Werckmeister Harmonies 4K UHD (2000) (Curzon Film)

[MifuneFan]

Curzon Film / Artificial Eye will be releasing Béla Tarr's Werckmeister Harmonies (2000) on 4K UHD on October 14th.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Werckmeiste...s%2C133&sr=8-1

[waxHead]

Very interested to see how this compares to the Criterion release.

[scarletlion]

I may have to purchase this. One of the greatest films ever made.

[nicwood]

A complete Tarr BD collection with Werckmeister in HD will also be released by Curzon on the same day: https://www.amazon.co.uk/B%C3%A9la-T...dp/B0DBHWXCPT/

Curzon employ the same strategy again after the Lars von Trier BD set with Breaking the Waves separately in 4K. However that film didn’t have another UHD in the world and some of the LvT restorations were new to Blu-ray in the English-subtitle market.

I doubt that the Tarr box sells well since it’s BD-only and Curzon’s tendency to reuse whatever old BD masters and encodes they have around, in this case Sátántangó. That film and Damnation received FiM-encoded BDs in the US. I understand those that don’t need UHDs after such superb BDs but if you’re doing something like this much later after most fans already got the US BD, a label like Curzon simply needs to step up and deliver something extra for Tarr’s arguably biggest works in this set and not just count on people getting this for the new-to-BD titles. And them choosing the one film that already received a very nice UHD by Criterion is also very unfortunate.

[nicwood]

Originally Posted by waxHead

Very interested to see how this compares to the Criterion release.

Curzon have stepped up their encoding with Memories of Murder, using VDMS instead of the crap authoring house that ruined the Three Colors Trilogy in 4K. I assume they’ll do the same again and especially since the Criterion UHD is absolutely beautiful.

[waxHead]

Originally Posted by nicwood

Curzon have stepped up their encoding with Memories of Murder, using VDMS instead of the crap authoring house that ruined the Three Colors Trilogy in 4K. I assume they’ll do the same again and especially since the Criterion UHD is absolutely beautiful.

Not to derail the Werckmeister Harmonies discussion but did you compare Curzon's Memories of Murder to the Korean CJ Entertainment release? I own the CJ UHD but might consider Curzon's if it's actually better.

Separately, I wish Curzon would re-release their Three Colors Trilogy. I own that set and would gladly re-buy an improved version.

[nicwood]

Originally Posted by waxHead

Not to derail the Werckmeister Harmonies discussion but did you compare Curzon's Memories of Murder to the Korean CJ Entertainment release? I own the CJ UHD but might consider Curzon's if it's actually better.

Separately, I wish Curzon would re-release their Three Colors Trilogy. I own that set and would gladly re-buy an improved version.

No, I didn’t as CJ already did the best what they can do with it and I expect that Curzon’s looks virtually identical considering the limitations. I heard from a trusted source that the Curzon UHD and BD both look very good with no visual anomalies (thanks to VDMS). That’s all I can say for this one.

And yes, I’d pay a lot of money if they re-did all the Kieślowskis. Do a limited edition of 500x for £300 with top-tier encodes on both formats and the shorts and I’d be getting it day one. Three Colors is my favorite trilogy and Véronique just as phenomenal.

[Sifox211]

It's a shame the release date is what it is - I'd hoped I'd be able to see some reviews of the Curzon in time in order to decide if I want to order the Criterion in their next flash sale or not! Maybe I'll have to be patient and wait for the one after that

Edit: Now up at HMV £24.99

[mande2013]

My understanding is Curzon’s 4Ks of the Kieslowski films were mostly decent but somewhat flawed, not absolute crap. There were mainly issues with clipped highlights, although their disc of Véronique at the very least seemed just fine to me. The Trilogy does have some chroma noise. True. Véronique is probably the best looking of the four discs.

[Sifox211]

Do we know anything about extras on this set, or even details about the transfer?

[Jdmcreator]

From their website:

Includes:

• One 4K UHD disc (Region Free) with the new 4K restoration of the film
• One Blu-ray disc (Region B) which includes the new 4K restoration, presented in HD, and the special features
• Autumn Almanac (1984) - feature film by Béla Tarr
• Prologue (2004) - Short Film (segment from ‘Visions of Europe’)
• Béla Tarr interview with Jonathan Romney
• New Theatrical Retrospective Trailer (2024)
• English SDH subtitles
• New cover artwork by Paul West

[Jdmcreator]

Moved to November 18, 2024 as per Amazon and HMV.

[vinvanveen]

That’s a beautiful cover, though it doesn’t capture the atmosphere of the movie.

[moviemaker]

I have the Criterion release, including Family Nest (Béla's first film), but I may get this one so I can have Autumn Almanac (I know it as Almanac of Fall).

That Curzon Béla Tarr boxset is also tempting.

Hope we get more Tarr Blu-ray releases, specifically The Man From London, The Prefab People, and The Outsider, here in the US. I have all the ones currently available.

[Sifox211]

Anyone got this yet? In stock according to HMV.

[andreasy969]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

Anyone got this yet? In stock according to HMV.

Yep, but all you'll get it is a lousy photo. Packaging wise it's slip with transparent keep case (with the same artwork) and hence mirrors "Breaking the Waves" - i.e. I'm glad it's not a digi.

[andreasy969]

[ko8ebryant24]

I matched a couple of frames from andreasy's caps

Criterion UHD vs Curzon UHD

https://slow.pics/c/vGe2CWfW

[ko8ebryant24]

Criterion UHD SDR vs Curzon UHD SDR

https://slow.pics/c/HyZoYasg

[ko8ebryant24]

Audio Comparison

Criterion UHD vs Curzon UHD

In the higher frequencies, the Criterion track has a brick-wall low-pass filter around ~14kHz, whereas Curzon retains the high-end.

At the low end, Curzon did not reduce the excessive bass centered at ~10Hz, which I’m doubtful was intended to be there. Criterion, in my opinion, did a good job reducing it.

Both tracks have their shortcomings, but the Curzon track is preferable for retaining the higher frequencies. Most people likely don't have speakers capable of reproducing the anomalous ULF in the Curzon track.

The first two and the last sets are direct comparisons between the two releases. The remaining comparisons are of my own clean-up of some anomalies in the Curzon track.

https://slow.pics/c/gp2iiHLY