497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

Discuss releases by Criterion and the films on them. Threads may contain spoilers!
Message
Author
User avatar
Peacock
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:47 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#76 Post by Peacock » Tue Mar 27, 2012 10:51 pm

I think that it's either from that Rice Q&A or from that big documentary by Carlo Lizzani...

User avatar
HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#77 Post by HerrSchreck » Wed Mar 28, 2012 12:18 am

Specifically.. I scrolled through the bulk of everything and can't find it. If someone knows exactly it'd be a great help.

User avatar
HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#78 Post by HerrSchreck » Wed Mar 28, 2012 12:54 am

Ahhhhh. . . . . At last.

Thats exactly it D, thanks much. I thought I'd never find it.

I'll bring this up here because 1) you'll probly get a kick out of hearing it, and 2) no other film on the face of the earth could be more incongruous to this thread:

Based on your championing of the film elsewhere, I gave a second look to The Mesa of Lost Women. Dude there are so many sublime moments in that film too numerous to count. To think that it was photographed by Karl Struss of SUNRISE ( plus so much chaplin and much much more) as well as Paul Leni's ace cameraman Gilbert Warrenton makes it all the better. Parentheses and ellipses and tales within tales.. Coogan as cyclopsish Frank..

" I call her tarantella.."

User avatar
scotty2
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:24 am

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#79 Post by scotty2 » Sat Mar 30, 2013 1:18 pm

Wrote this meandering essay after visiting Rome and thinking about Rossellini's films.

User avatar
ellipsis7
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 1:56 pm
Location: Dublin

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#80 Post by ellipsis7 » Mon Aug 26, 2013 3:53 am

New resto of PAISA showing at Venice (sezione Venezia Classici)... Maybe will allow a decent Blu Ray upgrade...
Progetto Rossellini
Il Progetto Rossellini ha visto cooperare Cineteca Nazionale, Cineteca di Bologna, Cinecittà Luce e Coproduction Office in un piano di restauro digitale complessivo di una parte centrale, e fondamentale, della filmografia di Roberto Rossellini, nella sua promozione e diffusione a livello mondiale. La Mostra di Venezia presenta quest'anno il restauro di uno dei più importanti capolavori del maestro italiano, Paisà.
Last edited by ellipsis7 on Fri Oct 31, 2014 5:10 am, edited 2 times in total.

User avatar
movielocke
Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:44 am

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#81 Post by movielocke » Tue Apr 15, 2014 3:05 am

In theory, I had watched Rome Open City before. So I skipped it at first, because who can forget that image of the Mother being shot down in the street and her son flying to her body (and how can you forget it when it's referenced so often)? I later went back and watched the whole thing and discovered that this is a film I slept through most of in college, I suspect it was one of those nefarious pre-noon classes, I remember about half of the first part of the film, but thought the film ended when part one ended. I had no recollection of Part II, which has been my loss.

From having watched both box sets in last couple months, This film stands head and shoulders above the rest (though some of the other films are phenomenal) as Rossellini's masterpiece. The vital urgency of the story, of the filmmaking grabbed me to a degree matched only by Bicycle Thieves of the neo realist films. The whole production is stunning and the story is uncompromising, it feels like a lightning bolt in world cinema, I can absolutely see why it was such a shock and success. Wow.

Germany Year Zero is nearly equal. It is not quite up there, the performances are not quite as good, the script is a little more preachy. You can sense Rossellini is being drawn artistically in the direction of pulling the moral more front and center, as he did later in Europe 51. Still, the film is mesmerizing throughout, and a stunning piece of work.

Paisan I was slightly disappointed in, but only because it doesn't quite measure up to the other two. The anthology structure is very nice, it gives the film a unique rhythm and each segment is so well done within the pacing of it's own story. There were things to love in each conception, and there are different bits of Rossellini it seems in each pod. The sweep and scope of the battlefront is brilliantly handled, he manages to boil epic stories down to the human hearts and the blood and sinew binding peoples together. Striking, and wonderful.

User avatar
ellipsis7
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 1:56 pm
Location: Dublin

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#82 Post by ellipsis7 » Fri Oct 31, 2014 5:11 am

ellipsis7 wrote:New resto of PAISA showing at Venice (sezione Venezia Classici)... Maybe will allow a decent Blu Ray upgrade...
Progetto Rossellini
Il Progetto Rossellini ha visto cooperare Cineteca Nazionale, Cineteca di Bologna, Cinecittà Luce e Coproduction Office in un piano di restauro digitale complessivo di una parte centrale, e fondamentale, della filmografia di Roberto Rossellini, nella sua promozione e diffusione a livello mondiale. La Mostra di Venezia presenta quest'anno il restauro di uno dei più importanti capolavori del maestro italiano, Paisà.
Added to this, the Janus Films poster for the new 4K resto of ROMA, CITTA APERTA, surely points to a BR upgrade of the complete WAR TRILOGY by Criterion...

Image

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#83 Post by domino harvey » Mon Apr 17, 2017 5:06 pm

Upgrade coming

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#84 Post by domino harvey » Mon Apr 17, 2017 5:21 pm

MSRP for the Blu-ray is $100, guess those $80 boxes truly are a thing of the past (even though this was one of them on DVD...)

Werewolf by Night

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#85 Post by Werewolf by Night » Mon Apr 17, 2017 5:23 pm

I guess I can stop holding out on this now after 7 1/2 years...

Perkins Cobb
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 12:49 pm

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#86 Post by Perkins Cobb » Mon Apr 17, 2017 6:29 pm

Is the Criterion Blu going to include L'Amore? If not, that BFI set I got on eBay for $26 last week is going to seem like an even better deal.

User avatar
hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#87 Post by hearthesilence » Mon Apr 17, 2017 7:39 pm

Perkins Cobb wrote:Is the Criterion Blu going to include L'Amore? If not, that BFI set I got on eBay for $26 last week is going to seem like an even better deal.
Not listed under the extras, so unless something changes, NOPE.

User avatar
Minkin
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:13 pm

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#88 Post by Minkin » Thu Jun 08, 2017 8:16 am


User avatar
hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#89 Post by hearthesilence » Thu Jun 08, 2017 9:03 am

Going by the screencaps, Criterion's disc looks a little bit too dark. I think this has been covered here many times before, they like to make their discs a bit darker with greater contrast.

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#90 Post by tenia » Thu Jun 08, 2017 10:37 am

On the other end, the BFI disc was too bright (even more surprisingly so because the 2 other movies didn't show this lighter grading). I suppose the right grading was somewhere in between.

User avatar
Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#91 Post by Ribs » Thu Jun 15, 2017 3:28 pm

Beaver

Verdict does seem to be overall the Criterion improves on the PQ of the BFI release, albeit marginally.

User avatar
Apperson
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2016 3:47 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#92 Post by Apperson » Thu Jun 15, 2017 4:09 pm

Ribs wrote:Beaver
I have to say that Germany Year Zero doesn't look that great from the caps.

User avatar
andyli
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 4:46 pm

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#93 Post by andyli » Thu Jun 15, 2017 9:36 pm

Yes, it is surprising that Criterion's Germany Year Zero does not use the latest restoration, while the other two do.

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#94 Post by tenia » Fri Jun 23, 2017 6:54 am

So, to Svet, this is pretty much equivalent with "minor but perhaps obvious discrepancies" ? Not to say one seems superior to the other, there seems to be some trade-offs between the BFI and the Criterion, but the differences between the 2 seem more on the obvious side than the minor one to me.
Last edited by tenia on Fri Jun 23, 2017 9:47 am, edited 4 times in total.

User avatar
Rayon Vert
Green is the Rayest Color
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2014 10:52 pm
Location: Canada
Contact:

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#95 Post by Rayon Vert » Fri Jun 23, 2017 8:42 am

Apperson wrote:
Ribs wrote:Beaver
I have to say that Germany Year Zero doesn't look that great from the caps.
It looks terrible.

User avatar
hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#96 Post by hearthesilence » Fri Jun 23, 2017 10:28 am

tenia wrote:So, to Svet, this is pretty much equivalent with "minor but perhaps obvious discrepancies" ? Not to say one seems superior to the other, there seems to be some trade-offs between the BFI and the Criterion, but the differences between the 2 seem more on the obvious side than the minor one to me.
Yikes! Jesus, I glanced at this on my phone and wasn't sure what the problem was, but now that I'm seeing it in full size on a normal screen, it's pretty obvious. Grain looks horrible, it's like comparing creamed corn to fine sand.

User avatar
swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
Location: SLC, UT

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#97 Post by swo17 » Fri Jun 23, 2017 10:54 am

So basically

Image

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#98 Post by tenia » Fri Jun 23, 2017 11:12 am

hearthesilence wrote: Yikes! Jesus, I glanced at this on my phone and wasn't sure what the problem was, but now that I'm seeing it in full size on a normal screen, it's pretty obvious. Grain looks horrible, it's like comparing creamed corn to fine sand.
Well, it seems quite variable on both discs, so some shots could be better on one disc, and other shots on the other.

My issue is more with Svet saying there are only minor differences between the 2 while they seem actually quite different on many aspects.

My 1st example shows a clear-cut with the BFI as a definite winner (more info in the frame, cleaner, sharper, and the Criterion is black crushed) but (as Minkin pointed out to me) the 2nd one shows the BFI as too soft and too dull (gamma issue ?) and the last one shows the Criterion as potentially sharper than the BFI.

User avatar
dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#99 Post by dwk » Fri Jun 23, 2017 2:35 pm

Yeah, tenia seems correct, it is mixed bag on both discs. For example, the Criterion looks better in the last one of Svet's shots (screenshot 19 on the Criterion and 16 on the BFI.) Too bad Criterion didn't have the budget and/or time to Frankenstein together the best sections of each master.

User avatar
hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: 497-500 Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy

#100 Post by hearthesilence » Fri Jun 23, 2017 10:15 pm

Variable perhaps, but the caps on the Criterion disc never get better than that first cap tenia linked to - the grain itself just never looks that good, it's about as good as any standard-def DVD of a similar vintage film can look had it been upscaled to your TV.

Post Reply