, let alone experienced, in post production matters. That's a shame, because there's lot of us who would gladly answer reviewers' questions in that area.

In fact, I'd guess that many of them are probably not even viewing on calibrated screens. Neither are most viewers, but it means the reviewers are seeing (and therefore reviewing) a further abstraction of what's on the disc.

[TMDaines]

Here is the line up for the Fall releases:
September
The Night of the Devils dir. by Giorgio Ferroni Dvd and BR
October
Uomini Contro/Many Wars Ago dir. by Francesco Rossi Dvd and BR
November
Generale della Rovere dir. by Roberto Rosillini Dvd and BR
December
The Fernando Di Leo Box set #2 Dvd and BR

As per Facebook.

[eerik]

Is it naive of me to hope that they won't mess up della Rovere? French BD from Gaumont is reportedly fantastic, but dosn't have English subs.

[knives]

They're uneven, but usually good.

[TMDaines]

The transfers of classic B&W films from the Italians are a completely different kettle of fish to their other, more modern, colour offerings. It's only been colour HD offerings in the last few years where there has been any issues. Those aside, the available restorations and transfers of classic Italian cinema may well be the most consistent in the world.

It's Uomini contro I'm very apprehensive of.

[Adam X]

As per Facebook.

Hopefully it's a good sign that all these upcoming titles are listed as being released on both formats, at the same time. Though know that 'Perfume Of the Lady in Black' won't be comng to Blu-Ray, until I finally give in and buy the US DVD just for the minor upgrade on the Italian release, so it might be a while.
Of course, I did buy 'Live Like a Cop...', so a BD should be announced any day now.

[tenia]

Is it naive of me to hope that they won't mess up della Rovere? French BD from Gaumont is reportedly fantastic, but dosn't have English subs.

I own the Gaumont BD, and I confirm : wonderful release (one of the best I've seen in fact), but no english subs.